1 of 3
Owners Michele Jones and Jason Alley have decided to close Comfort after more than 17 years in business. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
2 of 3
Alley representing Comfort during the 2019 Folk Feast benefiting the Richmond Folk Festival (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
3 of 3
The sandwich pop-up The Paulie is expected to make a return before Comfort closes. (Photo courtesy Comfort)
Comfort is defined as a state of physical ease, a situation in which one is relaxed or one's feelings of grief or distress are alleviated.
That is precisely the ethos Jason Alley and Michele Jones have embraced at their restaurant Comfort, the 17-year-old Southern food palace pivotal in the growth of the Richmond dining scene, set to close at the end of January.
From housemade pickles and bowls of pimento cheese ringed by Ritz crackers to banana pudding creme brulee and meatloaf and mac and cheese that transports you to dinner at Mom’s house, Comfort's fare is simple and approachable, a restaurant for the people.
When I spoke to Alley shortly following the announcement of the closure and in the midst of an outpouring of condolences and congratulations via social media, he shared that the decision to close was bittersweet.
“This has been home for 17 years, and that’s a long time,” Alley says, “but we are excited about the next chapter. We’re ready to do something else, and it’s been a great run.”
The 46-year-old restaurateur says that he feels a sense of accomplishment as well as gratitude for continual community support over the years.
“It really has been amazing. … It’s a great feeling to know we did something that had real impact on people’s lives,” Alley says. “This wasn’t just a place for people to shove food down their neck and have a beer and get out, it really meant something to people, which is an incredible feeling.”
The brick-lined eatery at the corner of West Broad and North Jefferson streets is a treasure box of memories.
When Alley looks around Comfort, he is flooded with flashbacks. He can see his wife, Mercedes, painting the walls while pregnant with their first child, Norborn, before the place opened in 2002.
Or Bruce Springsteen's original drummer, Vincent "Vini" Lopez, hanging out after a gig in town — Alley notes that “Born to Run" is his favorite album.
“People don’t think about it now … but for the first few years [we were open] there was a strong late-night vibe [downtown] and lots of hanging out … a really vibrant scene. A lot of people built friendships here over really loud rock and roll and a s---load of draft PBR.”
Jason Alley and Drew Barrymore at Comfort in 2009 (Photo courtesy Michele Jones)
There was also that time actress Drew Barrymore ate dinner at Comfort, coincidentally on Alley’s birthday. Jones, knowing how much of a fan Alley was, politely asked if she could take a photo of the two together. “She loved the food and the vibe and even bought one of the paintings off the wall,” Jones says, rehashing her favorite memory. Another notable celebrity appearance was Molly Ringwald.
There was the series of ‘80s-themed nights filled with Steak-umm sandwiches, boozy Orange Julius cocktails and Jell-O shots, along with the yacht rock and "Big Lebowski" soirees.
Comfort was also the place where multiple marriage proposals, vow renewals and first dates took place — including one between ZZQ’s Chris Fultz and Alex Graf. “It’s where the legacy of Texas and Orange began,” Fultz says, referring to their nicknames.
And fans of Philly- and South Jersey-style hoagies can’t forget Comfort's "Rocky"-themed sandwich pop-up dubbed The Paulie.
Considering his nearly two decades at the restaurant, Alley says, "It’s quite literally a lifetime’s worth [of memories].
“I’ll never forget the day my original partner, Chris Chandler, and I walked into this one-branch bank with his dad and said, ‘Hey, we have this idea to basically sell meatloaf and bourbon in Jackson Ward,’ and they gave the money to us and we walked out and were like, ‘Oh, my gosh, holy s---,” Alley says, laughing.
Rising from humble beginnings, Alley and Jones blossomed into the unofficial hospitality hotshots of the city. And just as Comfort grew, so did the dining scene and the employees who passed through its doors: Beth Dixon, today beverage director and bar manager at Perch; Gregg Brooks, director of production for Belle Isle Moonshine; Derek Salerno, sommelier and former owner of the shuttered Scuffletown Garden; and Travis Milton, a former chef de cuisine who celebrated Appalachian foodways and won the 2015 Elbys Innovator award.
"Comfort was a place my family would go to celebrate birthdays and special occasions, and at the time it was one of the few places you could get a really fantastic meal in a relaxed setting that wasn't a s----y chain restaurant," says Dixon, who served as beverage director for both Pasture and Comfort from 2011-18.
Paving the way for the local restaurants, Comfort also set the standard for putting guests first. It brought Richmond, in all its small-city/big-town glory, a spotlight on its culinary scene in the early days that many veteran owners would refer to as the wild, Wild West.
"Jason Alley is one of the first chef names I remember recognizing," continues Dixon, who plans to serve as a guest bartender at Comfort in the coming weeks. "The impact from Comfort is seen all over this city, from hospitality to having celebrity chefs, to even having chef-driven restaurants."
Alley was the first Richmond chef to be inducted into StarChefs in 2010, and in 2016 he received the Elbys lifetime achievement award, recognizing his support for and dedication to the dining community. In 2018 Comfort partnered with Feed More, donating all of its proceeds to the hunger relief nonprofit.
Seven months ago Alley and Jones closed Pasture, the almost 8-year-old restaurant on East Grace Street. The move followed the late 2018 shuttering of their other venture Flora, co-owned by Jay Bayer of Saison.
Alley and Jones remain co-owners of Scott's Addition restaurant-arcade-brewery Bingo, along with Bayer and developer Ted Ukrop, and are currently working on the new “eat-ertainment" concept Rally under their recently launched consulting business, Alley/Jones Hospitality.
From Alley’s first restaurant job at a beachside crab shack at 10 years old to Jones’ Dairy Queen stint at 12, they have worn every hat in the restaurant world, boasting a combined 70 years of industry experience. Close to two decades since its inception, Comfort remains as much a symbol of the Richmond dining scene as Alley’s signature pimento cheese and the Duke’s mayo cutout that rests above the bar. But it’s time for the next chapter.
“The amount of challenges we’ve seen and overcome, I feel like it’s really prepared us to get into the consulting world and help other people realize their dreams,” Alley says.
When I compare their transition to a graduation of sorts, he replies, “It does feel like that, like we’ve done this postdoctoral work and now we go and put that into action. It’s amazing the amount of friendships and relationships we’ve built; I could go on for hours. And we’ll continue to do that, just in a different fashion.”
For the remainder of January, Comfort will be commemorating its long tenure with guest chefs and bartenders and The Paulie pop-ups. Stay tuned for more details.
