Little ‘ole Tampa hits the big time this Thursday, as SideBern's sommelier Kevin Pelley and Executive Chef Chad Johnson head to New York City to match wits and palates with four other restaurants from across the country. They head to semi-finals of Copa Jerez where restaurants compete by offering up their most innovative food paired with Spain's historic yet completely misunderstood beverage, Sherry. (Read more about Sherry here).
In its third year, the competition is sponsored by the Sherry Council of America, whose main purpose lies in introducing our rich, affluent market to their food friendly alcohol. Copa Jerez could effectively do this as higher-end restaurants start to warm up to the idea of pushing Sherry to the masses. After working on their three entries for two months, Pelley is pretty pumped for the competition — especially the part about the free trip to New York — and hopes this encourages more of their guests to try his favorite Sherries. If you're curious about the concoctions, the duo has already placed one of their creations on their tasting menu at SideBern's…
This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 2, 2008.