Stir - South End

On Sunday night Tom took me out an amazing date to Stir in the South End!

Stir is a foodie's dream. Part of the Barbara Lynch group, Stir allows customers to interact with the chefs in an intimate environment. From their website:

"Stir is our commitment to providing a resource for both food and wine enthusiasts and novices, as well as our colleagues. Each week, cooking demonstrations and classes on wine and spirits offer an opportunity to learn and taste in a convivial environment. Instructors and the curriculum draw from the talents and passions of Chef Barbara Lynch, Wine Director Cat Silirie, and their teams."

I had heard about Stir and had it on my yelp bookmarks for some time, but I really became interested in attending a course after getting to know Kristen Kish on Top Chef. At the time, Kristin was the chef at Stir and I was so excited about the opportunity to try her food. Apparently I wasn't the only one, because the Stir website crashed from too many people trying to book classes after she won!

Unfortunately (but fortunately for her!) Kristen is now the Chef de Cuisine at Menton (remember my fabulous 24th birthday?), so she wasn't cooking for us. It was still an incredible experience and I really hope to go back and try more classes.

When Stir released the summer schedule a few months ago Tom and I looked it over and decided to attend "Season for Saison" since we both love Siasons and were interested in how the beer would pair with food. Here was the class description:

"Tis the season for saison! This traditional farmhouse ale was intended for refreshment and nourishment of farmhands during the heat of summer, but saison has evolved to become one of the most versatile and elegant styles of beer. With its bright citrus notes, yeasty body, and delicate bubble, we’ll show you how saison can go from crudo to hearty meat courses and still leave you thirsty for more."

I really wasn't sure what to expect from Stir, but I was extremely excited come Sunday. We arrived for our 6 o'clock class a few minutes early and were sat around a counter with 7 other guests. The room was very small -- there was hardly any room to walk around the table! In addition to the 9 guests was the chef (Jason) and the very knowledgeable Christine who put the class together and conceived of the menu.

In front of each chair was the night's menu and some paper to take notes on. We started the night by getting to know each other and talking about our favorite summer beers. And then the food started!

Chef Jason prepping

The first course was a house cured Oregon Wild King Salmon with creme fraiche, Siena Farms beet, orange and radish.

How beautiful is that? I loved the clean flavors in this dish and was especially a fan of the radish, which the chef claimed were some of the best he has seen. This first course was paired with Brasserie Dupont Saison and it tasted wonderfully together. It was the perfect way to start the meal. Out of the 5 saisons we tasted Dupont is the one I'm most familiar with, which is surprising because it was the only non-domestic beer!

While we ate the first course Jason went across the street to B & G Oysters (another Barbara Lynch restaurant) to use the fryer. He returned with some beautiful beer battered hake, which was served with a potato & fennel salad, homemade tartar sauce and topped with lemon confit.

This was definitely one of my favorites of the night. The fish was cooked perfectly and the tartar sauce was amazing. I made sure to ask Jason for the recipe and jotted it down as fast as I could! The fish was paired with Green Flash Saison Diego. This was both my favorite pairing and beer of the night.

The next course was the one I was most excited about: Miso Ramen with hand-cut noodles, an onsen egg, pork jowl, mushrooms, and lots of other good stuff!

This is the first time I've had ramen and I loved it. The broth was so delicious, the mushrooms had that strong umami flavor, and the egg was perfectly cooked. I've never had an onsen egg before and it was great. FYI, you make an onsen egg by poaching it in it's shell at 149 degrees for 30+ minutes. Pretty cool! The yoke had a putty like consistency and was not runny. The ramen was paired with High & Mighty Pas de Dieux, another great combination.

By this point I was very full -- the portions were huge -- but we still had two courses to go. The fourth course was a charmoula-rubbed Misty Knolls chicken, served with turmeric cardamom jasmine rice and braised greens.

For someone who doesn't really like chicken, this was fantastic. We all got to choose between white and dark meat (I chose white), and the chicken was super moist and the skin was crispy and flavorful. The rice was perfectly cooked and I loved the braised greens. This course was served with Pretty Things Americaine Jack d'Or.

Our final course was appropriately a cheese course! I think it would have been nice to end the meal with something sweet, but I was more than happy with a cheese course. 

We were served two cheeses: Veenweidekaaas Reserve (left) and Cabricharme (right):

This course was paired with Jolly Pumpkin Farmhouse Ale Bam Biere and was served with local honey, hazelnuts, pistachios, preserves and crostinis. I wasn't a huge fan of the Veenweidekaas but loved the Cabricharme. I'm definitely going to try to find some for myself!

Once we finished up we spent some time asking questions and chatting. They urged us to ask questions throughout the meal and I definitely took advantage!

It was a fabulous night and a perfect date for me and Tom. I learned a lot and left with a very full and satisfied belly. The classes are pretty pricey, but you are paying not only for fabulous food, but for the experience. When else do you get to watch a chef cook and ask questions as they do so? The environment was very casual and I felt more than comfortable to make comments throughout. The level of knowledge around the table varied and I never felt embarrassed or intimidated about asking a question. I can't wait to attend more demonstrations!