Tomorrow I’m headed to the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum for Culinary Pairings’ third annual Brufrou. I’ve never been before and can only imagine what an event showcasing 40 Colorado breweries and 40 Colorado eateries looks, sounds, and tastes like.

I have a lot of “favorite” breweries and restaurants in Colorado. If you ask me for a recommendation for a favorite spot in Denver, I’ll give you a list with at least 5 breweries/distilleries and 5 restaurants because I like to give people options, and I can’t really pick a favorite.

Right now, at this very moment, my favorite breweries are Great Divide Brewing Co., Lowdown Brewing, Call to Arms Brewing Co., and Cerebral Brewing. My favorite places to eat in Denver are Euclid Hall, FreshCraft, Argyle, and Root Down. In two weeks, this list could change.

Brufrou’s pairing menu this year makes me think I’ll have some new favorites to frequent this spring and summer. Here’s a very small sampling of what to try tomorrow:

Beryl’s Beer Co. and Morgan Handmade Rations: Logan’s Barrel Reserve with Housemade Duck Pastrami, Ethiopian Shiro spread on a blue corn Johnny cake with citrus pecan dust.

Black Shirt Brewing Co and The Kitchen Next Door: Dry Hopped Mango Sour with a Spicy Salmon Croquette (wild coho salmon and avocado croquettes fried a la minute).

Brewery Rickoli and The Rib House: Social Lubricant Scotch Ale or Oats McGoats Oatmeal Stout with Tracy’s famous illegal hickory smoked baby back ribs.

Colorado Cider Company and Baur’s: Ol Stumpy Hard Cider with braised lamb meatballs with tomato ginger fondue and tzatziki sauce.

Four Noses Brewing Company and Elevated Catering: Vier Nuezen Belgian Tripel or ‘Bout Damn Time American IPA paired with Colorado Fritter, a wood-grilled rabbit confit, crispy rye flour donut, Palisade peach and Four Noses honey glaze with 10X powdered sweet corn.

Great Divide Brewing and Osteria Marco: Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout paired with Oak Aged Yeti Braised Short Ribs with Prosciutto and English Pea Arancini.

The event is not just a food and beer tasting festival. Also scheduled are Q&A sessions, dubbed “TastyTalks” with brewmasters, chef partners and industry experts. The topics for this year’s TastyTalks are “Change Menus. Change Lives”, “Craft + Culinary Made In Colorado: Innovation & Collaboration”, “Big Beers. Big Trends”, “Pairings: Pairing Partners” and of course, a panel of judges choosing the inaugural Golden Pair award.

I love celebrating Colorado food and drink — I’m incredibly biased, but I think we have some of the best chefs, brewers, and distillers in the country here — and I’ve never been to an event in a hangar before.
For tickets and more information: http://www.culinarypairings.com/2016-brufrou-details/