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Ramp pizza from Carmela's (Photo courtesy Carmela's)
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Dinamo is dishing out ramp gnocchi and ramp pizza. (Photo courtesy Dinamo)
Bringing big garlicky energy, when ramps arrive on area menus, it’s a sign of spring. Once a year, the relative to leeks and greens onion pops up at local farmers markets and on restaurant menus for a short-lived appearance.
Celebrated for centuries, the pungent plant with broad green leaves and white bottom grows in the wild, packing an earthy punch and making its presence known in dishes from pizza to pasta and pesto. Among chefs in the region, ramps are considered a fleeting special treat — the holy grail of spring produce — and have a cult-like fan club.
“I enjoy the pungent allium up front, and when the time is right, that sweetness comes through at the end,” says People’s Pie owner Craig Perkinson.
Sourcing his ramps from West Virginia, Perkinson says it's important to use them in their entirety. He pickles the bulbs, uses greens for pesto, dehydrates the stem for multiple uses and even makes ramp sourdough.
“Over-harvesting is a real thing, so I use the whole ramp,” says Perkinson of the slow-growing perennial.
Ramp It Up
Ramps around the region
Looking to get creative in the kitchen with ramps? This mobile market and CSA is currently offering sustainably foraged ramps from longtime Richmond chef Jimmy Sneed.
Ramps cozy up alongside gulf shrimp, crispy prosciutto, roasted garlic, pecorino and house-made pasta in a springy seafood dish that takes garlic breath one step further. They also join seared duck breast, served with a yellow carrot puree, mustard frills, radishes and a ramp vinaigrette.
The Mayor owner Kyle Morse first debuted ramp sausage a couple of years ago, and he says that each year it helps his small-batch sausage company maneuver through the slower winter months. “They taste like spring,” Morse says. “They are oniony and garlicky with a little grassiness and sweet, kind of indescribable in flavor. It’s really quite unique, which helps make it so special.”
Dishing out strictly Detroit-style ’za and gluten-free versions for his April 29 pop-up, Perkinson can’t provide specifics, but the last iteration of ramp pizza featured a ramp and basil pesto, cheese blend, grilled ramps, black garlic ricotta and crispy ramps. P.S.: Expect sides of ramp ranch to be available for the ultimate seasonal dip.
Ramps join forces with a rosemary and Goochland honey-glazed chicken breast with fingerling potatoes, bacon, Tuscan kale, crispy skins and horseradish emulsion at Libbie Mill’s Shagbark. For a real Southern treat, indulge in shrimp and grits with spring ramps, Anson mills rice porridge, aged white cheddar and blackened tomato sauce.
Available atop a white pizza or all on their own, simply roasted, ramps get their moment in the sun on the specials menu at 8 1/2 in Church Hill or the Fan.
Sister restaurant to 8 1/2 Dinamo also offers a fine white pizza with ramps, but its star player is really the luscious bowl of gnocchi, fluffy as a lamb’s ear and tossed in an earthy ramp pesto.
Celebrating cryptocurrency with an event dubbed "Future Burgers," Soul Taco is hosting a special pop-up with patties on the menu. The Hyper Local features Seven Hills beef with local mushrooms, ramps, red wine sauce, Lil' Sprouts Microgreens and Swiss cheese.
Longoven is well known for bringing savory funk to the plate, so it makes perfect sense to see ramps in concert with new potato, oyster cream, cress, and furikake on its spring tasting menu.
You’ve got ramps two ways in this sophisticated seasonal special — a ramp jam and a ramp matafan, which is like a savory pancake — artfully plated with a thick swirl of chicken liver mousse, pickled raw almonds and cheery little chive blossoms.
They’re not playing around with the ramps at Carmela’s, offering an umami-packed pasta special with curly campanelle, guanciale, pickled ramps, truffled Parmesan and cured egg yolk, plus a ramp pizza with ramps pickled and pesto-ed, with crispy soppressata, micro basil and just a squeeze of lemon.
Hummus is among us at Susie & Esther. Operating out of The Jasper each week, the Jewish- and Mediterranean-inspired pop-up regularly dedicates a night to the spread, and this week a version with charred ramps tossed with lemon and extra-virgin olive oil graces the menu.
