Aug. 20, 2020

Here’s a fun way to spend a Saturday morning. Calico Skies Vineyard and Winery is kicking off harvest season this weekend and is looking for volunteers. Help the crew pick grapes from 7 a.m. to noon and you’ll get a bottle of Brianna wine and all-you-can-eat wood-fired pizza. You can sample a few grapes while you’re picking too. All ages are welcome. Show up early or on time and enjoy coffee, juice and doughnuts in the tasting room. Volunteers should send an email to [email protected]. Also send an email if you’d like to help on future dates.

Granite City Food & Brewery has started brewing craft seltzers. Choose from six flavors by the pint: strawberry lemonade, wild berry, black cherry, mango, grapefruit and POG, which is passion fruit, orange and guava.

The restaurant and brewery on South Louise Avenue also has several new menu items, including three noodle bowls: spicy shrimp, pork belly and a cold version with shrimp. New slider towers also come in three options: chicken tenders, cheeseburgers and BLTs.

Blue Rock Bar & Grill at the Sanford Sports Complex is wrapping up its promo week with BOGO specials. Today is smash burgers, Friday is flatbreads, and Saturday and Sunday are draft beers. Chef Ryan Tracy, formerly of Bros Brasserie Americano, Fernson Downtown and Look’s Marketplace, has joined the team and revamped the menu. In addition to a Nashville hot chicken sandwich and several smash burgers, new offerings include street tacos with choices of carne asada, pork belly carnitas, chicken tinga and sweet potato. Popular new appetizers include Chicken Yakitori, which is white meat marinated in teriyaki sauce, grilled and served with “yum yum” sauce, and Dakota Chislic, which is lamb meat that is seasoned, grilled and served with “bam bam” mustard.

Feeling like breakfast for lunch or dinner? Sickies Garage has several new menu items to fit the bill. The Sunrise Chicken Skillet includes crispy chicken strips, tater tots, two fried eggs, country gravy, chopped bacon and cheddar cheese. The breakfast burger menu has four new options to join the Glazed Doughnut Burger and the Hangover. Try to Morning Oinker, El Diablo, Hash and Sausage or the Breakfast and Gravy. Aside from breakfast, a twist on the Monte Cristo features a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that’s batter-dipped and fried.

Here’s a cute way to start the school year. Prairie Cocoa & Confections is selling Sweet Notes at Saturday morning’s Falls Park Farmers Market. The heart-shaped sugar cookie that looks like a sheet of lined notebook paper comes with an edible ink pen for a message to your favorite student or teacher. Owner Keyes Clemmer will have other “Back to School We Go” themed edible art offerings.

Help Oh My Cupcakes celebrate its 11th anniversary Friday with free mini birthday cupcakes for the first 100 customers at both locations and $11 mini-dozens.

The first special mocktail on the menu for the new downtown coffee shop at The Breaks Coffee Roasting Co. is a creation from Mercedes Nelson. The former barista from Coffea Roasterie concocted Hakuna Matata. It’s a berry hibiscus tea with blueberries, coconut cream and a touch of rose. It’s available through Aug. 28 at the shop on 12th Street across from the post office. She also gets credit for the photo!

In the mood for a mystery and finding your favorite Italian wine? R Wine Bar & Kitchen its hosting is first wine dinner since the start of the pandemic. The three-course Mystery Italian Wine Dinner is Wednesday in the event room. Everyone will start with glass A. Based on impressions of the wine, guests will choose glass B or C. Then, they’ll chose from D, E, F or G, with the last decision leading to your “ideal Italian wine” based on your palate. Here’s the menu for the meal: prosciutto pizza with goat cheese, pork belly with cherry reduction and oyster mushrooms, and beef braciola with pappardelle mushrooms. Tickets are $75, and reservations are required. Seating will be limited to maintain social distancing between parties.

Here’s a beer of a different color. Check out the Nap Culture: Blue Raspberry from WoodGrain Brewing Co. The limited offering was tapped Tuesday, and it won’t last long. The sour beer isn’t available to go.

Bite Squad has expanded its services in the Sioux Falls area. Delivery areas now reach as far as 10 miles away from some restaurants, which doubles the prior distance for some restaurants. “We’ve heard from many customers that their favorite restaurant was across town and, therefore, too far away. Now, with the expanded service, they will have easy access to more of their favorite foods,” said Louise Bennett, regional manager for Bite Squad. The national service entered the Sioux Falls market two years ago with a dozen offerings and now partners with 62 independent and chain restaurants.

Stock up on favorites from The Boozy Bakery before the weekend is over. The gourmet shop in JJ’s Wine, Spirits & Cigars will be closed next week for the start of the school year. You’ll also have to wait to place orders. The bakery will reopen Sept. 2.

W. 12th Pourhouse will be closed on Sundays and Mondays at least through the Labor Day weekend because of a staffing shortage. The restaurant hopes to have new employees trained by then. And after a monthlong return, the Wednesday taco bar and Friday hot beef buffet have been suspended because demand hasn’t returned to pre-COVID levels. They might return in the fall.

Here are the latest restaurant changes related to COVID-19.

Restaurants, other food businesses respond to COVID-19

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

Royal Fork says goodbye by sharing recipe

Coffee roasting business opens coffee shop downtown

Longtime pizza restaurant closes temporarily while it finds new home

Flyboy Donuts opens west-side shop

Luciano’s to open as east-side wine shop

Native American food truck builds following during strong first season

Slim Chickens to add east-side location

New coffee shop blends opportunity with beverage-making

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