Tag Archives: BRABO

Food and Drink, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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BRABO’s Secret Terrace

Tonight launches a new happy hour in Alexandria, on the rooftop terrace of the Lorien Hotel & Spa. Up til now mainly used for private events off the Presidential Suite, this intimate outdoor lounge with a view of Old Town will now be open on Fridays from 6pm-9pm. The happy hour will include unlimited sangria, charcuterie and cheese, all from BRABO by Robert Wiedmaier, for $25 a person. 

Outside of the $25 ticket, guests can also purchase bottles of wine from the Butcher’s Block to bring up and enjoy if they prefer, in addition to a cash bar as well. Tickets are available in advance or that day, with check-in at the Butcher’s Block at 1600 King Street.

The charcuterie sounds pretty tempting, as I’ve always drooled over the selection of meats and marmalade on display at the Butcher’s Block. And it may be hard to believe but our rooftop happy hour days are numbered! So I’d advise you to sink into a couch, enjoy the sunset, and sip some sangria. Or, a lot of sangria…

Alexandria, Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Drinks
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Drinks Smackdown! Beer vs. Wine

Remnants of Beer vs. Wine

Remnants of Beer vs. Wine, by Jenn Larsen on Flickr

Thor Cheston is the beer director for Brasserie Beck, while Leah Dedmon is the wine director for BRABO. They may both work for Robert Wiedmaier (Rammy’s Chef of the Year last June), but they are passionate rivals on the merits of beer vs. wine, especially when it comes to which will pair best with food.

Oh, they’re also engaged.

Fellow WLDC author Kirk and I aren’t engaged. We aren’t even really rivals, he just happens to be partial to beer while I prefer cocktails. But we are committed to bringing you the very best in drinks! So when we learned Thor and Leah would be going head-to-head in a battle to prove whether beer or wine would win as best for food pairings, we jumped. Four courses crafted by Robert Wiedmaier, paired by Leah and Thor with both wine and beer? There was even a tie-breaker course! It’s a rough life, but we suffered for you.

Most importantly, the loser of this ancient struggle has to do the other’s laundry for a month (that would be Thor or Leah, not Kirk or I!). Along the way we learned a lot about interesting ways to do food pairings with different types of beer and wine. All took place Wednesday night over at Wiedmaier’s “foodie trifecta” partnership with Kimpton’s Lorien Hotel & Spa in Old Town, Alexandria – BRABO, the Tasting Room, and the Butcher’s Block.

It was a tough crowd of fervent wine and beer lovers. So let’s kick this battle off with some oysters, a strong golden ale, and a chablis…. Continue reading →