Eat and Drink on the Sly
Last week we went over some weekly events where you can grab a bite to eat and listen to some music. This week, we’ve got a rundown of weekly food- and drink-specific events that might get overshadowed by the larger summer festivals.
Reservoir Distillery offers whiskey tastings from 4 to 7 p.m., Wednesdays through Fridays. Reservoir was named Virginia Bourbon Distillery of the Year at the 2016 New York International Spirits Competition, so if you haven’t checked it out yet, go have a taste. reservoirdistillery.com.
Devilish Delights Desserts is operating a mobile bakery at the Shops at White Oak Mall on Laburnum Avenue this summer. The food truck sells cupcakes, ice cream brownies and cookie sandwiches, among other tasty treats, from noon to 8 p.m., Thursdays through Sundays, every other week. devilishdelightsdesserts.com.
Nota Bene Date Night: As far as romantic meals are concerned, Italian food ranks somewhere near the top. Style’s 2017 Restaurant of the Year offers Tuesday specials for you and your significant other that include salad, pastas, pizza, dessert and a bottle of wine for a flat $50. notabenerva.com.
C’est La Vin, the eclectic purveyor of wine and art in the Bottom on 17th Street, offers a Friday Night Wine Down every first Friday of the month. If you can’t find something to stimulate your senses here, you may need more wine. cestlevinrva.com.
Courthouse Creek Cider is the place to go if you’re feeling like a mini road trip to Goochland County. They’re throwing a Fridays on the Farm happy hour event from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. through Sept. 1. All ciders on tap cost just $5. courthousecreek.com.
Eating and Drinking Around Town
Tapas and brunch: Citizen, well-known in Richmond for its fresh and creative cuisine, has announced that it’s adding Saturday brunch hours, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., starting this weekend. If they’re not a part of your dining rotation, be sure to try the Disco eggs: They’re a spice-lover’s dream with peppers, green onions, chili powder, masala potatoes and green chutney. And if dinner is more your style, Citizen also is offering a tapas and Spanish wine tasting event this Friday, Aug. 4, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets cost $25 at the door. citizenrva.com.
Sipping history: If you enjoyed the local brewery news in our 2017 Richmond Beer Issue last week, just know that the fermentation never stops around this town. In fact, we now have a completely new beer celebration, the BrewHaHa Virginia Craft Beer Festival, that takes place this Saturday, Aug. 5, at the Virginia Historical Society. Naturally, this event has an educational slant and features a discussion about the history of craft beer in Virginia, in addition to tastings from historic beer recipes. But even if you’re more interested in beer than you are in history, you can still count on local breweries such as Ardent Craft Ales, Trapezium Brewing Co., Blue Bee Cider and Black Heath Meadery to be in attendance. You’ll also get free access to the Virginia Historical Society’s exhibits, including its awesome toy retrospective for a bit of added nostalgia. The festival runs from 6 to 9 p.m. and general admission tickets cost $24. Children 12 and under are free. vahistorical.org.
Feed the children: FeedMore, central Virginia’s core hunger-relief organization estimates that about 200,000 people around the Richmond area struggle with hunger. That struggle gets harder during the summer when families with children lose access to school lunch programs. To help combat this, the nonprofit runs a summer food program that provides free breakfast and lunch to children at more than 50 sites across the area. In 2016 alone, FeedMore says it provided over 134,000 meals through this program. In the city, some of these sites include Fifth Baptist Church Child Care on West Cary Street, the Mary and Frances Youth Center on Linden Street and the North Side YMCA on Old Brook Road. If you’d like to volunteer at some of these sites, you can find details on the FeedMore website and of course, its Central Virginia Food Bank is always looking for donations of food and money. feedmore.org.
