CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA (January 24, 2025) — Upscale caterer to the Tri-State area, Peppercorn Food Company, offers a Valentine’s Day dining experience, a charcuterie class, and new composed charcuterie boxes for Valentine’s Day gifting.
A Valentine’s Day prix fixe menu crafted by Chef Cole Richards will be offered at 7PM Friday, February 14, at newly-opened Peppercorn at the Bank in downtown Cedar Rapids. With the elegant historic People’s Bank ambiance, couples enjoy a five-course prix fixe meal paired with wine. The bar opens at 6:30PM and the cost is $100 per person.
The five-course tasting menu features prime flat iron with herbed potato pavé, romanesco broccoli, and sage brown butter, paired with Quilt Cabernet. The experience starts with prime New York strip tartar with a rosemary mustard.
“Peppercorn at the Bank is committed to using the highest quality of ingredients such as only USDA Prime Beef to which our Valentine’s Day menu pays homage. It has been a joy to create a from-scratch menu that is sure to please couples with elevated flavor pairings and stylish plating,” said Richards.
Reservations are required and seating is limited. To view the full menu, visit tinyurl.com/ValentineDinner2025.
The one-hour charcuterie class, hosted by Cheesemonger Liz Dueland, teaches attendees how to build a Valentine’s Day-worthy cheeseboard that includes salami roses. The class will focus on how to attractively cut and style cheese and salami to build the perfect board. In addition to sampling the featured cheeses, guests will be treated to a glass of wine.
Dueland will demonstrate how to craft mini-cheeseboard with each attendee also making their own board which they will take home. The class is Friday, February 21, 2025, 6PM, at the newly-opened Peppercorn at the Bank, 101 3rd Ave SW, Cedar Rapids. Reservations are required and can be made at 319-743-5111. Class is $55 per person and seating is limited.
In addition to its robust charcuterie catering program that ranges from charcuterie skewers to sixteen-foot grazing tables, Peppercorn Food Company now offers elegant boxed charcuterie in three sizes. Uniquely hand-styled by Dueland, the boxes contain specialty cheeses, cured meats, and accoutrements such as olives, pickles, crudité, berries, grapes, dried fruit, and sweets as well as a fresh herb garnish. A personal box is $24, a sharable size for four to six persons is $75, and a hosting box for up to twelve-plus persons is $150. Orders must be made 48 hours in advance and are available for delivery.
Gift cards in any amount are available to redeem for charcuterie boxes or for dining at Peppercorn at the Bank restaurant.
New to the Peppercorn Food Company portfolio, the landmark Peppercorn at the Bank restaurant now offers fine dining weeknights with elegant semi-private options. The evolving menu infuses modernity with traditional chophouse cuisine featuring USDA Prime beef, fresh seafood, and made-from-scratch pasta. The restaurant glimmers with throwback experiences like Bananas Foster flambéed tableside. The venue is available for private events Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
The historic “jewel box” bank was designed by Louis Henry Sullivan and opened as a bank in 1911. The interior features murals by Allen Philbrick, nestled within a mezzanine with stained glass windows. The bank was one of several small "jewel box" banks designed by Sullivan in the Midwest between 1907 and 1919. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
The restaurant is the newest addition to the portfolio of the Peppercorn Food Company that includes custom catering for weddings and corporate events in Cedar Rapids and surrounding Iowa City, Dubuque, Quad Cities, Galena, Illinois, and Apple River, Illinois. The food group portfolio also includes the Peppercorn Food Truck, community fundraisers, in-house chef services, and two venue rental options. Next, Peppercorn Food Company will open a catering kitchen in Dubuque in March, growing catering services in the Dubuque, Iowa and Galena, Illinois markets.
