Death By Chocolate Beer Dinner
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Tuesday, April 15
The Little Prince
Details here
The theme of the latest beer dinner at The Little Prince is sure to raise a few eyebrows - it's chocolate.
That's five courses of food paired with beers, where the chocolate flavours might be in the dish or the drink. Or maybe even both.
But one thing you can count on is that it is not going to be dish after dish of sweet things.
"It's not that at all," said Little Prince manager Fiona Hill.
"There will be two desserts, but it's not just five courses of sweet things at all, so people don't need to be worried about eating five courses of sweet things.
"There are a lot of different ways that chocolate matches with food." The kitchen team had a lot of fun playing around finding savoury ways to incorporate chocolate.
Ms Hill said the idea for a chocolate-themed beer dinner came from talking with Little Prince colleague Laurie Edwards.
"We were doing a 12-month event plan and we had a spot for April," Ms Hill said.
"We thought 'Easter's in April. What can we do around chocolate?' Laurie and I were thinking that there were some good chocolate beers out there."
But we are not talking about beers that taste like a chocolate milkshake, only hoppy. Often the use of malts can impart a chocolate flavour - sometimes even a little chocolate might go into the brew, too.
"Not all the beers are chocolate beers - they have chocolate elements or they've got notes of chocolate or they accompany a chocolate dish really well," Ms Hill said.
"They're not all going to be real chocolatey beers. A few of them are, but they're complemented or contrasted by the food."
While the identity of the beers will remain a secret until the night, Ms Hill was able to say they have been sourced from Australia, the US and Italy. She was in charge of finding the beers and was expecting to have to put in more effort.
"It was overwhelming, the choice out there," she said.
"I was thinking that I might find it a bit hard to source chocolate beers, seeing as it was such a specific sort of beer but it was actually overwhelming just the choice that I had.
"I think that's because craft beer is getting big everywhere."
So much so that the Little Prince's beer dinners are becoming more and more popular. Ms Hill said they attracted a wide range of people - from hard-core regulars, who know a lot about craft beer, to those interested in a night out that is a little bit different.
And Ms Hill felt a chocolate beer dinner might provide something new - for everyone.
"Yeah, I think so, because a lot of craft beer I find tends to be super hopped up, that real American style, but this will be something that's a little bit different," she said.
"It's getting people thinking about beer differently.
"For someone who hasn't attended before or doesn't really know a lot about beer and wants to learn, it shows that beer is not just one thing. It's not just for one occasion."