Red, White & Brew

June 5, 2015

Drink the District is following up their highly successful Hampton Roads Beer Fest at the Zoo with "Red, White & Brew", also at the Virginia Zoo, 13 June 2015. This Americana-themed craft beer and wine tasting event will feature 35 craft breweries, 18 wineries, domestic party water trucks, apple pie eating contests, a DJ and a special appearance and performance by former contestant on The Voice, Sam James.

There will be two sessions: 2:30-5:30 PM and 7:00-10:00.

Children are not permitted to the event and people are not allowed to jump into any of the cages with the animals (leave the tigers alone!)

The last event sold out quick so make sure you buy your tickets now! If you use the following link you will get you a $10 discount with your online purchase!

Buy tickets here!

You can also use the coupon code "iheartfood" for a $10 discount.

Check out photos from the last Hampton Roads Drink the District event:

Malia Paasch, owner of The Birch is flanked by Sara and Kyle Sherrer of Millstone Cellars

Millstone Cellars at The Birch

May 17, 2015

Millstone Cellars from Monkton, MD visited Norfolk, VA recently to help kick-off The Birch's debut of five new taps dedicated solely to cider and mead. Representing Millstone were Kyle and Sara Sherrer, brother and sister who run the cidery/meadery with their father Kurt.

Love their cards. Sara said they use a little "shire map" to show their location.

The Birch's owner, Malia, tapped four Millstone ciders:

Farmgate #5, Cobbler, Hopvine, and Gingeroot

We've never tried anything from Millstone before, so the idea of buying a flight to sample a few of them was very exciting.

This is serious stuff - yes were excited.

I introduced myself to the Sherrers and chatted a bit about their operation, where they were from, and the fact that Shelby had just finished her first cider at home. Kyle offered me a glass of their Farmgate #6 batch he brought down in bottles. We got to compare the two Farmgate batches which was pretty cool. The ciders were dry, not too sweet and refreshing. I loved how the Hopgate smelled, it reminded me of a light spearmint.

Sara come over to our table and chatted with Shelby, going over some of the events they hold at the cidery. There is one coming up in the Fall that sounds like something we'll do, Shelby loves autumn and hanging out in an orchard drinking cider and mead sounds like a good time.

Swing by The Birch to try Millstone on tap. I know Grape and Gourmet sells bottles of their product too.

Commune Crepes Pop-up at Pendulum

April 21, 2015

We caught Commune Crepes' pop-up at Pendulum Fine Meats in Norfolk, VA recently. Kevin and crew were whipping up crepes and serving a delicious mushroom soup using Dave & Dee's mushrooms.

There were two savory and one sweet crepe to order - we went with the Pasture-ize and the the Saison. The Pasture-ize was made with pasture raised sous vide chicken, fresh spring greens, pickles and sprint herb ailoi. The Saison was fresh spring greens, roasted benne sweet potatoes and sprint onions then dressed with whipped chevre and wild onion vinaigrette. Our creamy oyster mushroom soup was named Sedley's Finest.

There was a good crowd in Pendulum and it was nice to bump into friends and familiar faces. If you've missed Commune's pop-ups they'll be opening a restaurant in Virginia Beach with an expanded menu.

Mr. Shawarma

March 14, 2015

One of the many things Shelby and I fell in love with while we lived in Germany was gyros - or at least that's what we called them. We were actually eating doner kebabs which hail from Turkey. There was a good sized group of Turkish people in Germany so naturally some of their dishes came with them. My favorite shop was one on the way to Nuremberg; the owner was of Turkish decent but born and raised in D.C. He had family in Germany and decided to move there and ended up running a little gyros shop. I first stopped by there on the suggestion of one of the other soldiers who had more time in country...and a car. I was going wherever he took me.

I fell in love after the first bite. It was great watching the lamb and veal, thinly sliced and stacked on a spit, turn on an upright rotisserie. I believe doner kebab translates roughly into "one that turns" or something like that. The meat would be shaved off the spit into a tray then it was placed into half of a large pita

Shawarma is basically the same thing as a doner kebab, each region has their own ingredients for the wraps/pitas and what you see above is the best shawarma I've had in Hampton Roads. It's from a shop called Mr. Shawarma in Norfolk, VA on 21st St. I remember hearing about it opening not too long ago and always meant to swing by. We finally hit the spot after going to the Evil Twin Brewing mini tap take-over at The Birch.

The shop is tucked in off the street and when we first walked in we saw some kids hanging out in one of the booths. The owner Avi Eli was behind the counter chatting with a customer while he prepared food. An assortment of toppings sat in front of Avi, his hands dashed into them tossing them on the flatbread according to the customer's order. Shelby ordered the falafel in pita and I got the shawarma wrap. While we waited for our food to be made we were given samples of the falafel - so good! I could eat a bucket of those things with the tahini sauce he topped it with. Avi is a lively guy with a sharp sense of humor, when Shelby said she didn't know what to do he said, "I have a girlfriend already, sorry."

We took our orders to go but ended up eating the fries/chips in the car. When we got home we both marveled at how good our food was. My shawarma had shaved turkey in it that was seasoned perfectly, I got mine "hot" so it was spiced up a bit but not too hot at all. Shelby's falafel was crisp on the outside but had a soft, firm texture when bit into.

This is definitely a "must try" if you're in Norfolk, wish he tried this sooner.

Check out fellow food and drink enthusiast Steve Attenweiler write-up on HamptonRoads.com.

"Killa B" from 80/20 Burger Bar, Norfolk, VA

HRBSS at 80/20 Burger Bar - 21 Oct 2014

October 25, 2014

Every third Tuesday of the month the Hampton Roads Beard and Stache Society meets at a predetermined location--which has been 80/20 Burger Bar in Norfolk lately. 80/20 is where The Boot used to be on 21st St. I spent a lot of time there mainly to see shows, my favorite band passed through there back in 2008 right before they broke up...good times, good times.

HRBSS is a local group of facial hair enthusiasts that volunteer for events and will be staging their first official competition. These meetings let people interested in the group to meet each other and discuss what's happening around town. It's also a good excuse to have a beer and grab something to eat. I had a couple of drinks, my first was a Rule G from Smartmouth. The award winning IPA is always a sure thing when you're having a problem figuring out what you want to order. From the burger menu I picked the Killa B which is 80/20's version of a "black and blue". The burger is dressed with bacon, fire aioli, bleu cheese and a seasoned patty. I love bleu cheese and Jamie (80/20 owner) stated that he buys the cheese in wheels and they break it up on site. It came with house fries--garlic, parm and parsley. My friend Jeff ordered the Heritage burger which is made from bison. Both burgers were cooked perfectly and I was extremely satisfied with mine.

After eating and chatting we all went outside for a group shot. Lots of beard going on in this photo. Check out the groups page, linked above, and definitely hit 80/20. Good menu and beer selection, you'll definitely find something you like.

The tasting room was open during the CRAFTED event.

Running Around Town - Oct 11, 2014

October 20, 2014

October 11th was a busy day. Saturday kicked off with the CRAFTED: Indie Arts & Craft Market at O'Connor Brewing in Norfolk, VA. Local crafters were joined by crafters from Richmond to display and sell their work. We saw a lot of friends and our buddies at HomebrewUSA were there serving up their beer; a demonstration on home brewing was setup for those who wanted to see how it's done.

After O'Connor went headed over to Smartmouth Brewing--also in Norfolk--because Shelby saw that New York Souvlaki was setup there that day. We kept missing it when it was out so this was the perfect opportunity to finally try it. It was great! Lucas inside poured me a nice, cool Rule G Shelby and I finished while we ate our chicken and pork kebabs.

We went to Cheap and Cheery at Grape & Gourmet in Virginia Beach, VA after we finished up at Smartmouth. I've posted plenty of Cheap and Cheery event photos and it's one of the events Shelby and I look forward to every month. We bumped into a bunch of friends while perused and sampled wines, beers and ciders on the tables. A great event that lets you sample things you might not normally buy. Wen we finished at Grape & Gourmet we took a little break at home to finish up a pita full of meat called "The Bomb" we got from New York Souvlaki earlier. After our brief down time we headed out again.

The last stop of our run for the day was at Lynnhaven Pub to meet the local chapter of Barley's Angels. Barley's Angels Coastal Virginia is a group of female craft beer enthusiasts who aim to educate and promote craft beer in their region. One of the ways they do this is through volunteering and that night's meeting was a big one because the next day they were going to work the Treasure Chest event.

San Diego brewing company Green Flash has held a breast cancer awareness benefit called Treasure Chest Fest. This year is special for Virginia Beach because it was going to the first one and held on the future spot for a brand new Green Flash brewery! We bumped into a lot of friends and met the friendly people from Green Flash mingled about.

We headed home at a decent time but I still stayed up too late. In the morning I was headed to Treasure Chest Fest where I was asked to be the event photographer. I'll write about that later.

Alkaline - Ramen, Kickstarter, Life - A Chat with Chef Kevin Ordonez

October 5, 2014

Everyone knows what ramen is, I grew up eating it. The crunchy packages of dried noodles in thinly wrapped plastic that cost about a quarter a pack. Boil some water and add the season packet then you're good to go. I had friends that would eat it dry from the bag, sprinkling the overly salted seasoning pouch on it like sprinkles on an ice cream cone. That style of ramen was introduced to the world in the 1950's but it derived from the popular Japanese working-class shina soba. In 2000 the Japanese voted their beloved instant noodles as the best invention of the 20th Century. The history behind ramen's introduction to Japanese culture are mixed but in the United States it is served anywhere from carts to haute cuisine.

In Hampton Roads there are several places you can get real ramen served and dressed in the traditional fashion. I'll be honest and say I don't know a whole lot about it other that the aforementioned packaged ramen. When our daughter returned from a visit to California she told us about a ramen shop her aunt took her to and she loved it. I asked around and the one place that kept being mentioned was Alkaline.

Click to watch Alkaline's Kickstarter video

Alkaline was working as a pop-up at The Cutting Edge cafe in Chesapeake, VA. It would also operate at other locations in the area, like Norfolk's Field Guide but eventually chef/owner Kevin Ordonez decided he wanted his own brick-and-mortar to house his work. To raise funds to get this project off the ground Kevin turned to Kickstarter to drum up support. This could have been a risky move on his part because Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing arrangement. This meant if the $20,000 goal was not met by deadline then Alkaline would not see a single cent from backers. The clicking clock is a huge motivator for the target campaign and the backers who have become invested to support the shop. There were 45 days to raise the money and it went right up to the last day before Alkaline met--and passed--their goal. Kevin promised to be dunked in iced ramen if they made the goal, here he is keeping up his end of the deal.

The food at Alkaline is unique and delicious. The style of noodle and broth is different from the freeze dried stuff you get the grocery store. They make the noodles fresh, in fact, the the name Alkaline is a nod to the type of noodles used to make their ramen. The broth is rich with some weight to it. The bowls we've had included egg, green onion, shredded pork and pork belly. Additional sauces and oils are added for flavor. We also had the Tater Tot Okonomiyaki which was amazing. Click the image below to watch the bonito flakes (dried and delicately shaved tuna flakes) dance on the dish. They have a rotating menu with their version of chicken and waffles, chicken wings and an spectacular Kettle Corn Ice Cream with Miso Caramel (seriously, you guys need to make this again!)

Tater Tot Okonomiyaki...a must try. Click the photo to see it move.

I emailed Kevin to get to know him and his operation a little bit better.

GC: Congrats on the Kickstarter! Can't wait to hit the pig roast! (Everyone that chipped in on Kickstarter are going to be treated to a pig roast due to surpassing their $20,000 goal.)

KO: Hey George. Thank you! We haven't started planning the pig roast yet but I already know it'll be awesome.

GC: Could we get a little background information on you?

KO: Well, I grew up in a Navy family. My dad spent 24 years in the Navy. Over the course of his career we moved all over the world from San Diego to Guam to Washington to Japan then finally settling here in Virginia. It's difficult for me to call anywhere my hometown but if there is one I consider Virginia to be it. I went to both Brandon and Kempsville middle school. Graduated from Tallwood high school in 2006. My senior year of high school I competed in culinary competitions called Careers Through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP). I ended up doing very well and was able to win myself a full scholarship to go to The Culinary Institute of America in New York.

GC: Your experience in the industry?

KO: My first job ever was at The Founders Inn. Then my senior year, I worked as a line cook at Mahi Mah's. I worked there for about a summer until it was time for me to move up to New York and go to school. It took me a while to finish school. I went through a lot of ups and downs trying to figure out if cooking was what I wanted to do in life. Over the years I worked a lot of great jobs. I worked at The Williamsburg Inn in Colonial Williamsburg then a huuuuuuuge catering company in Arlington, VA called Design Cuisine. After graduating school, I moved to Northern Virginia and started looking for places to work. I did a stage at a place called Birch and Barley. That is an incredible restaurant and I regret not accepting the job offer there. Instead, I took a job at Michel Richard's new restaurant, Michel. This was one of the toughest jobs I've ever worked. I didn't last long and it turns out, Michel didn't either. After leaving there, I think it closed down the following year. Then, my girlfriend got pregnant and we decided to move back down here to be closer to family. I quickly got a job as a line cook at Todd Jurich's Bistro. I felt very comfortable there and was able to move up the line very quickly. When I got to the point where I felt I couldn't move any further up, I left. After leaving Todd's I got myself a job at Terrapin as a line cook. When the current Sous Chef put in his notice, I quickly gave my request to replace him as the new Sous Chef of Terrapin. Unfortunately, I was passed up on the opportunity. Shortly after, I decided my time at Terrapin was up. At this point in my career, I had been spend the last 8-9 years in the industry, was formally trained by the best culinary school in the country, and worked under some of the most famous chefs yet I still hadn't been able to secure a sous chef position. Either there were none available or nobody thought I had what it took to manage the kitchen. I found myself in a dark place. I was ready to quit the industry thinking this was not for me. Then the opportunity to start Alkaline came up. I figured, if no one wants to make me their sous chef, fine, I'll start my own restaurant.

GC: The idea behind Alkaline, name, origin.

KO: I named my restaurant Alkaline because they are the type of noodles that we were making in house. Alkaline refers to the pH level of the noodles. These types of noodles were ideal for ramen because the alkalinity helps the noodle stay strong and bouncy and hold up while sitting in a extremely hot broth.

GC: Are the recipes a joint venture or do you come up with them all?

KO: I cannot take credit for all the recipes we use at Alkaline. At the same time, there isn't one recipe that we simply just rip from somewhere whether its online or from books. What I'm saying is, I didn't invent ramen. I didn't invent this technique of boiling the pork bones to get a creamy white color. I didn't invent the noodles. But at the same time, I don't get our recipes from anywhere either. It might sound confusing but over the years, I've learned how to cook. I learned how flavors work together to create new flavors. I've learned how to visualize food and how it tastes before I even physically make the dish. The recipes and techniques we use at Alkaline were created centuries ago but we just adapt them to our style and what we think tastes good. A lot of times, some recipes don't turn out the same at Alkaline because usually, its just me making things without recipes. I usually just eyeball things without measuring it or reading it from somewhere. Like I said, I've been cooking for many years and I understand how to develop flavor. However, we're in the process of standardizing all our recipes now so my cooks can do it the same every time even when Im not around. I've found that writing things down is a very hard thing for me to do.

GC: Where is the new space going to be located and why?

KO: I am considering a couple different options for Alkaline's home. I really like Ghent and I'm warming up to Park Place. I think Ghent already has a great look and feel. There are a lot of people who enjoy walking up and down Colley to frequent all the local restaurants in the area. Ghent has a lot of character and I feel that Alkaline could really help add to it. I like the idea of setting up in Park Place because of timing. Right now, Park Place is on the brink of coming up. With Handsome Biscuit heading the charge, and other restaurant/bars soon to follow, Park Place will be a great, safe place to enjoy the eats that Norfolk has to offer. That's a few years down the line but I have the opportunity to change a neighborhood for the better. What better motivation is that?! I get to do what I love and also help develop an area of the city that some may consider "ghetto".

GC: Will the pop-ups continue or will the the brick-and-mortar be the place to be.

KO: When Alkaline is finally ready it will definitely be the place to be. In the mean time, we're gonna keep bringing ramen as a pop-up. Currently, we are hosted by Pendulum Fine Meats off of Shirley Ave. Its a really great butcher shop/retail market/ restaurant. They have fantastic product and really go to great lengths to know where the product is coming from. I feel very lucky to be in this position. We get to use all this great product as part of our deal for doing a long-term pop up at Pendulum. We will be there every Friday-Monday night for at least 3 months.

GC: Did the Kickstarter give you the warm fuzzies?

KO: Well, honestly, Kickstarter almost gave me a heart attack! The last day was so intense! One of the questions I would get asked all the time during our campaign was why we didn't use other crowd-funding sites instead like Indiegogo where even if I don't reach my goal, I am able to keep whatever donations were pledged. Well the answer is simple, you got to risk it. I feel that the risk factor in not getting anything at all was a huge motivator for me and probably to many of the backers. Its all or nothing. I could've used Indiegogo but I definitely wouldn't have worked as hard. I really really worked hard to have a successful Kickstarter. What a lot of people don't realize, is that "going viral" is hard to do. It seems like a simple concept where maybe a random video of some cats being cute or something just happens to get 1 million views in a matter of hours. Those are the exceptions. I feel that most of the time, you have to force yourself to be successful. We carefully planned all those events for our Kickstarter. I spent 4 months working on the campaign even before we launched. I spent a lot of time working on shooting our video, and pictures, and content to put in the page. In hindsight, I feel our backer incentives could have been reworked. They were okay but could have been better. But anyways, I worked really really hard to make sure our kickstarter was successful. It's really hard to convince strangers to give you money so I knew that I had to really present my restaurant in a great way. I probably sent out 100 emails to my personal network of friends and family to try to get us to 50% funded by the first 2 weeks. That was unsuccessful. I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous during those last couple days. 2 days before our deadline we were at 5k. The last 12 hours we had just barely hit 10k. I woke up that morning and saw our progress and it was like my heart dropped. We needed to raise 10k in 12 hours! At that point, there was nothing I could do but hope that all that planning for the events and emails and facebook shares would work. At some point, I just had to stop thinking about it and have faith in my hard work. We ended up making 15k in 12 hours. I still can't believe it. People are so amazing.

Lastly, I know throughout a lot of these answers I talk about myself and all the hard work that I put into the restaurant and Kickstarter. Honestly, I can't take all the credit. There are many people out there who helped me out tremendously. I would really like to thank them for their support. David Hausmann helped me plan Kickstarter events and pop ups at Field Guide. Ross Riddle from Hashi let me take over his food truck while at an O'Connors event. Matt and Melanie Hayes from the Cutting Edge have supported me from day one. Without them, Alkaline would not be around. Paolo Obcemane is my photographer and videographer who does amazing work and is awesome because he works for food! My staff who have stuck with me Melissa Pepino, Juanito Cate, and David Cole. They had it really hard for the month of August. We took a break while I spent the month planning they were left without a job. Most people would've moved on but they stuck it out. When you have a dream, no one will sacrifice as much as you to make your dream successful. However, I'm lucky and found 3 people are still willing to sacrifice a lot for Alkaline. Dylan and Dana Wakefield and the other owners of Pendulum Fine Meats for all their support of Alkaline. I think they are just as excited as we are that we're going to pop up at Pendulum. Of course, my mother, father, brother Mike, and sister Laurie had huge roles to play. Mike and Laurie have gone to every single pop up event. They went to both Field Guide events, Hashi collaboration at O'Connors, they went to the Cutting Edge probably once a week, and they have a lot of friends who they've brought in throughout the year. While my parents don't frequent the restaurant as much, they play a huge role too. I probably worked 90 hours a week for the last 9 months. Most of that time, they would babysit my 2 year old son Maxim. I hope I didn't forget anyone but if I did just know that your help is really appreciated and I am so grateful to have you.

George, if there is any part of this email that I truly believe to be the most important, its that last paragraph. Alkaline would not exist if it weren't for them. I constantly thank them for their support and they're really the reason why I push so hard.

You don't have to wait till they open new shop, head over to Pendulum Fine Meats in Norfolk to try out Alkaline:

Mon: 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Fri - Sat: 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Sun: 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Virginia Bacon Festival 2014

September 25, 2014

The Virginia Bacon Festival will be at the Scope Fountain Plaza again this year in Norfolk, VA. Last year drew over 2,700 bacon lovers and included an Iron Chef-type cook-off (you can probably guess what the secret ingredient was), live music and tons of bacon laced recipes from the area's restaurants.

This year the festival will host a Bacon Bowl that Culinary Institute of Virginia and their student chefs will compete in. They will start cooking atnoon and at 2:00 PM the public can sample the the students efforts and cast a vote for their favorite. Afterwards at 3:00 PM the bacon eating contest will be held. Lucky participants will be selected from the Viginia Bacon Festival Facebook page, there is no charge for the contestants chosen. Whoever eats one pound of bacon the fastest wins!

Malbon's BBQ "The Flying Pig" will be serving up this tasty BBQ cone topped with Bacon and drizzled with honey! They call it The Wake 'N Bacon Waffle Cone!Image courtesy of the Virginia Bacon Festival Facebook page. — Malbon's BBQ "The Flying Pig" will be serving up this tasty BBQ cone topped with Bacon and drizzled with honey! They call it The Wake 'N Bacon Waffle Cone!
*Image courtesy of the Virginia Bacon Festival Facebook page.*

Attendees will be able to purchase delicous dishes from some of the best restaurants and food trucks in Hampton Roads (and beyond.) Samples will also be available at most of the tables around the square but be prepared to stand in line for them. I'd like to mention that the restaurants put a lot of time and effort to serve the festival, please bring some cash to buy a dish--help support your food scene! Speaking of lines, there will probably be lines for drinks too, it's just how these things work. Bring some singles to tip your servers. They're going to be super busy. Here are some some of the participating restaurants: Todd Jurich's Bistro, Eat American Bistro, Belmont House Of Smoke, Cotton Southern Bistro, Bite, FM Backstage Restaurant, Public House, Gosport Tavern, Reverend Jim's Southern BBQ, Over The Moon Pizza, Pendulum Fine Meats, Rustic Roots Gourmet, Sooey's BBQ, The Coop, Mad Platters

The Food Trucks present will be: Stuft- Not Your Average Street Food, Sofrito, Twisted Sisters Cupcakes, Malbon's - "The Flying Pig", Bros Fish Tacos, Karnage Asadano Brick Grill and CXB BBQ.

Craft beer will be available too. Local favorites O'Connor Brewing, Smartmouth and the delicious Larry's Lemonade will be there. Regional brews from Hardywood Park, Lickinghole Creek, Heritage, Wild Wolf and many more will also be poured.

Live music by The Fighting Jamesons, The Killroos, The Fuzz Band and more will be on the main stage in addition to the other entertaining cooking demonstrations and competitions. Bacon inspired beverage and spirit sampling, bacon art and a kids area round out the festival. The portions of the proceeds of the event will benefit Princess Anne Hunt Club Foundation for their Agricultural Education and Animal Rescue Funds and Beyond Boobs!

Purchase your tickets online here before they sell out. If there are any left you can you can purchase them at the gate but there will probably be lines. See you there! I'll photographing the event, come up and say "Hi" if you see me.

Admission price will be $25 General, $40 VIP, $10 Kids. You can go in on a VIP table for 10 at $500. Buy tickets here.

Photos from Virginia Bacon Festival 2013:

Alkaline

July 28, 2014

We finally were able hit an Alkaline ramen pop-up! They're at Field Guide tonight, taking some photos and enjoying some great food.

More photos here.

Peel the Love!

June 27, 2014

Dole has set out to remind everyone that bananas aren't just for brown bag lunches or looking good in the fruit arrangements. “The Peel the Love" “Banana Cabana” Tour is traveling around the county in custom food trucks that will offer recipes, samples and even swag—t-shirts, sunglasses, etc... using Dole bananas and other fruit. They've also reached out to regional bloggers, like myself, to help put the word out. In the Virginia Beach/Norfolk area, they'll be visiting the following locations within the next few days:

Sunday, 29 June - Norfolk Naval Commissary, 1588 Mall Drive, Norfolk, VA, 11:00am – 5:00pm
Monday, 30 June – Oceana Naval Commissary, 1300 Oceana Blvd, Virginia Beach, VA, 3:00pm – 6:00pm

If you're outside of the Hampton Roads area, they'll be stopping at these spots too:

Saturday, 28 June – 7Th Annual Chesty Puller Memorial Bridge 10K and Kids Fun Run, Historic Downtown, West Point, VA (Town Square), 7:00am – 10:00am
Thursday, 3 July – Fort Lee VA. Commissary, 400 Shop Rd., Fort Lee, VA, 11:00am – 5:00pm

The events are free and ID cards are not required to visit the NOB and Oceana cabana stops. Grilled, blended, sliced—however you might like them, delicious treats made from bananas will be available for visitors to try. You can grab a merch item if you bring by a receipt displaying a purchase of 3 lbs. of Dole bananas too! You' might possibly see a walking banana if you stop by the food truck—who wouldn't want to see a huge walking banana?

Dole selected cities that have shown to have a great appreciation for the yellow fruit when planning out stops on the Peel the Love tour. In all, 26 banana-loving cities will be visited by the Banana Cabana Memorial Day through Labor Day.

To help celebrate the banana, make a cold, refreshing smoothie using the recipes my wife and I use here at home. Click the photo below:

Follow this link for more information on Peel the Love

Here is the official blurb from Dole:

Peel the Love is a year-long Dole campaign that celebrates the fun, irreverence and whimsical side of bananas and other tropical fruit. The program includes everything from delicious new banana recipes, serving, pairing and entertaining tips.

About DOLE Bananas

DOLE® Bananas are the top-selling banana in America and the world — in both conventional and organic product categories. From its founding by James Drummond Dole, the company has built its reputation on a ceaseless commitment to quality. Today, the DOLE® brand stands for more than 150 years of quality produce — and the world’s largest supplier of fresh fruits and vegetables, including bananas. Dole strives to grow, produce, harvest, transport and distribute its bananas and other produce in the most environmentally and socially conscious way possible. Dole Fresh Fruit Company is based in Westlake Village, Calif.

About Dole Food Company, Inc.

Dole Food Company, Inc., with 2013 revenues from continuing operations of $4.5 billion, is one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of high-quality fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. Dole is an industry leader in many of the products it sells, as well as in nutrition education and research. For more information, please visit www.dole.com.

O'Connoroo!

June 5, 2014

The new O'Connor Brewing Company facility is huge, especially compared to the old building the next street over. Standing on top of the roof you can see for miles over the low rooftops of the industrial area, past the neighborhoods and beyond. Taking in everything around the building, getting a bead on the location. What caught my interest was the old coffee roasting plant a couple blocks away. It used to house First Colony Coffee & Tea, the 109-year-old business closed it's doors in 2011. I asked brewer Skylar Sickles what he thought about the new place.

“I love it.” he said.

I stopped by O'Connor Brewing Co. to check out the new spot before the huge grand opening dubbed “O'Connoroo.” I was greeted by their marketing director, Hannah Serrano, who gave me a quick tour around the warehouse. She then handed me off to the brewers, James Moriarty, Brian Mandeville, and Skylar Sickles who were there getting the new tanks hooked-up. The 211 W. 24th Street location started out as a food processing plant, then furniture warehouse before being converted into a brewery. The wide, open space allowed O'Connor to triple the annual output to 15,000 barrels. The building houses a cooler and docking area too; this will allow them to produce and hold more beer in addition to convenient shipping. This all equals higher product output.

The extra space will allow the brewers to experiment with small batches. They've done this in the past, but they'll have more to share and they can test out barrel aging. Barrels are going to be brought in from distilleries in the surrounding area. The brewers said they're going to love the extra space and the large windows that line the brewery's walls can be opened to let air in. I remember spending a couple hours with the brewers in the old location a few years ago. It was summer and it was hot, damp—the new space will be a lot more comfortable. The old spot on 25th Street has been shuttered up and the tanks there will be going to Midnight Brewery outside of Richmond, another craft brewery that started in 2011.

Kevin O'Connor, said, “I just love the way the place looked, architecturally, and how the place felt.” I can understand the feeling. The space allows the brewery to add a lot more the O'Connor experience. There is a mezzanine “VIP” area above the taproom bar. The bar is housed in what was formerly a refrigeration area—you can still see the large doors that was used to access the units. Twenty-one taps will be behind the warmly lit, wood-worked and corked lined walls. For the curious, the cork walls are original to the building, insulation for refrigeration units. As I was leaving I couldn't wait see how this place would be put together in a week for O'Connoroo!

The weather was perfect. We showed up to O'Connoroo around 3:30 PM, this was the official grand opening of the new location. We missed the 2:00 PM kick-off—pipers, ribbon cutting and the small crowds. The place was packed already with lines for beer tickets winding out of the gate! The docking courtyard was lined with food trucks and pop-up restaurants. The trucks included Karnage Asada, CXB BBQ and Eats, Granby Street Hot Dogs; the pop-ups were from Waffletina, Belmont House of Smoke (the brisket was very good!), Cogan's Pizza, 80/20 Burger Bar and Colley Cantina. In the center were spots to hang out and play cornhole. Speaking of games, if you go inside, there is a gameroom. They still have their oversized Jenga from the old joint and there is a shuffleboard court to boot. More games will be added in the future.

A proper stage has been built in the brewery to host their weekly performers. The O'Connoroo had four bands to check-out: The Framers, DJP and MrT, The Dahus, Big Virginia Sky. Between the stage and taproom are long tables and a bar with stools that runs the length of the lined-up tanks. The seating allows patrons to check out the brewing area and equipment in addition to anyone on stage. We moved around the facility a bit and made our way up to the mezzanine. A smaller bar was up stairs to cater the VIP area. A good number of people from the area's craft beer scene were there to help celebrate O'Connor's big day.

Approximately there were 5,000-6,000 people who walked through the gates to attend O'Connoroo. This made for long lines for beer and the brewery posted an apology and promised to make good in futures events. They will definitely honor any beer tickets people held onto. So if you have some, don't throw them away! All the tickets O'Connor had available were sold by 8:15 PM that night. 42.5 barrels of beer was consumed, which roughly translates to over 10,500 pints poured! So much beer was pulled that the tasting room will only be open Friday and Saturday the week after O'Connoroo to allow them to refill the kegs.

Even though there were lines for drinks, everyone took it in stride. It was great seeing the community come out and support the area's spearhead unit into the craft beer scene. They've come a long way since opening in March 2010. Here's a little traditional Irish toast to close:

May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, beer beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire.

I changed that a little bit, hope you don't mind. See all the photos from the event here.

(Special thanks to Michael Palfrey Jr., OBC Tasting Room Mgr., who let me ping him for information.)

Busy Friday!

April 1, 2014

This past Friday was set to be an busy, but exciting day. A couple of big events were happening: Back Bay Brewing's soft opening in Virginia Beach and Chayce's band, Long Division, playing their CD release show in Norfolk.

First, Back Bay Brewing had a soft opening over the weekend. Friday and Saturday they were going to have the taps pouring for anyone who might stop by. Friday night Nick Vitale from Zeke's Beans & Bowls next door invited some of the area's food trucks to hang out and serve food. There was no shortage of food options.

From what I hear, about 1,000 people came through the tasting room. I was impressed with the staff, they kept the drinks coming and didn't skip a beat (with the lights flickering here and there.) We met our friends John and Connie and shared a couple of flights while catching up with a few familiar faces. Afterwards, we decided on dinner at Field Guide; and made our way to Norfolk.

Field Guide was packed, it's not uncommon for there to be a little wait if you go in for dinner or lunch. The line was moving fast though and the wait gave us a moment to check out the menu. Shelby grabbed a specialty cocktail made with the house soda and gin. I had a sip, it was refreshing. After a bit we were seated and we ordered our meals. I got the Lou-Wow and Shelby ordered the Boaring Meatloaf. The Lou-Wow was a delicious pork BBQ with a little Hawaiian flair and the Boaring Meatloaf was a pork meatloaf served with mac and cheese and kale. Both dishes were beautiful and delicious--I have to say it was tragic later that evening when we got home and I forgot the leftovers in the car overnight! I almost curled up into a ball on the couch the next day after I realized what I did. Oh! I need to mention that I had a Smartmouth Safety Dance Pilsner. This is served exclusively at Field Guide at the moment - loved it.

After finishing up at Field Guide we had about an hour so we decided to head over to The Birch and say "Hi". We met our friend Matt, who was at the bar with Malia - owner of The Birch; and the other Matt serving behind and bar. I ordered an Italiano TipoPils, it’s my go-to when I’m there--it's good!

We had just enough time to chat a little bit, take a few goofy photos before we were off to Belmont House of Smoke on 21st St. That's were Long Division was playing.

Super Bonus: Marleigh was meeting us at Belmont. She drove down from Richmond to see her brother play what might be his last show with the band before he leaves for the Navy.

It was about 10:30 when we arrived at Belmont. There was a good crowd upstairs where the band was playing. They were still setting up for their set we walked in. We said our hellos to the those we knew in the room and I ordered a Smartmouth Rule G.

Long Division played to a packed out and the set was great. I really am going to miss not seeing Chayce on stage playing with the band. Knowing this was going to be one of his last shows with the band made it special.

After the show we chatted with Chayce and several others, then we hit the merch table for some Cds and a t-shirt. We bought a copyof their new album for John and Connie and one for our friend Cappy who was there too. We made the rounds and headed out.

John drove us home. Sadly, our leftovers never made it out of the car. I hope it didn't smell too much like BBQ pork in the morning.

Listen to Long Division at their Bandcamp page. Here is one of my favorites off their new album called Skipping Rocks.

O'Connor Brewing Turns Four

March 18, 2014

Norfolk's O'Connor Brewing Company turned 4 years old today -- St. Patrick's Day! I remember hearing about the brewery first coming around through rumor and then opening. It's come a long way since then and it's only getting better: it'll be moving to a new location soon, they've been putting out great seasonals, and the crew is getting bigger.

Shelby and I didn't go out tonight but I did get a early St. Patrick's Day pull this past Saturday when the brewery celebrated its anniversary and three wins from the Dublin Craft Beer Cup. Turn-out was great and delicious food was being served by one of the newer food trucks in the area -- Karnage Asada. I'll write a little more about them in a separate post but I will say they're worth stopping for if you see them parked somewhere. I had a "full rack" of tacos and Kapow Kimchos, kimchi nachos. Seriously, it was good!

The weather was perfect. They had a couple of pouring station working on the inside and did a good job at keeping the glasses filled, growlers topped-off, and flights flying. Live music was being played by a three piece outfit and there was even some dancing going on. People were playing cornhole outside next to picnic tables occupied by merry-makers.

Happy Birthday O'Connor Brewing Co. and congratulations on the awards.

P.S. - You probably know this already, but in case you don't...the oak tree you see on the sign is part of the ancient, Irish crest of the O'Connor clan.

Italia Night at The Birch

March 11, 2014

Ben and Jie Yu Neidhart of B. United International, Inc. recently held a session at The Birch where they described their Connecticut operation—from international shipping, distribution, and specifically the budding craft beer scene in Italy. Their distribution company imports from all over the world and that night at The Birch was a celebration of Italian beers. Listed below are the breweries and the beers on tap for Italia Night:

Baladin:

Nora - Ginger Herb/Spice Ale and Al-Iksir – Belgian Dark Strong Ale

Grado Plato:

Chocarrubica – Carob Oatmeal Stout and Strada San Felice – Chestnut Ale

Del Borgo:

Rubus Lamponi – Raspberry Wild Ale

Del Ducato:

Verdi Zymatore – Granache Sour Chili Stout and My Blueberry Nightmare – Scotch Sour Blueberry Stout

Italiano:

TipoPils – German Style Pilsner and Nigredo – Hoppy Black Lager

Ben and Jie Yu handed out information on the breweries which included a little history, the stories brewer bios, and how the Italian breweries operate. It might be surprising to hear that the land known for millennia of wine making tradition has a very young craft beer scene. From what I've read from other sources it didn't start taking off till the 1990's. Today there are approximately 500 craft breweries in the old country.

It was nice going through the information Ben and Jie Yu passed around. Reading the stories behind each Italian brewery, the training/educational background of the brewers, and the passion behind why they dived into craft beer. Ben described the difference between cultured and wild yeasts used in beers and how introducing selected bacteria causes the sought after sour notes.

After the session ended Ben joined Jie Yu and Malia in sampling some of the beers The Birch had on tap. They invited me to sit with them and sample the line-up. I tried out the Verdi Zymatore Granache Sour Chili Stout and My Blueberry Nightmare, both are made with the same award winning Verdi Imperial Stout. Though they might have come from the same base, both beers had extremely different flavor profiles.

The Granache Chili was aged in Granache casks that were also used to age a chili mead. The imperial stout became a complex blend of lightly sweet and spicy tones that didn't overwhelm me, but I felt the chili in the back of my throat for sure. It had some weight, was sour and dark.

Even though it was made from the same stout base, the Blueberry Nightmare was very different from Granache Chili. Just as rich and darker, the intense fruit really came through with the tart.

I mentioned to them I was still trying to warm up to sours; I talked a little bit about the Duchesse De Bourgogne Shelby had ordered elsewhere. Jie Yu and Malia rattled off a few to see if I knew them and then we sampled some. I need some work on this but I'm getting there. We also talked about B. United and I found out Ben's father runs the distributor. They take their beer seriously and the effort that goes into moving this stuff from the far corners of the earth is respectable.

I enjoyed getting a little sampling of all the Italians (and a few extras) in addition to the one I bought. I stuck around to chat a little more, said my goodbyes, then I headed home.

Hit The Birch to and try some of this stuff before it's gone. Check out all the photos from the event here.

To read more about Italian craft beers try these links:

B. United's blog Nepenthiology has tons of great info

Italy's Craft Beer Awakening – The Beer Connoisseur Online

The Birch's Beer Education Wednesday cheat sheet on Zymatore

Foothills Hits The Birch

February 14, 2014

Malia of The Birch and Jesse from ChesBay

Leaving O'Connor Brewing Wednesday night, I headed over to The Birch for the Foothills event. Sexual Chocolate and a couple of other Foothills brews were on tap.

I recently had the Sexual Chocolate Stout at Tubby's Tavern so I had a Jade IPA. Bumped into Jesse Scott from ChesBay who distributes Foothills to our area. Malia was working at the bar and came over to chat with us for a little bit.

It was nice seeing everyone in keeping warm. We just had a bunch of snow dumped on us. The Birch is very cozy and has a pretty relaxed atmosphere--perfect for the weather.

A Drink with AltDaily

February 14, 2014

AltDaily recently announced that Pilot Media acquired the magazine ensuring a solid future (and funding.) They invited people to O'Connor Brewing Co. for a drinks. I'm always up for a drink.

Read a little more about how Jesse and Hannah or AltDaily feel about the what's happening:

Jesse's Words

Hannah's Words

The Pilot's president, David Mele, said that the magazine will be able to keep it's voice to "allow it to succeed and thrive." Good luck guys and thank you for allowing me to contribute to the magazine.

Shady Grove Marketplace is closing

February 9, 2014

Sad to hear the other day that Shady Grove Marketplace will be closing it's doors for good. Sequestration and cutbacks in government spending really hurt the small shop; they lost their lunch crowd which put a big dent in their revenue.

The cozy cornershop stocked up with local produce, sandwiches, and other goods you wouldn't normally find in the chain supermarkets. In addition to the inventory, Luke and Emily are good people; I hope their next project is as well received as the market was.

Check out some photos from their anniversary event a couple years ago.

Photoset 1

Photoset 2

The Birch Hosts Left Hand Brewing

February 3, 2014

The Birch in Chelsea (West Ghent, Norfolk, VA) has been listed in the top 50 craft beer bars in the United States by RateBeer.com. The only one in Virginia on that list, we're pretty lucky to have it. The other week they hosted a Steal the Pint night featuring Left Hand Brewing.

Specialty Beverage of Virginia, who distribute Left Hand in our region, were there in a show of support for the event and The Birch. A representative from the brewery, “Left Hand” Dan Conway was available to talk to customers and help promote the brewery. He was moving about bar and tables talking about the available beers and/or just chatting with the visitors. Since it was Steal the Pint night, the first Left Hand beer ordered garnered the patron a nice Irish-style pint glass with the signature red, left hand emblazoned on the front. The back of the glass had “Sometimes you're not in the mood for what everyone else is having.” printed on it. Neat glass.

We talked to Dan a bit about his work and his beers being served at The Birch. Really nice guy, he travels a lot and has been with the company a while. He goes from state to state hosting events for Left Hand in the Atlantic region; he's based out of Philly. He said the two American ales on tap that night—Deep Cover (American Brown Ale) and Jackman's Pale Ale (American Pale Ale)—were discontinued because they competed with some of their other signature beers also on the market and breweries do rotations in general. I ordered both the Americans and shared them with Shelby and Chayce. They were good, easy to drink. Chayce liked the Milk Stout Nitro (Milk/Sweet Stout); Shelby had the St. Vrain Belgian Tripel.

While we were having our drinks I talked to the Specialty guys, Phil Shannon, Jeff Joyce, Scott Warden and Christain Maute. I tend to bump into these fellas at the beer centric events all around the area. One thing for sure, if you see one of them there will be beer nearby. This is a good thing.

The Birch's owner, Malia Bublick, was constantly moving around the pub, never standing still for too long making sure drinks were poured and the plates handled. In a little lull she did come over to our end of the bar and we talked about how things were going. It was a Thursday night and I asked her about the full house. She said the Thursday crowd is usually pretty good, but when you give away glassware you always get a few more people who show up.

After we finished our drinks and said our good-byes. It's always nice visiting The Birch and I really enjoyed meeting Dan from Left Hand. Hopefully we'll catch them again in the near future.

View the photos from the event here.

George Culver, Cameron Rollo, Gabe Rosenfarb, Morgan Sieg, and Jarod Goenner

Victory at Cogan's!

January 14, 2014

Recently, Cogan's Pizza in Norfolk, VA hosted a Victory Brewing Company “Steal the Pint” night. How this usually works, is that when you buy your first beer, you get to keep the glass. I've picked up a few myself from other breweries but to be honest with you, if kept every beer glass that touched my lips I wouldn't have room in the cabinets for anything else! This glass though, I wanted it.

Before I headed down to Cogan's I stopped by Grape and Gourmet for beer tasting. Every Thursday night they highlight several beers in the shop. Gabe is usually in house pouring and describing what is sampled. He was there, of course, and I told him what my plans were. Since he was at the end of his shift, he said he'd come along too. Cool.

Gabe pulled up about the same time I did and we headed in together. At the bar was Jarod Goenner and Morgan Sieg—Jarod is guy behind HR Growler, Hampton Roads new craft beer magazine and Morgan is the local Victory rep. Gabe and I write for HR Growler, first issue hits the streets 16 Jan 2014. Look out for it!

I walked up and asked if they had any glasses left, sadly they were out. I thought it started at 7:00 PM, but the event kicked-off at 5:00 PM. I need to get my stuff straight, seriously.

Scanning the room I saw some familiar faces including Gerald Franklin of Hoffman Beverage. He was at a table with what turned out to be the region's Victory team headed by Cameron Rollo. Cameron was in town a couple of days to check out the area; I was introduced to him and we chatted a bit. I found out he was in the army and stationed in Germany right before I was. He also knew Hohenfels, where I was stationed, telling me he didn't like it. No one likes Hohenfels, Bavaria unless you're stationed there. I'll have to write about it sometime.

I was looking forward to trying some of the beer they tapped and I checked out what was available. I've had a couple of Victory beers before but I think it might have been at tastings. I know I've never picked up any for the house, so I wasn't sure where to start. I asked everyone what they thought I should try and the consensus was the Prima. Victory Prima is a hoppy Pils that was very tasty. I'm not huge on hop overload (yeah, don't hit me or anything) but this was good. Easy to drink and floral. I first had a real Pils in Germany, as a matter of fact, my experience with great beer started in Germany. So this was a nice little throwback for me.

I tried out the Winter Cheers wheat ale, kind of like a light Hefeweizen, another beer I fell in love with in Germany. Since I was driving I couldn't grab a Golden Monkey Tripel and the Dirtwolf Double IPA kicked earlier. I got a couple of sips from the group though. Cameron actually had the bar put together something a bar made from Golden Monkey called a “Monkmosa”. It is about 80% Golden Monkey and 20% orange juice. It was good and I made a couple for Shelby and myself at home later that weekend.

I was impressed with the beers and looked forward to trying more of them. At the big, monthly tasting at Grape and Gourmet—Cheap & Cheery—I picked up a little variety pack so I could relax at home and give them a little more attention. Good stuff.

Check out the event album here.

Thomas Meets Handsome Biscuit

January 8, 2014

I take a ton of photos. I try to go through them and figure out what I would like to post but many fall by the wayside. After going through my holiday posts I wanted put up a little bit about a biscuit run I did with my nephew.

Handsome Biscuit in Norfolk, VA makes sweet potato biscuits with just about anything you can think of between them. The favorites include the biscuits that have fried chicken, but they do one with peanut butter and jelly, potato frittata--like I said--everything. Their end of year special was allowing you to add caviar to any biscuit you bought.

Anyway, back to the story. Shelby's sister was in town with the family and when they're here our nephew usually stays with us. We'll play the latest Call of Duty hours on end--seriously, hours. This year,Chayce left before New Years and Thomas was stuck with me and Shelby. TJ (my brother-in-law) had a lunch to go to, so I decided to take Thomas out for brunch! This is where Handsome Biscuit comes in.

I've had every biscuit on the regular menu at Handsome Biscuit.

Honest.

They'll have specials here and there but I've made it a point to eat every one written up on the board in the shop. I think the Bleu Blazer is my favorite but the Stevie is a close second. Since it was Thomas' first time there I suggested he try the Hella Fitzgerald. It has fried chicken, sausage gravy, and bacon. You can't go wrong with it. You can probably guess what I ordered: Bleu Blazer.

We ordered our biscuits to go and I figured we'd run down near Nauticus and the Pagoda to sit at U.S.S Wisconsin and eat. Look up the the old battleship sometime, neat stuff. There is a little memorial park at the pier with stories about different ships of historical significance and the sailors who manned them.

Oh before we went to the park, we stopped by Shady Grove Marketplace in the Freemason District of Norfolk. We needed something to drink, so we picked up a couple of sodas and chatted with Emily--part of the husband/wife team that owns the cool, cozy cornershop. The weather was great for late December, we were able to sit outside without jackets and eat. We finished our biscuits, checked out the Pagoda and headed home to meet the rest of the family.

I really enjoyed this.