Maybe it was the heat, but the turnout for the beer tasting at The Empress this past Tuesday was less than desired.  Though the Facebook event had a good number of people listed as attending, the turnout was not there.  That was fine with me as the lack of turn out resulted in us having Taylor Chenery of Specialty Beverage all to ourselves as we tasted our way through the beers with the different pairings.  It is not often that I get a chance to sit down one-on-one with a distributor to see what they are jazzed about.  I will say right off that my favorite dishes of the night were the bison burger and the duck cracklins; so much so that I think they should be added to the menu as one dish.  It was amazing how Melissa and Carly pulled this off on the same day they reopened after a two week vacation. Chef Carly put her stamp on snack food with the combination of art and taste that The Empress has become known for. For your drooling pleasure, Richmond here are drool worthy pictures of the food and beer that you missed.

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