Last weekend, while sipping on maibock (German for May bock, a seasonal, strong Bavarian-style lager) at the inaugural New Mexico-brewery Bockfest competition at Santa Fe Sol Stage & Grill — formerly the Santa Fe Brewing Company Pub & Grill — I couldn't help but notice the food offered: traditional Bavarian bratwurst tucked into slightly sweet, pumpernickel-style buns with a little sauerkraut and mustard.

Could there be a more perfect maibock pairing? Who was behind this insanely good idea? I had to know. The kitchen at Santa Fe Sol is in transition after a recent change in tenants, and at the moment, there's no definitive menu or chef. Standing in last Saturday to make sure the beer-loving masses had something solid — and delicious — to eat with their tasty beverages was Blue Corn Café & Brewery chef David Sundberg, a man whose passion for pairing beer with food knows no bounds.

You may have attended chef Sundberg's and Blue Corn master brewer Brad Kraus' North Africa-inspired wine dinner in January, or perhaps you caught the around-the-world-in-four-beers dinner in March that celebrated an Irish red ale, a German lager, an English IPA and a malty Belgian dubbel ale. If you missed those events, don't fret, because Sundberg's at it again. From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 26, the southside Blue Corn Café & Brewery (4056 Cerrillos Road, 438-1800) will host a five-course (plus a little starter) "Wonderful World of Cheese" beer-pairing dinner, featuring Sundberg's food and Kraus' sudsy alchemy.

Enjoy five-cheese fried mac and cheese with green chile chimichuri sauce paired with KT2 Pale Ale; mozzarella and roasted-tomato salad with maibock vinaigrette and fresh oregano with 50K Honey Wheat Ale; blue corn-cheese blinis with brown ale-braised pork smoked gouda béchamel sauce, and sautéed baby spinach with a pairing of maibock; Sundberg's regional take on chicken cordon bleu with rock cornish hen stuffed with ham, green chile and asadero cheese with chive-chévre potatoes paired with Atalaya Amber Ale; and piñon/prickly pear cheesecake with lavender-kissed fruit compote paired with Dubbel Trouble Belgian. The dinner is $40 per person, excluding tax and gratuity.

From 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 4, the southside Blue Corn will host a cookout to benefit Esperanza Shelter for Battered Families' child-services project at the organization's new administration building. Sundberg and his brigade will man the grills for this affair, which also includes prizes, live music and kids' activities. Tickets are
$25 for adults, $5 for kids under 12. See a manager at the southside Blue Corn for tickets; call 438-1800 for more information.

And talk about a small world. I'd never met Sundberg before last Saturday. After talking to him for two minutes, we discovered that his wife and I worked at the same restaurant (Tellers) around the same time in Lawrence, Kansas — more than a decade ago. I'm sure she and I will have plenty of war stories to dish. Oh! I almost forgot! Congratulations to Tractor Brewing Company (120 Nelson Lane, Los Lunas, 505-866-0477, www.getplowed.com) for taking home top honors at Bockfest!


I often write that being in the restaurant world is like having a second family, and when someone in that family is in need, peers, food enthusiasts, involved customers and friends come swooping in to get the job done. For years, I have known and respected Kim Müller, co-chef of Real Food Nation (http://realfoodnation.biz), a tireless force in Santa Fe's Slow Food and sustainability movements and a damn fine human being — although she is a Dodger's fan, but nobody's perfect.

I don't cook professionally at the moment, but I consider chef Müller an important part of my culinary family. Some time ago, Müller was diagnosed with a hereditary condition known as Polycystic Kidney Disease and is currently on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. From 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, June 30, Rio Chama restaurant will host a benefit dinner, raffle and silent auction to help defray the costs of Müller's medical and physical-recovery expenses. The informal farmers-market-inspired dinner will include cocktails at a cash bar, hors d'oeuvres and food from restaurants including Rio Chama, The Compound, La Casa Sena, Amavi and Vinaigrette.

Tickets for this all-volunteer event are $75 per person and are available online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/176817. If you can't make it to the June 30 dinner event, or even if you plan on going, you can still make a separate donation to the Müller Fund by visiting www.mullerbenefit.com/Kim.html. All proceeds donated and raised through benefit-ticket sales, the auction and raffle go directly to chef Müller.

If you would like to donate an auction item, a service or volunteer your time, please email food@q.com. In a message from chef Müller on the website, you can also find out how to determine if you may be a suitable kidney donor for her. Müller writes, "At some point, in the not too distant future, my kidneys will fail; that much is certain. What is not certain is when that day will come, or what the conditions and circumstances of my transplant will ultimately be. My greatest wish is to have a willing and informed donor prepared to entrust me with a healthy kidney before the situation becomes critical."

I'll update you on more event details as they emerge. Meanwhile: It's time for a family meeting.

Contact Rob DeWalt at taste@sfnewmexican.com. or on twitter at twitter.com/sfnmTASTE.