This Weekend at Total Wine in the West End

Head out and taste Chardonnay along with summer brews. Here are the details:

Total Wine (Westland Shopping Center on West Broad with the big cactus)
12 to 6 p.m.
Free admission
More than 15 Chars to taste
Appetizers
Summer beers to taste.

Heck yeah!

Crab-Stuffed Piquillo Peppers from Bin 22

After a walk through the way-too-crowded Greek Festival with lines so long we couldn't even tell what they were for, my boyfriend and I walked to Bin 22 on Friday evening. I have to say the patio at Bin 22 is one of my absolute favorite ways to spend an evening in the RIC. Along with a wine flight and two paninis, for the first time we deviated from the cheese-and-meat plate and tried the crab-stuffed piquillo peppers ($9). When a plate with field greens and three tiny red peppers on it appeared at our table we feared we'd made a mistake. Then we each took a pepper and bit into it. It was bliss. Creamy, cheesy crab-y filling was perfectly complemented with the ripe flavor of the roasted red Spanish peppers. My boyfriend proclaimed this one of the best dishes he'd eaten in Richmond in a long time. We managed not to fight over the last one and split it down the middle. While not an ideal dish if you've got a large group, these tasty bites of bliss are definitely worth it. They'll be on our regular list from now on.