Things that accomplish two vital functions at once are the best, like Chuck E. Cheese's ability to provide both food and entertainment, and the proverbial two-bird stone, which provides the same. Knocking off two kinds of buzzes at once: Northside Social Coffee & Wine.
Planning to open next Monday under guidance from the Liberty Tavern crew, Social's serving up java, vino, and all-day eats in a comfortably residential, window-/wood-lined double-decker house, which was previously home to everything from a fire station to the Clarendon Citizens Hall, both of which presumably involved lots of polling. They've got 20ish TBD wines by the glass, likely including reds like Argentina's Molto! Malbec and a Pinot Noir from Oregon's J.K. Carriere dubbed "Provocateur"; the beanery's all from the ballyhooed Counter Culture, with a pour over station and individual French presses, as well as all manner of lattes/cappuccinos/Americanos from a super high-end, Italian-imported bean-juicer boasted as "the Maserati of espresso machines" (just ask for a Quattro-pour-te). "All Day" edibles include sandwiches like a the herb butter/Gruyere/marble rye Westphalian Ham and salads like the mache/onion/marmalade smoked salmon; and small plate-ish "evening" deliciousness like Liberty Tavern cotechino sausage, a lentil-salad/tomato-cumin vinaigrette duck confit, and poached gulf shrimp, captured illegally by men in safari hats and lots of khaki.
Because man cannot live on just food, coffee, and wine alone, they've also got a microbrew list with three taps plus bottles from Highland Oatmeal Porter to Duck Rabbit Milk Stout, a North Carolina concoction brewed with actual lactose, which if you're not careful, will go right to your Jasper T. Jowls.
