The Sauced Chef

Pearl’s New Orleans Kitchen

Elk Rapids, MI

www.magnumhospitality.com/pearls.asp

Pearl’s is located about a half-hour northeast of Traverse City, MI.  You take a verdant and tranquil  drive up M-31 and head downtown.  Pearl’s head chef actually travelled to New Orleans to study the cuisine, this is the real deal – authentic Cajun and Creole style food. This place is always packed, so make sure you allot a good two hours for dinner. 

 Get Sauced: 4 out of 4

Pearl’s has a decent beer and wine list.  You can tell that they really, really focused on their cocktails and bourbons! My goal is to make it through their speciality cocktail list sometime in the next two years! The mixologist provides customers with diverse offerings; from 23 oz Hurricanes, Mint Juleps, Margaritas to Oyster Shooters and their version of Moonshine.  I have to pay homage to the Big Easy Mary, one of my all-time favorite Bloody Marys.  It’s tangy and spicy and is served with an enormous blue-cheese stuffed jalapeno, a crayfish and pickled carrot sticks.  Also, Pearl’s offers bourbon flights! They know their bourbon, folks! The single-malt flight was smooth, oaky with hints of vanilla and smoke.  Fantastic!

The Sauce: 4 out of 4

I ordered the Etouffee, the sauce was thick, creamy and spicy! Hints of cayenne, garlic and jalapeno provided the slow burn that I cherish.  Pearl’s also has the largest selection of hot sauces that I have ever seen.  They line the walls, challenging patrons to try them all.  Their sweet potato fries come with two decadent dipping sauces that compliment the flaky and sweet starch very well.  Then comes the cinnamon ice cream served with the buttermilk pie.  Cinnamon ice cream (when it’s done right) is my favorite.  This one is done damn good; creamy, subtley sweet and cinnamon focused!

The Reduction: +1 Customer Service for 9 out of 10

Our server was knowledgeable and pleasant.  She also perceived that my in-laws are not spicy people and constantly re-filled their waters.  Perfect!  The ambiance is cool, but may be just a little too cluttered.  A funhouse-like mish-mash of Cajun lore, seems a bit busy.  The booth we sat in was a wee bit compact and not very comfortable, we didn’t seem to have room on the table for everything we ordered (a reasonable amount for 4 people).  Overall, this is one of my favorite places to dine in northern Michigan, a diamond in the rough, which always, always delivers on authenic Cajun cuisine, creative and boozey drinks and great service. 

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Go to any established “gourmet’ restaurant and they have their waitstaff trained to suggest wine with dishes.  They are quick to talk about tannins, terrior, body and aroma and how these things paired with (insert dish here) will double the enjoyment of your dining experience. However, ask that same server about beer pairing and watch the confusion, the indecision and in some cases the immediate scoffing at the suggestion. Why isn’t beer gourmet?

Well, I think beer IS gourmet and want to address the three most common myths that surround beer.

Myth # 1: Beer is easier to make than wine

This is flat out not true.  I am not here to start a war between vintners and brewers, because I love beer and wine equally, but beer brewing is definitely as complex as wine making.  Many of the brewers I talk shop with also have chemistry degrees! Brewing beer is a painstaking and rewarding SCIENCE.  Vintners have the earthy artistry of the terrior, which takes on mythical and magical qualities.  Brewers have the science of sanitation management (imperative) and the artistry of where in the brewing process (if any) to add additional flavorings (raspberry, vanilla, pumpkin, coffee etc).  Any way you slice it, its EQUALLY difficult to make wine or beer.

Myth # 2: Beer is mass produced and low quality

If you haven’t seen the movie Beer Wars, go see it! This film will explain what actually happens in the commercialized brewing world, things get intense and, sadly, a bit shady. Yes, it has been documented that some of the mass produced beer companies sacrifice corn and rice intro their wort (a liquid produced from malt and hot water) instead of higher quality barley mixes.  Does it actually produce a lower quality flavor, many say yes, some say no.  That’s something you will have to judge.  Here’s a tip: TAKE ADVANTAGE OF LOCAL MICROBREWED BEER! Every state in the union has microbreweries that produce hand-crafted, high quality beer.  Craft beer is becoming so popular with Gen X and Y that big beer companies are scrambling to make their own “craft” off-brands. These beers are high quality, vibrant, flavorful and as distinct and different as red to white wine.  The young brewer movement is exciting and constantly changing.  New ideas and flavor profiles (chocolate, vanilla, oak, pepper, squash, jalapeno, caramel) are fluttering around the industry everywhere.  For the patriots out there, the American IPA is becoming the WORLD’S new trendy beer, that’s right folks, created and invented right here in the USA.  Most brewers brew high-quality and local beers.

Myth # 3: Beer does not pair well with gourmet cuisine

Balderdash! Baloney! Pa-Tooey! Ju-Ju Charp! (made that one up) Beer and food pairing is the nouvelle thing in cuisine today. In my opinion, beer pairs as well with food as wine.  The cool thing is that many people don’t know how to pair beer and food because there exists such limited resources.  That is what I am here for, being the Sauced Chef, one can imagine that I have consumed many a beer (not too hard to imagine, is it?)  I’ve also tried many different beers with many food combinations.  Here are some delicious pairings I recommend.

Blonde or Golden Ales or Lightly Hopped Lagers – these work best as thirst quenchers, try them with highly seasoned or “blackened” foods.  The light golden taste can act as a natural enhancer to the seasoning while giving your palette relief. Very nice with pan-seared fish as well.

Amber Ale, Dry Porters – these work really well with steak! A nice dry porter with a filet or ribeye will enhance the savory umami of the beef while adding a subtle finish to the bite.

Bitter Ales, American IPA’s- these are solid gold with anything fried, the intense hop flavor cutting through grease like Bruce Lee.  I love a citrus based American IPA with anything spicy, it enhances and subtracts at the same time, a taste fireworks show on my tongue.

Weissbeer or Dunkelweiss - Pasta! Any pasta that is delicately seasoned these beers will really compliment the flavor.  Try the weiss with chicken and seafood pastas and the dark with sausage and red meat based pastas.

Cream or sweet stouts, imperial stouts - one word: Chocolate! If you have the chance to try a berry based chocolate dessert (i.e. chocolate brulee with raspberry mousse) with a sweet stout, you will be in culinary heaven.  I think sweet stouts pair better with chocolate than many dessert wines.

Beer is gourmet! Realize it, embrace it and try craft beers! Find your local brewers and drink up, go to beer fests and most importantly, order beer at fancy restaurants. The next time a waiter scoffs at your choice of weissbeer with your chicken-basil cream gnocchi, scoff right back at him and enjoy your awesome flavor combination.  You are now part of the movement, my friends.  Get sauced with beer and ignore the sneer!

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The Strawberry Basilico Cocktail

Muddler

Shaker

Club soda

2 basil leaves chiffonade

1 ½ oz Sauce Lab #3 Strawberry Basil Simple syrup

2 oz Lillet blanc

2 oz premium vodka

Strawberry basil garnish (optional)

1. Add fresh basil and vodka to bottom of glass
2. Muddle until thoroughly crushed
3. Add simple syrup and Lillet blanc
4. Muddle some more
5. Fill glass ¾ way with ice (if ice is not crushed muddle yet again)
6. Add club soda and shake it
7. Slit a whole strawberry near the bottom and fold a basil leaf in
8. Garnish
9. Get Sauced

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