Battle & Brew's Wonka-Inspired Night of Pure Imagination - Recap

Who can take a sunrise, sprinkle it with dew, cover it with chocolate a miracle or two? Last month Chef Ted “Teddy” Kupferman and General Manager Nate Sanders of Atlanta’s premier geek bar and restaurant Battle & Brew invited us to a Willy Wonka-inspired culinary Night of Pure Imagination to answer this question.

What you may see might defy explanation, but I’ll do my best to do it justice.

Into a World of Pure Imagination.

I arrived to find the space bedecked with a seemingly endless assortment of confectionary. Willy Wonka’s bike took up a corner, not far from a forest of giant mushrooms. Fizzy lifting bubbles floated from screen to screen to wondrously nostalgic music.

Someone then handed me a whimsical candy cup containing some refreshing Honeysuckle Oolong Tea. Talk about your childhood wishes. You can even eat the dishes…

…and the menu.

That’s right. The menu was even edible, printed on cake photograph transfers. While I found the menu itself flavorless, the dishes it described were far from being so.

Course 1: Augustus’s Chocolate Pipes

Chef Teddy took Augustus Gloop‘s German butcher family and his unfortunate accident in Wonka’s factory as the basis for the first course: “Chocolate Pipes.” This plate featured house-made bratwurst made with Founders Breakfast Stout and chocolate chips served with beer braised sauerkraut and grainy mustard.

Served with G. Schneider and Sohn’s Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock, the brats’ chocolate wasn’t so much the primary, but the complementary rounding note to link the stout’s toastiness to the Weizenbock’s clove and caramel flavors. The mustard also had a strong horseradish kick that sweetened and smoothed each sip of Weizenbock.

Course 2: Far from a Bad Egg

General Manager Nate then brought out a candy garden’s worth of flower-shaped flutes containing Superstition’s Marion Mead — a honeyed concoction brewed with a trifecta of blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. It was refreshingly tart and a great palate cleanser for the next dish. I only regret that I could not get a steady picture of it.

Inspired by Veruca Salt‘s wanton greed, Chef Teddy then presented us each with an egg poached to golden-yolked perfection settled into a nest of velvety saffron risotto and crushed walnuts.

The egg’s thin-skin needed only the gentle prodding of a silver spoon before cracking and spilling out, drowning the nest with richness.

I appreciate how Chef Teddy referenced Veruca’s scene from both the book and the film in using eggs and nuts–and it was so good that you could go nuts. I know that this dish certainly made me want the world. I want the whole world.

Course 3: Violet and Blueberry

I really felt General Manager Nate and Chef Teddy embraced Violet Beauregard’s competitive nature in this next course.

First Nate gave us an ultraviolet experience with some Aviation Capri-Suns made with Butterflied Peablossom Gin. These pouches of gin and creme de violette cocktails turned from blue to purple with the addition of citric acid. I found this packaging ambitious, thematically appropriate, and incredibly creative. It, however, did come off a bit gin-heavy and overly strong — probably from being served at room temperature. Brilliant idea, perfect visual execution, but finishing one might send you rolling to the juicing room.

So I admit I was most interested in finding out what Chef Teddy would come up with for Violet’s dish. Years ago I tried and failed to make a three-course cookie inspired by that fateful strip of gum. The trouble is that vanilla and blueberry overpowered all of the other flavors. I don’t think I was expecting this, though.

Wrapped up this gum strip-style foil was a three-course meal on a plate. The first course was tomato bisque served in a crispy, cheesy profiterole, and fingerling “baked potato” with sour cream, chives, and house bacon. Next up was a cut of tender roast beef. And a slice of blueberry pie finished this very compact plate.

The bisque was comforting and creamy, and soaked in nicely to the delicate choux pastry bowl without losing substance. The blueberry pie’s crust had a nice shortbread texture to it. The roast beef was a little underseasoned, but I soon discovered why.

Just like the Three-Course Gum from the book, this meal was meant to be enjoyed all at once. Mixing all of the courses together produced a completely balanced bite of present and complementary flavors and textures. The soup seasoned the beef while the potato and profiterole added body and crispiness, the blueberry finished it with a tangy sweetness, and the sour cream carried and married the flavors all together in harmony.

Willy Wonka may have never gotten the blueberry right, but Chef Teddy certainly did.

Intermezzo – Triple Boozy Sorbet Surprise

After the last course blew our minds, General Manager Nate announced that they would be giving our tastebuds an Intermezzo before advancing to the next course.

We were then handed frosty glasses holding a trio of colorful sorbet scoops. The red scoop was made with St. Georges Raspberry Liqueur. The white – Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur. And the orange was a blend of mango puree and St. Germaine Elderflower Liqueur.

