On one of our first visits to Savannah way back when, we were delighted to see the city’s dog-friendliness, especially outside and even in so many local eateries.
Though our dearly beloved Alvie passed away a year after we came to town and we became cat people, my wife and I will ride our bikes up Habersham Street on Sunday afternoon to mingle with the wagging tails and lolling tongues at Shuk’s National Dog Day Celebration.
Bipeds and quadruped canines alike are invited to four hours of barks, bevvies, and bites, the food kind, at the Eastern Mediterranean resto opened by Alexis Levin two years ago this October.
Never has ‘going to the dogs’ been so great. Bone appétit.
A FÊTE FOR FURRY FRIENDS
“It’s a mini-event, but we’ve seen so many people interested in it,” said Shuk service manager Jess Spivey. “We’re excited that it may have more turnout than we were expecting.”
For the last two decades, National Dog Day has been observed on August 26, but as that falls on a Monday this year, Shuk’s only off day, Levin and her team chose the Sunday prior.
The festivities will be concentrated on what is the most beautiful bar-patio in Savannah. Guests will fill that indoor-outdoor space next to vendors who will set up in the wide-windowed atrium looking out onto adjacent sidewalk along Habersham, where more two and four-footed folk will gather.
Both Savannah-based, A Little Cattywampus (@Alittlecattywampus) will have pet collars, leads, and wearables, and custom art, drinkware, giftables, scrunchidanas, and stationery from Quintessence (@quintessence.sim) will also be for sale. Out front will be a photo shoot provided by Casey Eastwood (Eastwoods Photography)
Dog bandanas will be handed out and tied around furry necks, and attendees will receive a free dog-themed bevvy, the ones holding the leads, that is.
“This is the first time,” Spivey said of Shuk’s observance of National Dog Day. “We’ve actually been leaning into the national days just to pick up some momentum with our new bar program that we’re building.”
Bar manager Cory Reuter and her crew will be pouring Brew Dog and a few dog-themed cocktails, including a pomegranate margarita dubbed the Pawgarita, a bloody mary for a late Sunday brunch, and a salty dog, of course.
“Thinking about it now, people in Savannah love things to do with their dogs,” Spivey added. “We’re really excited to be able to host our neighborhood dog families.”
Shuk partners with One Love Animal Rescue, but this event specifically highlights nearby dog owners and the “many guests that come in with their dogs all the time.”
IT’S THE GREAT POMEGRANATE, SAVANNAH
Though the summer heat is still with us, Levin, Reuter, Spivey, and everyone at Shuk have begun planning their second Pomegranate Jamboree, slated for mid-October.
Throughout what the world has relatively recently referred to as the Middle East, the pomegranate has long been associated with life and marriage. In Greek mythology, Persephone ate the bright red seeds which bound her to Tartarus until Hades released her to the upperworld, allowing spring to spring. In Jewish tradition, principally in Song of Songs, the pomegranate represents fertility and love.
“It’s kind of a take on The Great Pumpkin. We did The Great Pomegranate,” said Spivey of the event that Shuk inaugurated last fall. “It was lots of fun, bigger than we were expecting.”
“A lot of new faces, I would say,” she recalled. “We had a lot of regulars come in, but the majority of the people I saw were new faces who didn’t know about us. They brought their families and their little ones.”
Spivey said that Shuk “likes to think about the kids” because “there’s not a lot of kid-focused things in adult spaces,” so the first Great Pomegranate intentionally built on activities present every day at the restaurant: coloring stations, face-painting, and a scavenger hunt.
“We’re hoping to do something similar this year,” she continued, adding the probable presence of One Love, live music, and other market vendors in the back parking lot along East Anderson Street. Levin is accepting applications starting next week and hopes to bring back several from past events.
Apropos, plenty of pomegranate-themed food and drink will be presented. Last year, pomegranate-glazed popcorn was offered plus more snacks made by Faire.
“They have a lot of different eclectic, international foods that we like to incorporate,” said Spivey, “and we highlighted our local pomegranate-blueberry tea that we get from Ashford Tea Company.”
That brew is used in Shuk’s Arnold Palmer, and other pom-flavored drinks crafted by the bar staff include from the non-alcoholic Ambrosia gazoz, the Solomon martini, and the Pom Fizz mimosa that are on the everyday menu.
So as not to alter the integrity of the cuisine, dishes that already contain pomegranate will be highlighted, such as pomegranate molasses in the muhammara and pomegranate honey in the whipped feta. No garnet seeds will be tossed into sabich pitas.
“Cultivate Community is one of our core values here at Shuk,” Levin shared. “Every time we put on an event, our goal is to build up our local community and support the local community of creatives and vendors in our neighborhood.”
Shuk (1313 Habersham Street) will celebrate National Dog Day on Sunday, August 25 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Regular hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday (10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and Sunday (10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.).
