A little black dress can be many things. Sometimes it’s a weapon–wielded like a machine gun. Whether it’s to boost the confidence of the one wearing it or as artillery when taking out a hit on someone who broke your heart: the little black dress delivers. It can cut like a knife. It can sting like a bee. It can bring a grown man to his knees. Sometimes, a little black dress is the chosen camouflage of the food influencer in the wild–maybe I’m not speaking for others on this, but it’s true for me. Normally, we get the benefit of hiding behind witty usernames and carefully curated photos of food. Take away our security blanket (AKA the internet) and watch me grab for the closest little black dress–because, however short or skimpy it may be, I know it will always be something safe for me to hide behind. Sometimes a little black dress is the adopted uniform for a Mob Wife inspired dinner–where influencers are invited to Draft Taphouse to enjoy a pairing dinner with food from Dom’s and sample local beverages. There were tables set up from Hop River Brewing, Lunar Fusions Kombucha, and Daylily Estates with free sample pours for all in attendance. Whyte Horse Winery, Hop River Brewing, and Kekionga Craft Company provided sips for the pairing dinner.
I rocked in wearing my satin black dress and fake fur stole–my date all in pinstripes, a fedora, and alligator boots. Being social may be hard, but being fabulous just comes naturally to us. The event began casually at six o’clock, allowing attendees about 45 minutes to mingle, socialize, and sample locally crafted beverages. Hop River and Lunar Fusions are local favorites which my friends were delighted to sample and support–but you know me. My heart was stolen by Daylily Estates long ago and so I hung around their table of Brianna Pét-Nat like a lion circling a gazelle. (And bought a full pour of their Catawba Pét-Nat to enjoy–because Draft still had some on offer and I can do whatever I want to because I am the captain of this meat-suit!)
We began to find our seats to enjoy dinner around seven o’clock. The dining room was romantically lit–a mafia movie on the television to further set the mood–and there I was in the ‘cop spot’ with a fantastic view of the whole room. Everything was served up family style–so if you didn’t know everyone at your table when you first sat down, you quickly became friends. Food has a way of bringing people together. We started the evening with antipasto; a large grazing platter of olives, cherries, yummy house-made sausage, and various breads with an artichoke butter. Truly, the standouts on the platter were the sausage bites, the focaccia, and the cheeses. There was Manchego, an Aged White Cheddar from Maine, and a Whole Milk Mozzarella from Illinois that was marinated in house. The mozz was definitely my favorite. We also got to munch on a Tangy Kale Caesar Salad with some super bomb dressing, parm, lemon, and sourdough croutons. All this paired with an off-dry Riesling from Whyte Horse. Since Riesling is always a good idea, this pairing was a good idea.
Our next course was pizza–which is so apropos for Dom’s. Pizza is why you already know and love Dom’s. This was paired with a beer, but I won’t lie to you: I didn’t try it. I let my date have it because he really likes it. Hop River has great beers, we already know this. Instead of drinking beer, I was an absolute menace and kept sneaking samples of Daylily’s Brianna Pét-Nat. I won’t apologize. I love it. It’s delicious. Pizza and Pét-Nat is a match made in heaven. I think what I did was very smart; so la-di-da. We got slices of a basic red sauce cheese New York style pizza, a Greek veggie New York style pizza, and a Detroit style pizza with roasted grapes, Gorgonzola, smokey bacon and rosemary, and creamy white sauce. All of the pizza tasted yummy. However, the Gorgonzola and Grape pizza is a regular on Dom’s menu. And if you know me you know that this is probably my favorite pizza that they make–with the exception of that one time that they made a special, limited offering of pickle pizza. Y’all–I’m glad that I live in a world where I can get a Gorgonzola and Grape pizza whenever I want it. Because after having it tonight, I know I’ll want it again really soon. It’s utterly craveable.
The third course is really the reason we’d all gathered for the evening. Influencers/mobsters united to eat baked pasta dishes. Dom’s previously didn’t offer pasta–but they do now. We tried two variations and, fam, it’s a whole mood. The baked Mostaccioli had a brisket bolognese and basil ricotta. This red sauced pasta was ultra creamy and cheesy: like when somebody’s Nonna makes pasta for a church lunch–but better. My favorite was the Garlic Chicken and Truffle Alfredo. It was rich without being overly decadent, cheesy without sitting like a brick in your tummy, and full of truffle flavor without tasting overtly of synthetic truffle oil. (Because cheap truffle oil ironically contains no real truffles.) The pastas were paired with Barg & Butch Red Blend by Kekionga Craft Company. It is wine. It is a dry red blend.
Dessert was a Pistachio Affogato served with a plate of cookies. I had finished all of the Brianna Pét-Nat that I could stomach by this point. Did I basically go to a fancy-pants, Mob Wife themed pairing dinner and just quaff Daylily’s Brianna Pét-Nat? Perhaps. I also ate pasta, so there’s that. Being a person is hard sometimes–being an influencer is maybe harder. Especially when that’s not how you see yourself. I think it’s especially true of many of the talented creators in Fort Wayne: influencer is not a title that we ever sought to achieve, it was instead a title thrust upon us. Some of us are more comfortable with the term ‘content creator.’ I just wanted people to read my writing and recognized that social media was a helpful tool to direct people to my blog. I just wanted to write. Now I’m getting invited to influencer dinners. The idea of me having any influence over others is anxiety-inducing: especially when you consider how fake everything is online. I’m not an exception to this rule. I’m faker than plastic cheese on the ‘gram. But the version of me that exists on the internet is a persona that helps me connect with my community and have experiences that I wouldn’t get to have otherwise. That’s why I do it, and I suspect it might be why most other content creators do it, too. We are passionate about elevating local businesses and supporting the local community. All the internet stuff that all of us internet people do, at the best of times, allows us opportunities to meet people and learn new things and go out into the world to have a good time together every once in a while. This dinner was a good reminder of that: we’re not in it alone, and that’s the point. We have each other and that’s exactly why we all started doing this in the first place. We’re here to eat–and, last night, we ate.
Plonk & Pleasure 
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