Fellow Winstigators,
As we head into 2026, I just wanted to thank you all for checking out the newsletter over the past nine months. If you’ve subscribed since the first issue and have read every one, barely read them at all or just signed up last week, thank you for being here.
I want you to share with me what you’ve enjoyed, what you haven’t liked and what you’d like to see more of. I’ve got a lot of ideas I’m sitting on but this newsletter is for the community, so your voice and input matters.
I hope you have a great New Year’s Eve! Be safe out there tonight.
Quick Bistro Sojo review
Ever since it opened this past September, my wife has been wanting to go to Bistro Sojo which is located downtown off Braddock Street. The reviews have been extremely positive and a few weeks ago, I made a reservation for us to grab dinner for her birthday which happens to fall on Christmas Eve.
Sometimes I think that the best way to experience a book or a movie -or in this case, a restaurant- is to not know anything about it before you begin, and that’s exactly what happened here. When I called to make the reservation, I was presented two different time options for dinner and picked the earlier one. Looking back on it, I should have known that the two options for seating were due to a special Christmas Eve dinner but at the time I didn’t think much of it.
However, my wife is always two steps (or five…or ten…or a whole mile) ahead of me and she knew exactly what we were getting into. Here I thought we would be seated, get to peruse the standard menu and have a nice meal. But no, what we were in for was a dinner called the “Feast of the Seven Fishes,” and since she’s a seafood lover and I’m not, we both had different excitement levels as we were getting ready to head downtown; hers was borderline elated, and mine was…on the opposite end of the spectrum.
We were seated and the staff was quick to bring out the first dish which were fried oysters. That’s a solid starter for me as I’m a sucker for practically anything fried but these oysters were immaculate. Crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside and served up with a sauce that added a little bit of a kick, they were a great appetizer. Next was the butternut squash crab soup, which was a thick bisque topped with fish roe followed by a plate of fresh shrimp, mussels, calamari and clams on spinach and feta.
The food was tremendous and we hadn’t even made it to the main course yet. Everything was perfectly balanced; great blends of savory and spice that weren’t overpowering and worked perfectly together to hit just right. The courses were spaced apart just enough to allow us to savor each of the dishes, let the food settle and look forward to the next plate.
The headliner was rockfish on sauteed asparagus in a light broth and by this point all hesitations I had about heading out for a seafood dinner had been firmly put to rest. I was actually looking forward to the rockfish and it didn’t disappoint; like everything else, it was cooked to perfection and since it’s a very mild and clean fish it worked as a great canvas for the Mediterranean flavors.
Dessert was a lemon and labneh mascarpone layer cake, a generous slice that put the cap on a great evening. I thought that maybe the cake had been ordered from a local bakery, but it was baked in-house which was a testament to the talent level of the chefs at Bistro Sojo.
Perhaps most importantly, as good as the food was, the service was even better. Taking a four year old (a fournado!) to a dinner that lasted about two and a half hours is an ultra-marathon in parental patience. When we got to the restaurant I did a quick scan and yep, sure enough we were the only people in the place who dared to bring a kid to a dinner like this. We had a spectacular chance to be those people.
But the staff at Bistro Sojo were unfazed. In fact, they were incredibly welcoming and hospitable towards us and more specifically, our son. There wasn’t a special kids menu prepared and the manager knew he obviously wasn’t going to eat all of these different plates, so she offered to bring him out his own meal of rockfish and couscous for a nominal fee ahead of our main course. And after he absolutely housed it and softly nodded with a big smile on his face when she asked if he wanted more, I knew this was a place I’d always be a big fan of…not just because the food was great, but the people are even better.
The atmosphere at Bistro Sojo is quiet and intimate. It’s a great date-night spot, a place to have a relaxed dinner with friends with upscale food or somewhere to go for a special occasion. It was a flawlessly executed dinner on all levels and I’m looking forward to going back to check it out again. If you’re looking for a place where the food is exceptional and the people genuinely care, definitely check out Bistro Sojo!
