Food News: Bike races, new places, apples, and honey

Bratwurst and knockwurst and schnitzels and strudels. Sweet little Kickstarters tied up with string. These are a few of my favorite things.

September 17, 2015; 8:59 AM • by Stephanie Ganz

Photo by: Ian Sane

BEST OF THE WURST

Time to dust off your dirndls and lederhosen! Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, St. Benedict Catholic Church will host their 11th annual Oktoberfest with giant soft pretzels, sauerkraut balls (yes, really), and steins and steins of beer, glorious beer. Whether you want a true German lager, like Spaten Lager Munich, or a Virginia-made beer with an Oktoberfest theme, you’re covered this weekend. Devil’s Backbone, Legend, Center of the Universe, Chaos Mountain, Ardent Craft Ales, and Strangeways will all be well-represented; and Hardywood has come up with an exclusive Bock-style beer, “Give Bock,” which will be tapped for the first time at the event.

New this year, Zeus Gallery and Café will provide three dishes–a braised corned beef beer reuben, a mushroom knodel (which is like a dumpling), and Bavarian cream pie. There’s also a wurst platter, with wursts of the brat, knock, and weis variety, plus your standard schnitzels and strudels. Load up on tickets and then eat and drink your way through the “festplatz” at Belmont and Hanover Ave.

HOW TO AVOID STARVATION DURING THE BIG BIKE RACE™

Apparently there’s some sort of Big Bike Race™ coming to town this weekend. IDK, it doesn’t seem to be getting much coverage. ANYWAY, if you need a place to party or recommendations for where to find food during the week-long shebang, check out this and this and this and this.

And remember, if you’re stuck in your house, unwilling to give up your parking space, and frightened by the prospect of street closures, you can always call on your be-biked brethren at Quickness to deliver, yes DELIVER, your meals unto you.

WELCOME TO YOUR RESPECTIVE NEIGHBORHOODS

Talley’s Meat and Three opened in the former Estilo space at the Village Shopping Center this week. Owned by Jessica and Josh Bufford, this very family-friendly restaurant focuses on the essentials–rotisserie chicken, Cheerwine-smoked brisket, smoked turkey, and the like, with the usual line-up of sides, served in ample, loving portions as though you were visiting your Granny over winter break and she was convinced that “you’ve been wasting away at that fancy school of yours.”

Meanwhile, Sugar + Twine is in the process of taking over Capital Coffee in Carytown. The bakery, newly owned and operated by Beth Oristian, is taking it slow, allowing time for the transition after the race and planning to re-open in late October with a facelift courtesy of funds from an ongoing Kickstarter campaign.

FROM ELSEWHERE…

Eater takes a peek at the food of future past.

ICYMI (I did, and I feel like I’m pretty well tuned into Martha Stewart- and Triscuit-related circles, so who even knows anymore), Martha Stewart gave us new, better Triscuits. Thank you, Martha.

YES, KIDS CAN COOK! They can be quite good at it with a little encouragement, and tell me fellow parent-people, isn’t it about time they made us dinner for once?

SIP: OLD HILL BETWIXT CIDER

The Betwixt Cider is aptly named. It’s the perfect transitional cider to take your palate from sweet summer strawberries to autumnal apples. Old Hill Hard Cider describes it as perfect for porch-sipping, and thanks to the dwindling number of mosquitoes in the air, we can finally do just that. You can also get your sips at Sunday’s Dinner of the Grape, a kick-off dinner for Powhatan’s Festival of the Grape, with dishes by Travis Milton. Tickets remain!

BITE: VIRGINIA HONEY

Terry McAuliffe is a food-lover’s governor. A food lovernor. He and first lady Dorothy McAuliffe are clearly committed to supporting agriculture and food-related industry in Virginia, and why shouldn’t they be? According to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, “The industry has an economic impact of $52 billion annually and provides nearly 311,000 jobs in the Commonwealth.”

Agriculture is dependant upon pollinators. That means bees, and bees make HONEY, and thus, Governor McAuliffe has dubbed September “Honey Month”. Sweeten your tea with it, or for that matter, make this honey tea cake. It’s honey month, folks; go nuts with the (local) honey!

GRAM: @little_meg_siu_meg

Ready your drool bibs, onlookers!

キス Kisu (Sillago). Kisu has really high water content which is why it is so good cooked or raw (as sushi or sashimi) . It's often served as tempura as it keeps its moisture incredibly well even after frying. It's also very juicy after grilling but there are three things that struck me about the kisu here: 1. I rarely see kisu so thick and big 2. I rarely see kisu being cut this way with the two sides slit open 3. I rarely see kisu with this beautiful golden yellow hued skin

A photo posted by little_meg_siu_meg (@little_meg_siu_meg) on Sep 16, 2015 at 8:13am PDT

September 17, 2015 8:59 AM · in Near West End News and West of the Boulevard News 0