Two Food Events This Week Focus on Creating Community

The food scene in the LOU community is a thriving part of the community. It includes cottage goods, food trucks, local restaurants, and award-winning nationally recognized restaurants, bars, and chefs.

Is there another community of 50,000 that has options ranging from soul food, Thai, Indian, Honduran, Mexican, Jamaican, and fusions of every influence?

Taking a bite of food at a shared table like those found at Snackbar, Good Day Café or the picnic table at El Calbori creates a shared joy of enjoying food prepared to nourish both body and soul.

The LOU food community is one of the places where conversations about our community occur.

Several spaces in the LOU contribute to community building through food. The two farmer’s markets host cottage goods. Foods made by locals, from breads, cakes, teas, pickles, and preserves. Southern Foodways documents these experiences regionally sharing them in podcasts, films, and a publication.

This month, two community groups are hosting food events focused on creating community.

Tapping into the Arts Council’s Creative Lab the organizers of these events are focusing on how food builds community.

Castel Sweet and Sha’ Simpson wanted to provide a space for people to come together in a way that encourages a sense of belonging.

“We felt there was no better way to create such a space, than to use the three things that bring us together: drinks, music, and food,” they said.

The result was a partnership with Good Day Café and Bar Muse to host an event Cue Up The Cocktail. The event features crafted cocktails paired with music and small bites to create an opportunity for people to build connections.

The event will be hosted in the Powerhouse Community Arts Center from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday. Tickets include four crafted cocktails and bites. The conversation is free.

Supporters of Oxford’s food truck scene organized, A Taste in Napa, which will occur in the parking lot of NAPA Auto Parts on North Lamar on Sunday from 5 to 7 p.m. The dinner features Authentic foods from Maria Rodriguez of El Colibri Food Truck paired with wines selected by Sommelier Eric

Railsback and donated by Burg Wines and High Cotton Wine & Spirits. Proceeds from the ticket sales will assist the Arts Council Creative Lab in supporting a kitchen space for these food entrepreneurs and help El Colibri purchase picnic tables to serve more customers.

Tickets for these events along with information about support for creatives and community-building programs can be found at www.oxfordarts.com.

Staff report