Vagabond and Belle Isle Craft Spirits are teaming up for a very special dinner next week, and if you want this pork jowl (with accompanying cocktail), you're going to need the details. Fortunately, we've got those, below. (Photo courtesy Vagabond)
Hey, delicious food, get out of my dreams and into my belly. This week, new restaurants, new brunch options and new limited-run menus can make it all a reality:
- No spray tan? NO PROBLEM. Now you can lead Your Best Jersey Shore Life without trekking the 300-ish miles up to the actual Jersey Shore because celebrity chef and Jersey boy Mike Isabella launches his beachy, boardwalk-y, 10-day menu this evening! Starting tonight, Graffiato's diving headfirst into Jersey Shore Week: a summery menu of Isabella's childhood favorites, additional Italian-American classics and an ultra-fun list of Jersey Shore-inspired cocktails. Find a full preview, plus a few photos, right this way.
- In Brew News, Sedona Taphouse is heading to Henrico! The local-chain restaurant and brewery is set to launch another location at 5400 Wyndham Forest Way, in the same shopping center as a forthcoming and eagerly awaited Publix, by early September of 2017. (Richmond BizSense)
- Remember how a few weeks ago we told you that new restaurant Antler & Fin was going to close and become Boka Tavern at 506 W. Broad St.? Turns out, the new new restaurant is already open and serving lunch, dinner and brunch. Take a look at Boka Tavern's full menu here. (RVANews)
- Perhaps you work from home but you feel that all work and no play makes you a dull person and you're looking to shake things up, or maybe you frequent the city's coffee shops and wonder what all these people on their laptops are doing there at all hours. Either way, we've got an answer: The River City's coffeehouses make for some of the best remote offices, so we went ahead and rounded up a few choice spots — plus talked to those who prefer a side of office with their coffee — to help you pick the perfect work perch.
- If you, like me, swap out the words in "Pokemon" cartoon's theme song and pretend it's a tune about eating instead of battling fake monsters, now you can do so and be so on-theme it hurts: Pokemon go, Nintendo's shot of adrenaline to both gaming culture and its company's stock performance, is a geo-based video game that's accessed via free app on your smartphone, and area businesses — including restaurants — are fully embracing it. Here's a quick guide to where you can grab a bite and also a Charizard, plus a couple specials available around town. Pokemon-inspired sushi, anyone? (Style Weekly) And now as a closing-of-the-week/end-of-the-day treat, here's the reworked Pokemon theme: I wanna eat the very best / like no one ever saw / to stuff face is my real test / to sample is my cause. I will travel through RVAdine / 'til my waist grows soft and wide / teach fellow diners to feed and heed the hun-ger that's inside. RVA-DINE / gotta eat it alllll / pimento cheese and me / I know it's my destiny / oh, I'm on plate number 10 in a feast that doesn't enddddddddd... [Why do any of you let me near a keyboard?]
- HEY! IT'S 'MATER SEASON! Our July ingredient column is now available online, wherein I bring you a bit of information about heirloom tomatoes, and David Dunlap — executive chef of Maple & Pine in the Quirk Hotel — brings you a recipe for a summery crab and tomato salad. Dig right on in.
- Downtown-aways, Comfort is shutting down regular regular lunch service for the duration of summer. "We feel like this will allow us to really fine tune our dinner menu and beverage program to be able to better serve everyone in the evenings," co-owner and general manager Michele Jones says in a news release. However, Comfort's brunch is making a comeback (menu here) and you can find lunch there on Wednesdays only, beginning next week on July 27.
- A put-it-on-your-radar note: On July 30, Hardywood Park Craft Brewery will host the inaugural HeArt & Soul Brew Fest, a soul food festival featuring the food, art and music of the Richmond area's African-American business owners and chefs and creators. Also, there will be so much beer! Find more info here, then draw a big heart around Saturday, July 30, on your calendar to remind you to not miss this event. (Richmond magazine)
It's the freakin' weekend, baby we're about to have us some fun:
- Tomorrow (Friday) I recommend you hit up the Visual Arts Center of Richmond's new event, VisArts on the Half Shell, for oysters, bloody marys, barbecue, live music, beer, wine and other great things that spell SUMMER and also FUN and also FRIDAY, all from 4 to 7 p.m. ($15 for ViSArts members, $20 for the non-members, $5 for young'uns aged 3 to 12, free for tiny ones under 3.) (VisArts)
- Then on Saturday, head to The Diamond from 3 to 9 p.m. for more than 30 food trucks with eats available for purchase, including Boka Tako Truck, Mean Bird, Carytown Burgers & Fries, The Grapevine, Hungry Turtle Food Truck, Espresso A Go Go, Slideways Mobile Bistro, Kona Ice Richmond, Mister Softee and more. “Due to the overwhelming success of other food truck events we have produced, we are so excited to bring serious Food Truck fun to Richmond’s Diamond,” Food Truck Bash promoter Laurin Willis, says in a news release. “We continue to work with the Richmond Food Truck Association to expand these events throughout the Central Virginia region. There will be a tremendous variety of cuisines for everyone to experience. We hope everyone will find a new favorite food.”
- Then on Tuesday night, head to Vagabond for its team-up with Belle Isle Craft Spirits, where you'll find a multi-coursed meal with cocktail pairings, all for $70. (Gratuity included!) Find drinks such as the fennel-infused, cream-cheese-washed Belle Isle Moonshine with dill, lemon, sugar and Aquavit, and dishes such as the Chinese five-spice-roasted pig jowl served with bean sprouts, Thai chili, radish, mint and hoisin sauce. Again, grab your tickets here (and now). (Vagabond)
And now for a few (inter)national links:
- A very important discussion we should all have with anyone in our general proximities, preferably over dive-bar beers: Which company makes the quintessential dive-bar beer? Eater weighs in.
- What happens when the New Zealand wing of a major international food company lets the chaotic-evil Internet create sandwiches? McDonald's found out this week when it made public a stream of user-designed burgers, and regretted it so much that the site's been taken down. Fortunately, The Internet forgets nothing, so you can find a compilation of mostly-NSFW/offensive sammies here. (Personal favorite might be the "Bag of Lettuce," which is just a pile of lettuce, but there are a few good ones in there.) (Dorkly)
'Til next time, don't let the internet decide anything for you, ever.
