Richmond Food News: Week of Aug. 17-21

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Good afternoon and a happy Thursday to you! How do you feel about food-packed James River cruises? Or sandwiches? (Personally, I'm for 'em.) What about new beer, new chocolate and new opportunities to try restaurants before they even open? For all this and more, read on:

  • Kicking things off with some  N E W  bites, chef Travis Milton (formerly of Comfort) just announced his residency at Rappahannock. You can find him cooking an Appalachian-inspired prix-fixe menu there nearly every Monday, beginning Aug. 24, until his new restaurant, Shovel and Pick, opens in what he hopes will be April of 2016. For a sample menu and details on seatings, plus how to snag your tickets, look no further; just click here. (Richmond magazine)
  • And now for some  N E W  sips: The Virginia Historical Society and Black Heath Meadery invite you to the third installment of VHS' History on Tap program, which allows local businesses to recreate recipes from the library's tomes. Black Heath chose to bring a spiced mead to life from The Frugal Housewife: Or, Complete Woman Cook, published in 1802. You can taste the dry, seasonal batch on Tuesday, Sept. 8, but be warned: Both History on Tap events sold out rather quickly. Get a jump on the ticket competition here. (Richmond magazine)
  • Further on down the road, you'll be able to sip on a range of new beers when The Veil Brewing Co. opens this fall in Scott's Addition. The brewery's owner, Matt Tarpey, has a lot of experience under his belt, working with some of the top brewers in the country (and, possibly, even in the world). The Veil's 11,000-square-foot facility is set to open at 1301 Roseneath Road by November, and we can't wait. BONUS: Check out a preview of the can art. (Richmond magazine)
  • In some sadder news, Nora Taste of Lebanon is now closed, after roughly one year of business. While there is not currently a replacement tenant for the 8900 W. Broad St. space, the management company expects there will be one soon. (Richmond.com/ Richmond Times Dispatch)
  • OK, now read this really wonderful and thoughtful essay/guide on whether or not you should go to culinary school, and if you decide that you should, where you can enroll within the Richmond area. Seriously, here's the link again, just in case you missed it the first time. (RVANews)
  • OK, now read this lovely, informative piece on the Community Kitchen Garden at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, whose volunteers help plant, tend and harvest produce that directly aids FeedMore. Great things all around! (Style Weekly)
  • New on the site and fresh off the August-issue page is this neat profile on the strange and wonderful sausage flavors available at Harvest Grocery + Supply! JM Stock Provisions is serving up some bizarre and unique sausages (Big Mac and Pizza Party varieties, anyone?) at its Harvest outpost, and we've got the low-down on the meaty flavor throwdown. (Richmond magazine)
  • What's that, you say? You're looking for something sweeter? Well also available at Harvest Grocery + Supply are bean-to-bar chocolates made by the new Upchurch Chocolate Co. (This week's Food News is not sponsored by Harvest, I promise.) Learn all about the youthful team's new company and ethically-grown cocoa nibs, then reflect on how hip/jiggy/with-it the chocolate bar names are. (Chill? Sassy? Party? How could this chocolate not be fun?) (Richmond magazine)
  • How do you feel about The Love Boat? How would you feel if we told you that you could set sail on RVAdine's own version, but instead of "Love," it's more like "Booze"? Saison is throwing an "End of the Summer Riverboat Takeover" on Aug. 30, and it's basically going to be a three-hour boat ride down the James River with beer, sparkling rosé, special cocktails (courtesy of Saison's beverage director, James Kohler), food from chef Adam Hall, oysters from Anderson's Neck Oyster Co., and music via a DJ set from Marty Key of Steady Sounds. There will be good times! There will be dancing! There will be only 100 seats, so get on it! Find your $60, all-inclusive tickets right over here. (news release)
  • Also something to keep on your radar: The 14th Feast RVA dinner is scheduled for Sept. 6 at Black Iris Gallery downtown, so save the date and prepare to vote for your new favorite Richmond startup. Proceeds of the dinner benefit the evening's winning startup, and there are almost always a few food contenders in the mix. Also: HEY! Do you already have a favorite Richmond startup? Especially a food/beverage startup? Then you should contact the Feast folks and enter your restaurant/pop-up/service/company. You could win money to help get your biz off the ground. Let's keep the community growing, yeah? (Feast RVA)
  • Good Eatin' PSA: It's almost RVA Sandwich week! Between Aug. 24 and Aug. 30, find $5 sandwiches all over town. Would you like to know more? Check out the full list of participating restaurants. Warning: Some drooling may be in your future. (Style Weekly and RVA Sandwich Week)

Will it be hot? Will it be cold? I don't know, man, but here are some great events, regardless:​

  • On Saturday, head to Hardywood for the Richmond Bluegrass Festival with special beer on tap, mobile food vendors and SO MUCH MUSIC. Let the good times roll from 2 to 9 p.m. (Hardywood Park Craft Brewery)
  • Saturday and Sunday, head out to Hampton and get your fill of fried at the Southern Fried Festival. Langley Speedway is holding the food event alongside the Virginia Hot Road and Custom Car Show, so just be sure to not smear barbecue sauce all over the hot rods, as tempting as that may seem. (BUT WILL GUY FIERI BE THERE? This seems like his jam.) (VA Car Show)

And now for a few (inter)national links:

  • Hi, guys, learn how to cook like a viking, why don't you? (Apparently The Iron Age also involved getting a lot of iron.) But in all honesty, I could go for a feast of roasted hen with foraged mushrooms and berries right about now. (Munchies)
  • Jelly is delicious. Beer is delicious. Could combining the two be your new favorite form of food happiness? Vermont's Potlikker Kitchen is bottling spreadable jellies made with brews and I, for one, can't wait to get my hands/mouth on them. (Don't make it weird.) (Food Republic)
  • Also a thing now: Fried Chicken Cake. Lord, give my arteries strength. (Los Angeles Magazine)
  • And in your Weird U.S. Food History of the Day news, our military helped invent Cheetos, and it makes a ton of sense, I promise. (Wired)

'Til next time, we're dangerously cheesy (and hungry).