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Harissa chicken sandwich with feta, zaatar and pickled Jimmy Nardello peppers topped with tahini yogurt
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Cinnamon Toast Crunch latte at Black Lodge
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The Salty Dog cocktail at Black Lodge
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This smoked fish dip is on the all-day snack menu at Black Lodge.
When Richmond chef and restaurateur Brittanny Anderson began planning her first solo venture outside the city — an all-day cafe that opened in November in the Washington, D.C., food hall The Roost — she had no idea the experience would lay the foundation for a later project she would debut locally, created in direct response to the global pandemic. But building a menu for Leni did just that.
On Friday, Jan. 8, Anderson and her fellow Brenner Pass co-owners will unveil Black Lodge, a takeout and delivery venture serving coffee, breakfast, lunch and dinner that will take over the adjoining space formerly known as Chairlift in Scott’s Addition.
“Working on Leni with a team [the Alexandria-based Neighborhood Restaurant Group] that was organized and ahead of the game with handling takeout and delivery and organization, which is a whole new world we had to get better at with COVID, that was a really big learning curve and a really awesome one,” Anderson says. “I definitely picked up some new skills that are helpful and overlaying into the idea of Black Lodge.”
Anderson and co-owners Wine Director Nathan Conway, Beverage Director James Kohler and Brad Hemp, who opened Brenner Pass together in 2017, initially began discussing the idea for Black Lodge this summer. (Currently Brenner Pass, along with Anderson’s German-inspired Union Hill eatery, Metzger Bar & Butchery, are closed for the winter.)
And while takeout options may not be typical offerings from this team, they are rooted in the same values.
“It’s been kind of a fun exercise to take things we already do and kind of say, 'Let’s make what we want,' ” Anderson says.
The make-what-we-want route includes a harissa fried chicken sandwich, a short rib Philly cheesesteak, celery root Caesar salad and layered ice cream sundaes. Brenner Pass’s signature fondue burger will also make an appearance, undergoing a smash-style reinvention and topped with a spicy cornichon sauce.
For late risers, the morning menu is available until 3 p.m. daily, featuring a porchetta, mushroom or smoked trout egg sandwich and breakfast bowl. Snacks include flatbreads, poutine and frito misto. Dinner options, available between 4 and 8 p.m., range from a half chicken to a 24-hour short rib and seafood fettuccine with house-made pasta.
On the beverage front, an entire wall is dedicated to a bevy of bottles with a focus on natural wines hand-selected by Conway, while Kohler presents a playful cocktail menu with selections such as Cinnamon Toasted on Rum, a nostalgic adult ode to the sugar-tinged milk left in the cereal bowl, along with a Jager Old-fashioned, tequila and tonic, and a Black Lodge Bloody.
Although the opening of Black Lodge has sparked the team's creative spirit, the opening is a reminder that many restaurants are still operating in survival mode.
"Every little pivot, every pivot, is hard on everybody,” Anderson says. “I do think it's fun to have a change and to make something different we haven’t made before, but it’s funny, the whole COVID thing ends up making you a little more apprehensive.”
In true restaurateur fashion, however, Anderson and squad have stayed resilient, and busy. In November she introduced Cave Culture, a virtual hangout dedicated to the exploration of cheese, with Cobra Burger co-owner and Certified Cheese Professional Joshua James Franklin. Black Lodge will carry Cave Culture cheese selections in its retail cases.
Anderson says that in the past year she has been focusing on freeing herself of expectations, worrying less about what she’s supposed to do and concentrating more on trying new things without fear of failure or judgement.
“[I] definitely feel like you just got to keep moving, and [I] kind of feel like a shark: If I stop moving, I’ll die,” she says with a laugh. “And I can’t think abut the bad stuff. As much as we are drawn to thinking about it, I have to try really hard to stay positive and keep going.”
Black Lodge will be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Online ordering is encouraged, but not required.
