Dunedin Smoke House Beer Dinner

We had a great time in the Tampa area during American Craft Beer Week.  From wonderful, amazing, delicious Fish Tacos to Fundraising for the Animal Rescue to discovering a new brewery (7eventh Sun), this trip to this area was definitely well worth the cost of admission.  We capped it off in a great restaurant and got to hang with some fun folks.

As it turns out, Dunedin is becoming my favorite city in Florida.  The people are great, it's close to Tampa and St. Pete, it's on or near the water, and the beer culture is growing at a phenomenal rate.  The hospitality business in this area really support each other and at this particular dinner, it looked like a who's-who of Dunedin bar and restaurant owners.  I love to see business owners in a cooperative atmosphere and it was awesome to see how they are enjoying each others' success.

I was asked to do this beer dinner a few months ago and was excited to see that they had decided to put the Mojo Risin' Double IPA on the menu.  Being that the season for Mojo Risin' has ended, it is a great complement to see that they wanted to have it enough to keep the brew around for the event.  Additionally, I was told they wanted to have Sweaty Betty, Mojo IPA, Kinda Blue, and the legendary Hazed & Infused.

The restaurant is located at 471 Main Street in Dunedin.  This little area is very cool and has a small downtown situated around a circle within a few blocks of the Toronto Blue Jays Spring Training facility.  This is a very nice little area and I can definitely see the allure to people wanting to visit this area to watch some baseball (especially since Mike Wallace from Terrapin and I took a walk to see a game a few months ago).

As for Dunedin Smoke House, don;t let the name, or the seemingly casual look of the restaurant fool ya'.  This restaurant takes their food seriously, as you can see in this review from Urbanspoon written for this very event!!

 http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/30/1546808/restaurant/Tampa-Bay/The-Dunedin-Smokehouse-Dunedin

While you may expect a place with Smoke House in the name to offer 5 different types of ribs for a beer dinner and call it a day, Chef Tony apparently doesn't see the world that way.  When they sent me the menu, I was thrilled at the thought that went into creating the menu and figured if the food was HALF as good as it looks, this is going to be great.  I don't even eat meat and I was excited.  The menu for the event was:

Tempura Battered Stone Crab Roll with Avocado and Red Bell Pepper Served with Spicy Togarashi Aioli - Paired with Sweaty Betty


Lavender Smoked Wild Boar Boudin Sausage with Gouda Grit Cake & Shaved Onion Rings - Paired with Hazed & Infused


Tandoori Quail With Cucumber Raita, Saffron Basmati Rice and Pomegranate Ginger Chutney with Warm Nan Bread - Paired with Mojo IPA


Grilled Venison Chop with Green Peppercorn Demi, Oyster Mushroom Faro, Roasted Baby Gold Beets, and Sunburst Squash - Paired with Mojo Risin' Double IPA


Macadami Crusted St. Andre Triple Cream Brie with Blueberry Gastrique, Organic Greens, and Brioche Toast Points - Paired with Kinda Blue


Given that I don;t eat meat, of course I had to work around some of the food listed above.  That being said, I did my best to collect the wonderful aromas coming off said meat and in mind re-lived the days when I would have been chowing on this stuff.  Needless to say, everyone around me enjoyed their plates immensely.

By end-count, there were 40 people at this event and, according to management they have been gaining in popularity.  I would definitely recommend hitting up Dunedin Smoke House for a beer dinner.  Better yet, spend a few days in the area and enjoy all it has to offer.  Cheers!