Goings On at the Velvet Mill: Beer’d’s New Beer Garden & Whitecrest Eatery
When we heard that Beer’d Brewery had added a beer garden and was dishing up delights from neighboring restaurants within the Velvet Mill, Laura and I headed over late one afternoon. I haven’t been in the Velvet Mill in a couple of years, and things have CHANGED. There are plenty of new businesses (hours for individual shops are a little hard to decipher), but smack in the middle of this ancient building is a vast space, home to Beer’d’s (!) Garden AND one of our absolute favorite newish restaurants, Whitecrest Eatery. You can plotz down among the potted ferns, choose your brew (I went for Whiskered Whit, light, crisp and low alcohol), and order from neighboring restaurants.
We were hoping that the menu from Whitecrest Eatery would be available in the Brewery, and it generally is, but we were a wee bit early. No problem for us! We ordered up a pizza from Woodfellas (new rules, you must east while you drink) and downed half of a delicious thin-crusted pie before making a 5pm reservation across the way at Whitecrest.
We LOVE this place! It’s got all the right elements: an innovative chef, small plates (I prefer many tastes), creative cocktails, and an exciting wine list featuring natural, biodynamic, and organic wines!
Since we were last there, they’ve greatly expanded the restaurant with lots of socially distanced seating in the atrium. It’s the sort of place where the staff gets as excited about the food as you are. We grilled our energetic server about what to order, and she was thrilled to oblige. In our post-pandemic vaccinated bliss of being out and about, we continue to overdo it: a puffy scallion pancake with a soy-sesame chile sauce, ridiculous popcorn chicken fried with furikake (a flavor-packed Japanese seasoning), miso and cilantro, Buffalo Brussels sprouts, spicy and tangy, and then a kooky giant chunk of fried cauliflower atop a pile of fried rice with Katsu sauce.
There are plenty of more traditional eats on the daily changing menu: native Mystic oysters, a local chili cheese hot dog, fish and chips, and the DBL D Burger (Laura says the fries are killer, but we abstained this time). You just must go to this special spot and see for yourself. Brunch on the weekends, too.
Good to know:
Also in the Velvet Mill:
Beer’d Brewing: https://beerdbrewing.com/
Saturday Farmers’ Market: https://thevelvetmill.com/markets/
Zest Fresh Pastry: http://www.zestfreshpastry.com
J&R Scallops: https://www.jrscallops.com (delivers to Beer’d Garden)
Woodfella’s (also delivers to Beer’d Garden): http://woodfellaspizza.com/upcoming-events/
You may also like:
https://the-e-list.com/zest-fresh-pastry/
