Here's an upcoming beer dinner with an intriguing difference. On two consecutive nights--Saturday, March 26 and Sunday, March 27--chef Justin Yu and sommelier Justin Vann will host a six-course meal at the Ralph Smith Photography Studio, a stunning contemporary venue in Bellaire. Each course, paired by Vann with a Belgian beer, will be a tribute to the various cutting-edge restaurants where Yu and his pastry-chef wife, Karen Man, apprenticed and dined during a recent three-month stint in Belgium, Copenhagen and Paris.

Chef Justin Yu plating in the kitchen at In de Wulf, in the Flemish countryside.

Yu, a veteran of the Michelin one-star vegetarian restaurant Ubuntu in Napa, is one of the three young chefs who made the progressive Just8 Project pop-up restaurant such a hit this past summer. The six restaurants that will inspire Yu's menu are AOC, Geranium, Noma and the new Relae in Copenhagen, as well as L'Arpege in Paris and In de Wulf in the Belgian countryside, where he and Man spent last November staging (industry-speak for an unpaid kitchen apprenticeship).

He hasn't set the menu in stone yet, the better to take advantage of the best possible ingredients as the date grows closer. But for a taste of the food and techniques that most impressed and inspired the couple on their travels, check out their excellent blog, Not Home. It highlights their experiences in these respected kitchens--not to mention their newly acquired infatuation with Belgian beer, and offers an enlightening window into the life of restaurants for the non-professional.

The Ralph Smith Photography Studio at night. Photo by Alison Cook

The brews (or breweries) selected by Vann for the dinner are Blanche de Bruxelles, De Koninck, Lindeman's Cuvee Rene, Westmalle Dubbel, Orval and Saison Dupont.

Yu and Vann, who last year went from a wine post at Vic & Anthony's to head up the wine and beer department at Central Market, will call on a number of other Houston talents to collaborate on the dinners. Karen Man, who has baked at Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery in Napa, will be doing the breads and desserts. Beaver's mixologist Claire Sprouse will create a beer-based cocktail as the evening's aperitif. And talented barista David Buehrer, of Greenway Coffee & Tea, will oversee coffee plus (if the past is prologue) general white magic.

The dinners will be limited to 18 people each night, at a cost of $90 plus tip, payable on the night of the event. Start time is 6:30 p.m. To reserve a seat, email adriennebyard@gmail.com. I'd be quick about it. [NOTE: event is now sold out.]