It’s not breaking news that Memorial Day weekend is largely considered the kickoff to the summer season. But beaches and cookouts aren’t the only ways to spend the long weekend. How about crawfish boils, pub trivia and ravioli?
Society Fair’s Crawfish Boil, May 25
Back from the brink of despair, Old Town’s Society Fair continues to chug along with panache. Settle into the holiday weekend with a vast array of Cajun favorites. The café and market hosts a crawfish boil this weekend offering up crawfish, Andouille sausage, corn on the cob and baked potatoes. Beverages and other menu items will add to your tab. 277 S. Washington St. 4-8 p.m. $39; reservations recommended.
Honor Brewing Visits Hops n Shine, May 25-28
Chantilly’s Honor Brewing Company, a veteran-owned brewery, makes its way to Del Ray’s Hops n Shine this weekend to commemorate Memorial Day. Both the Desired Effects Double IPA and Line of Sight lager will be on draft, and $1 of each Honor Brewing beer goes to benefit Operation Turbo, which ships care packages to troops stationed worldwide. The beers will remain on tap all weekend long. 3410 Mount Vernon Ave.
Game of Thrones Trivia at Port City Brewing, May 26
On the heels of the brewery’s all-day soirée on Saturday, Port City hosts a Game of Thrones trivia afternoon on Sunday. This trivia matchup is actually the second of its kind; the first Game of Thrones-themed battle was so popular that the powers-that-be have elected to run an encore. Got a hunger pang while matching wits with the rest of the community? Rocklands Barbecue’s food truck will be on hand for a pick-me-up. 3950 Wheeler Ave. 2-5 p.m. Reservations recommended.
Ravioli-Making at Bon Vivant Cafe, May 26
Who says Memorial Day weekend dining is all about cookouts and barbecues? Bon Vivant takes another angle with a ravioli-making class for children, whereby youngsters ages 9 to 14 can pick up a thing or two about the fine art of how to make pasta by hand. In conjunction with Together We Cook, the café becomes a schoolroom for a couple of Sunday-afternoon hours, teaching children how to make their own spinach and ricotta ravioli — and a panzanella salad on the side. 2016 Mount Vernon Ave. 4-6 p.m. $49. Reservations recommended.
Hope Nelson owns and operates the Kitchen Recessionista blog, located at www.kitchenrecessionista.com. Email her any time at hope@kitchenrecessionista.com.