Elizabeth and Michel Share a Meal with a Peckish Pig

So let me start by saying this:  Ultimately, I have decided not to recommend How About We anymore.  About 50% of the time, our dates have fallen through for some reason or another, all How About We's fault.  That being said, 50% of the time, our dates are fantastic.  And How About We has done it again: immediately after a series of events that resulted in us being locked out of our account and a very upset e-mail exchange, we went on what we thought would be our last How About We date and ended up having an absolutely fantastic time.  The establishment?  The Peckish Pig, a new brew pub in Evanston.

We thought our date would consist of a flight of beers brewed mainly at the brew pub itself, a chef-selected menu that we assumed would mainly be a charcuterie plate, and a tour of the brewery.  Oh, how wrong we were.  What we got was the mentioned beer flight, a six-course shared dinner, the brewery tour, and two beer glasses with the brew pub's logo.  Oh, and we were the first people who had actually booked the brew pub's How About We offering, so we also got to meet the owners and chef.  Pretty cool.

Michel:  It's pretty clear they were afraid the deal would not include enough food, so they compensated with an industrial-sized assortment of victuals.  We essentially got close to $100 worth of food and drink for free. 

Elizabeth:  (We had a credit that we used.)  We sat down, they explained how the evening would work, and then they just started bringing the menu selections.  It was so much that even though we were supposed to take the tour at the end of dinner, we had to take a break and do the tour before dessert.

 Homemade bread and honey butter

 Charcuterie Plate

 Beer Pig Mussels with House-Brewed Beer and Bacon

 Duck Confit Mac and Cheese with Sunny-Side Up Egg

 Honey Glazed Pork Ribs with Fennel Apple Beet Slaw

After all that, it was time for the brewery tour.

 

Michel: Our tour guide, whose name I don't remember and will henceforth call Jimmy, was very friendly and knowledgeable. The brewery here is really just a few tanks in a green room, but Jimmy took his time and answered any and all questions we had both about brewing and the restaurant itself.  Rather than feeling like a formal tour this was much more akin to having our pal Jimmy show us around.

Elizabeth:  When we finished the tour, we came back to a hot plank of deep fried jam butty with vanilla bean ice cream.  What is deep fried jam butty, you ask?  Deep fried peanut butter and jelly.  You read that correctly.  The pub is owned by a British couple, and they basically decided to deep fry their favorite version of PB&J (or jam butty).  It certainly would fit right in at the Texas State Fair.  Well, I just have to say that it was delicious.  Absolutely amazing.  

Michel:  It was great.  More places should batter dip and deep fry sandwiches and serve them with ice cream.

We had a fantastic time and are looking forward to heading back to The Peckish Pig.  The staff was so friendly and attentive, the food was delicious, and the whole experience was really fun.  And How About We lives to fight another day.