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My Noodle & Bar brought along Thai chili with dried pork belly. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Lucy's Restaurant ladled out butternut squash soup with house-made beef bacon and a light-as-air cheese crisp. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Photo by Stephanie Breijo
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Brenner Pass, opening in Scott's Addition early next year, previewed its menu with a tartiflette made from potatoes, apples, bacon and reblochon cheese. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Acacia mid-town's booth was a Reitzer family affair as owners Aline and Dale served up bites alongside son, Cole, and daughter, Elsa. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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East Coast Provisions provided tuna tartare tacos with jalapeño. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Saison dished out grilled sofrito chicken with vegetables and escabeche. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Bernie Murphy, Hosea Roberts and Dylan Fultineer repping Rappahannock. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Nota Bene's wood-fired sardines and sharp herb salad greeted guests at the tent's entrance. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Pasture's Sergio Gomez ladling a curried cauliflower soup (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Citizen served up curried chickpeas, house-made merguez sausage and chimichurri. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Carl Banks, Chris Brooks and Robert Henderson represented Croaker's Spot with not one but two dishes. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Vagabond's grilled brisket with spicy oyster sauce, butternut squash and pickled mushroom was the first dish to vanish last night. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Charlottesville-based Gallatin Canyon provided a fun, folksy soundtrack to the evening. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Metzger Bar & Butchery provided curry squash cake with a rich salted caramel, malt crumble, peanut brittle and delicate flowers. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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The Daily Kitchen & Bar served both pork (pictured) and tofu bao. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Acacia mid-town's white anchovies with marinated, grilled radicchio, pine nuts and Fourme d'Ambert cheese in a creamy garlic dressing (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Richmond Restaurant Group's Brian Enroughty and Michael Ledesma take a moment from tuna tartare and bao. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Heritage brought heartiness to the table with this black-pepper torchio pasta in local-mushroom ragu with pistachio gremolata and cured egg yolk. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Croaker's Spot served up both a seafood chili and chicken breast in mushroom sauce over rice. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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My Noodle & Bar's Shawn England doling out Thai chili (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Comfort's creamy coconut tres leches cake (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Greg Johnson, Chun Duncan and Richard Bollinger represented Citizen in the restaurant's first year at the event. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Mama J's delighted guests with fried catfish, mac 'n' cheese, collard greens and cornbread, as well as assorted cakes. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Photo by Stephanie Breijo
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Comfort's Michael Hanbury (left) is beyond ready for another pour of Old Hill cider. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Rappahannock filled bellies with a comforting Barcat oyster and corn chowder. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Nathan Conway of Metzger Bar & Butchery and the forthcoming Brenner Pass perfects his newest party trick, cake balancing. He only dropped one. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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WPA Southside served its signature canelés. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Stephanie Ganz of The Apple Cart Co. and CBS 6 was seen enjoying the event and a glass of sauvignon blanc from Tap 26. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Pasture's curried cauliflower soup with peanut relish, pomegranate seeds and pickled chili (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Southbound's Craig Perkinson assembling Southern congee with house-made hot sauce (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Acacia mid-town's tuna ceviche with avocado purée, pickled red onion, cucumber, crispy shallots and pickled watermelon rind (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Adam Hall of Saison, Joe Sparatta of Heritage and Southbound, Sarah Kerfoot of Saison, and Brittanny Anderson of Metzger Bar & Butchery and the forthcoming Brenner Pass in the afterglow of another completed Folk Feast (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Stephen Tuzeneu manning one of Tap 26's wine stations (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Southbound built Southern-inspired congee bowls with crispy pig ears, dehydrated shrimp, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, black limes and cured egg yolk. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Lyne Adair serving up Nota Bene's sharp herb salad; behind, Randall Doetzer tends to the oven-fired sardines. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
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Craig Perkinson, Joe Sparatta and Mike Hill, of Southbound and Heritage, really just embracing decorative gourd season (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
Each year, thousands of Richmonders and visitors head to Brown's Island for the Richmond Folk Festival, the free, rain-or-shine event that draws incredible musical acts ranging from global to hyper-local. But even before the annual weekend of music kicks off, Richmond Folk Feast sets the stage with an evening of small plates from some of the city's best restaurants, along with live music, mingling and libations. Yesterday's event marked Folk Feast's fourth year and raised roughly $30,000 in support of the festival — this night of noshing helps keep the festival free — and saw about 20 Richmond restaurants dishing out oyster chowders, house-made pastas, cakes, curried soups and more to nearly 400 guests at Tredegar Iron Works.
Citizen, Vagabond, Croaker's Spot, East Coast Provisions, My Noodle & Bar, Nota Bene, Acacia mid-town, and the forthcoming Brenner Pass all took part in the event for the first time, while Folk Feast veterans included Saison, Pasture, Mama J's, Comfort, Rappahannock, Metzger Bar & Butchery, Heritage, The Daily Kitchen & Bar, WPA Bakery, Lucy's Restaurant and Southbound. Heading up the beverage selection were Tap 26 and Champion Brewing Co. Folk Feast sells out each year, often months in advance. What's the best way to make sure you grab a ticket in 2017? Sign up for the Folk Festival's newsletter, and be sure to follow the event on Facebook and Twitter. (Once you've attended, you'll get an email alert about tickets the next year.) If you missed this year's Folk Feast, there's still a wealth of great food to be found at this year's festival, which runs Oct. 7 through 9, and, of course, you can live vicariously through our slideshow of every dish served, above.
