THEN: keg parties
NOW: beer dinners
Your keg stand could qualify you for the Olympics. So could your stellar shots on the beer pong table. But you've retired from the game, and your beer is served at a different kind of table now: the dinner table. Beer-pairing dinners are popping up at restaurants around the city, and these beers are a far cry from the watered-down Natty Ice that was on tap in those basement parties of yore. Cambridge Common (1667 Mass Ave, Cambridge, 617.547.1228) hosts frequent beer dinners to highlight the more than 30 brews they offer, playing matchmaker to Cambridge Brewing Company's Great Pumpkin Ale and creamy butternut squash, red pepper, and sage risotto, for example. On September 15, sample beers from Left Hand Brewing Company and the restaurant's grilled yellowfin tuna, among other options. Other places to watch for beer dinners include Cask 'n Flagon (62 Brookline Avenue, Boston, 617.536.4840) and North End favorite Marco (253 Hanover Street, Boston, 617.742.1276).
THEN: Sunday mornings in the dining hall
NOW: Sunday brunch
Saturday nights that turn into mornings are always best recounted over some home fries, Excedrin, and mimosas the next afternoon. This is why we love a good gossipfest at the Newbury Street version of the old dorm dining hall: Cafeteria (279 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.536.2233), where they just launched Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The dining hall's scrambled "eggs" and greasy sausage have nothing on the grown-up versions of morning-after comfort food at banQ (1375 Washington Street, Boston, 617.451.0077), either. The South End dining destination recently added brunch to its repertoire, and the options include classic eggs and toast alongside more eclectic entrées like crêpes with anise-spiced bananas and mango sauce ($10) and a wild boar burger with lemongrass Thai basil mayo ($14). Have some sins to confess? Put on your Sunday best and head to brunch at Church (69 Kilmarnock Street, Boston, 617.236.7600).
