Coffee, books, fundraisers and my euphoria Greenville experience ☕️📚👩🍳
Hello, Spartanburg foodies!
I have a packed newsletter for you today.
But first, our weekly round-up:
► I had a great time visiting Spartanburg's newest bookstore and coffee shop Beans and Bookmarks (2811 Reidville Rd.). The story behind it is so heartwarming.
More: New family-owned coffee shop, bookstore on Spartanburg's west side a 'dream come true'
►The final iteration of the Mother's Day brunch round-up quietly went online yesterday. If you're still figuring out what to do for the special ladies in your life, the list of special menus is available, along with addresses and hours of all the Spartanburg restaurants offering their usual brunches.
More: Updates: Celebrate Mother's Day with brunch at these Spartanburg restaurants
I took a euphoria cooking class, and you should too
Not Spartanburg-related, but I have to share. Last Saturday, I headed over to Greenville to learn some vegan cooking skills.
I was invited to participate in the v-edgy plant based grilling class that was offered as part of euphoria Greenville's spring event line-up. euphoria Greenville, for those not familiar, is a food, drink and music festival held annually in Greenville, offering a variety of events like cooking classes and exclusive dinners (often with a live music element) and parties. The spring event is a kind of preview for the main event in the fall, this year September 15-18.
Each day of the festival is super packed, so it's impossible (and probably cost-prohibitive) to attend all of them. But if you do decide to make the drive, I'd really suggest trying one of their cooking classes.
The v-edgy plant based grilling class was held at Truist Culinary & Hospitality Innovation Center, a Greenville Technical College site, in an outdoor kitchen. It was a little over an hour long and was taught by the center's director Chef Bill Twaler and Chef Eugena Talley of The Herbal Farmercy, a vegan meal prep service in Greenville.
Outside, there were several stations where you could learn to make the five recipes taught during the class. It was very interest-driven so you just chose whichever ones you wanted to try making — no worries, we got to eat everything the class made at the end! I worked at the quick pickle and vegan "pulled pork" stations, but there were also stations for a vegan broccoli salad, black bean burgers, and romesco sauce.
The outdoor kitchen was located behind Carolina Bauernhaus Greenville who provided tastings of their kombuchas, seltzers, beers, and wines, for the class. And I can tell you that Carolina Bauernhaus Greenville's kombuchas are the bomb — I tried all of them.
Overall, it was super fun — I came alone; others in the group came with friends, but it was an easy going atmosphere, and everyone was chatting and enjoying the food at the end of the hour. You got to take home an apron, a pack of the recipes taught during the class, a set of measuring spoons and a certificate of continuing education from Greenville Tech.
I was particularly impressed with how accommodating the organizers were able to be: I'm a non-drinker and another participant was on a gluten-free diet, and they were able to accommodate for us both, the day of, without taking away from our experience in the class.
Tickets for euphoria are on sale now. The cooking class I took was $50, and while some of the events in September are significantly more expensive, there are still quite a few options in that range, though they are selling out fast.
Tidbits
► As you may or may not have heard, Mama Sue's Homemade Help is closing at the end of the month. Owner Sue Thomas contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized for about a week in March. She's experiencing some long-term side effects and decided it would be best to close the restaurant to focus on her health.
Anyone familiar with the restaurant knows what a shame this is — not only does Sue make some amazing food, she's also a really lovely person.
A fundraiser has been set up in her honor to help with her ongoing medical expenses. The goal is $50,000, and as of Thursday afternoon, a little over $1,000 had been raised. Here's a link. Mama Sue's (401 E. Kennedy St.) is open from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
►Speaking of good causes, Cribbs Burger Cook-Off raised $108,719 for Children's Cancer Partners of the Carolinas last Saturday, a more than $25,000 increase over the last cook-off's fundraising total. The 11 competitors served up 7,000 sliders according to event organizers, and New Groove Artisan Brewery took first place for their Groovy Belly Burger.
The Groovy Belly Burger featured smoked sliced pork belly, fresh jalapeños, pickled veggies, cheddar cheese and a sesame BBQ sauce on top of a Swangus beef burger. The brewery plans to offer the burger as a special on their menu, and you should be seeing it at Cribbs Kitchen soon too.
Until next week,
Eat well, friends!
Samantha Swann, food and restaurants reporter
Until next week, here's where you can keep up with Spartanburg's food scene:
My Instagram: @sameatsspartanburg
Facebook: Spartanburg Eats
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This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Coffee, books, fundraisers and my Euphoria experience
