End of Construction Party!!! and lots more delicious news!

Hello Wheatsville friends!

What an exciting time it is for our co-op! We are just about finished with a momentous project and it feels so great! It wouldn't surprise anyone for me to say that this year plus of construction has had its rough and tough spots. It's been a challenge for you our owners and shoppers and for the staff. So, it is so amazing to be on the brink of celebrating the END OF CONSTRUCTION!
Come on by Saturday from 12-4 for our End of Construction Party.
Food samples from awesome local vendors
Cool music from  The Finer Things at Noon and
Don Chani at 2pm
Kids concert with Laura Freeman at 2pm
Hourly tours of the whole store including the backroom and kitchen with Dan at Noon, 1, 2 and 3pm.
And a kids' zone with our friends from Austin Green Art and Urban Roots plus face painting!

Wow! What a line-up. And, this is all just to whet your appetite for our BIG Grand (re)-Opening Party on Saturday October 10th! (More on that later!)

Also, look for our "I survived the Wheatsville renovation" Tee shirts available now for a limited time!!!

We want to celebrate and thank you for your patience and support through the project and have fun!

While we do have lots of new parking, we'd love to have as many people walking, biking or bussing to this event as possible, but don't sweat it if you can't! We just want to see you here!

One other note about parking: our new lot is striped and so we will be asking people to follow our new permanent parking configuration from here on out... (It's a lot like it used to be, really, so don't worry.) We have one entrance and two exits (one by the patio and one at the north side of the building.) Any cars parked along the east side of the building will exit out the north drive, everyone else can head out the exit nearest the patio.

The Wheatsville Deli loves our new Food Bar!
With so much delicious stuff, it's easy to pile on the goodies and have yourself a feast!
The cold side features tons of fresh and tasty salad fixins, running the gamut from the usual – mesclun greens, cherry tomatoes and shredded carrots – to the extreme – vegan Mexican chocolate pudding, vegan bacon bits and edamame! Available every day from 9am to 9pm, grazing the salad bar makes for a quick and healthy lunch! In addition to our classic Cashew-Tamari and Cilantro-Lime salad dressings, the salad bar also holds two newbies: our homemade Creamy Peppercorn Ranch and Red Wine Vinaigrette (Dan's favorite)!
The hot bar runs from 11am to 2pm for lunch service, and again from 4pm to 7pm for dinner. Grab a baked potato with toppings from the salad bar or some rice and kale, or get a full meal like Three-Cheese Lasagna with Florentine Meatballs, or Vegan Broccoli Mac & Cheese with Garlic Bread! Now that we've familiarized ourselves with the hot bar, look for the menu to rotate more frequently in the near future, with ready-to-eat dishes like Tuna Noodle Casserole, Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie and Vegetable Curry! Keep an eye out and we promise not to disappoint!
Also on the food bar, and available in small and large sizes from 11am to 9pm daily, are our award-winning Tempeh Chili, and our hot soup of the day!
And be sure to check out our delicious and diverse antipasto bar, "Tiny Brinies", a selection of mouthwatering nibbles hand-picked by Wheatsville's Deli Manager! Tons of different olives – including a staff favorite, the green and buttery Castelvetrano – pickled okra, roasted red and yellow peppers, tangy peppadews, spicy green beans, crunchy cornichons and so much more await you! Pair a selection of these treats with some delicacies from nearby Cheese Island – try Cypress Grove's lavender and fennel pollen dusted Purple Haze goat cheese, and Cowgirl Creamery's pungent, ripe Red Hawk! – and you have the beginnings of an unforgettable evening!
 
In The Grocery Aisle
O.N.E. Coffee Fruit Drink:
This is my new favorite thing. Brand new at Wheatsville is the juice made from the whole coffee fruit. Coffee may not be so commonly known as an antioxidant rich superfood, but there is more to the story than the hot, dark beverage we're used to. Normally, the fruit that surrounds the coffee bean is discarded when coffee is processed due to its perishable nature. While the coffee we're familiar with has many benefits, many of the beneficial nutrients are lost with the fruit. O.N.E. has come up with a fruit juice which uses the whole fruit including the unroasted beans. This juice is mixed with two types of Brazilian cherries for an extremely tasty and refreshing beverage for which there is no equal. The first time I tried O.N.E. Coffee Fruit Drink, I loved the flavor. Not much later I noticed that it made me feel absolutely great. There's no going back for me.
 