Events and happenings in Winchester and the surrounding territories:
Wednesday, Dec 31st
Winchester Brew Works, Winchester - Family Friendly NYE at WBW! 🥳, 3 PM
Bistro Sojo, Winchester - New Year’s Feast, 4pm and 8pm
Old Town, Winchester, Winchester - Old Town Winchester New Year's Eve Celebration 2026, 6 PM
Backseat Events, Winchester - Blues, Brass & Bubbly: A New Year’s Eve with Terry Oates & The Mudcats, 8 PM
On Cue Sports Bar & Grill, East Main Street, Front Royal - New Years Eve Dueling Piano Party, 7:30 PM
Bright Box Theater, Winchester - Midnight in Miami: Bright Box NYE, 9 PM
Northside Lanes, Winchester - New Year's Eve Extravaganza, 9 PM
Vibrissa, Winchester - New Year’s Eve Celebration, 8PM
Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, Charles Town - Party 2025 Away!, 10 PM
Vault and Cellar, Middletown - New Years Eve Celebration
Lark Brewing Co., Aldie - New Year's Eve 2026: Bubbles and Brews Bash, 7:30 PM
Vanish Farmwoods Brewery, Leesburg - British New Years Eve 2026, 4 PM
Heritage Hall Banquet and Event Center, Inwood - New Year’s Eve dance, 6 PM
Boonsboro American Legion Post 10, Boonsboro - Boot Scootin’ Into The New Year!, 6 PM
Winchester Moose Lodge 1283, Winchester - Winchester Moose NYE Celebration - Tuff Luck Band, 6 PM
Backroom Brewery, Middletown - New Year's Eve in Tuscany, 4 PM
The Garage on King, Martinsburg - 2026 New Years Eve Garage Party, 8 PM
White Horse Tavern, Harpers Ferry - White Horse Tavern New Year's Eve Casino Party, 5 PM
Salamander Middleburg, Middleburg - New Year's Eve Floating Sound Bath, 7:30 PM
Thursday, January 1st
Kimberly’s, Winchester - Pop The Cork! 11 am-5pm
Sweet Run State Park, Purcellville - First Day Hike at Sweet Run State Park, 10 AM
Travinia Italian Kitchen Leesburg VA, Leesburg - Jazz at Travinia Every Tuesday & Thursday, 5:30 PM
Chilly Hollow Brewing, Berryville - Singo Bingo, 6:30 PM
Lost Barrel Brewing, Middleburg - Orange Bowl Watch Party, 12 PM
Sky Meadows State Park, Delaplane - First Day Sunrise Hike at Sky Meadows, 6 AM
Franklin Regional Park, Purcellville - First Day Hike, 11 AM
Leesburg Diner by CK, Leesburg - New Year's Day Pajama Brunch, 8:30 AM
Flying Ace Farm, Lovettsville - New Year's Day Brunch, 12 PM
Ruby Yoga, Front Royal - New Year's Day Yin, Yang & Restore, 2 PM
Friday, January 2nd
Little Mania Midget Wrestling, Boonsboro - Boonsboro, MD - Little Mania Mini Wrestling @ Vanish Hall, 8 PM
Winchester Book Gallery, Winchester - National Science Fiction Day
West Oaks Farm Market, Winchester - Western Swing Dance Night, 6 PM
Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester - Gallery Talk: Frida Kahlo & Nickolas Muray, 2 PM
Piccadilly's Public House and Restaurant, Winchester - Live Music at Piccadilly's, 7:30 PM
Shawnee Springs Market & Cannery (Winchester, VA), Winchester - Weekly Beer Tasting at Shawnee Springs Market, Senseny Road, 4 PM
On Cue Sports Bar & Grill, Front Royal - Spencer Hatcher & The Ole Son Gang, 8 PM
Lost Barrel Brewing, Middleburg - Live Music by One Blue Night at Lost Barrel Brewing, 5:30 PM
Sky Meadows State Park, Delaplane - Twilight Hikes, 4 PM
Saturday, January 3rd
The Catamount Lounge, Front Royal - Honky Tonk Night feat. The Sneaky Snakes and Sam Hank, 8 PM
Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve, Leesburg - New Year Full Moon Hike, 5:30 PM
Lucketts Bluegrass Foundation, Point Of Rocks - High Fidelity at the Lucketts Bluegrass Concert Series, 7 PM
Adrenaline RC Raceway, Winchester - New Year’s Race, 9 AM
Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester - Sensory Friendly Morning, 10 AM
Bishops Events, Berryville - 2026 Snowball Dash 5k/10k, 9:45 AM
Reitano Vineyards, Front Royal - CBD Music @ Reitano Vineyards, 5 PM
Samuels Public Library, Front Royal - Studio 330: String Theory- A Fiber Arts Club, 2 PM
Vanish Farmwoods Brewery, Point Of Rocks - Frayed Knots LIVE at Vanish, 1 PM
PetSmart (Martinsburg, WV), Martinsburg - ADOPTION EVENT, 12 PM
Monk's BBQ, Purcellville - Green Leaf Society @ Monk's, 7 PM
Dirt Farm Brewing, Bluemont - The Jan Plan Hike + Hill Climb at Dirt Farm Brewing, 10 AM
Sunday, January 4th
The Catamount Lounge, Front Royal - Grown Up Show & Tell (THEME: FRESH STARTS), 7 PM
Winchester Book Gallery, Winchester - Author Event: A.S. McConnell - Second Chances, noon-2pm
Winchester Brew Works, Winchester - Scout Spark: A Sister Scout’s Social, 3 PM
Four Seasons Books, Shepherdstown - The Banned Book Club: The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides, 5 PM
Shark Pit Jiu Jitsu, Winchester - Shark Pit 7-Year Anniversary Seminar, 12 PM
The Apple Tree Inn, Hancock - Ravens vs. Steelers watch party, 3 PM
The Hideaway Cafe, Winchester - Get together, 9:30 AM
Daydream Studios, Winchester - Sunday Soothe : A Restorative Yoga Series for Winter, 3 PM
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Have fun out there!
