Capital Bites: Beer Sausage and New Brunch Coming to Mercante

All you non-Americans must be dead tired of Thanksgiving by now, and the holiday still has yet to come. It's one of those holidays with a questionable premise (see also: Columbus Day), though it's resulted in quite a nice tradition (feasting, family, friends and firewater). Those are hard points to argue, and accessible to all nationalities. My advice? Set aside your qualms about small pox blankets (myths, we hear) and get in on the city's glut of turkey meals here and here.

In other news, Mercante has been doing some test runs of a new brunch menu which might involve a lot of cured meats, a savory spinach tart, and cheese-stuffed panzerotti (gorgonzola & mozzarella and tomato & mozzarella variations). No word yet on when it will be a regular, public affair, but keep tryptophane-drowsy eyes open as it's sure to be worth a Sunday morning of your time.

Duvel and Andy's Craft Sausages have met in the test kitchen as well for a bit of collaboration. There were some experiments with the Cumberland (pork nutmeg and mace) and La Chouffe as well as with Duvel's tripel, Maredsous 10. Reportedly very delicious (we'll let you know our take when we've had a bite), but still unconfirmed whether they will make the regular menu. Andy's a good dude though; I'm sure that he might entertain special requests, if this has piqued your interest enough.

We broke news about this a couple months back, but the new Rug in Sanlitun seems to be coming along quite nicely with a two-floor property around the corner from the Hidden City 1949 complex. What with the recent Home Plate and Okra, plus longer-term residents like The Local, Janes and Hooch and of course, The Bookworm, the already popular courtyard should be seeing even more traffic. More details on The Rug shortly.

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Photo: Cat Nelson, Vai Milano