The Big Smoke Event @ Brooklyn Brewery

Edible Brooklyn, Brooklyn Brewery and Chef Nick Suarez of Backyard Cooking Company and Theo Peck, of the up and coming Peck’s in Brooklyn have reminded us of why food brings people together at The Big Smoke event in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. When we walked into the Brooklyn Brewery, an amazing smokey smell filled the air and we instantly knew we came to the right event (I drooled on my shirt). After grabbing napkins to wipe my face and shirt, we sat down at one of the community seating tables knowing we would soon be joined by others and awaited the first course.

The first round of grub was served family style and it consisted of sliced bread from Bien Cuit Bakery with butter and a smoked sea salt, bacon wrapped farm fresh carrots with a spicy sauce, and a smoked eggplant dip with pomegranate seeds. Bacon and carrots?! Who would have thunk? Welp, Chef Nick Suarez did and we loved every bite of it. We washed down all of this goodness with a Brooklyn Oktoberfest, their totally sexy, malty, brisk hoppy bitter, whoo hoo it’s October beer. While wrapping our heads around wrapping bacon around a carrot and smoking it, others joined the table. It was amazing to see the different people who came to this event, possibly with nothing in common besides the amazing food and beer, which brought commonality and conversation. We all took from the same plates using the same tongs and it instantly became a “family” meal.

After the first helping, we decided to move onto beer number two, which was the Brooklyn Defender a superhero inspired beer. This flavor packed black ale with a hoppy finish was so deep in flavor it was the perfect accompaniment to the smokey next course. Are you ready for this? Smoked pork belly, beef tongue, knackwurst and salmon all comfortably nestled atop roasted beets and sauerkraut. This course hit every bud on the taste bud scale. Smokey in the meats, salty and tangy in the kraut and sweetness in the beets. During the first course, you could sense the apprehension at the table and could tell no one wanted to be the first one to grab the serving tongs, but by the second course we were all almost climbing over each other to get to this smokey plate of food (ice broken). At this point, people started to make food confessions. One person at our table even shared a story with us about how he doesn’t eat tongue because his mother would bite the tip off when he was little and it scarred him for life. It’s funny how good food and beer can bring people together.

By the end of the evening you could hear the conversations and sense the new friendships and relationships that were made over a few beers and some great smoked food. The Big Smoke was a memorable event and we look forward to more events with Edible Brooklyn, Brooklyn Brewery, and Backyard Cooking Company. Big ups to the chefs for leaving us with full bellies and new friends.

Check out all the photos we took from the event after the break.

For more events at the Brooklyn Brewery, head to their site here.

For a list of upcoming events by Edible Brooklyn, head here.

To check out Chef Suarez’s catering company, here’s his site as well.

Like Peck’s Facebook page for more information about the restaurant and its opening.