Taste of West Virginia is one of my favorite events of the year, and I'm lucky to have judged it for the third year in a row now. And, I was in excellent company with Ann Hart, Tim Urbanic, Mike Costello and Brittany Furbee. There were such incredible dishes that I just wanted to share with you! And, I love that more restaurants from around the state are getting involved - and it's all in support of the American Red Cross

The newest establishment to begin brewing their own beer is in Walton - Roane County.

Walton Mountain Brewing Company has been operating as a bar and restaurant for some time. But, recently, they received their own license to begin brewing.

They're located next to a hardware store/deli that has a little bit of everything. Tom and I actually walked through here to get to the brewery (though it has its own entrance).

They had just opened, and we were waiting for 1 p.m. on this Sunday to roll around so we could get our hands on a craft beer.


The space has pool tables, TVs and lots of taxidermy animals. So, we watched some TV and put in our food orders first.

The menu is pretty big: burgers, pizza, fried appetizers, bbq, hot dogs and more.

I went for a cheeseburger with a side salad.

And Tom got the pulled pork.

At the time of this writing, they had just one beer on tap: Gusher Blonde Ale. Mm!


And, apparently they do some fire pits because look at these cute s'more kits!

Some time ago, I saw a page named "The Come Thru Kitchen" pop up on Facebook.



After asking a few friends if they had ever been there, I discovered it's a new pop-up that didn't have an official location.



Essentially, it's available at the kitchen of the owner, and you can keep an eye on Facebook to see what they're serving that day.



The Come Thru Kitchen is aptly name - literally come through for a bite.

But, I saw recently they did a vendor fair where they served from the kitchen. This seemed like the perfect option since I don't know the owners and thought it might be strange rolling up to their house.

They served up buffalo chicken dip, fried fish sandwiches, lasagna, and Italian meatballs with cheese. Sides included macaroni & cheese, candied yams, greens and more. Plus desserts like banana pudding.

Soul food is my favorite, and I haven't had sweet macaroni and cheese since the time I judged a cookoff - and I missed it so!

I've been to Foam at the Dome before - the first year, actually. This year marked the third annual festival. It was super hot, but fun as always. And check out these eggrolls from Eggs Will Roll.