Upon reflection of the sorbet’s sparkling flavor, I realize that Battle and Brew not only gave us a palate cleanser with this course but a frozen pack of Sweet-Tarts to fit in with their candy theme. I’m not kidding. That’s actually what they tasted like.

Course 4: From TV to Table

The next dish, inspired by Mike Teevee, could be described perfectly by the following quote from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory:

“It’s perfect!”
“It’s a miracle!”
“It’s a TV dinner!”

These tiny TV trays packed a luxuriant, flavorful feast of Salisbury Steak patties formed from a blend of Kobe and Wagyu beef. Drenching these tender and peppery morsels was a rich demi-glace containing six kinds of mushrooms – oyster, cremini, shiitake, wood ear, king trumpet, and chanterelle.

And what better way to wash this grown-up kid’s favorite down with a big glass of adult kool-aid like Hanssen’s Oude Kriek? This lambic gets it’s “Oude” name from containing 75% 3-years or older brew before being brewed again with a glutton’s share of black cherries. What results is a brilliantly tart flavor much akin to a carbonated Jolly Rancher that bloomed with sweetness after taking a bite of Salisbury Steak.

To quote Grandpa Bucket, this pairing was “Wonka-visionary” and “it could change the world.”

Course 5: Charlie Bucket’s Golden Ticket

The next course, titled “Charlie’s Feast of Famine”, was a plate of succulent Roast Pork Loin with Braised Cabbage. A golden ticket of fruit including mango, pineapple, apricots and golden raisins brightened this peasant’s dish with sweet and sunny flavors. An Applesauce Demi-Glace also garnished the plate like a silken, baked cinnamon apple butter.

Brouwerij St. Bernardus Abbot 12 accompanied this sweet and savory plate. This Belgian “quadrupel” whale of a beer has a recipe going back to 1946 — created to raise funds for the Westvleteren Trappist Monastery rebuild after World War II’s devastation. Perfectly blended, this mix of malt, bitter, and sweet had just the right hop-ish kick to enhance the dish’s natural flavors.

I particularly enjoyed the symbolism Chef Teddy and General Manager Nate presented in this dish and pairing. They elevated a dish and brew of humble origins much like Charlie Bucket rose in the great glass Wonkavator to living happily ever after.

Courses 6: Willy Wonka’s Bubbly Breakfast

Chef Teddy and General Manager Nate then framed the final three courses as breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the house of Willy Wonka. We started out with a Fizzy Lifting Drink to wake us out of our impending food comas. Its sweet and sparkling blend of strawberry and ginger liquors bubbled with a Spanish cava finish – a lovely schnozzberry and cream accompaniment with our breakfast.

Shortly after served up a plate of eggs and bacon for breakfast, but with dandy candy twist. The eggs themselves were coconut cream puddles with mango puree yolks. The house bacon alongside was flawlessly crispy and improved beyond perfection by being dipped in chocolate. I love breakfast for dinner and dessert, especially when it’s happy to see me.

Course 7: The Candy Man’s Mid-Day Meal

I imagine only a quick lunch would do for a man as busy as Willy Wonka. That’s why I found it ultimately appropriate that the next plate would be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

This PBJ wasn’t just any ordinary sandwich, though. This dish is the sandwich you wish showed up in your brown-bag every day at school. Bread is for normies. The Candy Man of Wonka Industries only savors on slabs of vanilla pound cake slathered with toasty house-made peanut butter and hazelnut-chocolate spread.

Course 8: Wonka Winner Winner…

Since the after-work pint is customary in British culture, and the afternoon coffee is conventional in ours, it seemed fitting that we then receive both in a glass of Founders’ Kentucky Breakfast Stout. This bourbon barrel-aged brew had the taste and mouthfeel of a rich, mocha mousse, and was pick-me-up before the last course.

It would figure that my camera battery would die right when Chef Teddy’s piece de resistance arrived. That said, I’m grateful that the iPhone10 takes decent enough low-light pictures to capture this beautiful “Chicken Dinner.”

It’s the classic weeknight dinner, right? Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, peas, and carrots? Think again. Whipped white chocolate mousse replaced the standard smashed spuds in this dish. The peas and carrots were refreshing bites of orange jelly and green apple boba pearls. And finally, that crispy-skin drumstick of deception was, in fact, a devilishly indulgent crème brûlée.

Happily Ever After

Well Battle & Brew, you did it. You took us around the Wonka world and home again and gave us everything we ever wanted in a night of pure imagination. You even sent us home with an Everlasting Gobstopper to remind us of this gastronomic journey.