2020 has been a challenging year. Especially for small local restaurants. Although I love cooking at home, there are times I just can’t be bothered. One of our favorite restaurants, Brandywine, created a Pasta Club and I have to tell you it’s been a flavorful lifesaver this year! We’ve signed up for every Brandywine Pasta Club month, except December, and haven’t looked back.
Brandywine
When Brandywine opened a couple of years ago, Steve and I were super excited. It’s about 700 feet from our front door, and specializes in homemade pasta and fresh local ingredients. We probably were spending too much time there. They have a small menu, and do everything really well. You can have a small menu when all the food is fantastic! Anytime we have people in town, we would always take them to Brandywine for dinner. The season cocktails are not to be missed either!
The Pasta Club
When the pandemic hit, like most restaurants, they were struggling to figure out how to continue to operate safely. After trying a few things, they decided to create the Brandywine Pasta Club. You could sign up for one month at a time, and get an amazing, restaurant quality meal each week. It wasn’t completely work free, but the most you had to do was boil a pot of water for the fresh pasta and heat the other ingredients. It felt special. And we were all looking for special this year.
After a few months they started doing a wine pairing with your kit. Each week you’d get the pasta, sauce, garnishes, and a bottle of wine. It was PERFECT! Pre-cooked, take-out pasta just isn’t the same. So, getting the chance to have that fresh pasta, without all the work and mess, and all we had to do was boil the water…. you couldn’t sign me up fast enough!
Some of our favorite weeks have been the ones we least expected. There have been meals we likely wouldn’t have ordered at the restaurant. Combinations we wouldn’t have thought of. That’s what makes it all so fun.
If you’re not local, we know that Brandywine’s Pasta Club isn’t an option for you. But we hope that you’ll consider supporting your local businesses and restaurants. They need your help. The calendar changing to 2021 won’t magically change where we are today, and if you want those restaurants to be there when it’s safe to visit them, you need to support them today.
Brandywine Cedarburg
W61N480 Washington Ave, Cedarburg, WI 53012
www.brandywinecedarburg.com
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