The Silentist

Stag Dining: Shot and a Beer: The Feast — I don’t have the pretentiousness to call myself a foodie. Like any reasonable person, I like a great meal and take delight in being exposed to food that’s been prepared differently and blows away my expectations. I know a lot of people love to get in depth about techniques, sourcing ingredients and other minutiae, but I just want to eat something delicious and be present in that moment. 

The bottom line with the dinner and beer tasting hosted by Stag Dining was this: the food is amazing and the chefs do a great job of pairing the drinks to their dishes, both in theory and in practice. You’re going to eat a great meal. 

What’s really fun though about the dinner portion is meeting new people. I went alone and found myself chatting with a bunch of strangers, but had a great time learning about their lives. Eating great food among good (new) company is something Stag Dining seeks to provide in a very casual atmosphere that makes conversation natural. 

Of course, alcohol helps, too. The beer pairings were from Almanac Beer Co. and they even offered us a chance to taste a beer that hasn’t been tasted outside the brewery, yet. One of the cool things was listening to the company’s founder talk about his beers and get nerdy about it. It’s always neat to hear people passionate about their job, which I can definitely say is the case with the folks at Almanac, where they spend a lot of time not just on making their beers, but also working with local farmers for their ingredients. 

(If you’re interested in trying Almanac’s brews, your best bet is Whole Foods in the San Francisco area. It’s harder to find outside the city, I’m told, which led me to grab a few before driving south toward home for two hours.)

While Stag Dining hosts events similar to this one (in the past they’ve had shoots with wines), they also host a weekly prix fixe dinner for $40 at Off The Grid at Fort Mason Center every Friday evening.