Small bites: Blue Ghost Brewing celebrates Father’s Day with pollinator benefit

One in every three bites of food consumed is produced via insect pollination, and this Father’s Day, every bite of food eaten at the Bring on the Butterflies (and the Beer!) Celebration will support declining pollinator populations in Western North Carolina.

Blue Ghost Brewing and Olive Catering Co. are partnering with the Asheville and Hendersonville chapters of Bee City USA, a nonprofit that creates sustainable habitats for pollinators. The event kicks off a summer education series at Blue Ghost discussing pollinators and their importance in the environment, says Kim Bailey, a volunteer with Bee City Hendersonville and the keynote speaker at Bring on the Butterflies.

“We’ve really wanted to do something like this to reach a broader audience,” Bailey says. “If we do our typical events, like how to garden for pollinators, then people that are only interested in gardening are going to show up. And we have some nature walks, so people who are into hiking and nature are going to show up to that. But we realize that everybody eats, and if we can partner with some restaurants and breweries, then we can spread the message of why pollinators are so important for our food supplies to a much broader audience.”

The Father’s Day festivities kick off with brunch, followed by the Butterflies and Beer programming at 2 p.m. There will be a number of hands-on activities for children such as decorating monarch butterfly masks and antennae headbands, Bailey says. The keynote presentation will discuss the life cycle of the monarch butterfly and how a concoction made of hops vines and stale beer can lure pollinators. A release of monarch butterflies will complete the program.

Live music will follow the presentations, along with Blue Ghost’s release of a new Defiant Whisky Irish Red for Father’s Day, said Jeremy Weber of Blue Ghost Brewing. The menu, provided by Olive Catering Co., will include a Big Daddy burger, smoked prime rib sandwich, grilled jalapeño poppers, pulled pork tatchos (nachos made with tater tots) and grilled salmon tacos, Weber says. All food and beer will be sold a la carte with prices averaging around $8 per entrée. A portion of proceeds will be donated to Bee City USA.

Continuing the pollinator theme, Olive Catering Co. is renaming menu items to reflect vocabulary and terminology related to butterflies, such as “the chrysalis,” instead of a wrap. “It’s just having some fun with it and re-emphasizing the theme of the day,” says Bailey.

Bring on the Butterflies (and the Beer!) runs 2-7 p.m. Sunday, June 18, at Blue Ghost Brewing Co., 125 Underwood Road, Fletcher. For details, visit avl.mx/3ti. 

Wine tasting with winemaker Rollin Soles

On Tuesday, June 20, Asheville wine aficionados will have the chance to digitally converse with Oregon-based winemaker Rollin Soles as part of Metro Wines’ Skype a Winemaker series. Known for his pinot noir and chardonnay, Soles will remotely lead customers through a tasting of wines from the ROCO winery in northwest Oregon while answering questions about the winemaking process and his personal philosophy. The event is free.

The wine tasting will take place at Metro Wines on Tuesday, June 20, at 5:30 p.m. No registration is required. For more information, visit metrowinesasheville.com.

South of the Border Picnic Party 

Sweeten Creek Brewing will host its second picnic party of the summer on Saturday, June 17, with a South of the Border-themed buffet and activities. In place of the brewery’s regular sandwich menu, visitors can purchase a buffet plate featuring Mexican, Spanish and Latin American cuisine. The taproom will also feature an expanded selection of house beers. Live music and yard games, including ladder golf, cornhole and bocce ball, will take place on the creekside lawn throughout the afternoon.

The picnic party happens 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, June 17, at Sweeten Creek Brewing, 1127 Sweeten Creek Road. For more information, visit sweetencreekbrewing.com.

Father’s Day cookout at Tod’s Tasties

Tod’s Tasties and Table will hold the annual Big Daddy and Papa Ben’s Father’s Day Cookout at Tod’s Tasties Café in Montford. “It should be a really fun and relaxed neighborhood hangout,” says Kelly Vormelker, general and marketing manager at Table. “We cook a bunch of food, people can eat and drink as much as they want, come in for a quick bite or hang out all afternoon.” Table chef Jacob Sessoms will grill steak, chicken, sausage and veggies. Beer and wine will be available, and there will be live music as well.

The Father’s Day Barbecue begins at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 18. For details, visit avl.mx/3tj.

Seed to Loaf artisan baking workshop

Living Web Farms will hold an educational workshop on the art of breadmaking on Saturday, June 24. Led by Living Web Farm director Patryk Battle, Chelsea Askew of Farm and Sparrow Bakery and Mark Dempsey of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, the class will first explore the breadmaking process by examining starters and dough development before moving into the fields to learn about cultivating, harvesting and storing grains. Demonstrations and discussions will take place throughout the day.

The Seed to Loaf workshop will occur 1:30-7 p.m. Saturday, June 24, at Living Web Farm, 176 Kimzey Road, Mills River. To register, visit livingwebfarms.org.