St. Feuillien Dinner
Monk's Cafe
9/13/05
As happens every month, Adam Glickman and crew outdo themselves
in the food department and Tom & Fergie are the ultimate hosts to those
that come to share their passion.
Dominique Friart, owner of the St. Feuillien Brewery
and fourth generation of the family to run it.
Located in Le Roeulx, Belgium, the brewery opened in 1873.
We visited the brewery in 2001 on our tour and it was a very beautiful
place(look for it as the Brewery of the Month).
Our first course was a small bowl of Crayfish Waterzooi
accompanied by St. Feuillien Tripel poured from the 750ml bottles. An excellently
prepared dish with Crayfish and vegetables in a nice creamy sauce.
The next course was Truffled Capon Breast, a very tender
piece of chicken in a white truffle sauce, served with the Tripel from
a 20L keg brought into the country in a suitcase! We also tasted their
Brune, a sweet caramelly brew.
For our next selection, we were served a Curried Monkfish
Salad, pieces of "poor man's lobster" in a spicy curry sauce. The Tripel
for this course was being poured from a 9L bottle. The cork was not cooperative
at all and ended up breaking off. A corkscrew was necessary to complete
the job. After which, Tom Peters got to handle this large vessel and pour
the beer for all to enjoy.
The main course was Sage Pesto Encrusted Venison Loin
with brussel sprouts au gratin and stoemp. Not being a fan of venison and
brussel sprouts, I did not expect a lot from this, but I was pleasantly
surprised by both and ate as much as I could stuff down. The St. Feuillien
Noel was served with it which was sweet and fruity. Tom also brought out
a '99 version of it for a select few of us. Boy, was that ever great...lots
of licorise and brandy!!
Last, but not least, a dessert of Blanche du Bois, a
tasty morsel indeed! St. Feuillien's Grisette Fruits des Bois debuted in
the U.S. with this meal. Strawberry jam on the nose and palate...sweet
and fruity and refreshing with the dessert.
During the meal, Dominique walked around and spent time
at each table talking to the attendees and answering questions. A more
affable person you will not meet anywhere! I told her I had some 4 year
old Tripel and she said that it was now time to consume it. She asked that
I e-mail her with the result of our tasting of it which I did. The Tripel
held up well for that period....a bit drier and less fruity which was to
be expected in a bottle-conditioned brew, but I detected no off flavors.
I still have a few left and will bring them out over the next couple of
months.
Monks always has great dinners and we try to make as
many as we can. Check out monkscafe.com
for the latest listings. Tickets go on sale about 30 days prior to the
event. See you there!
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