Restaurant Roundup: Cotton candy beer, movie theater popcorn, messy cupcakes

May 14, 2020

It’s American Craft Beer week, and there are lots of new releases out there. Here’s one that includes a unique collaboration with a cotton candy maker. Edward Sticky Hands, a pina colada cotton candy sour, will be released Friday. It’s a collaboration among Severance Brewing Co., neighboring Candy Cloud Factory and WoodGrain Brewing Co., which is a few blocks south on Phillips Avenue. The first 30 people of drinking age to sit down at Severance on Friday and say “Edward Sticky Hands” will get a free bag of pina colada cotton candy from Candy Cloud Factory. “They can add the cotton candy to their beer if they’d like for an added layer of flavor,” co-owner Melissa Heckel said. The brewery opens at 2 p.m. WoodGrain will have the beer on tap when it opens at noon.

If you’re missing movie theater popcorn, West Mall 7 has been offering it to go most weekends. For $10, customers get a jumbo bag that’s equal to about three of the large bags sold at the theater in the Western Mall. If you want the buttery topping – who wouldn’t? – you’ll have to pay an extra dollar. Get a free candy item with every purchase. Order online or stop by from 5 to 7 p.m. Fridays, 4 to 7 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 2 p.m. Sunday.

Oh My Cupcakes is known for paying attention to every perfect detail with its cupcakes, candles and other products. The Hot Mess reflects “our current times.” Here’s the bakery’s description: “It’s made with ugly cupcakes, random fillings and frostings, bitter disappointment and dashed hopes and dreams. It comes with a spoon stuck right in the center so you can dispense with all formalities and just get right to it.”

Prairie Cocoa & Confections is a new vendor this year at the Falls Park Farmers Market, and every week pastry chef Keyes Clemmer offers a different theme for her “edible art” offerings, along with her signature cocoa cookie cups, push-pop cakes and Prairie cookies. Saturday’s theme is Prairie Blossom Festival, Clemmer’s spin on a Japanese cherry blossom festival. Shoppers will find a variety of desserts that look like sushi, fish cakes, shrimp and more. If you saw the photo of the cute panda macarons when we wrote about the business earlier this month, they’ll be available Saturday too.

Sub Zero Desserts introduced rolled ice cream cakes when it opened for the season a few weeks ago, and now there’s a smaller option available. The new version serves two to four people. They need to be ordered in advance. The shop, which operates out of a modified shipping container, also started delivery today through Grubhub.

Covert Artisan Ales’ first spontaneous ale to meet its standards will be released Friday. Here’s the story behind In Fate’s Hands: “Over a year ago, we brewed a beer and allowed it to cool and collect wild yeast and bacteria in our coolship. The next day, we transferred it to a couple of small-format rye barrels and left the rest to fate — and science. The tricky thing with purely spontaneous ales is that you never really know what you’re going to get. You hope it turns out well, but sometimes, you end up dumping a batch and losing more than a year by waiting. This was the first spontaneous ale that was to our standards.” It has moderate acidity and notes of stone fruits. It can be purchased online for pickup at the brewery.

Auntie Anne’s has reopened in The Empire Mall, but traffic has been a little slow, so the shop is selling DIY pretzel-making kits. For $14, customers can get instructions and all the dry ingredients needed to bake 10 pretzels. Dips are available too. Order by calling 361-7477.

More restaurants and bars are reopening their seating areas, so keep checking the list below to keep up to date on your favorite places for food and drink.

Restaurants, other food businesses respond to COVID-19

Here’s a look at other headlines from the past week.

With nowhere to go, carnival food stand opens in hometown

Downtown arcade bar nears opening

Falls Overlook Cafe by Stensland reopens this week

Sneak peek: Squealer’s Smoke Shack’s new building with rooftop patio

For all the news from the local dining scene, visit our Food & Drink section. 

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Restaurant Roundup: Cotton candy beer, movie theater popcorn, messy cupcakes

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