Edinburgh venue reaps rewards of special food pairing events
FOOD pairing events are credited with fuelling interest in world beers at The Cellar Restaurant in Edinburgh.
Situated in the basement of Ryan’s bar on Hope street, the west end eatery recently staged a beer and food pairing event featuring UK and international flavours from brewer Molson Coors’ portfolio.
Hosted by Anita Leslie and Jenny Elliot of Molson Coors, the event kicked off with an introductory talk on the beers while guests were served bread made with North American wheat beer Blue Moon and accompanied by Mexican Pilsner Modelo Especial.
The menu was created by The Cellar Restaurant’s head chef Sandra Heidet following a ‘cook off’ of dishes to determine which beer and food matches worked best.
The final selection comprised Coors Light tempura battered prawns, followed by a 35-day matured Scotch sirloin steak served with Sharp’s Doom Bar, which Coors acquired in 2011; the ale from the Cornish brewery was also used in the Diane sauce and the dish was accompanied by gratin dauphinoise and Carling battered onion rings.
Consumer interest in matching beer and food is growing.
For dessert, guests were served Ryan’s signature orange torte infused with Blue Moon.
Between courses, Jenny Elliot and Anita Leslie explained why each beer had been matched with a particular dish.
Since the event, assistant manager Neil McKechnie said he has noticed an uplift in sales of Sharp’s Doom Bar and Mexican beer Modelo.
Restaurant manager Laura Ballantine said consumer interest in beer and food pairings is growing.
“We know how customers like their wine paired with food but with so many good local and international beers out there now people are becoming more discerning about their beer choice,” she said.
Anita Leslie of Molson Coors, who co-hosted the event, said: “Working closely with [general manager] Jason Borthwick and Sandra at Ryan’s bar we collaborated to create a menu which embodied the style of food offered in the restaurant and helped to showcase beer as the perfect accompaniment to great food.
“We were able to bring life to our portfolio of beers, some of which the consumers had never seen or tasted before.
“The evening was very enjoyable and a great introduction to beer and food matching”
Ryan’s bar plans to continue hosting beer and food matching events with a variety of brewers. The latest, with Edinburgh’s Stewart Brewing, was due to take place as this section of SLTN went to press.
Images – Top, The menu included prawns in a Coors Light batter with Chalky’s Bite from Coors-owned Sharps’ Brewery. Above, Molson Coors brands like Blue Moon were paired with different dishes at The Cellar Restaurant at Ryan’s in Edinburgh.
