The Beer Wench

Question: What happens when you get a phenomenal chef, a wine geek and a beer wench in the same house?

Answer:An endless waterfall of yummy booze and ridiculously delicious food.

Question: What happens when the aforementioned trio are as equally obsessed with Social Media and Twitter as they are food, wine and beer?

Answer:A crazy virtual beer vs. wine dinner … broad-casted live on the Internet … in a house full of Internet geeks, techies and Twitter-a-holics.

This past weekend I traveled to Tampa, FL to tri-host a very interesting an unique event with 3 of my good friends from Twitter. The event was a Beer Vs. Wine “smack-down” Dinner - the first of its kind on Twitter Taste Live.

The tasting menu was designed and orchestrated by the lovely Dolce Debbie, Executive Chef and Culinary Director for Savory Adventures as well as a Personal Chef and Personal Trainer. Dolce Debbie(@docledebbie on Twitter) currently resides in Tampa, FL – with her crazy, yet adorable, husband Barry (@barryfrangipane on Twitter). Debbie & Barry have toured Italy extensively and together they own Savory Adventures, a company that offers a unique and exciting way to explore Italy, its land, its people, its wine and its foods.

Matt Scott(aka @mmWine on Twitter) provided the wines for the pairing. Based in West Palm Beach, Matt is the author of the wine blog “A Good Time With Wine.” He is also the co-founder of ZsaZsa and Company, an Internet based wine store that offers an elegant yet fun way to give gifts of wine (you can follow them on Twitter – @zsazsaandco).

Naturally, The Beer Wench brought the beers.

If you missed the live streaming of our event, you can check out a video clip of it below (Disclaimer: I say “um” and “like” entirely way too much. But ummm you will like have to ummm just deal with it.)

First Twitter Beer vs. Wine Dinner VIDEO CLIP

Here is the menu, both the beer and wine pairings for each dish … and the winners:

Appetizers – Fried Rice Ball w Shrimp, Bruschetta, Fried Zucchini Straws
Beer Pairing Lagunitas Czech Style Pilsner
Wine Pairing Bisson Prosseco 2007

WINNER = BEER

First Plate – Parmesan Risotto
Wine Pairing Bonci Verdicchio Carpaneto 2007
Beer Pairing Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale

WINNER = WINE

Second Plate – Pistachio encrusted Sea Bass
Wine Pairing Deforville Chardonnay 2007
Beer Pairing Jolly Pumpkin Brewery Calabaza Blanca

WINNER = TIE

Main dish – Grilled rack of lamb encrusted in Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs and rosemary.
Wine Pairing Pievano Sagratino Montefalco 2003
Beer Pairing Dogfish Head Raison E’Etre

WINNER = TIE

Dessert – Lemon Cake with strawberries marinated in Limoncello.

In the end, the real winner was the food.  Debbie worked her ass off in the kitchen all night, while Matt and I ate, drank and chatted with both the guests at the party as well as our viewers and twitter followers online.  She is the true star of the party as well as the gracious hostess who made it all happen!

Also want to send out a big THANK YOU to Barry Frangipane. He played the role of host, waiter, busboy and dish slave very very well. 

Of course, a final thank you to all participants – both in person, in the chat room and on Twitter. With out all of your support and interaction, this event would not have been so successful! Big kisses! XOXO!

CHEERS!!!