Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

A Beer Pairing Dinner Based on...Cupcakes?

They say candy’s dandy, but liquor’s quicker. Put the two together and you’ve got the sweet line of baked goods that is local dessert company, PubCakes. From the La Mesa home base she shares with Treehouse Coffee, owner Misty Birchall crafts home-style cupcakes using beer as a core ingredient.

Since debuting nearly two years ago, she’s gained a cult following among craft beer enthusiasts. Behind that loyal clientele, she’s expanded her catalog of cakes from six to dozens of interesting flavors, been tabbed to create an exclusive recipe for Karl Strauss Brewing Company, and competed on the Food Network show “Cupcake Wars.”

Now, she’s collaborating with The Grill at Torrey Pines (the casual, golf course-adjacent restaurant at The Lodge at Torrey Pines) to offer what very well may be San Diego’s first-ever cupcake-themed beer pairing dinner.

The thought of six courses of flour- and sugar-based fare sounds both intriguing and like sweet-tooth overkill, but the menu is more than a sextet of cupcakes, and actually offers a great deal of variety. In fact, reading over the offerings, there’s zero sign of Birchall’s traditional products.

The closest thing I can find is a “Savory Bloody Mary Cupcake” that will be served as a tray-passed pre-meal appetizer and paired with the cocktail it’s based on made using Ballast Point Brewing & Spirit’s Fugu Vodka and namesake Bloody Mary mix. (Ballast Point beers will be served with each of the sit-down courses.)

Aside from that, there’s a dish called “‘Corn’ Bread with Butter” which could be a corn cake, but given the wide array of quotes on this menu, I wouldn’t bet on it. The braised short rib “cup cake” is bound to at least look like dessert, but expect some fall-apart regionally sourced beef chef Kyle Bergman’s doted on for hours underneath the dish’s maple whipped potato “frosting.”

No matter what shape the offerings on this one-night-only menu take, they’re bound to be outside the normal bill-of-fare. And based on the consistently delectable flavors of Birchall’s PubCakes and the simple yet stunning composition of similar beer dinners Bergman’s put on in the past, no matter the weirdness level, good taste is sure to bring things back to Earth.

The PubCakes and Ballast Point beer dinner will take place on Wednesday, April 25 at 6:30 p.m. Reservations are required and the cost per person is $55 and includes valet parking. The Grill at Torrey Pines is located at 11480 North Torrey Pines Road in La Jolla.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Jazz guitarist Alex Ciavarelli pays tribute to pianist Oscar Peterson

“I had to extract the elements that spoke to me and realize them on my instrument”

They say candy’s dandy, but liquor’s quicker. Put the two together and you’ve got the sweet line of baked goods that is local dessert company, PubCakes. From the La Mesa home base she shares with Treehouse Coffee, owner Misty Birchall crafts home-style cupcakes using beer as a core ingredient.

Since debuting nearly two years ago, she’s gained a cult following among craft beer enthusiasts. Behind that loyal clientele, she’s expanded her catalog of cakes from six to dozens of interesting flavors, been tabbed to create an exclusive recipe for Karl Strauss Brewing Company, and competed on the Food Network show “Cupcake Wars.”

Now, she’s collaborating with The Grill at Torrey Pines (the casual, golf course-adjacent restaurant at The Lodge at Torrey Pines) to offer what very well may be San Diego’s first-ever cupcake-themed beer pairing dinner.

The thought of six courses of flour- and sugar-based fare sounds both intriguing and like sweet-tooth overkill, but the menu is more than a sextet of cupcakes, and actually offers a great deal of variety. In fact, reading over the offerings, there’s zero sign of Birchall’s traditional products.

The closest thing I can find is a “Savory Bloody Mary Cupcake” that will be served as a tray-passed pre-meal appetizer and paired with the cocktail it’s based on made using Ballast Point Brewing & Spirit’s Fugu Vodka and namesake Bloody Mary mix. (Ballast Point beers will be served with each of the sit-down courses.)

Aside from that, there’s a dish called “‘Corn’ Bread with Butter” which could be a corn cake, but given the wide array of quotes on this menu, I wouldn’t bet on it. The braised short rib “cup cake” is bound to at least look like dessert, but expect some fall-apart regionally sourced beef chef Kyle Bergman’s doted on for hours underneath the dish’s maple whipped potato “frosting.”

No matter what shape the offerings on this one-night-only menu take, they’re bound to be outside the normal bill-of-fare. And based on the consistently delectable flavors of Birchall’s PubCakes and the simple yet stunning composition of similar beer dinners Bergman’s put on in the past, no matter the weirdness level, good taste is sure to bring things back to Earth.

The PubCakes and Ballast Point beer dinner will take place on Wednesday, April 25 at 6:30 p.m. Reservations are required and the cost per person is $55 and includes valet parking. The Grill at Torrey Pines is located at 11480 North Torrey Pines Road in La Jolla.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Beer of the Week: Ballast Point Victory At Sea

Beer or cookies? Ballast Point and The Cravory say, “why choose?”
Next Article

An All Island Affair at Leroy's in Coronado

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader