Let's Drink!

Lifestyle
Written By Nicole Jones

For the fourth September in a row our home state is celebrating Virginia Distillers month. "It's 5 o' clock for 30 days," or, if you are at Stomping Ground, it's 5 o'clock somewhere (every day but Monday - sorry, you know we close for sanity day on Mondays).This month-long campaign supports the sale and education of Virginia's craft spirits. I also learned this year that it is the 400th anniversary of distilled spirits production in the U.S., which started in colonial Virginia with a batch of corn whisky in 1620!With our newly minted bar and newly minted bartender (have you met Brett?) we are celebrating with two very special events:  Thursday, September 19th we will be featuring a special, one night only, cocktail menu highlighting the moonshine of Richmond Distiller, Belle Isle. "Distilled from good times and 100% organic corn" their spirits are absolutely delicious and bring insane flavors to cocktails. No reservations necessary, just swing by anytime after 5:30pm on Thursday the 19th and grab a seat at the bar.  Thursday, September 26th we invite you for a special Chef's Tasting Menu paired with tasting cocktails featuring the highly awarded whiskies from Catoctin Creek Distilling Company. Reservations highly encouraged and can be found on our website.Brett will be paring cocktails with the following special menu from Chef Jamie: Country Pate, Toast Points Slow Roasted Eggplant, Yogurt, Spiced Green Sauce, Braised Lamb, Root Vegetable Puree, Red Wine Jus, Crispy Shallots, Banana Toffee Bread Pudding, Apple Cider Caramel, and Whipped Cream.If you can't make it to either of those nights, try and swing by on Sunday mornings and try one of our "Punch Pouches" -- aka adult Capri Suns. They are in in a word -- perfect. 

Nicole Jones

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Head Janitor, Chef, and Proprietor | Modest Bread

Nicole’s cooking style is rooted in, but not limited to, her love of southern biscuits and her diverse culinary upbringing. A military brat, she spent her childhood in the Chicago suburbs enjoying her great-grandmother Mae’s Lithuanian cooking. As a tween, she moved to Paulding County, Ga. where she begrudgingly fell in love with the charmingly perplex small towns of the Deep South. She fondly remembers grubbing on Martin’s biscuits, late-night Waffle House debauchery and cooking with her family. 

After graduating from the University of Georgia, Nicole started a marketing career at an art nonprofit in Atlanta. At 25 years old, she became the youngest executive at the local Atlanta NPR affiliate. Chasing her dreams, she moved to Alexandria, VA where she took a short post in the Whole Foods marketing department. Realizing that cooking had been her true love all along, she began night courses at L’Academie de Cuisine. She completed her apprenticeship at Blue Duck Tavern where she was promoted to a line cook after graduation. From there, Nicole worked as a private chef for busy Washington D.C. executives and their families.

As grown-ups tend to do, Nicole realized something about her childhood -- the best parts were enjoying small town communities, cooking with her great-grandmother and sharing meals with family and friends. She opened Stomping Ground (now Rubia’s) to build a safe and welcoming community around yummy, handmade food from local sources. As her first foray running her own kitchen, she has shamelessly hired better, smarter cooks to fill her kitchen and your bellies. 

Modest Bread is a collection of idiosyncratic neighborhood restaurants devoted to hospitality in Northern Virginia and includes Rubia’s, Bagel Uprising, Mae’s Market & Cafe, and Virginia’s Darling.

www.modestbread.com

2309 Mt Vernon Avenue

Alexandria, VA 22301

703.664.0445

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