Tucker Duke's Summer Brewmaster Series

Tucker Duke's Lunch Box in Boca Raton, FL, held the first of their Summer Brewmaster series and we were lucky to score tickets to the sold-out event. Chef Brian Cartenuto and Chef George Patti competed in an epic battle for best pairing with 4 courses (8 dishes) and 4 beers served up by Coppertail Brewing from Tampa, FL. We arrived early and were treated to a pre-competition bottle of Coppertail Independent Pilsner (5.1 ABV), a tasty German Pilsner brewed with Fantasia and TNT hops, to start us off. The place was full of beer enthusiasts who brought a thirst and an appetite. It took on a beerhall feel as we started the event by singing Happy Birthday and hoisted our glasses to Mayra, who was there celebrating her 21st birthday.
The competition started with a welcome to the summer event, introductions of chefs George and Brian, and a raised glass from Coppertail Rep, Jio Torres.
Course 1 was a bowl of Bo Vien Vietnamese beef meatballs and rice noodle soup, an avocado salad with pink grapefruit, olives and pickled chilies, paired with a sweet/tart (3.5% ABV) Pinky Swear Beliner Weisse from Coppertail. We savored the mixing of flavors and our glasses and plates we quickly emptied. We cast our votes by placing a wooden token in a jar for the dish voted best paired. The soup was delicious but the avocado salad won hands down, having a surprising perfect, albeit unusual, pairing with the tart beer. A win for George. Bring on the second course!
Course 2 came with chorizo free-form sausage with chimichurri aioli, and a slice of broiled pork belly on with Manchego cheese on a bed of grated apple, paired with (5.9% ABV) Free Dive IPA. The mild IPA left a delicious taste washing down the sausage leaving you wanting to eat drink and repeat. A win for Brian.
The Main Course came with Key West shrimp and grits over a Chex biscuit and gravy, competing against a serving of Mussels Puttanesca, paired with (9.2% ABV) Unholy Tripple Belgium. It was very close and we would have liked 4 more servings of each to help us decide but the shrimp and grits slightly edged out the mussels. Another win for George. The room started to mellow as everyone started to feel full but highly anticipated the final desert course. BRING ME SOME CHOCOLATE!

To close we were served desert of a Bacon Bourbon smores in a jar, a heaping of Chocolate French Toast casserole, paired with (6.1% ABV) Night Swim Porter. Ohhh my! After serving everyone, the staff immediately started dropping off to-go boxes, knowing it would be almost impossible to finish both desserts and it then became noticeably quieter while everyone sampled both desserts. A win for Brian, which meant we would need to go for a tie-breaker. The overall vote count went to George who gladly took the win and then announced he and Brian would be opening a restaurant down the street in the next few weeks. With these great dishes and artful beer pairings they are sure to fill the place and we'll be there.
It was an awesome night of good food and good craft beer. Tucker Duke's Lunchbox offers a great beer selection on tap, in bottles, a tastey wallet friendly menu and they enjoy a close relationship with the breweries and their customers. We already bought our tickets for the next Summer Brewmaster night. Visit Tucker Duke Lunch Box on 1658 N Federal Hwy, Boca Raton, FL 33432, open 10:30AM to 10PM daily.