Ravine unveils their new liquor license and wine list!

The latest from Joel at Ravine:

A long overdue hello to you,

Needless to say, I have missed having the food and wine pairings each month here at ravine. It has been 4 long months without the fun and excitement of creating a tasting menu, and we are ready to resume.

The next wine and food pairing will be on Wednesday, September 9th, starting at 6 pm. The theme will be the luscious fruit of the South, the tomato. A five course meal will be paired with wines from the mind of Dr Juergens, as he and I have been planning this meal all summer. The entree course will involve a choice of beef or fish, an unusual twist to our pairings. The cost of the pairing will be $25 per person, if you are interested, I suggest calling ravine right away. This event will surely sell out quite quickly, as we are only accepting 60 people for the event.

The big news is that this pairing will mark the unveiling of our liquor license and wine list. Acquiring our liquor license/resort status has been a challenge that we are still confronting. One positive effect is that now we can serve better wines without having to constantly raise the price of the tasting. Also, we can afford to be a bit more generous with our pours as well.

A simple reminder to some, a note to those new to the email list: the reservations for the pairing must be taken over the phone, a credit card number is required, and you will be charged for cancellations less than 48 hours prior to the event. In other words, if you cancel after 6 pm the preceding Monday, we do have to charge your card. This ensures that there are no empty seats, and everyone who wishes to attend are able.

Thanks as always,

JoelJoel Miller ravine 53 cr 321 oxford, ms 38655 oxfordravine.com 662.234.4555

Yappy Hour at the Powerhouse to occur monthly!

The first Yappy Hour was a huge success! View more pictures from the event here.

Come enjoy Yappy Hour every last Tuesday of the month starting Tuesday, August 25th from 6pm to 8pm at at the Powerhouse to benefit the Oxford Lafayette Humane Society! Feel free to bring your furry friends with you and let them enjoy the company of other animals and yappy appetizers! The cost is $5 for adults and $3 for children. All proceeds will go to the building of our new shelter. We will serve alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and have plenty of delicious treats for you and your pets! Please bring your pets if they are socialized and friendly!

Check out the Oxford Lafeyette Humane Society website to see images of what the shelter looks like now and what the new plans are for the new and improved shelter!!!

Lack of solar flares to cause global cooling?

According to some, global cooling may be on the rise. Due to a lack of recent solar flares, we may be looking at a much cooler climate than expected. (I still think we should stop trashing our planet, despite global cooling or warming! Pollution = bad.) I have been googling global cooling all morning and have found no reliable source of data or news that speaks scientifically or without social bias about this matter. I did, however, find this interesting video about the demise of the Vikings due to global cooling so many centuries ago.

The latest news in the case of resort status discrimination facing my favorite Oxford restaurant: Ravine

A letter from Joel Miller:

Hello again,

I try my best to make the mass emails that I send out appealing and pleasant. Alas, I am dealing with the state of Mississippi, and they are attempting to thwart my business plans every step of the way.

I have been informed by the secretary of the MS State Tax Commission that our appeal for Sunday sales will not be considered at all. There was no reason given for this, nor any explanation as to why another business in Lafayette County has full resort status and ravine does not.

For any of you receiving this that may be unaware, resort status can be granted to places in the state, allowing for on-premise alcohol sales. Usually, resort status in Mississippi means that sales may happen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We were not granted full resort status (nor do we want it) for reasons unknown. Our sales were restricted to regular city of Oxford hours, meaning no Sunday sales. Our appeal to the MSTC was for a small, 10 hour window of sales on Sunday to match our existing business hours.

I plan on appearing before the MSTC at their regular meeting in Madison to inquire as to why we are being arbitrarily discriminated against. As well, I plan on attempting to speak in front of the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors to appeal for their help.

I am sending out this email for 2 reasons: to update those interested on what has been happening, as well as to ask for any advice or help on this matter.

I know that many of you have written appeal letters to the MSTC (all apparently ignored), and have asked me personally why we have restricted resort status while another restaurant in the county has no such restrictions. Also, I have had some people offer to get more involved if necessary.

Well, it is time to become more involved-- I would really like to know why there is a double standard for resort status here in Lafayette County.

If you happen to have experience or knowledge in these matters, let me know. Otherwise, I will keep everyone updated on how you might express your support for ravine more fully to the state.

Thanks for your enduring support,

Joel+Cori+Henry

Joel Miller
ravine
53 cr 321
oxford, ms
38655
oxfordravine.com
662.234.4555

The Naked Bee - love it!

I discovered The Naked Bee a couple months ago and cannot get over this one particular lotion:

Orange Blosson Honey!

This is a great organic product, reasonably priced considering how long this small tube has lasted - and it is MADE IN THE USA and sold all over the nation. Their business is based in Gray, TN but it seems they are so big that they are managed out of La Mesa, CA. If you are into finding paraben and phtalate-free lotions, this stuff is great and a nice change from all the Burt's Bees products!

Check out the website for all of The Naked Bee's products. They also have a store locator function so that you can find a store near you. I have been buying The Naked Bee products from the little gift shop inside of the Gin Mill Mall (or Gin Mill Galleries -as it is called on their website) in Indianola, Mississippi.