When Black Restaurant Week began in Memphis, Tennessee, last year, longtime NBC12 reporter Curt Autry took notice and took to Facebook, musing about the possibilities for this type of event in Richmond. Shemicia Bowen saw the post, and thought the same. She and Memphis Black Restaurant Week founder Cynthia Daniels have a mutual friend — Amy Wentz, the founder of BlackRVA, which promotes local black-owned businesses — and together, Bowen and Wentz, with some help from Daniels, are now co-founders of Richmond’s inaugural Black Restaurant Week running March 6 through 12.
“We are proud of our city and all it has to offer," Bowen says in a news release, "and want to highlight the impact that the participating businesses have on the Richmond economy." According to Wentz, there are already three other cities in the works: Birmingham, Atlanta and St. Louis, all with their own local organizational teams.
Kelli Lemon, social entrepreneur and the event’s promoter, says that the team comprises creators who want to promote the black community. “This is the first year, but this is going to be an RVA tradition," Lemon says. "And it isn’t going to stop here. We are going to [have] events with black caterers and black chefs. There were so many more of them that we couldn’t get into this week."
The restaurant week will showcase the Richmond region's black restaurateurs and chefs, and celebrate their cuisine, raising funds and awareness for nutrition education nonprofit Renew Richmond. Lunch and dinner are prix fixe, with a two-course lunch priced at $15 and a three-course dinner at $25.
In the Memphis version, now in its second year, 14 restaurants are participating. In Richmond, the list is already at 20 and includes businesses such as Mama J’s, Sugar’s Crab Shack, Chef Mamusu's Africanne on Main, Croaker’s Spot, Charles' Kitchen and Spoonbread Bistro. Also included is Brewer’s Café in Manchester. Owner Ajay Brewer says the organizers reached out to him in person to ask if he would like to be a part of the event, and of course he said yes.
“We have some tip cards for the people that are coming out that we will be having at all the restaurants," Lemon says. "Some of these places have never experienced the volume that we hope they get, and they should have because [of their] good food! Service might be slow, you know; there may be some wrinkles. And we want people to be patient and understand this is the first time these restaurants are able to get this exposure.”
The inaugural Richmond Black Restaurant Week runs from Monday, March 6, through Sunday, March 12. For more information, head to blackrestaurantweek.com. Find the full list of participating Richmond restaurants here.
