Tea to door

Illustration by Mark Stivers

Caffeine delivery: Tea sommelier Leo Hickman’s Classy Hippie Tea Cafe just switched to “Classy Hippie Tea Co.” No longer is his focus on a retail brick-and-mortar—although he hopes to open a Midtown spot next year—rather, tea delivery.

Last week, Classy Hippie launched a membership program. You can get two customized teas—“sommelier blends”—delivered to your door each month for $30 per month, and at other membership tiers, you can potentially sip for free at Classy Hippie’s upcoming cafe inside Capsity (2572 21st Street). Hickman describes it as a similar setup to the Trade, except Classy Hippie will offer a full, members-only lounge starting in September.

Nonmembers can go around the corner to Classy Hippie’s new location (2600 21st Street), which Hickman and business partner Mike Shaldone transformed into a bright and clean tea shop in just one week out of what used to be Buffalo Pizza & Ice Cream’s storage space. Classy Hippie’s other location inside Green Valley Theatre (3823 V Street) will remain open, but the new spot is the flagship and will serve brewed tea to-go once it gets its permits in order.

More beer: Rubicon Brewing Co. expanded its production into West Sacramento not too long ago, and it added a taproom (885 Stillwater Road, Suite 100) last week.

It’s a small, no-frills space to get your Monkey Knife Fight fix and actually feels a bit like an office, with visible partitions and fluorescent lighting. Still, you can enjoy one of four beers available on draft, fill up a growler or grab some brew to-go.

Capitol idea: Prolific restaurateur Chris Jarosz is working on “farm-to-Capitol” cuisine.

The Sacramento Bee first reported Jarosz (Broderick Roadhouse, Localis, Saddle Rock) will take over the food service spaces inside the Capitol. Details about the main restaurant, located on the lower level, arrived last week: it will be called Statehouse and it will open in early 2017.

According to a press release, the space will be a hub of pizzas and sandwiches made with ingredients sourced from local farms. The chef will be Dan J. Watterson, most recently chef de cuisine of Le Diplomate, a brasserie in Washington, D.C.

Bye: Just when SN&R gives Revolution Wines a positive review, largely due to the ambition of its chef Teddy Gibanov, Gibanov decides to bail. He left last week for a gig at the Golden 1 Center.