It’s SuperBowl Sunday, so of course any red-blooded American’s thoughts turn to … beer. In Kim’s blog last week, she wrote about beer-related jobs, including beer sommeliers. That wasn’t a title I’d run into before, but of course the way things always go is that now I’m seeing it in all sorts of places. Taking it to the ultimate level, I think, is this item from that beer-drinker’s mecca, London. It came from the just-out Visit London press briefing for the month of February:

Pearl, one of London’s most glamorous fine dining restaurants, has developed an exquisite new Tasting Menu designed specifically for beer-loving gastronomes. Guests at Pearl can now enjoy a sommelier’s selection of gourmet beers, which have been expertly paired to each individual dish on the Beer and Food Tasting Menu. The five-course tasting menu costs £75 per person and includes a specially selected beer with each course.

I happen to know Pearl, and it is indeed a great place. It’s on High Holborn in WC1, and its chef Jun Tanaka presents modern French food with a Japanese flair. It also has one of London’s top wine lists.

Being SuperBowl Sunday, of course I’m having a hard time imagining Americans in London saying, “Must find a French restaurant with a gourmet beer-tasting menu.” I mean, there are a lot of great British beers from small breweries, and my idea of a “beer tasting” is a pub crawl.

In the liquor store and supermarket today, I didn’t see a lot of people saying, “Hmm, which beer will go nicely with nachos.” It was more like, how many cases can I get for 20 bucks? At least, that seemed to be the mindset of the folks I saw.

I’m actually going to a British pub to watch the game; they have a good sportsbar setup (the better to watch “football,” i.e. soccer, don’t you know), and a nice beer selection. I learned to drink beer in London, so I tend to prefer it dark and not cold.

The moral of this story is, I guess, that after you’ve watched your 11th Budweiser commercial tonight, remember–you can do better. Somewhere there’s a beer sommelier rolling over in his grave.

(Oh, and PS, pardon this long-time New Englander’s bias but … Go Pats!)

–Mary Hunt, editor, eFlyer