Suds & slices

Chef pairs beers, pizzas to get top tastes

Jay Dedrick, Rocky Mountain News

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Think classic food partners, and several timeless combos come to mind: Milk and cookies. Wine and cheese. Meat and potatoes.

One more than any other, though, inspires thoughts of Friday nights with friends gathered around a restaurant table, kitchen counter or dorm-room desk: beer and pizza.

"They're both what I consider accessible food and drink," says chef Jorge de la Torre, dean of culinary education at Johnson & Wales University.

"Beer is forgiving to any type of pizza. It's nice and cooling, it cuts through the fat of the cheese and provides a great contrast. It can hold up to the powerful taste of tomato sauce, garlic, anchovies - things that are sometimes hard to pair with other drinks."

Tim Bryan, director of operations for Via Baci Pizzeria in Lone Tree, notes that the beer-and-pizza team history has deep roots in Italy.

"In Naples, where I spent last fall studying the culture, pizza is really a blue-collar food. You'll find as many pizza places there as you'll find Starbucks here," he says. "And fizzy, bubbly, thirst-quenching beverages are what (working people) drink."

Bryan and de la Torre agree that there's no right or wrong when matching a beer and a pizza. Still, there are particularly perfect pairings destined to bring the best out of both.

To find them, we played beer-association with de la Torre, who will lead demonstrations of food-and-beer pairings at the Great American Beer Festival, Thursday through Saturday.

First, we chose eight pizzas from some of the most distinctive pizzerias in the metro area. Then, we asked de la Torre to recommend a beer style and brand best suited for complementing the taste of each one. It may not be a beer on the restaurant's bar list, so trying out these pairings may require picking up a pizza to go and a six-pack from the liquor store.

And remember, it's the Great American Beer Festival; in that spirit, we kept it even more local by choosing Colorado-brewed beers.

Good times are brewing

• What: 25th Great American Beer Festival, presented by the Brewers Association, featuring tastings of 1,600 beers from 380 breweries

• When: 5:30-10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; also, connoisseur tasting, 12:30-4:30 p.m. Saturday

• Beer & food pairing demos: 6-6:30 p.m. Thursday, Garrett Oliver; 6-6:30 p.m. Friday, Steve Bradt and Rick Martin; 3:30-4 p.m. Saturday, Chef Jorge de la Torre and Marty Jones; 6-6:30 p.m. Saturday, de la Torre and Sam Calagione; 7-7:30 p.m. Saturday, de la Torre and Kris Oyler.

• Where: Colorado Convention Center, 14th and Stout streets

• Tickets: Through Ticketmaster, Old Chicago restaurants, many liquor stores (see list on Web site) or at the door

• Info: 303-447-0816, www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com

Proto's Clam

with clams, garlic-infused olive oil, garlic, mozzarella and oregano

• The beer: New Belgium's Sunshine Wheat, Fort Collins

• The combo: "The citrus tones in the wheat beer go well with seafood," de la Torre says.

Beau Jo's BBQ Pie

with chicken, bacon, fresh mushrooms, red onions, barbecue sauce, cheddar cheese

• The beer: Ska Brewing's Ten Pin Porter, Durango

• The combo: "That's a heavy pizza with some big flavors in it," de la Torre says. "A porter will have some sweet maltiness to go with the smokiness of the bacon and the barbecue sauce."

Wazee Supper Club's Pacific Rim

with ham, pineapple, green pepper, onion

• The beer: O'Dell's 5 Barrel Pale Ale, Fort Collins

• The combo: "You have sweet and salty, so I would go with a hoppy pale ale," de la Torre says. "It provides a nice little cut for the fat of the ham and the sweetness of the pineapple."

Via Italian Trattoria's Neapolitan Margherita

with San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and basil

• The beer: Budweiser, Fort Collins

• The combo: "With something simple like this or just a simple pepperoni pizza, a simple lager is great," de la Torre says. We're featuring Bud - locally brewed by virtue of the mega-brewer's Fort Collins outpost - but he also mentions Pabst Blue Ribbon and Full Sail's Session, an all-malt lager. "Or, if you want to get fancy, an Italian Moretti or Peroni."

Via Baci's Enzo

with San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, Sopressata salami, pepperoni, fennel sausage, caramelized onions, fresh oregano

• The beer: Oskar Blues' Dale's Pale Ale, Lyons

• The combo: "The caramelized onion is sweet and the Sopressata is spicy," de la Torre says. "Any pale ale with sharp hoppiness will go well with that."

Virgilio's Puttanesca

with capers, imported anchovies, black olives, olive oil crust

• The beer: Left Hand's Milk Stout, Longmont

• The combo: "Those are very strong, pungent flavors - salty, briny," de la Torre says. "We'll contrast that with something creamy to cool it down."

California Pizza Kitchen's vegetarian

with mozzarella, baby broccoli, grilled Japanese eggplant, roasted corn, red onions, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato sauce

• The beer: Steamworks' Lizard Head Red, Durango

• The combo: "A red or amber ale gives it a little sharpness. It also will work with almost any of the usual pizza veggies," de la Torre says.

The Oven's Fresh Tomato

with garlic, oregano, mozzarella, green olives, Haystack Mountain goat cheese

• The beer: Coors' Blue Moon Belgian White, Golden

• The combo: "The beer has some nice clove and orange flavors, which go well with the goat cheese," de la Torre says.

Thanks to Liquor Martin Boulder; Glassware from Crate and Barrel, Sur la Table and Pottery Barn in Cherry Creek.

The restaurants

• Proto's, locations in Denver, Boulder, Lafayette and Longmont. Denver phone, 720-855-9400. www.protospizza.com

• Beau Jo's, locations in Idaho Springs, Denver, Arvada, Highlands Ranch, Fort Collins and Evergreen. Denver phone, 303-758-1519. www.beaujos.com

• Wazee Supper Club, 1600 15th St., 303-623-9518. www.wazeesupperclub.com

• Via Italian Trattoria, 1801 Wynkoop St., 303-295-1488. www.viaitalianeatery.com

• Via Baci, 10005 Commons St., Lone Tree, 303-790-0828. www.viabaci.com

• Virgilio's Pizzeria, 7986-B W. Alameda Ave., Lakewood, 303-985-2777. www.virgiliospizzeria.com

• California Pizza Kitchen, locations in Denver, Broomfield, Lakewood, Littleton, Colorado Springs, Boulder (opening in October). Denver phone, 303-388-5686. www.cpk.com

• The Oven, 7167 W. Alaska Drive, Lakewood, 303-934-7600. www.theovenpizzaevino.com