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Last week, Richmond’s Metropolitan Business League (MBL) announced a new partnership with The Valentine museum, Richmond Black Restaurant Experience and Hatch Kitchen RVA: The Main Course, a restaurant competition that invites area chefs and vendors to apply to be the next tenant in the museum space.
“The Valentine approached us and basically said, ‘This is an opportunity we want to make available to a minority-owned culinary artist; could you put something together to make it fun?’ ” explains Melody Short of MBL, “and The Main Course certainly accomplishes that.”
The competition provides a chance for Richmond-region food truck vendors, restaurateurs, catering companies and other minority-owned food businesses to win two years rent-free in The Valentine, located at 1015 E. Clay St., as well as memberships to the Richmond Black Restaurant Experience and MBL.
“It’s a great opportunity for vendors to expand their business, especially for food truck vendors or caterers looking to get their first brick-and-mortar location,” Short says.
Applicants must submit a 60-second video pitch, have been operating for two years and be based within the Richmond region. A panel of judges, including Richmond Black Restaurant Experience co-founder Shemicia Bowen, Lillie Pearl Chef-owner Mike Lindsey, Quirk Hotel owner Ted Ukrop and Richmond magazine Food Editor Eileen Mellon, will select two semifinalists. On Dec. 14, the individuals will prepare their final dishes at Hatch Kitchen RVA before being taken to The Valentine, where the winner will be selected.
Members of the community can get involved by casting their votes Dec. 7-9 for the Community Choice Award, whose winner will receive one-year complimentary memberships to MBL and Black Restaurant Experience.
“It’s a three-day opportunity for folks to vote for who they’d like to see as the winner, all done on the MBL website,” says Short. “The final tasting and decision will be streamed live on our social media as well. We’ve never done anything like this at MBL, so we’re all so excited about it.”
While there is no specific criteria for the type of cuisine that may be entered, MBL has posted information regarding the demographics and size of the neighborhood on its website to inform applicants about the surrounding area. “It’s a business district, so anything deli-style or sandwiches would do well,” Short says. The application period is currently open and ends Friday, Dec. 4.
Recent changes in the social and economic climate in the city have helped facilitate buzz for the competition. “If this was being launched a year ago, I don’t know how excited people would’ve been,” Short says, but the impact of the pandemic and the rise of social justice movements have increased enthusiasm for supporting local vendors. “For minority-owned businesses, it’s like we’re experiencing a double pandemic.”
Short says MBL prioritizes creating opportunities for women- and minority-owned small businesses, so she and her colleagues dove headfirst into developing The Main Course when approached by the museum. “We’re typically the go-to for those opportunities, so that’s why they called us, to roll something out that’s in alignment with the mission that they have over there,” she says. “It’s a great way for us to engage and sort of reenergize the city and get folks excited about the possibility of a minority culinary artist being able to occupy the space.”
