Union Kitchen Grocery
Union Kitchen Grocery has opened its doors at 538 3rd St. NE. Nestled in Capitol Hill and just steps away from the popular H st. corridor, UK Grocery is the go-to spot for all things made in DC. The store features products from more than 50 Union Kitchen Members and Alumni including Popcorn Queens’ Junior Bags. You can also find everyday essentials and delicious breakfast and lunch options at the Grocery which is open daily from 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
On July 21st, Popcorn Queens hosted a demo at the store. It was an opportunity for patrons to taste a few of the flavors available for purchase. Scroll to check out a few photos from the demo. Also, check out the article from Heard on the Hill HERE. They give a thorough review of the sandwiches available at the store. We hope you’ll swing by to support UKG as well as our product. When you grab some popcorn, try the Italian Cold Cut Sandwich and thank us later. 🙂
The Beach @ The Building Museum
Virginia is for Wine Lovers
They say you can tell it’s a party when one of two things happen: the smoke/fire alarm goes off or something gets broken. Well, if this is true then the Virginia Wine Expo was DEFINITELY a party!
Day one of the expo, we set up the Popcorn Queens booth not knowing what to expect. Sales were slow at first but at about 2pm, popcorn began to fly off the table. Right in the midst of this busy time, the fire alarm went off not once but twice. It was a false alarm (thank goodness) but many of the attendees were not affected and we wondered if a little fire would have even stopped this party.
In addition to alarms, we’d hear loud cheers about every 20-30 minutes. We finally asked why people were cheering and someone told us it’s what happens when someone breaks their wine glass. Well, as we inched toward the end of the day, we heard a lot more glasses breaking and ALOT more cheering.
By the end of day one, we were pretty beat and even though we’d sold a lot of popcorn, we were a little sad that we didn’t get to wine taste or shop as much. So that was the plan for day two. Here are some highlights from some of our favorite vendors:
Peaks of Otter Winery table was by far the most fun. Their tasting involved two young guys pouring unique, fruity wines. This was followed by their spicy wines like the Chili Dawg that involved cheese wiz and then the “Kiss the Devil” Chili Pepper Wine that was so hot that you received a chaser and a sticker if you survived. We took home the Light Pear White Wine and the “Salty Frog” Margarita Cocktail.
Potomac Point Winery was our next door neighbor. Whenever we both had a moment, they shared their goods. In fact, at the end of the day they gave us a beautiful bottle of red for a couple bags of popcorn. Lucky us!
The other bottles that I brought home were from Davis Valley Winery and Vineyard. I got a nice white for Mama Popcorn Queen and their Chambourcin for myself. It has a dark cherry finish which is divine!
Lastly, I knew I couldn’t come home without at least one wine accessory and when I stumbled upon Posh Paint, I knew I’d found the right place. I ended up purchasing beautiful tumblers and wine glasses with a hand painted blue crabs for my house by the Chesapeake Bay. Edie Oswald really does do fantastic work and I know this won’t be the last that I buy from her. She expressed interest in painting the Popcorn Queens’ logo on a glass and I plan to hold her to it!
So that’s all folks! I hope you enjoyed reading about our wine expo experience. It really is true that Virginia is for Wine Lovers (And Popcorn Lovers). Needless to say, we’ll be back next year!
Edible DC Feature
Just when we thought we’d shared all of the marvelous press we’ve received so far this year, another post came our way! EdibleDC.com, one of my favorite foodie sites, did a short piece on local food artisans within Union Kitchen and featured The Queens! Edible DC is a quarterly magazine and website whose mission is to “nourish, support, educate and celebrate the growing local food community within and surrounding Washington, D.C,” We are thrilled to be mentioned on this site and similar to the BISNOW piece, we were excited to learn that our story stood out among so many great stories in Union Kitchen.
And speaking of UK, their tasting was certainly a good look for us because after meeting the amazing people they invited, we seem to be poppin up all over the web! Shoutout to the UK admin team and Edible DC writer (and fellow English teacher) Rhea Yablon Kennedy for spreading the word about our biz.
Click HERE to read the article.
Post by April Wardlaw – CEO and Co-Founder of Popcorn Queens
BISNOW.com Feature
In our last post, we mentioned Union Kitchen‘s first open house and tasting of 2015. Just to give you a little more info, UK is always reaching out to local markets, retaurants and specialty food shops, inviting them to come and taste the amazing products that come out of their kitchen. Occasionally these businesses come in and set up private tastings however, the kitchen administrators decided that larger “tasting events” are in everyone’s best interest. Members will set up tasting tables and Union Kitchen would bring dozens of stores and restaurants to us.
This type of tasting event was scheduled for Jan. 9th and as the date approached, UK informed the participating members that they had 100 rsvps, many from DC food businesses and many members of the press. One of which was a writer for BisNow.com who’s name I am pretty sure is Laura. She said she writes for many publications but it turns out that she used our photo and story for a piece about Union Kitchen.
There were so many Union Kitchen members at the tasting, and all of us have great stories. So we were thrilled to be highlighted in this piece along with our UK friends Timber Pizza.
Check out the article HERE
Post by April Wardlaw – CEO and Co-Founder of Popcorn Queens
First Feature for Popcorn Day
During Union Kitchen’s open house and tasting this past Friday, January 9th, we had the pleasure of meeting Holley Simmons, Dining Editor for the Washington Post Express. Last year we’d already identified Holley as “someone we need to reach out to asap” but we always made up an excuse to wait. Let’s wait on our website, let’s wait on our packaging, better pictures etc.
Then, as fate would have it, at the UK tasting, after our website went live with new pictures, packaging and products, Holley appeared at our table ready to taste our popcorn. As she was snacking, I mentioned that we would be interested in working with her on a piece to help spread the word about our company. “Well I’m working on a piece now for National Popcorn Day, maybe I can squeeze you in?” YES! I replied. SQUEEZE. US. IN.
The next thing I knew, my Mom and I received an email from Holley Wednesday evening, telling us to look out for a “small mention” in Thursday’s express. Neither my Mom nor I commute via the metro, but the students that I teach do. So a fun fact is that I sent a message to a student offering him extra credit for bringing me an Express. Well he brought me 10 copies so that worked!
I can’t even express (pun intended) the feeling of opening up a publication and seeing your name. And for me it was doubly exciting because I saw Popcorn Queens’ name and MY name. Needless to say, 2015 is off to a great start!
Check HERE to check out Holley’s piece online.
Post by April Wardlaw – CEO and Co-Founder of Popcorn Queens
