This week The Social Lights attended one of the first FINNEGANS Beer Dinners of the quarter at Green Mill Restaurant and Bar in Uptown. These dinners marry excellent cuisine and social awareness to create an incredible night of food, fun, and philanthropy!
For just $25, you get a meal with four courses, each paired with a beverage that compliments and enhances the flavors. Five dollars from each meal goes directly back to the community in the form of fresh food donated to local food banks. The menu takes you from appetizer through dessert seamlessly as you learn about how FINNEGANS community fund and Green Mill for Good work to better the community around you!
For this quarter’s dinner, the meal begins with a generous portion of Green Mill’s Bruschetta. Two large garlic rounds are covered in mozzarella and parmesan cheeses and then placed upon a bed of olivetta tapenade, Feta cheese, and tomato bruschetta. The whole plate is drizzled with a balsamic glaze. The beer paired with the first course is FINNEGANS first foray into seasonal brew, the Blonde Ale. This course also includes the first of some beer trivia, giving you insight into how FINNEGANS began and how it is able to sustain being the only beer company in the world that donates 100% of its profits to help feed the hungry! The lightness and drinkability of the ale compliments the crisp flavors of the bruschetta, helping the first course of the meal strike a great opening note.
The colorful salad course features a Blackberry and Grilled Chicken Salad. This salad takes mixed greens and spinach and tops them with chicken, roasted cashews, red and green onions, gorgonzola cheese crumbles, and fresh blackberries. The standout of this course is the tangy Blackberry Vinaigrette, which adds a fruity and floral note to the salad that couples flawlessly with the beer you are served, Summit Summer Ale. This brand new brew has a crisp, clean bitterness that works well with the fruitiness of the salad. If you’re wondering why a Summit beer is being served at a FINNEGANS beer dinner, you’ll find out during this course! Once the salad course ends, you are ready for your entrée: a perfectly cooked-to-order sirloin steak.
This steak is not only cooked to perfection, but it is crusted with bleu cheese crumbles and garnished with freshly cooked asparagus spears. Paired with a FINNEGANS Irish Amber, the steak is a showstopper. While you enjoy your sirloin and Irish Amber, you will learn more history of the FINNEGANS brand and how there are close ties to local Irishman and 2 GINGERS founder Kieran Folliard. Speaking of 2 GINGERS… are you ready for dessert?
The dessert course is a Homemade Chocolate Turtle Torte that looks just as yummy as it sounds. It’s a chocolate turtle torte topped with pecans, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream. The drink paired with the last course is a serving of the previously mentioned 2 GINGERS Irish Whiskey, with coffee also available upon request. The whiskey lesson that goes along with this course gives you an idea of how much thought and work goes into creating the unique flavor that 2 GINGERS has. Now, were you paying attention to all that information about beer and spirits? There’s a quiz! Those who answer the trivia questions correctly receive goodies from FINNEGANS!
At the end of the dinner we were all full but thankful for the opportunity to enjoy a great meal for a great cause! There is still time to register for any of the beer dinners that are left in the month of June. Check out the Green Mill beer dinner page to see dates and locations: http://www.greenmill.com/beer-dinners.
So we encourage all of you to go to the Beer Dinners and get social! When each plate arrived we could not help ourselves by snapping a pic (or 10), of all the wonderful dishes and drinks. Start tweeting us your creative food pics at @SocialLightUp, we would love to see them all!
Did you enjoy this post? Tweet it.
