When it comes to a few upcoming culinary opportunities, prepare yourself for the descent of some killer “B’s!” Read on to see what the buzz is all about.
The most literal of the bee events is a collaboration between the Tennessee Craft Brewers Guild’s Farm to Tap program and one of its members, Honeytree Meadery, on Tuesday, Sept. 26, where they will be presenting a Bees and Brews event. The Farm to Tap initiative encourages breweries to source local ingredients for their products, and Tennessee is blessed with some really good honey, so it makes sense that some of them are using the sweet liquid gold in their beers.
The seminar will be held at Honeytree’s headquarters at 918 Woodland St. beginning at 1 p.m. and will feature a “State of the Bee” update from state apiarist (yeah, Tennessee has one of those) Mike Studer. His presentation will be followed by several craft brewers discussing their incorporation of honey into their recipes and beekeepers who are actually tending hives at the brewery facilities. Nick Beres of NewsChannel 5, a home beekeeper in addition to his reporting duties, will moderate the discussion. Finally, attendees will get the first look at the new Farm to Tap beehives that will be installed in Leiper’s Fork next year if the weather allows, yielding a new supply of Farm to Tap honey.
The annual Ring the Bell fundraising dinner to benefit Bells Bend is happening again on Thursday, Oct. 5, at Henrietta Red. The event is organized by the Friend of the Bend organization that works to promote and protect the rural nature of the area north of downtown. Cocktails will kick off the evening at 4:30 p.m., followed by a farm-to-table dinner at 6:30 created by the Henrietta Red kitchen with assistance from Michael Hanna and the team from his St. Vito Focacceria. Wine pairings will accompany the meal, and the Bells Bend String Band will accompany the entire proceedings.
Tickets are $250 apiece and are available at the Ring the Bell website.
The third event on the docket is actually a combination of three Bs: Bhutan, Burma and Bernhardt. It's part of The Nashville Food Project’s Simmer series of immersive and interactive dining events that share the culture behind the food and those who grow and cook it. The latest installment will feature the food of Bhutan and Burma and the bounty of NFP’s Growing Together market garden.
Chef Ryan Bernhardt of TKO, the “Asian-adjacent” East Nashville restaurant, will be the guest chef for the evening at the NFP’s headquarters 5904 California Ave. from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 6. In addition to what promises to be some amazing food, diners will enjoy learning about the culture of Bhutan and Burma through cuisine and through stories told by the immigrant and refugee farmers who work the Growing Together Farm. It should be a fascinating and delicious evening, so get your tickets for $150 at the event website.
Finally, I’ve run out of Bs, but I’ve still got some cheese! Mac ’n’ cheese, that is. The Nashville Mac and Cheese and Wing a Ding Festival is making a Nashville stop on its three-city tour in between raising cholesterol levels in Richmond, Va., and Pittsburgh. The traveling culinary circus will set up at First Horizon Park in Germantown on Saturday, Oct. 7, for a day of cheesy goodness and fiery fowl. The event promises more than 30 varieties of mac ’n’ cheese, wings and fried chicken to sample, either a la carte or as part of higher-price ticket packages that include multiple samples plus a ticket or two for beverages from the assembled wine, beer and cocktail vendors. There will also be live entertainment at the park and the chance to vote for the best wings in town, so judge wisely.
The event is divided into an afternoon session and and evening option, with VIP ticket levels gaining an extra hour of early admission. It will still be up to you to get around to as many sample booths as you want to during the allotted time, so plan your work and work your plan!
If you plan to go, buy your tickets at the event website, but make sure to confirm which session you’re signing up for, especially if you’re planning to meet up with friends to divide and conquer the vast assortment of options.
Until next time, “B” good!
