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Owners and husband-and-wife team Brittany and David Dunlap
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Midlothian Chef's Kitchen is located at 11501 Busy St. in the Courthouse Crossing Shopping Center.
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Inside, Midlothian Chef's Kitchen will also feature a market with grab-and-go items and products from local purveyors.
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A dining table inside the restaurant. Tables will be spaced 6 feet apart upon opening with guests limited to half capacity.
"I think everything kind of happens for a reason,” former Quirk Hotel Executive Chef David Dunlap says. “You just need to jump on opportunities when they arise.”
As a result of the pandemic, the hotel’s first hire lost his job in May, and while he says the news of his five-year tenure with the company coming to an end was unfortunate and unexpected, there was a silver lining.
“It kind of gave me the kick in the butt to open my own spot, which was always the goal,” Dunlap says.
On Wednesday, Jan. 27, along with his wife, Brittany, Dunlap is set to debut Midlothian Chef’s Kitchen, a full-service restaurant serving brunch, lunch and dinner complete with an outdoor patio and a small market at 1501 Busy St. in the Courthouse Crossing shopping center.
In the early summer of 2020, Dunlap began reaching out to potential clients for private dinners, cooking at places from Salisbury Country Club to Canon & Draw Brewing Company and Delaplane Cellars. It was during the hunt for a commercial kitchen to expand his personal chef and catering business that the vision for his new venture came to life.
A few months ago, Brittany spotted the shuttered Ray’s Rib Shack space — 2,500 square feet, complete with a spacious outdoor patio. She saw potential. They made a call, and on Oct. 1, the pair signed the lease.
Dunlap views Midlothian Chef’s Kitchen as the next step in his culinary journey. The Washington native began working in kitchens at 19, and, after ditching the dream of becoming a snowboarding pro and with a push from his parents, Dunlap enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in San Francisco.
Over the past 20 years, Dunlap has held stints at Five-Star and -Diamond resorts from El Encanto hotel in California to Patrick O’Connell’s The Inn at Little Washington, been on the opening team of Alain Ducasse’s Adour, and worked at the one-star Michelin restaurant Plume at The Jefferson Hotel in Washington, D.C., before landing in Richmond.
“I can’t just sit around; I love what I do," the 39-year-old says. "Throughout my career I’ve set benchmarks based on my age and the age of my children. … This [move to restaurant ownership] just happened six years early."
Dunlap describes the menu at Midlothian Chef’s Kitchen as New American and similar to the style of cooking he became known for while at the helm of Quirk Hotel's Maple & Pine. Appetizers include oxtail egg rolls and a brie and mushroom fondue, while entrees range from seared duck breast with braised apricots and toasted almond-ginger polenta to Dijon-crusted salmon with horseradish-rosemary cream. Brunch will be served on Saturday and Sunday and lunch Tuesday through Friday. There are also plans to launch a wine club and offer cooking demos and classes.
A market section of the restaurant will be dedicated to prepared meals and grab-and-go items and will feature pork from Autumn Olive Farms, along with selections from local purveyors ranging from coffee to hot sauce.
Dunlap, who lives 2 miles away from the restaurant, says he looks forward to debuting an independent restaurant outside of the city.
“We hope to fill that need,” he says. “I’ve done a lot of private dinners around here, and people seem really excited. I’m hopeful for the Richmond restaurant scene. I want to see it flourish and would also like to see Midlothian flourish a bit, too.”
