Secret Supper Club Beer Pairing Dinner – May 2

Enjoy a 6 course, fine-dining inspired meal, paired perfectly with craft beer at this exclusive guided tasting event.

Chef Christopher Knowles will be serving up serving multiple fine dining inspired courses sure to delight. Seats are extremely limited, so don’t miss out!

Don’t worry about falling in love with a beer you can’t find again – Growlers & Crowlers of Beer will be available for purchase to take home. Three glasses of wine can be substituted for the beer pairings upon request.

Due to the nature of the event, tickets are non-refundable. Tickets are transferable.

Chef Chris Knowles’ culinary interest sparked at the very young age of 8. He and his brother did not want to eat the dinner that their mother had made, on one particular night, so the following evening she only cooked a meal for herself and their father. The young boys asked where their dinner was and she exclaimed, “I only cooked for me and your father. I thought you would not like what I was cooking, you’ll have to prepare dinner for yourselves.” Well, needless to say Chris got excited and cooked a meal for him and his brother that special evening, probably bacon and eggs. This preparation of the first meal ignited something inside of him and he began his culinary journey. 

Chris eventually went to culinary school at The Art institute of Ft. Lauderdale, after a stint in Gainesville teaching himself how to cook for his friends on a college student budget. While in school he worked for a chef, Peter Boulukus of Himmarshee Bar and Grille, an award winning new restaurant in town. There he was quickly introduced to the, let’s say colorful constructive criticism, old school chefs gave their staff, pre-reality show gimmickry.

Once schooling was over, Chris moved back to Palm Harbor, Florida with his family and began to cook, then become a chef at some of the area’s most prestigious restaurants. One particular dining destination he worked at (Cafe Ponte) offered him a chance to travel to Italy where he would stage at a restaurant. He took the opportunity, then spent almost a year in the Emilia-Romagna region learning from grandmothers and top chefs in the area; a couple who carried Michelin stars.

After returning to the US Chris got married and took a job with Nordstrom, he helped open the restaurant here in the Jacksonville Nordstrom. Years into his tenure at Nordstrom he was approached by a group from Brazil, Coco Bambu, that planned on opening a South Beach location, to go along with their 25 already hugely successful restaurants around Brazil. Chris eventually took the job and began traveling around Brazil learning how their restaurants operated and took that knowledge and created the restaurant in South Beach.

After careful consideration with his wife they decided to move from Miami to the St. Augustine area, where he accepted the job as chef at Taverna, in San Marco. Then the pandemic struck. This gave Chris the opportunity to open his very own food truck, Blade and Wave. The name comes from the chef’s two passions: cooking and surfing. What makes Chris stand out as a chef and food truck owner is his charisma, commitment to quality and culinary creations.

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