Meet Me in the Alley!

Lifestyle
Written By Nicole Jones

We kept outdoor dining off the table (ha!) for all of 2020 out of an overabundance of caution; not just to keep our staff safe but to avoid the stress of opening and closing with the whims of the weather. Starting Saturday, March 20, Stomping Ground is finally opening up for outdoor dining! It means so much more than eating food outside. For us, it’s a first real step forward with a feeling of hope, to think about the future, and to finally have a little fun!  By day, the Alley will be first come first served for customers of Stomping Ground and Bagel Uprising to enjoy morning carbs and coffee. Wednesday through Sunday nights, we will open up the outdoor oasis slinging twists on your bar-food favorites and brand new cocktails, beer, and wine. The COVID-spaced picnic and lounge seating will be reservation encouraged on Resy.I keep saying The Alley is “just for fun.” The menus, drinks, merch, and playlists were all designed to be lighthearted. A fun escape from the troubles of last year.  

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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