Looking for a mini mid-week getaway? Take the train down to Philadelphia next week and experience a great matchup of fine food and craft beer at Union Transfer.
On Tuesday, July 8, nine Philadelphia-area chefs will compete an annual food and beer competition, HopChef Philly, a winner-takes-all event that combines creative dishes and Ommegang brews.
Chefs are matched in advance with one of Ommegang's Belgian-style ales from which to base an original dish that will be judged by top local food experts.
Tuesday's winner will ultimately represent the City of Brotherly Love in Brewery Ommegang's annual Belgium Comes to Cooperstown Festival Aug. 8-9 in Cooperstown, N.Y., in a final cook-off to declare HopChef 2014.
Among the contestants include Chef Jeremy Nolen, originally from the Reading, Pa., area. Nolen specializes in new German cuisine at Philadelphia's Brauhaus Schmitz -- a style he learned from his accomplished chef father. Nolen is opening a new farm-to-table restaurant this summer called Whetstone, named for his mother's side of the family, which will serve new-American fare inspired by his upbringing -- think housemade charcuterie, pickled items and cheeses -- and will draw ingredients from the farms of Lancaster County.
Nolan is paired with Ommegang Witte for the HopChef competition, a traditional Belgian wheat beer.
"The beers were actually chosen randomly out of a hat. I guess, rather fortuitously, I drew Ommegang Witte," Nolen said. "Working at a German restaurant, we serve a lot of wheat beers, so I have a lot of experience cooking with and serving them. I understand the distinctive flavors and palates associated with those beers."
Nolen doesn't want to give away his plans for Tuesday, but said he is considering using the Witte as a brine.
Having grown up immersed in German culture, learning from his father and then cooking in German social clubs through high school, Nolen is a huge fan of Germany's soccer team, currently playing in the World Cup.
There is a chance that Germany could be playing in the semifinals of the World Cup on July 8, the same day as HopChef Philly.
"That is going to be a conflict," he joked. "I hope they have a TV, with the match on, at Union Transfer."
Tickets for the event are $50 and can be purchased online. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the contest begins at 7 p.m. You can also follow along via Twitter with hashtag, #HopChef, or follow @BreweryOmmegang and @OmmegangPhilly.
SARA BOZICH: about.me/sarabozich Celebrate responsibly.