"The [Virginia] produce that I've seen is absolutely beautiful," Crossroads' executive chef, Scot Jones, says from behind the signing table. "I was on a panel this morning with one of the farmers and I'm very impressed with what Virginia's doing as far as its farmland goes. It's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful."
The Los Angeles chef was just one of Fire, Flour & Fork's many purveyors, chefs and food authorities who traveled to cook and host dinners, lead demos and discussions, and provoke thought on the way we feed others and consume. With three days and five nights of panels, dinners, book signings, shopping and demos, FFF's second year — held Oct. 28 to Nov. 1 — solidified the event as Richmond's F.O.M.O. factory when it comes to food. With so many exciting options slotted at the same time as other once-in-a-lifetime events, it was almost impossible to feel you'd made the right scheduling choice without a fear of missing out on something, somewhere — no matter how incredible your own event may have been — once you saw the #FireFlourFork15 photos rolling in over Instagram, or heard tale of "lamb lamb lamb" and an "endless supply of polenta" while you were attending a different dinner. It's the sign of a well-scheduled weekend, when there are too many great options but not enough of you to go around. Perhaps by next year's FFF, science will have gotten around to finally manufacturing a cloning device.
I attended as many events, panels and dinners as I possibly could, and still wish I could have made it to the bartender battle (congratulations to winner Shannon Hood of Belle & James, while we're on the topic), the Katie Button dinner, the Saison tequila Sunday supper, Sub Rosa's Battle for the Black Sea dinner, the Meat of the Matter dinner at Heritage — the list goes on and on and on and on and on. Here are the photos and a few recaps of what I was able to attend, though, and there's even a video of an enormous, talented, somewhat terrifying singing clown. (You're all welcome for that, by the way.)
L'Opossibilities at L'Opossum - Thursday, Oct. 29
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Photo by Stephanie Breijo
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L'Oeuf Impériale du Farbergé with caviar, cured salmon, lobster, frisee and champagne jelly
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Puddles the Clown kicking off the night by serenading Patrick O'Connell, and generally surprising everyone in the room (including Fire, Flour & For organizers who'd been given no notice of the performance).
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"Mongolian Cluster Duck swimming in a pool of Oriental fantasies and dragon tears" served with a gold-dusted foie gras wonton
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A tarragon-infused ruby-red grapefruit sorbet, "Blessed with Green Fairy Tendencies of Trinity Absinthe"
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"Bon Bon Baby's" Boudin Blanc Oktoberfest: boudin with apple, sauerkraut, ham-encased fruit and white truffle
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The Navarre Bamboo Cocktail
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Timbale of Chesapeake Blue Crab with spinach mousse and a Montrachet butter emulsion
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Puddles, Bonnie Moore, Patrick O'Connell and David Shannon pose post meal
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The Hot & Louche Black Bottom Delight with white chocolate ice cream and crème Chantilly
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Black-eyed pea hummus and stewed "tomatoganoush" on papadum
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Curried pumpkin, coconut and ginger bisque with cardamom and honey cream
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Our Lady of the Angels Monastery Gouda Fondue with caramelized onion and brandied figs, served with pecan and currant rye toasts
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From left: Puddles, Patrick O'Connell and David Shannon
One trip to The Inn at Little Washington was enough to see just how much its chef, Patrick O'Connell, influenced L'Opossum's David Shannon after their eight years together in The Inn's kitchen. Their eccentricities in both choice of decor and menu, and their keen attention to detail and ambiance, set these talented chefs apart from the rest, and these exquisite intricacies were front and center throughout Thursday's dinner. Joined by Bonnie Moore, a former executive sous chef of The Inn, Shannon, Moore and their team plated course after course in tribute to O'Connell, one of the first chefs in America to center a fine-dining menu around his restaurant's own garden. By now, word of this strange and surprising five-and-a-half-hour dinner has spread — notable for its length and O'Connell's presence alone, but especially for the surprise performance of Puddles the Clown, the towering, talented sad clown who serenaded the crowd thrice, and even included a small strip show at the end of the evening (upon O'Connell's request).
Click through the gallery above to see photos of each course, and of course photos of Puddles dancing with O'Connell. To see a video of Puddles singing "White Rabbit" to the captivated room sans accompaniment, see below. I kept thinking about that line from "Twin Peaks"; everyone at that dinner, intentionally or not, found themselves in a place both wonderful and strange.
Beardbound at Southbound - Friday, Oct. 30
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Southbound's Craig Perkinson and Bobo Catoe whipped up an opening course of oysters: one featuring raw, ginger-berry vinegar, buttermilk and olive oil, and the other with smoke hot-sauce hollandaise and Old Bay cracker.
