Upcoming Events
This dinner will be the culminating celebration of the Noir Et Rosé: The Bordeaux Experience — a first-of-its-kind luxury river cruise through France’s legendary wine region, led by Gai Spann of Spanning the Globe Tours. The Paris dinner itself is an intimate experience for approximately 20 guests. Space is extremely limited. DESCRIPTION: An immersive, multi-course dinner and story telling experience honoring James Hemings (b. 1765) — that examines his transformative years of apprenticing and cooking professionally in Paris France from 1784–1789. Chef Hemings emerged as he first classically trained, American born and raised to serve as chef de cuisine at major diplomatic residences, masterfully weaving Virginian ingredients and traditions into elite French technique. thus developing an arguably uniquely American expression of cuisine…
Past events
SAVE THE DATE: JULY 16TH FOR A REVOLUTIONARY DRINKS TALK & TASTING AT MCNY 6:30-8:30PM….
On Thursday, June 25th, I’m collaborating with Culinary Podcast Producer & Communal Chef Otis Gray for a ticketed James Hemings Homage Dinner in collaboration with Studio BUMI.
Otis will be executing a 3-to-4 course French-American menu and I’ll be wearing my TFG DRINKS! History hat to craft a classic yet custom colonial era ‘welcome punch’ (with and without ABV %) to kick off and quench the night.
Event Description: Join chef and mixologist Nelson German and culinary anthropologist and author Andréa Lawson Gray in conversation with Tonya Hopkins aka The Food (& Drinks!) Griot exploring rum, sugar, and the histories that shape Caribbean flavor. Drawing from their book Caribbean Cocktails: Drinks and Bites from the Afro-Latino Diaspora, they will examine how ingredients travel, how knowledge is passed, and how cultural expression takes form through food and drink.
The next ‘Eléctrico Experience’ is in Brooklyn tonight! Where I’ll be serving up tasting pours of one of the best expressions of the New World’s oldest spirit: Eléctrico Mezcal Artesanal’s Distilled with Lemongrass (a premium spirits bartender’s dream)…. And with a special mixologist-made “mixer”—Uncle Waithley's small batch ginger beer (with a scotch bonnet bite!). Whether it's original Vincy Brew or the newer smoked pineapple or sorrel expressions—the end result when combined with Eléctrico Lemongrass is like a world-class spirits maker & master mixologist spent serious time making a cocktail for you—because they kinda DID—before the bottles were opened, but once they were, NYC's Best 2-Ingredient Drink was born! 💥🍹
When daytime events at BCB wrap up on Wednesday, June 10th, join us afterwards at the acclaimed, craft-driven Runner & Stone from 6:30 PM onward for an informal post-Industry City gathering in nearby Gowanus featuring a chance to try EACH of Eléctrico Mezcal's Award-Winning expressions + complimentary small bites and 'tini cocktails along with immersive storytelling centering the heartwarming, three-family history behind this beautiful brand — while connecting and conversing…
OSH’s biggest party of the year is back - and so is TFG Drinks Custom “ Cocktail Coloring Bar” by Tonya Hopkins aka The Food Griot — featuring an awesome array of all-natural, colors and flavorful add-ins for extra fun! Customize your own cocktail and bring the botanical tastes and tints of the great OSH Gardens straight to your glass!” 🌸🌿✨🌺🌷🪴🍃 Get your ticket now for this fab adults-only soirée — in a state of the art playground — and support the beautification of the gardens and park around the historically significant Old Stone House…
Spirits industry leaders, influencers and buyers are very welcome to learn more about the Eléctrico Mezcal story and sample our award-winning expressions at Bar Convent Brooklyn, June 9th-10th, 2026, at Industry City in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, NYC. Find us at Stand #_____in the ______ Pavilion, experience ALL of the amazing Award-Winning Eléctrico expressions and meet the awesome Eléctrico Team …
Background Ino: Prospect Park Alliance presents a Pinkster celebration in the yard of Lefferts Historic House, an 18th century Flatbush farmhouse that serves as the park's historic house museum. Chief Baba Neil Clarke and the Pinkster Players and friends, will lead this family-friendly event, which will feature music, history, performances, storytelling, demonstrations, games and FOOD related to this historic celebration of Africans in New York….
