REVIEW: Big Grove Brewery’s Richard Dinner evolves with luxe courses in Iowa City

IOWA CITY — So a sea urchin, rabbit and tropical fool walk into a brewery for a dinner named after a whale.

That’s not the start of a bad joke — they were the courses that carried one of Iowa City’s most exclusive annual dinners, held with the release of an esteemed batch of Richard the Whale brews at Big Grove Brewery.

Each year, 40 guests have their fingers ready to purchase tickets at their release. This year, like previous years, was no exception as $240 tickets sold out within 10 minutes for the elaborate, 15-course omakase-style meal on Dec. 1.

“This is one of the most unique experiences you’ll find anywhere in the country,” said Big Grove Brewery Culinary Director Ben Smart. “We don’t have to go to New York or Los Angeles to experience this.”

But even with rich beers that command attention at one of Iowa’s biggest breweries, Big Grove doesn’t rest on its laurels.

With tables lit between the brewery’s working tanks, this year’s Richard Dinner returned to its roots several years in, with juxtaposition of rustic and elite that guides attendees through over-the-top courses with luxe elements served nowhere else in the Corridor on a regular basis.

Through each journey of perhaps unfamiliar elements teased out to recreate feelings of nostalgic meals from the team of chefs, they strive for a philosophy espoused by founder Doug Goettsch: “Do not teach people how to eat, but let them discover.”

For my favorites, see course 1, 8, 11, 13 and 15. To learn more about Big Grove’s exclusive Richard the Whale stouts that sell out upon release each year, scroll to the bottom.

The food

1. Goat’s milk ricotta pintxo

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The first of three Pintxos courses — small snacks eaten in the Basque country of northern Spain — are served on grilled sourdough or epi baguettes. But each one, named after a type of food that would typically be served in Spanish bars, far surpasses expectations in American bars.

The first, with goat milk ricotta, personifies what I felt when I heard “the land of milk and honey” from the Old Testament as a child. A thick, luscious cream floats a drizzle of spiced honey punctuated by smoked salt and herbs after the prize of the raft: thin slices of lardo pork whose fatty content melts on the tongue like butter.

2. Jamon iberico pintxo

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The second pintxo, a jamon iberico, crafts a delicate ham produced in Spain and Portugal into what looks like a rose bud. Soft and salted ribbons of meat fall into the crunch of the baguette.

Underneath it all is a substrate of sweet hibiscus jam that concedes my adverse relationship with blue cheese while committing to diplomatically smoothing it over as I keep chewing — pairing pig and paradise into each bite.

3. Tuna belly and bone marrow pintxo

The third pintxo, presents and tastes similar to a bruschetta, thanks to a diced tomato conserva. How they found tomatoes this unbelievably rich and ripe in December still is a mystery to me.

Absent from the last of these three hors d’oeuvres, however, was a discernible protein texture. In its place was a vaguely uplifting flavor that I can only describe as “good fats” from the tuna belly and bone marrow.

Where's the meat? I didn’t know, and I didn’t care, with everything it was giving me.

4. Scallop crudo

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A core smell from Thanksgiving wafts through the air as chefs pour sage brown butter over each plate of scallops, unadulterated by the heat of a stove.

A sweet profile led by the grapefruit blends what seems like a motley crew together, led by the butter’s smooth texture in place of what I might expect to be an oil. It’s a new iteration of a what Big Grove Culinary Director Ben Smart served two years ago, based on a flavor profile he first made at Chicago’s three-Michelin-star Alinea.

I must admit that eating raw fish and scallops can still feel uncomfortable for me at times, even though it’s not a new experience. But the quality of scallops here, aided by the 25-year-old balsamic vinegar, made the learning curve tolerable.

5. Grilled King Trumpet mushroom

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Served in a delightful range of colors, this is a Korean palette for your palate.

Four banchan — the word for side dishes served alongside rice in Korea — defer to the King Trumpet as the meat of the course, for which you’d be none the wiser. Kimchi, a pickled daikon radish and the mushroom are the most lively trio of the bunch, but the beauty of this composition is that each element is able to shine in its own right.

6. Foie gras terrine

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Apple slivers add a sweet accent to the slab of velvety, impeccably smooth slab of butter that is foie gras fattened duck liver. Made from duck instead of pork, it helped me understand my grandmother’s love for the spreadable braunschweiger that never caught on with me.

If you prefer salty instead of sweet, the onion soubise — made only with butter and cream — provides an alternative. Think of this as a rich man’s sour cream dip.

Nearby, a tiny tarte Tatin delivers the cutest apple dessert you’ve ever seen with slightly darker, caramelized undertones.

7. Dungeness crab and sweet corn pot sticker

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Doughy and crispy edges of the pot sticker yield to a sweet Dungeness crab and corn filling. The Sichuan chile oil makes me bounce from nuance to nuance in the filling, seamlessly marrying the pair.

The finish from cucumber and avocado — the refreshing notes and complementary textures offered by the flower girl and ring bearer of this wedding — completes the officiation of a match made in heaven.

8. Shrimp bisque and shrimp toast

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Shrimp bisque is nothing new, but shrimp tartar and toast turned up the Southern charm to pique my attention.

A rich broth brings the tomato soup of the sea to your bowl topped with a charred shrimp — a smart choice. The charbroil flavor on the slightly blackened top brings a new dimension to the broth’s balance of sweet and earthy fennel agrodolce.

Meanwhile, the plate next door offers a buttered, crispy toast with a hint of lemon, conveying the aura of Maine’s fresh lobster rolls with delicate accents of microgreens that make a meal of this course.

