New Year's Eve & Day at Stomping Ground

Lifestyle
Written By Nicole Jones

This post is by Emma Ratpojanakul, Social Media Manager at Stomping Ground & Bagel Uprising. Thank you, Emma! 

It’s almost time to say “goodbye and good riddance” to the year 2020; to say we’re all looking forward to a new start in 2021 would be an understatement. It hasn’t just been a difficult time for the restaurant industry - it’s been a brutal 10 months for people from all walks. We’re learning to roll with the punches and find the silver lining, so more than anything we feel gratitude: to you, our community, our work family, our delivery people, the mailman, the neighborhood holiday cheer. You all keep our biscuits baking and coffee brewing.We’re embracing the South’s traditions around New Year’s Eve and Day this year. It’s all about new beginnings and hoping (read: eating) for prosperity and happiness. We’ve got special menus lined up for the 30th, 31st, and 1st - here’s to some great meals bringing us all some good fortune in 2021.  Feeling Fancy Dinner: Let’s end the year with some southern comfort. What brings that feeling more than shrimp and grits? We’re serving up this favorite topped with fire-roasted tomato and bacon. To start, try the southern version of pâté - deviled ham and biscuit crackers. Nicole swears you’ll love it. Finish it out with heavenly butterscotch pecan bars. Raise a toast with a super dry Sauvignon Blanc that’ll pair perfectly with this rich and heartwarming meal. Enjoy on December 30th or 31st from 4:30pm to 7:30pm. Order online and pick up at our contactless window.  A Little Southern Good Luck Brunch or Dinner: Let’s start by saying southerners abide by the tenets of New Year’s superstitions. Your New Year’s Day meal shapes your fortune for the next 364 days, so you had better do it right! Each food on the menu symbolizes something special. Ham for forward movement - pigs root forward when they forage for food, while poultry and lobsters move backward. Avoid catfish (bottom feeders) at all costs! Cornbread for gold - the color really explains this in full. Black eyed peas for frugality - peas for pennies will bring prosperity. Collard greens for dollar bills - again, we think the color says it all. And finally, peach cobbler for luck - the round shape of the pastry represents life coming full circle. So why not give it a shot? We’ll take all the good juju we can get. The meal is available all day on January 1st. Place your order online and come by and pick up at our window! 

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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