Beer and Saké Dinner

One of the final functions I organized for Maryland distributor Legends, Ltd. was a beer and saké dinner in May 2004 at the wonderful Matsuri in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, Md.

Matsuri proprietor Bill Tien (r) and I co-hosted the sold-out event in the cozy restaurant's upstairs room. Bill paired the elegant eponymous cold sakés of Kiuchi of Japan and its quirky (but delicious) Hitachino beers with sushi and Japanese fare.

I served one non-Kiuchi beer that evening: Kelpie, a Scottish beer brewed with seaweed.

Despite, or maybe because of that unusual ingredient, Kelpie is actually quite tasty, and was indeed appropriate for the evening's dinner. (Here's a review of Kelpie, written by Phil Sides, who took the two photos in this post.)

The dinner finished with 'Pink Sushi' for dessert: sticky rice soaked in berries and finished with a fruit glaze.