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Chef Justin Carlisle of Ardent served escargot with roasted garlic cream, parsley and chervil
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Joe Sparatta of Heritage and Southbound served up "Jack O' Lantern Noodles" with pumpkin, cipollini onion, braised red cabbage and Beechwood Farms' lamb
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Husk Restaurant's Travis Grimes' preserved duck with Napa cabbage, spiced peanut, fermented chili and a soft egg
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Chef Lee Gregory of The Roosevelt and Southbound closed out dinner with steamed sweet potato cake, maple ice cream, spiced meringue and peanut brittle.
Last year's Justin Carlisle dinner at Mise en Place was enough to convert me forever to this Milwaukee chef's skilled plates that are, quite literally, "farm to table" (as much as he himself hates the term). The James Beard Award-nominated chef of Ardent and Red Light Ramen brought nearly all of his ingredients with him, many of which were sourced from his father's farm, as well as other local purveyors in the Midwest. He transformed them into some incredible (and technically challenging) components; I heard, for instance, he served his beef tartare with whipped bone marrow at that Heritage dinner on Thursday, and cursed under my breath when I saw the photos of it on Instagram. (See what I mean about F.O.M.O.?) When I saw he'd be cooking with Travis Grimes of Husk Restaurant, and our own incredibly skilled chefs Lee Gregory and Joe Sparatta at Southbound, I knew this was a dinner I couldn't miss. (I wasn't wrong.)
Each of these chefs provided a delightful and diverse course, as did Southbound's Craig Perkinson and Bobo Catoe, and you can find photos of each, above. It was an excellent way to spend a Friday night, and a photogenic one, too. (Again, see above.)
Root to Leaf at the Robins Tea House at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden - Sunday, Nov. 1
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Braised leeks with charred, powdered leeks, creamed wheat berry and mone marrow
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Hog Island sheep with carrot, onion, parsnip and radicchio
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Mushroom, chestnut, apple and shaved black radish in a mushroom broth
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Delicate spaghetti squash with seed broth, ginger and turmeric, flecked with flounder
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Oysters, pig ear and celery root swimming in a light gravy
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Quail served with turnip and prune, topped with dried cabbage leaves
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Butterkin squash cake with black walnut gelato, chocolate and chicory closed out the meal with an intricate, nuanced bang.
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Rows of whimsically lit trees line the path to the Robins Tea House at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.
After finally attending my first Longoven dinner, all I can say is that I'm incredibly upset with myself for not having been to one sooner. But I suppose if you're going to sit down to one of this culinary collective's exquisite meals, a Longoven/Steven Satterfield collaboration isn't a bad place to start. Longoven (the trio of Patrick Phelan, Andrew Manning and Megan Fitzroy-Phelan) toiled in the kitchen with the acclaimed Satterfield of Atlanta's Miller Union, alongside a team of 10 or so who helped make the evening possible. The minimalist menu, with only the ingredients listed, was in actuality quite the opposite: complex, delicate, thoughtful and incredibly time consuming, keeping many of the chefs up all night in preparation for the "Root to Leaf" event at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden's Robins Tea House.
There were seasoned, dehydrated cabbage leaves evoking fall atop quail with roasted turnips and prune puree. There were leeks, charred and powdered, which other, braised leeks were dipped into before getting drizzled with bone marrow. It was the perfect close to a series of dinners I was fortunate enough to attend, and I'll be poring through Satterfield's new "Root to Leaf" cookbook until the pages disintegrate from so much wear.
Beaux Arts Ball + Ramen After Party at The Jefferson and Pasture - Saturday, Oct. 31
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Ardent/Red Light Ramen's Justin Carlisle serves up ramen for the masses
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Autumn Olive Farms breaks down a pig at the Beaux Arts after party in Pasture
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Jason Alley's signature pimento cheese
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White cheddar grits, tomato mousse and hot pepper gelée from Ipanema's Will Wienckowski
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Charred octopus in harissa with pickled peanuts and arugula (left) and calamari with puffed farro from The Jefferson.
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But Fire, Flour & Fork isn't just about the dinners. On Saturday night, it celebrated the 120th anniversary of The Jefferson with the return of the Beaux Arts Ball, the costume party held annually at the hotel from 1931 to 1933. As FFF's big night fell once again on Halloween, the theme and the timing matched, resulting in elaborate costumes from guests and small plates from Rancho T, Inapema, The Dog & Pig Show, Buttermilk Road, Pomegranate, The Urban Tavern, The Jefferson, Shovel and Pick and more. Needless to say, there was merriment.
