Woodland’s The HIVE held a two-day community celebration Friday and Saturday for its second anniversary, highlighting the realization of Joshua Zeldner’s vision of it becoming a “vibrant community gathering space.”

“I hear more and more people are just so excited that we’re a part of the community and it melts my heart to get that feedback,” Zeldner, nectar director for Z Specialty Food, said. “This is something that they love and actually want to come experience and that’s what makes it all worthwhile because it is really hard to keep it all going.”

Z Specialty Food celebrates 44 years in business this year and two years at its new home at 1221 Harter Ave. Zeldner said he’s most excited about the interest the restaurant side of The HIVE has been receiving recently.

“We’re seeing more people coming to our restaurant every day and that’s something that has been such a huge investment for us,” he emphasized. “It’s really validating to see people enjoying the food and wanting to come back again and again, whether or not we have live music or other activities.”He believes that one of the driving factors for the increase in his restaurant’s popularity has been the introduction of Saturday brunch over the summer which serves roughly 100 people every time.

Furthermore, Zelder held the introduction dinner for this year’s delegation from Woodland’s Sister City, La Piedad, Michoacán. He noted that although he hosted the delegation last year, he and his team hadn’t been prepared to show them the true “HIVE experience.”

“After they invited me to go visit them in La Piedad in February, myself and the rest of our organizing committee got really excited about making sure that the next time we hosted them we really had a solidified itinerary and a lot of fun things to do for them,” he stressed. “One of the items that was most important to me was giving them the proper HIVE welcome and getting to have the music and the food whereas the first time they came was just a tour of the facility.”

Looking ahead, Zeldner said he’s excited to continue growing the community his business has built through a new subscription and membership program called The HIVE Club, which he explained provided four curated gift baskets every year, discounts at the tasting room and access to membership exclusive events.

“We’re really excited about the way that can help to build community as well, and just introducing more people to honey, mead and great food,” he concluded.

The Friday and Saturday celebration featured activities, honey and mead tastings, tours of the net zero production facility and pollinator gardens, live music and a scavenger hunt for kids, among other things.

Tim Gay attended the event with his band Tha Exchange to perform Friday and said his first impression of The HIVE was that it was similar to a wine-tasting room.

“It felt very warm and inviting and it was really exciting to come in here and see this entire setup,” he said. “I’m highly impressed actually.”

After participating in a honey-tasting experience, Gay said it was “really cool” to taste all the subtle differences in the honey and was excited to perform in The HIVE’s unique venue space.

“I’ve seen venues similar to this,” he added. “It’s very warm and inviting and something that I’m excited to be able to share my art with here.”

Julie Mast, a board member for Meals on Wheels Yolo County, attended the event with her husband, Warren, and said she was happy to celebrate a business that promotes the Farm-to-Fork mentality and agriculture in Yolo County.

“I hear they have great food here too so we’ll have to try that out sometime,” she remarked. “I came to an event here for the Food Closet last year and it was great. They had a band and a seating area over there, so it’s great to have another option for events here.”

The HIVE is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays for brunch.

For more information or to make a reservation, visit zspecialtyfood.com/the-hive-in-woodland-2.