Dilly’s—the rightfully loved sandwich shop in Lakewood Village—is taking on a supper club. And given it is, unquestionably, home to the city’s finest tap list, you know owners Brein and Rory Ann Clements wouldn’t just lackadaisically throw something together nilly-willy. And their first dinner kicks off on Sunday, April 26, at 5:30PM.
“We wanted to bring together a seasonal event that would incorporate an elevated experience of food, beer and education, yet keep it approachable in our Dilly’s style,” Brein said.
Brein has built relationships with breweries that SoCal residents would have to invest both time and money in order to access. So when it came to creating a supper club, one shouldn’t be shocked that Brein and Rory Ann are pouring four beers from one of the most respected breweries around: Sante Adairius.
What is Sante Adairius Rustic Ales? And why is it significant that they are being featured at the first Dilly’s Supper Club?
Founded in Capitola in Santa Cruz County by Tim Clifford and Adair Paterno, Sante Adairius built its reputation not through hype, but through obsession, rebellion, and outright beer nerdiness. Obsession with balance. Hyper-focus on restraint—even when it came to bottling, which was all done by hand. And a deep devotion to mixed fermentation, farmhouse traditions, and barrel nuance. In a craft landscape often driven by extremes—massive hops, sweeter adjuncts, loud if not outright aggressive, widespread branding—Sante became famous for doing the opposite: subtle beers with extraordinary depth.
Among brewers and serious beer drinkers, Sante—much like Wild Fields, the namesake brewery of Ryan Fields, the former founding brewer of Long Beach’s Blendery—is often spoken of in the same breath as breweries that helped define modern American saison and wild ale culture.
And that’s because they consistently produce beers that feel intentional, elegant, and difficult to imitate. Their releases often blur the line between beer, wine, and culinary experience—making them especially fitting for a beer dinner. Sante Adairius helped prove that American breweries could produce farmhouse and wild ales with world-class sophistication—all without copying Europe directly.
Put simply: serving four Sante beers in one dinner is not just pouring rare bottles—it’s presenting one of modern American craft beer’s most respected artistic voices.
The significance of this particular beer lineup…
Given they do not widely distribute, accessing Sante Adairius bottles requires special access—which thankfully, Brein has. Here are the four beers set to be featured:
- Memory Echo: This beer is a prime example of Sante’s fermentation character: soft acidity, delicate fruit expression, and a dry finish. As with nearly every bottle of theirs, precision is clutch; it is not about one dominant flavor but about a roller coaster of characters.
- The Gift of Comfort: Echoing what has become their staple—almost literary or poetic names for their beers—this beer reflects that softer side of farmhouse brewing: rounded malt character, gentle yeast expression, and restrained complexity rather than overt intensity.
- The Sky and the Sea: Many of their beers carry a sense of Central Coasti dentity given their Santa Cruz location—so salinity is not an odd characteristic for their beers. And this one is an example of how their Californian beer language began to separate them from Belgian imitation.
- West Ashley: This beer has near-cult status among many Sante followers because it represents one of their clearest demonstrations of barrel integration and mixed-culture maturity. Great depth. Oak interplay. Layered acidity. For many serious beer people, bottles like West Ashley are examples of why Sante earned long-term reverence rather than short-term hype.
What to expect at the inaugural Dilly’s Supper Club
For those who don’t know, Brein also has a culinary background. (Hence why the sandwiches are always awesome.) For these dinners, he will be flexing that muscle in a way beyond sandwiches… Here are the four courses.
Chilled asparagus soup with blood orange: Served with Sante Adairius’s “Memory Echo”
West Coast-style seafood roll: Served with Sante Adairius’s “The Gift of Comfort”
Pressed pork rillette with sweet and sour blueberry: Served with Sante Adairius’s “The Sky and the Sea”
Buttermilk pudding with macerated apricot: Served with Sante Adairius’s “West Ashley”
Dilly’s Sandwiches is located at 4144 Viking Way. Their first Dilly’s Supper Club kicks off on Sunday, April 26, at 5:30PM; for tickets click here.