In a series of haute cuisine concepts, this surf-based concept ironically grounds me to the turf I’m eating it on.

9. Sea urchin carbonara

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This new preparation of uni, the edible portion of a sea urchin that makes up its reproductive glans, is an improved evolution of a dish at last year’s Richard Dinner. Last year, Japan’s version of the Rocky Mountain oyster was served over a bed of carnaroli rice with lemon and chives.

This year, it’s served in a familiar carbonara stained to a lovely, dark royal purple by squid ink chitarra that seems to play more of an aesthetic role than a palatable one. With bright highlights of lemon and chive that again complements the sea urchin, this year’s iteration leaves the uni tasting less metallic, thanks to a composition that centers the Parmigiano reggiano cheese warmly coating each noodle.

Ultimately, it’s a collaboration of a borderline mythical sea creature and an Italian nonna’s cooking that we didn’t know we needed.

10. Rabbit roulade

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A pleasing composition of rabbit rolled with sausage hops onto a new plate with a garden of accompaniments.

Continuing the bounty of summer and fall, the spiced meat is brightened by a Pedro Ximenez sauce, sourced from a white grape variety commonly grown in the Montilla-Moriles region of Spain. A rich pumpkin seed dukkah, which I scatter over the rest of my plate with my fork, brings a new vibrancy with a salty sprinkle that acts like an herb.

Next to the meat, a charred carrot hummus is the perfect pairing to rabbit, coated in a tangy coating of a preserved Jimmy Nardello pepper.

11. Pork belly

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Finally, we arrive at the “meat and potatoes” of the meal.

After 10 courses, I’m tempted to take a nap until dessert. But the slightly pickled beets of this do more than wake me up — they rally me for the rest of the evening.

Rich, tender pork belly alternates layers of crisp and fat in a moment of ecstasy that no other meat delivered for me in years — no matter how rare or exotic. Rich elements of salt and fat deliver the heart and soul of one of Iowa’s biggest exports.

Here, the spirit of the Midwest was elevated in a way that could be served in a big city, but embraced in a way that would make any farm boy proud to say which small town they’re from. Because sometimes, the best food in life comes from home.

12. Dry aged prime rib-eye

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Smoke, tender meat aged for 45 days is made young again by an equally smoky soy sauce whose haze is broken only by the cherry kosho puree that’s sharp enough to cut the meat without a knife.

The sauce is what, surprisingly, makes this prized cut of meat captivate my attention.

13. Tropical fool

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Trust me, nobody is being insulted here with this tropical fool.

An icy, gritty guava granite lets you step into a beachy paradise, where tropical fool lives blissfully folded between coconut and banana diplomat cream — a creme patisserie mixed with sweet, chantilly whipped cream.

Underneath it all are even brighter rays of sunshine from a Hemingway daiquiri fruit salad that bring a brief reprieve to Iowa as winter arrives.

14. Acorn jaconde with jamon iberico ice cream hazelnut streusel

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Before it even arrived, the description for the second dessert course was somewhat perplexing, pre-empting my ability to preconceive any expectations.

Described as acorn jaconde with matsutake mousse, maple syrup, jamon iberico ice cream and hazelnut streusel, let’s break it down into simpler terms: a jaconde cake made with acorn flour, mousse made with matsutake mushrooms, ice cream in the same flavor as the Spanish ham in the second course, and hazelnut streusel topping.

Conceivably, this novel elevation of earthy, salty and sweet could have worked. But with each bite of the ice cream and cake, I found myself getting lost in this forest of flavors — and so did most of the diners around me whose plates were collected with food still on it.

I found myself picking the delicious hazelnut streusel off the rest of the cake.

15. Mexican chocolate budino with sea salt cajeta

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Finishing strong, the final dessert of the evening warms the air with cinnamon as it’s delivered to each person.

Just one spoonful of chocolate delivers thick layers of cooled chocolate and caramel cajeta punctuated by sea salt. If you’re not a chocolate person, this will make you one.

It pushed the limits of how rich a dessert can be while still being digestible after 14 courses. Those who got even two bites into it were rewarded the keys to the chocolate factory after a golden ticket tour that was this Richard Dinner.

After caramel ribbons coat my tongue, a thick cinnamon and vanilla atole delivers hints of corn that show Iowa isn’t the only place that knows how to use it. If you’ve had the Mexican horchata, think of it as a thicker version of that drink.

After a winding culinary journey, it was the warm embrace I needed to go home satisfied.

The beer

This year’s release of the beloved, barrel-aged Russian Imperial Stout returns in an evolution that builds on the success of previous years.

With big moves happening to dramatically increase production capacity, the Iowa City brewery was in a place to blend with the products of much older barrels, breaking away from their one-year cadence to use some barrels upward of 18 to 20 months old.

Like last year, the 2023 batch features longer boil times. Previously, Richard the Whale was boiled for an hour. Last year, it boiled for 12 to 14 hours. This year, they let it boil for over 20 hours, producing a sweeter, more viscous and more luscious base.

This year’s coffee variant features a blend of JBC Coffee Roasters’ beans from Ethiopian Chelbessa and Rwandan Huye Mountain.

With rich notes of chocolate, the dessert edition this year features a Neapolitan theme built with pureed and freeze dried strawberries, Madagascar vanilla beans and toasted cocoa nibs — all balanced to let each element pierce through the hops.

With whole cinnamon gently steamed into the brew, this year’s coconut-heavy Golden Ticket was also a dessert in its own right with inspiration from templeque, a coconut Puerto Rican dessert.

Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.