After the party was the ramen after party, which saw Carlisle, Sparatta and Husk's Grimes slinging ramen from the kitchen of Pasture (even Will Richardson of Shoryuken Ramen poked his head in the kitchen for a bit). There was Jason Alley's signature pimento cheese, a Halloween cocktail from Beth Dixon, and a whole pig from Autumn Olive Farms. Needless to say, there were a lot of drinks.
Panels + Tasting Tent - Friday, Oct. 30, to Sunday, Nov. 1
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K.N. Vinod of D.C.'s Inique restaurant leads a discussion and demo on flavor and spice combinations in Indian cooking.
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Rappahannock oysters, neat
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What's the secret to making your own spice blends at home? "I don't like anything to dominate too much," says visiting chef K.N. Vinod. "Try to get the right balance. So for example when you have garam masala, you have cardamom, cinnamon, cloves; certain spices are stronger than other, like you don't want to add too much peppercorn. You don't want to have too much cumin. You want it to be nice and flavorful, but at the same time you don't want one spice to dominate."
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"When I think Virginia, I think oysters," says North Carolina's Katie Button. "We buy a lot of oysters from Rappahannock in our restaurant in Asheville. I know people might not think Virginia and oysters, but for me, those are two things that go together."
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Buzzing through the tasting tent was easy after sampling Blanchard's latest blend, the Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Koke.
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Nettie's Naturally Bakery & Cafe laid down some of its new treat: its South African buttermilk rusk.
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Pasture's Beth Dixon and Bartholomew Broadbent finish up their class on Madeira, complete with tasting.
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Williams & Sherrill teamed up with The Dog & Pig Show to assemble a small, curated marketplace for the occassion
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The men (and monster) of Texas Beach Bloody Mary Mix
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"The [Virginia] produce that I've seen is absolutely beautiful," says Crossroads' executive chef, Scot Jones. "I was on a panel this morning with one of the farmers and I'm very impressed with what Virginia's doing as far as its farmland goes. It's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful."
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A fire-roasted Rappahannock River Oyster fresh off the demo station at the Big Green Egg
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From left: Crook's Corner's Bill Smith, Pasture's Michele Jones, Citizen's Greg Johnson, Mario Dawson of La Sabrosita and Bobby Richard of Pasture talk incorporating food techniques and traditions of immigrant cultures in their kitchens.
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Chef Katie Button leads a demo on cooking stuffed pimiento peppers, and a discussion on tapas and heat during "The Secrets of Spanish Peppers."
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Däl-kohm's festive caramel apple cookies
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Brazilian seafood stew from a demo by Louisville's Anthony Lamas
Two days of classes saw everything from demonstrations on Brazilian seafood stew to Tequila tastings, plus cookbook signings. Over in the tasting tent, local producers set up shop with demos, samples and shopping from Friday to Sunday. Underneath that white canopy you could find cookies, holiday gifts, vintage silver, greens, cake walks, live performances, sizzling bacon sausage (here's looking at you, Milton's Local), coupons and coffee. It was an exciting, humming and engaging few days, peppered with important panel discourse on topics such as the real value of "farm to table" and including a restaurant's immigrant kitchen culture on the menu and beyond.
The only nagging thought I had was that a $70 fee for a day pass did seem a bit steep for roughly three classes/panels per day, but that price also included entry to the tasting tent (which, by the way, was entirely free on Sunday for the Urban State Fair). Tickets for the Friday and Saturday tent could be purchased for each day at a standalone $35. The entire event was by and large a huge success, and an incredibly enjoyable one at that. Part of me wonders whether the pricing made the event and dinners less accessible for a number of those in the community, and if something like a student or industry discount could ever be made possible for future FFFs.
Fire, Flour & Fork is a tremendous boon to Richmond's dining scene whether it's due to encouraging the support of local restaurants and chefs, garnering national attention for our food scene or providing new incentives for Richmond tourism. It's become one of the most exciting events in the city, and it opens up new avenues for discussing the pros and cons of major food trends; technique everyone can employ; and collaborations we may never taste again — I just wish everyone could attend and reap the benefits of it. The more we can all involve ourselves in the ongoing discussions about food, resources and culinary culture, the stronger we'll be as a community.
Ed. note: Susan Winiecki, associate publisher of Richmond magazine, is a partner of Real Richmond, which organized Fire, Flour & Fork. She had no influence on this story.
Update: This piece originally omitted Travis Grimes' name from the kitchen staff for the ramen party at Pasture, and has been updated accordingly.
