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What beer or wine would you pair with Girl Scout Cookies?
(Bill Kennedy, The Plain Dealer)
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Girl Scouts who created the first cookie sale more than 80 years ago probably didn't have in mind what The Jolly Scholar is doing with them now: Pairing the annual sweet treats with beers and wines.
The Jolly Scholar on Case Western Reserve University's campus is holding its first Girl Scout Cookie and Wine Tasting Party at 10 p.m. Saturday, March 21.
"The crazy thing about this concept is it's so different from normal restaurant trends," said Matthew Vann, who said indications are the event will pack the bar-restaurant, which marks its 10-year anniversary next month. He said he recently signed another 10-year extension.
How it works
For $10, customers will receive a placemat with circles for cookies and your choice of beer or wine. Four-ounce samples will be served. Vann said he hopes to have knowledgeable beer and wine experts speak to the pairings and styles.
He expects a packed house. More than 350 people committed via Facebook to attend the event; the Jolly Scholar holds about 200 people.
"There's zero doubt in my mind we're going to have every chair in this place spoken for," he said, adding he will need someone to direct people to "every open bar stool" and counter space.
Crazy talk
Vann said the idea to pair the well-loved cookies with wine and beer started awhile back.
"We started talking about it," he said. "I have kids, and I always buy them. I literally have to buy them and store them in the freezer. I had a couple of boxes on the bar; people wanted them crushed up and served in a martini or served crushed around a martini glass. One of the students suggested we do a pairing. When we put it out there on Facebook, it was just our small network of people. It just exploded."
The bar already had "created specialty milkshakes with the cookies, but this is the first time we're going to do the pairings," said Vann, who added he will coordinate the event "until someone starts yelling and cussing at me, then I'm going to get out of the way and let others do it. But I'm going to take a shot at it."
Where is The Jolly Scholar?
"Obviously the university makes up about 80, maybe 85 percent (of our customer base)," Vann said. "We are the perfectly hardest place in the world to find. But once they find us they come back again and again. Once people realize where we're at, they come back."
The bar-restaurant is tucked away on a main drag: It's in the Thwing Center at 11111 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. "Severance Hall is on our right, the Church of the Coventry is on the left. We're almost directly across the street from the main entrance of University Hospitals."
Of the bar's 24 taps, 10 are India Pale Ales, Vann said. Not his favorite style but patrons "just plow through them."