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Restaurateur Rick Lyons and Laker; Lyons literally rescued the now 16-year-old pup from a frozen pond in Byrd Park when he fell through the ice chasing ducks.
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Purchased in New York, a Scooby Doo and the Mystery Machine cookie jar reminds Lyons of watching cartoons as a child.
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“The Flavor Bible”: This guide to culinary creativity by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg has inspired Lyons and other imaginative American chefs.
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Ed Trask’s study of Oregon Hill and menacing VCU hung for a decade in Star-lite.
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Cast-iron pans: “It takes a long time to season them and get them just right,” Lyons says.
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One of the hand-painted concrete pigs auctioned off at the 2018 Big Pig Project, a fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House, hosted at Lunch and Supper
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“Mom’s Favorite Recipes”: Lyons’ mother assembled and gave a cookbook to each of her seven children for Christmas 1999.
Rick Lyons has been a quiet influencer on the Richmond restaurant landscape since 1992, when he launched his career as a barkeep in Shockoe Bottom.
A past partner in stalwarts such as Bandito’s Burrito Lounge and The Republic, Lyons’ current portfolio includes the inventive yet comfortably southern Lunch and Supper and Urban Roost event space on Summit Avenue. His newest venture is Brunch, which opened in January in the former Star-lite, his longtime Main Street watering hole.
Lyons has a reputation for warm, engaging restaurants with creative food offerings and craft cocktails. He adheres to the same high standards when he entertains in his 85-year-old Cutshaw Avenue home.
His favorite space is a toss-up between the kitchen and a large backyard shed — a woodworking shop full of lumber, saws, tools and hardware — where he builds tables, shelves, chairs, bars and charcuterie boards for his home and restaurants.
Lyons has reconfigured his modest kitchen twice since purchasing the brick colonial in 2007. Its first iteration was too professional, with under-counter refrigeration and other features that he says didn’t work in a home. He gutted it again, improving the flow and functionality, and built the cabinets himself. The result is homey, but worthy of test-kitchen status. “I do a lot of experimenting with different stuff,” he says, perched on a stool by the granite-topped kitchen bar. “Before I take [a recipe] anywhere, I cook it here.”
Last year, Lyons extended his cooking space to the backyard patio, installing an outdoor kitchen with an eight-seat table he built in the shed.
The love of woodworking is rooted in Lyons’ childhood in Pennsylvania Dutch country outside Philadelphia. His father, a construction worker, took his son to job sites as soon as he was old enough to hold a hammer.
At age 19, Lyons burned out pulling double duty as a carpenter and bartender in Philadelphia. A brother lived in Richmond, so Lyons impulsively moved here to start a career in the restaurant industry. He met eventual business partner Sean McClain, and the team opened multiple successful establishments.
Brunch is the latest example of Lyons adapting to the tastes of his savvy clientele. Star-lite had worn out its welcome as a vodka and Red Bull kind of joint with standard bar fare. “Richmond is heavily educated,” Lyons says. “They can outthink me on food sometimes. They want to know what’s in their food, they want a quality drink, and they want the experience.
“It’s what we preach, and I’d like to think I live it here at home: It doesn’t matter when you get here, it’s always the best experience of the day.”
