Spring Equinox Beer Pairing Dinner

2024 UPDATE: Helio Basin Brewing Company is permanently closed, and Tamara Stanger has moved to her home state of Utah. This dinner, with its focus on desert foraging, still remains as one of the most interesting I have had to pleasure to attend. Chef Stanger was ahead of her time, as many are now jumping on this band wagon.

Helio Basin Brewing Company owners, Mike Conley and Dustin Hazer, bring something unique to the Arizona dining scene. In their mission to raise awareness for Arizona beer and cuisine, they have found a partner in Chef Tamara Stanger, a Utah native with a passion for Arizona. Supporting local farms and small businesses, the team at Helio Basin has created a menu decidedly Arizona-centric. What does this mean? Some have described the cuisine as Native American. And one can certainly argue that it contains Native American elements, such as the O’odham White Tepary Bean Purée. However, I feel it’s more than that. I am reminded of an episode I watched from the Netflix show, Chef’s Table, about Magnus Nilsson, chef and owner of Fäviken in Sweden, who forages the subarctic for ingredients at his Michelin two-star restaurant. To quote Chef Nilsson, “If you have everything all the time, there is very little motivation to create something new, and possibly better.” Like Magnus Nilsson, Chef Stanger’s preparations draw on her knowledge in foraging in a challenging environment. At a recent Spring Equinox Dinner at Helio Basin, Chef Stanger celebrated spring as one of her favorite times to forage with the desert in full bloom. Each course was paired with a Helio Basin beer that highlighted the flavors in each dish. It was an eye opening experience, to see how Chef Stanger forages from the bounty of the desert to bring exceptionally fresh ideas to the table. Bon Appétit! xoM