Sidedish

Ladies Who Lunch

Chicken-salad sandwiches, buttermilk pie, boutique shopping — it’s a potent combination for Westhampton and already a hot spot just two weeks after launching. The Shops at 5807 feature a range of specialty vendors selling fashions, furniture, gifts, art and accessories at 5807 Patterson Ave.

Bev Gibbens has opened Huckleberries Tearoom within the building, offering two rooms with table service and a menu that changes every other week. Furnishings in the garden room are vintage white-painted cupboards and chairs as well as linen tablecloths; in the patio room, retro pink-metal tables and a picket fence lend a casual air.

Manager Teri Soignoli says she’s surprised by “the mad lunch rushes. Everybody knows our chicken salad and they love our desserts, and we’re busy already.” Savannah cake, devil’s food with cream-cheese icing, pies and carrot cake are on the changing lineup, which also features sandwiches and sides.

Gibbens operated another tearoom on Lakeside Avenue as part of Huckleberries, her home-accessories business, but she’s in the process of closing that location because rents grew out of reach.

The Patterson Avenue tearooms are available for private parties — “and can you believe we’ve already booked nine parties for the holidays?” Gibbens asks, still reeling from the fast changes in her business plan. Luncheon is served 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 261-3733.

Beer Run

If you’re willing to run 3.1 miles for 3.5 pints of beer, look to the first annual Richmond Beer Run for incentive. It’s a fundraising run/walk through the financial district, Shockoe Slip, over the Mayo Bridge, along the floodwall and over the Manchester Bridge. Along the there are stops for microbrews and international beers at Penny Lane Pub, Capital Ale House, Richbrau Brewery, Sin é Irish Pub, Buffalo Wild Wings, Stool Pigeons and Legend Brewery.

The event fee is $15, which includes admission to the 38th Richmond Oktoberfest. Participants register at any restaurant on the tour and sample each 8-ounce beer for $1. Organizers clarify: “The Richmond Beer Run is NOT a race nor pub-crawl. The Richmond Beer Run IS a real run, for a real cause with real beer.”

The Oct. 7 event benefits The Gesang Verein Virginia, a nonprofit German social and song club formed in Richmond in 1852 and reorganized after Prohibition to celebrate German culture and heritage. See www.richmondbeerrun.com for details.

Very Vintage

Tours of Napa Valley vineyards are among the auction items at this year’s Vintage Maymont, the ninth annual auction of wine, culinary treasures, travel and entertainment. The event at The Jefferson Hotel is Oct. 27 at 6 p.m. Tickets are $150 and include a reception, dinner, silent and live auctions, and a mystery raffle. Proceeds benefit the Maymont Foundation. S

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