By Candice Coleman
Welcome to July, one of the year’s most delicious months, with not one, but two food holidays to celebrate: National Ice Cream Month and National Grilling Month! And we’ve got some serious breaking “chews” on both, but first, a St. Louis institution is gearing up for an anniversary milestone:
Volpi Foods is about to mark its 120th year in business, and to celebrate, the company is calling on local artists to create a commemorative mural. The St. Louis-based producer of specialty cured meats hopes to bring to life the heritage of The Hill, where its storefront on Daggett Avenue is located, by painting a mural on its north-facing wall.
Artists who are interested in being considered have until Friday, July 30, to send their concept submissions to muralcontest@volpifoods.com. More details on submission guidelines can be found on Volpi’s website.
While the COVID-19 pandemic may have caused significant hardship for a slew of restaurants on both sides of the river, A Fine Swine BBQ is now back in business in the Metro East, powered by Soulcial Kitchen. Soulcial Kitchen, located at 127 North Belt East in Swansea, Illinois, is touted as the area’s first commercial cloud kitchen, featuring a fleet of mobile food trucks, catering, delivery and curbside pickup options.
A Fine Swine BBQ food truck and catering is now operating out of Soulcial Kitchen and is bringing back an array of its most popular menu items, as well as new pitmaster specials, via its custom-built food truck.
“I am thrilled to partner with Soulcial Kitchen and lead the development, menu and operational execution of not just A Fine Swine BBQ, but also five exciting new brands coming to Soulcial this summer and fall, including tacos, chicken, burgers and pizza, each with their own branded food trucks,” said David Stidham, founder of A Swine BBQ and new partner and chief operating officer of Soulcial Kitchen.
Soulcial Kitchen is a unique commercial cloud kitchen platform that serves as a hospitality business incubator. One major focus is to develop and grow new dining concepts at significantly reduced risk and lower sustainment costs, while offering restaurant entrepreneurs access to a commercial kitchen and mobile food trucks. Another major focus is to reduce food insecurity through its “Currency of Caring” dignified-dining, meal-token program. The token is a prepaid coin that may be purchased at any Soulcial Kitchen-powered food truck, the cloud kitchen or on the Soulcial Kitchen website for $8. It is a unique “pay it forward” meal program designed to provide a variety of hot meals to Metro East residents in need. The coins may be redeemed at all Soulcial Kitchen-powered mobile food trucks.
Get ready to scream on Sunday, July 18 for National Ice Cream Day, which also happens to be local favorite Serendipity Homemade Ice Cream’s 18th birthday!
To celebrate, there will be a day-long birthday extravaganza at the Webster Groves shop, with special ice cream discounts, new flavor launches, live music, face painting, balloon making, giveaways galore and the debut of something spirited and peachy!
“Now that we’re coming out of the pandemic, life is starting to get peachy again – and what better way to toast new beginnings than with our celebratory Spirited Shake of the Month, Life’s a Peach!” said Serendipity owner Beckie Jacobs.
Life’s a Peach! is Serendipity’s newest collaboration with the locally owned Still 630. The fruity libation includes hints of ginger and swirls of fresh peaches, bathed in Still 630’s award-winning Expedition rum and topped off with a chocolate chip garnish.
A portion of the birthday party proceeds benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of St. Louis, a cause near and dear to Jacobs, who has supported the organization over the years.
Clementine’s Naughty and Nice Creamery has announced the opening of its fifth St. Louis-area location in Town and Country. 5th location will open on July 15th in Town & Country. The new shop will be located at 13426 Clayton Road in the same shopping plaza as Straub’s. USA Today recently named Clementine’s as one of the Top Ten Best Ice Cream Shops to ship nationwide, and Food Network Magazine picked its Gooey Butter Cake flavor as one of the best flavors to represent Missouri!
Want to try your hand with your own cocktail creation? Think Punch 5 Libations! Concocted by 4 Hands and 1220 Artisan Spirits founder and owner Kevin Lemp, MIKA and Lovewell Group’s Andy Kim, and restaurateur Ben Poremba of Bengelina Hospitality Group, Punch 5 Libations are expertly curated and easy-to-use cocktail kits for effortlessly whipping up craft cocktails (or mocktails) infusing spirits and making your own bitters at home.
There are five varieties available: Orange, Julep, Metro, Mauresque and Passion, each with six to eight servings. Punch 5 is available at local grocery stores and specialty retailers for $25 a kit.
Speaking of spirits, any time is a good time to cool your jets with a classy cocktail!
1220 Artisan Spirits, the botanically inspired local distillery located at 1220 S. 8th Street in St. Louis, has announced an “Origin Aviation” slushie collaboration with Narwhal’s Crafted. Narwhal’s, the craft frozen cocktail bar with locations in the Central West End and in St. Charles, is using 1220’s award-winning gins in a colorful spin on the classic aviation cocktail, a Prohibition-era drink with gin, creme de violette, maraschino liqueur and lemon juice that’s said to have been invented in a New York City hotel bar. The Origin Aviation, Narwhal’s-1220 version keeps it traditional but uses a lavender-infused simple syrup and 1220’s Origin Gin, and can also be paired with a “floater,” an extra shot of 1220’s recently released color-changing Morpho Gin. The collaboration slushie is available at Narwhal’s and 4 Hands Brewing Co. for a limited time this summer.
Schlafly Beer’s Maplewood Market is now up and running for the season.
The market offers food, art and other locally made products on the first Sunday of each month through Nov. 7 at Schlafly Bottleworks in downtown Maplewood. With a focus on the Maplewood community, guests can purchase a Maplewood Market shopping tote ($5) on-site and use it to shop participating small businesses surrounding the brewery that will be offering a variety of discounts and deals during the market’s operating hours, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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