“I could have stayed home and done this!” the woman exclaimed as she carried plates back to the dish station.  I ran right over to help her, and assured her that if she really didn’t want to bus her table, we would be happy to help.  She turned back to me and said “No!  This is great fun!”

And that’s exactly what “Come to the Table — a Live and Local Interactive Dining Experience” was last Thursday night. Held at the parking lot of Ninth Bridge Market in Ada, the event focused on local chefs, local food, Local First! of West Michigan, Fenn Valley wines and Short’s beers.

At most of these types of dinners wine takes center stage, with each course getting paired with a specific wine. The beer is usually non-existent, unless you ask for one. Not so last Thursday. Each course had been specifically paired with a beer from Short’s Brewery in Bellaire, as well as a wine from Fenn Valley.  There were also reps from both Short’s and Fenn Valley there to describe their products and why they chose them. This made for lively conversations and discussions about which pairing worked best, how the beer changed with the food and how the food changed with the beer.  I think it also created some new craft beer fans.

The dinner was an “interactive” dinner.  Each guest had a job written on their placemat when they arrived. Why would you pay to do your own busing? “Because it creates a different dining environment,” said Courtney Cheers, Ninth Bridge market manager. “We based this dinner on a Slow Food Nation dinner that we attended in San Francisco a few years ago. Everyone had a job at that dinner, and it really created an instant community at our table. A lot of times at these dinners you are seated next to someone you don’t know, and don’t get to know at all.

“By having these unexpected things to do, it creates conversation easily. We had such a great time at the dinner in California, we wanted to let people in Grand Rapids experience it.”

We were there for the beer, and if we had to serve it ourselves, all the better! Each course had a specific beer paired with it, and first up was a regular from Short’s — Pandemonium Pale Ale.  This came with local charcuterie (which just means yummy cured meat products) and local cheeses put together by the chefs at Bistro Bella Vita.  The hops in this one cut the richness of the meat and cheese nicely.

Next up was the beer that had everyone talking all night long, Short’s Spruce Pilsner.  Jon Wojtowicz, Short’s “Beer Liberator”, was on hand to talk about this beer. “The Woj” said that “the spruce has some really intense qualities, but that it can be like the missing ingredient in a dish.  If you pair it right, it can be a complement and continuation of the flavor.”

The Spruce got paired with an heirloom tomato salad with a fresh herb vinaigrette made by Ninth Bridge Market.

“Some pairings, you just don’t know until you try! But hops do really well with big, bold flavors like the vinaigrette.  The base for this beer is an india pilsner, which has aggressive hops.  We’re using Summit hops in this one — they have a piney aroma already, a piney quality.  If you smell pine in a beer, it’s a good chance Summit is in there.”

Wojtowicz said that “he went out on a limb with this pairing.”  That he did. But it worked. The Spruce Pilsner on its own was rough — a sipping beer for sure. With the salad, it changed. One guest commented that they “really liked it with the salad, but on its own it was kind of strong.”

“The beer totally changes it’s finish with the salad, it kind of takes away some of the bitterness, cleans up the finish and mellows it out,” said Cheers.

I heard several guests say they felt the Spruce paired better on this course than the wine.  It was the beer that everyone talked about for the rest of the night, whether they liked it or not.

The rest of the dinner was equally exciting.  Michigan Bean Succotash loaded with braised meats was paired with Sustenance Black Beer, an inspired pair. The maltiness of this beer really played well against the richness of the meats. Chef Aaron from Bistro Bella Vita said “I was either going to fry something or braise it, and we love to braise so I thought it would be perfect”.  After trying them together, he exclaimed that Sustenance “could be my go to winter beer with roasts and meat.”  I agree.

Trout with Roasted Vegetables got Short’s Magician.  This one was great with the farm fresh vegetables.  The natural sugars in the beets, carrots, and parsnips got all caramelly in the oven, and that played well with the hops in the Magician.  Last, but never least, came dessert.  Full disclosure:  I made it.  Layers of flaky puff pastry, creamy yogurt panna cotta and spiced Michigan plums.  Tastes of fall with cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, paired with Short’s seasonal Autumn Ale.  The perfect ending to a great night out in Ada.