Perhaps a little brandy, with food, even (3,3,4)
I believe the answer is:
nip and tuck
'even' is the definition.
(both can mean close or evenly matched)
'perhaps a little brandy with food' is the wordplay.
'perhaps a little brandy' becomes 'nip' (small quantity of spirits).
'with' becomes 'and'.
'food' becomes 'tuck' (I've seen this before).
'nip'+'and'+'tuck'='NIP AND TUCK'
(Other definitions for nip and tuck that I've seen before include "Dead level - plastic surgery" , "Level in a race, competition or comparison" , "Hard to separate" , "Neck and neck - plastic surgery" , "Cosmetic surgery (informal)" .)