Beer dinner in

wine country

Hurley’s Restaurant & Bar is hosting a seven-course dinner Wednesday night aimed at local beer lovers.

Chef/owner Bob Hurley will team up with Peter Bouckaert, brewmaster of New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colo., for the restaurant’s first beer dinner. “And we’re not serving sausages and sauerkraut either,” noted Hurley.

Courses and paired New Belgium brews include:

• Manila clams and chorizo steamed in beer, paired with Blue Paddle Beer.

• Breast of game hen in yellow coconut curry, with Trippel Beer.

• Roasted fingerling potato and portobello mushroom salad with crispy pancetta and aged sherry vinaigrette, with Spring Board Beer.

• Wild boar braised in beer on farro, with 1554 Beer.

• Banana and walnut bread pudding, with Abbey Beer.

“This company has such an array of beers that go well with food that it was a natural to do this,” added Hurley.

Cost of the dinner with paired beers is $75 per person. Reservations can be made by calling 944-2345. The restaurant is located at 6518 Washington St., Yountville.

High tea served

midday in Calistoga

The English Garden Tea Rooms in Calistoga are offering High Tea (lunch) service from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.

Daily lunches include traditional English winter dishes. Guests can choose among a selection of five lunches, including Shepherds/Cottage Pie, Cornish Pasties, Steak and Mushroom Pie, Bangers and Mash and a sausage sandwich, served as they would be in the UK on English fine bone china.

All dishes are made from traditional family recipes, notes chef Michele Martin. Shepherds Pie was originally made for the shepherds tending their herds, made up of lamb or mutton, vegetables, layered with mashed potatoes and topped off with cheese. Cottage Pie is a variation, made from beef instead of lamb. Cornish Pasties have been in England since approximately the 13th century — a well known Cornish miner’s dish.

The Steak and Mushroom Pie is a variation of Steak and Kidney Pie, but nevertheless as delectable without the kidneys. Bangers and Mash is a pub favorite of sausages and mashed potatoes. “Bangers got their name during the war, since they were mixed with so much water and bread during rationing that when cooked they exploded with a ‘bang,’” says Mitchell.

Future menu dishes will include Toad in the Hole, Lancashire Hotpot and a Ploughman’s lunch.

For those not able to enjoy a relaxing meal in the Tea Room, all meals as well as baked goods are available for takeout or for catered events.

The tea rooms are located at 1107 Cedar St., Calistoga (on the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Cedar Street) and are open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday through Monday. Additional information can be obtained by calling 942-4262, or at www.englishgardentearooms.com

Crustacean Crawl at

St. Helena’s Go Fish

Chef de cuisine Victor Scargle is hosting a Crustacean Crawl at St. Helena’s Go Fish every Tuesday from 5 to 9 p.m., featuring rock shrimp, Maine lobster, Dungeness crab and other tasty seafood.

The special Tuesday night three-course dinner includes “a tantalizing starter, succulent main course and delightful dessert,” says the chef.

Cost of the three-course meal is $40 per person. For reservations and menu details, call 963-0700.

Go Fish is located at 641 Main St., St. Helena.