THE KITCHEN TABLE
a message from the owner..
Board game cafés are a concept coming to us from Europe and Canada that are gaining in popularity across the US. The Kitchen Table at Relish was the second one in North Carolina when we opened in 2019—the first was Well-Played in Asheville that opened in 2017.
My own family rediscovered board games just around a year before we opened and fell in love and I love sharing the experience with others. No lecture intended, but so many of us (myself included) spend so much of our time connected to people only through technology. Finding ways to spend time just talking with no screens has become a bit elusive. But playing board games sets the stage for some of the best conversations about life and learning and they are also perfect ice breakers that can encourage a group to find common ground.
The games themselves have improved SO MUCH since the heyday of Candy Land and Monopoly. If you haven’t tried a “gateway” Eurostyle game like Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Sushi Go, Dominion, 7 Wonders, or Wingspan you may not know that modern board games are now less about random luck and more dependent on strategy, friendlier competition, and even cooperation.
We have a library of over 400 games that we have been sacrificing ourselves to learn to play—including the old standbys (like Scrabble, Backgammon, and Sorry) to the newest releases (like Root, Century Spice Road, Wingspan, and Scythe). We have trained “gametenders” available to help you choose a game that is a good fit for your group and teach you how to play it, if needed.
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For the first year, all games were free to play (we had to get you hooked, right?) but we now charge a $10 per table game playing fee (up to 6 players and unlimited access to games) to help us cover the cost of upkeep on the game library (replacing those inevitable lost pieces and buying the latest games) and to help support our gametenders.
You can check out our current game list at https://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/relishraleigh
So whether you want us guide you or to just pick for yourself, feel free to head on over to our game room to seek out an “old friend” or discover something new.
Enjoy!
Sharon May, Owner