BEM’s inaugural Edna Lewis Festival with the Edna Lews Foundation are celebrating 50 Yrs since the publication of Edna Lewis’ Taste of Country Cooking” ground breaking book and I’ll be doing an Edna-inspired pickle & preserves talk and demo at BEM on Saturday 5-9-26…
On Tuesday June 4th I’ll be part of a panel taking place at Les Dames d'Escoffier of New York's annual “The Next Big Sip” event . The topic is “Women & the Cocktail” moderated by Nicola Nice, author of the Cocktail Parlor: How Women Brought the Cocktail Home . “This panel will explore the historic connection of women and the cocktail, a retrospective look at the cocktail party – how it got started, why it came in and out of style, and the essential role that women have played…”
Join the Center for Brooklyn History and Kinfolk Tech for this National Oyster Day celebration featuring historians, entrepreneurs, community organizations, and artists: Dominique Jean-Louis (Center for Brooklyn History), Ben “Moody” Harney (The Real Mother Shucker), Tonya Hopkins (The Food Griot) and Jeremiah Ojo (Community Memory Fellow, Kinfolk Tech).
OSH’s biggest party of the year is back - get your ticket now for this fab adults-only soirée — in the playground! Enjoy delicious food and drinks at this annual “Rock the House” fundraising event that supports the beautification of the gardens and park around the historically significant Old Stone House…
Spirits industry leaders, influencers and buyers are very welcome to learn more about the Eléctrico Mezcal story and sample our award-winning expressions at Bar Convent Brooklyn, June 10-11, 2025, at Industry City in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, NYC. Find us at Stand #EB40 in the Emerging Brands Pavilion and meet Eléctrico’s Brand Representative, Tonya Hopkins @thefoodgriot/IG…
Join me and the fab folks at the Weeksville Heritage Center (WHC) for an all-day Community Gardening festival and celebration of Spring !A day of family-friendly activities centering food justice, and collective well-being reconnecting to nature and the bounty it can yield when we cooperate respectfully with Mother Nature…
![Special Eléctrico Mezcal Tasting Friday May 23rd at the Historic Montauk Club [Members & Invited Guests Only] 7:00-10:00PM](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62ac978b80be5838a58db017/1712990348278-CBXG1M9ROGGKDO3L8SRW/Montauk+Electrico+pic+collage+IMG_1101.JPG)
On Friday May 23rd, Tonya Hopkins aka “The Food (&Drink!) Griot” will be serving up and showcasing an amazing 🏆Award-Winning expression of the New World’s OLDEST spirit: Eléctrico Mezcal Ancestral, at Brooklyn’s oldest and longest running private social club, The Montauk Club founded and built in 1889-91 …
Join Prospect Park Alliance, Rashid Littlejohn, and Tonya Hopkins, a.k.a. “The Food (& Drink!) Griot,” for an educational and entertaining evening focused on the actual history of Black History Month…
![An Eléctrico Experience: Mezcal Tasting & Film Screening Nov 7th at the Montauk Club [Private Event]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62ac978b80be5838a58db017/1712990347367-74YKSBA0KK42ZG40AWM7/Montauk+Electrico+pic+collage+IMG_1099.JPG)
Thursday Nov 7th we’ll be serving up one of the best expressions of the New World’s oldest spirit, mezcal — Eléctrico Mezcal Artesanal to be exact — at Brooklyn’s oldest and longest running private social club, The Montauk Club . FEATURING: Guided artisanal mezcal tastings of Eléctrico’s awesome line up; a special screening of Eléctrico‘s Award Winning Short Film: “FESTIVAL OAXACA” ; Cocktail demos; + Toasts to Remembrance: The Season of Recollection & Reminiscence…
HALLOWEEN 🎃 at HARLEM HOPS! Hang with me "The Food Griot" & Get to Know ELÉCTRICO Mezcal Thurs on October 31st
Join me & the fab folks at the Weeksville Heritage Center for this year’s 2024 HARVEST FESTIVAL: an annual celebration of the transition to Fall with a day of family-friendly activities celebrating Black land, food justice, and collective well-being... circa 4pm Tonya Hopkins (@TheFoodGriot) will discuss the role of food preservation in the past and present at this historically Black Brooklyn community and beyond — complete with pickle (& pepper sauce!) making demos! You get to go home with your own jar of all natural pickles that you made yourself (with a lil’ help from me, TFG! ;) + special for THIS YEAR we’ll make a lil peppa sauce too!…
The Old Stone House of Brooklyn’s biggest party of the year returns! Check here for ticket info…
Rock the House is an annual fundraising event that supports the beautification of the gardens and Park around the Old Stone House. Enjoy delicious food and drinks from local restaurants, live music and dancing around the Park.
Mark your calendars for June 6th 2024 for a Fireside Feast with Historic Wyckoff & Lott house Museums featuring yours truly, @TheFoodGriot, creating a signature cocktail (mocktail option) along with a guided mezcal tasting complete with spirited, historically-rooted talk on the oldest spirit of the New World and it’s connections to 17th & 18th Century New York….