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But It’s September
One of the disconcerting things in life is that Oktoberfest is celebrated in September. Some claim the celebration, originating in Munich, Germany, was shifted to an earlier date so the weather would be better; others claim it was more practical — they needed to empty all the remaining beer barrels from last year to use for the new batch. Regardless, do you really need an excuse to drink beer and eat sausage? St. Benedict’s 13th Annual Oktoberfest will be rolling out the barrels this weekend, Friday through Sunday (Sept. 15-17), in case you do.
For something a little different, Blue Bee Cider will be hosting an Oktoberfest event this Sunday, Sept. 17, from noon to 4 p.m. Wash down your brats and bialy with cider instead of beer at this Scott’s Addition cidery. They’ll even have Kartoffelpuffer, potato pancakes. Because saying Kartoffelpuffer over and over again while drinking cider is always fun.
Biking for Eats
If you haven’t noticed, RVA has gone a little bike-crazy. Over the last couple of years, we’ve gotten bike routes and trails, and, more recently, we’ve got a great new bike share program for easily getting around the city. It was kind of inevitable that RVADine would eventually get our own version of restaurant week — for bikers. The five nights of fun start Sunday, Sept. 17, and run through Thursday, Sept. 21. Each night at 6:30 p.m., cyclists will converge on a designated starting point and tour a different part of the city, stopping along the way at four or five restaurants. Each stop, including spots like Flora and Laura Lee's, will have drink and food specials for the pedalers. RSVP to Sports Backers to be emailed the starting location of each day’s ride.
Or you could just bike down the Virginia Capital Trail, taking in views of the James and the rolling countryside before stopping for a cold drink and a quick bite at Indian Fields Tavern. Yes, that Indian Fields, one of RVA’s fine-dining eateries of the ’90s. The storied restaurant is reopening on Wednesday, Sept. 20, for lunch and dinner and plans to cater to bikers rolling down the trail. If the food and screened porches of the old farmhouse don’t entice you to pull on your bike shorts, maybe the brewery they plan to open there in 2018 will.
Pairing and Sharing Is Caring
Get over the mid-month hump by trying a food-and-Woodford Reserve cocktail pairing — and by doing so you’ll help FeedMore feed more food-insecure Richmonders. See what Beverage Manager Beth Dixon and Chef Terrell Thomas at Comfort have dreamed up and what Chef MIke Braune and Bartender Katy Best of The Roosevelt have created to celebrate the 10th anniversary of National Bourbon Heritage Month. Learn more at richmondmag.com/pairandshare.
Our Ice Cream Cone Runneth Over
With four locations and an eye to expanding outside RVA, Gelati Celesti needed to enlarge the manufacturing side of their operation a bit. According to Richmond BizSense, owners Steve and Kim Rosser have signed a lease for a new facility that will give them over 9,000 square feet near Scott’s Addition in which to make their frozen treats. They hope to have the new facility up and running by February, which bodes well for RVADine’s gelato supply next summer.
The city also got a new entrant to the ice cream scene that you might have missed, North End Ice Cream in the Museum District, introduced in a recent piece by Richmondmag’s Genevelyn Steele.
News From Beyond
The Problem With Saffron
Saffron is widely considered an amazing spice. It’s also incredibly expensive and often faked. The BBC reports on how to spot fakes, efforts to increase confidence through labeling and origin transparency, as well as how adding it to your evening meal might help bring stability to unstable countries.
The Problem With Food Festivals
Another week, another food festival gone wrong. At least this one — unlike the recent cheese and taco festival debacles — actually had food, although many may have wished they didn’t. The New York City Pizza Festival, promising a gourmet’s delight of the best doughs, sauces and toppings New York has to offer, came up a bit short, with many participants justifiably angry at having shelled out $75 and getting only one small slice of cold delivery pizza that could be eaten with an appetizer toothpick. The New York Attorney General is investigating this food fiasco.
The Problem With Passes
Olive Garden announced the return of the Never Ending Pasta Pass: 100 bucks gets you eight weeks of unlimited pasta bowls. They sold out of the 22,000 passes in one second.
