Trendwatch

This article uses an upcoming beer dinner at Continental restaurant Charivari to assess the current state of restaurants hosting dinners where the courses are paired with beer instead of wine. Chronicle reporter Ronnie Crocker shares his own experience "Over the past few years, I've enjoyed several beer dinners, some of them quite elaborate. The Rockwell Tavern, a beer-centric pub whose gourmet comfort food is well worth the drive to Cypress, hosted a notable one last year with the owner of Brouwerij Van Steenberge. He'd flown in from Belgium and was an entertaining host for the evening." [Houston Chronicle, $]