Your source for eating (and drinking!) locally in West Michigan
Kent Harvest Trails is your opportunity to visit West Michigan Farms. See where your food comes from, pick up local fruits, vegetables and baked goods, and enjoy loads of fun farm activities! Kent Harvest Trails 2012 starts September 15 and goes through October 31.
New Holland Artisan Spirits is proud to continue the tradition of the Art of the Cocktail competition. Twelve bars and venues from the Grand Rapids community created cocktails using at least one of our Michigan-made spirits and one fresh, Michigan ingredient. Other than these parameters, it was left up to the imagination and skill of each venue. We’re sure you’ll enjoy the innovative drinks coming from your favorite local bartenders and mixologists. Now, get out there, get to tasting, and vote here for your favorite. Participating venues: Bar Divani City Sen Lounge J. Gardella’s Louis Benton Monkey Bar Reserve San Chez Stella’s Lounge Sundance Grill Tre Cugini Trillium Haven Vitale’s Ada How to participate: Each venue has drink cards with their QR Code printed on them. After you try their drink, if you’d like to vote for them, you can scan a card and if it’s your first one, you’ll be asked to register as an Art of the Cocktail user. Once registered, the details of the drink will be in front of you, and you can share it, comment on it or vote for it. You’ll be able to vote once for any of the cocktails you like, however we recommend that if you’d like your vote to carry some weight, you only vote for your favorite four. If you don’t have a QR reader, the URL for that drink is printed on the card. You can take it with you, type the URL into your browser and you’ll have the same options available. First round voting extends through October 7th, at which time the top five finalists are invited to come pour their drinks at the final party at Louis Benton’s, “L & B Lounge” on October 15th at 7 pm. This party is open to the public, but will also be loaded with several qualified, “Cocktail Judges”. The judges will taste and rate the cocktails, eventually recognizing only one as the Art of the Cocktail 2012 Champion. So get yourself to these participating bars and restaurants, have yourself a drink, and tell us which ones you think belong in the finals!
Here’s how it works: Users purchase products from our producers on this site during a shopping “window” that begins on the first Saturday of every month and ends on the following Friday. Users then pick up and pay for their orders on Wednesday of the third full week that month at Media Rare. There’s an annual fee of $35 (or $100 to become a voting Member).
VanderFest is a very unique festival for Michigan. We feature more Michigan ciders than most other festivals you might attend. We also require our brewing participants to bring with them a sepcialty product that they design just for our festival. All of these specialty beers will either contain cider, or have a similar fall theme to them. The food that we offer you is like no other festival you have experienced. We are bringing some of the highest quality crafted foor that Michigan has to offer. You arent going to find “typical festival food” here.
Grand Rapids Coffee Roasters Saturday Experience began as a way to give friends and family members a chance to sample our coffee and blends while we received feedback to improve our roasting and blending skills. As we perfected the process, more and more people came into our shop until one day we decided to open up every Saturday, 10:00am-3:00pm, to the public. The response has been extremely positive! We’re seeing many customers come back on a regular schedule to get their fresh roasted coffee, often bringing their friends and families in for the Saturday Experience. Some customers have worked with us on their own personal blends while others are turning into self-described “coffee snobs”. Although Grand Rapids Coffee Roasters is a roastery, not a coffee shop, we wanted to make your coffee sampling experience comfortable as well as memorable so we have tables, chairs and even started a “mug club” so that you may enjoy your coffee in an eclectic coffee mug. Feel free to bring in any clean coffee mug to add to our ever growing collection. We also have free wireless internet so computer geeks are welcome too.
Our Saturday Experience includes at least three brewed coffee samples for you to try as well as espresso shots and, on special days, free chocolate samples from Awesome Chocolates. We will custom roast any of our Select Single Origin coffees so that you may take them home right out of the roaster while the beans are still warm. The Saturday Specials start at $18.50 for a 2lb bag and $27.50 for a 3lb bag.
Another customer favorite is our Gourmet Flavored Coffees. These can be purchased fresh roasted for $22.00 for a 2lb bag and $33.00 for a 3lb bag (see web site for available flavors). If you prefer not to wait for your coffee to be roasted, you can preorder here on our web site or call your order in and arrange a time on Saturday to pick it up. Stop by this Saturday and see why nobody in Michigan sells fresher coffee than Grand Rapids Coffee Roasters!
Drink More Coffee…Drink More Coffee…Drink More Coffee
New Holland Brewing offer brewery and distillery tours at our Production Brewery every Saturday. No need to reserve your spot in advance
Brewery tours are at 12:00 pm and 3:00 pm. Tours are $10 per person and include samples of our beer as well as a take-home New Holland pint glass. Distillery tours are offered at 1:30 pm. they are $5 per person and include samples of our spirits.
Tickets for both brewery and distillery tours may be purchased at the pub in Downtown Holland (66 East 8th Street) or may be paid for at the Production Brewery when you arrive for your tour (cash only). Tours are sold separately.
Summer tour hours begin May 7 and run through November 19. Summer tours are at 12:00 pm, 1:30 pm (Distillery only at 1:30 pm) and 3:00 pm on Saturdays only. Fall/Winter tours will be in effect November 20 through April 30, and are scheduled at 1:00 pm and 2:30 pm on Saturdays only.
Hope to see you soon!
Admission: $5.00 Distillery/$10.00 Brewery
Want to learn about what makes Brewery Vivant beer so special? There is no better way than to learn from the very people whose passion put that beer in your glass. Tours are also a lot of fun. Impress your out-of-town guests by bringing them down to see how your local beer is made.
Official Brewery tours are given every Saturday at 2:00 and 3:30. No reservations needed, just show up. Must be 21 years or older to take the tour. Cost of the tour is $5 and includes beer samples. All tour attendees get 10% off coupon from the company store. Use it for shirts, hats, beer glasses, or take a 4 pk or case of beer home with you.
Thank you for stopping by Eat Local, West Michigan! I hope you find lots of inspiration for eating (and drinking) locally, whether that means cooking produce from local farms to feed your family or checking out the latest microbrewery or restaurant. [Read More …]
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