Alternative Baking Co. Cookies:
Returning to Wheatsville are the deliciously soft and chewy vegan cookies from Alternative Baking  Company. These cookies have a great taste and texture that is hard to find in any cookie. We have Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, Oatmeal Raisin and Lemon Poppyseed available for $1.99 each. These are some great cookies that we're happy to bring back. Read more at http://www.alternativebaking.com/index.cfm
Justin Merrifield, Grocery Buyer

Shane's Beer news!
I am happy to announce the return of Stone Imperial Russian Stout from the fantastic Stone  Brewing Co. This is the perfect Imperial Stout. originally brewed in London, England for export to the court of Catherine II of Russia, Imperial Russian stout is the darkest strongest stout style there is. The Stone version is as Black as night and thick as motor oil! Dark chocolate and coffee flavors, smoky molasses and roasty malt make this a great big brew. This is one strong and complex beer and they won't last long so go ahead and grab one now!
Also we have a non alcoholic beer in the singles case. Clausthaler NA uses a carefully guarded, patented process to prevent the formation of fermentable maltose. Once that's done, beer yeast that's been specifically cultured for Clausthaler is added to the brewing process.
The result is a low-alcohol beer (around .45 percent, by volume) that has all the flavor of a classic German lager. It's a crisp and
refreshing beer, with a pleasant bitterness that will have you forgetting that you're drinking an n.a. after a couple sips. The crisp
flavor of Clausthaler also makes this beer a perfect complement for summer cookouts.

We have some good deals in the beer case right now, too. Dale's Pale Ale is on sale for $8.49 a six pack regularly $8.99. This is Oskar Blues flagship beer and America's first hand-canned craft beer. It's an assertive but deftly balanced beer (somewhere between an American pale ale and an India Pale Ale) brewed with hefty amounts of European malts and American hops. Also from Oskar Blues is Old Chub Regularly $8.99 now $8.49. Old Chub is a Scottish strong ale brewed with hearty amounts of seven different malts, including crystal and chocolate malts, and a bit of US and UK hops, and  a dash of beechwood-smoked grains imported from Bamburg, Germany, home of the world's greatest smoked beers. Old Chub is 8% alcohol by volume, yet it is quite smooth for such a big beer. Finally we have six packs of the fantastic Lagunitas IPA for $8.49 regularly $9.49. This is a big hoppy IPA built on a solid malt foundation. This beer is both full bodied and balanced and it is a very solid all around India Pale Ale for a great price. Grab one Today. You deserve it!

Aloha, from Cheese Island with your host Cap'n Greg Flores!
I hope everyone is enjoying their visit.  I just want to get everyone up to speed on all the new products we have brought in for all of you.  We are now carrying Organic Valley sliced mild cheddar, reduced fat Montery jack, Muenster and Provolone.  Also we have Organic Valley shredded Italian blend and reduced fat Montery Jack.  We are  carrying Galaxy shredded rice Mozzarella and soy Cheddar slices. We are carrying Teese Mozzarella, Cheddar, nacho style  and creamy Cheddar vegan cheeses. Which, by the way are on sale for $4.29 each.  We also brought in De Mill baby Gouda, baby Edam and bay smoked Gouda, Fleur de France 8 oz brie, President wee Brie, Cypress Grove Purple Haze, Cypress Grove Truffle Tremor, Parrano, Brie de Meaux, Vermont Cheese and Butter Marscopone and Asadero. What I am really excited about is the selection of local cheeses that we have brought in. From Brazos Valley Cheese we are now carrying their Pepper Jack, Parmesan (YES, a local Parmesan!!), Blueberry Havarti, Pecan Horseradish Cheddar, Rosemary Garlic Jack.  Coming soon we will have their Sage Derby and Southwest Leicester. And last and certainly not least we have Wateroak Farms Chevre.
 
I hope you have a great week and I would love to see you on Saturday!!!

Dan Gillotte
Wheatsville GM and e-mail guy!