Richmond Food News: Week of Aug. 10-14

by

Food News & Trends

Greetings, Bohabs and RVAdiners. Before we jump into the delicious muck of GWAR-B-Q and other fantastic upcoming events, let's ponder the week's news, from beer to bakeries and back again:

  • Who's ready for a cold one? If you are and you're in South Side, you're especially in luck: White Horse Tavern opens later this month at 3410 Semmes Ave. with pub fare (think fresh fish and chips), plus British-inspired cask ale from Hardywood, Starr Hill and more. James Talley, co-owner of The Cask Café, and a former owner of Commercial Taphouse, says the spot could be open in two weeks - or sooner. (Richmond magazine)
  • In more beer news, Stone Brewing Co. is well underway and RVANews has the photos to prove it. Take a peek at Hourigan Construction laying the literal groundwork for the enormous facility, pouring the cement that will eventually support the brewery's many fermentation tanks.
  • Looking ahead to September, you'll soon find family-friendly, home-style cooking in the former Estilo space when Talley's Meat & Three opens for lunch and dinner, seven days a week. The owners of Hutch and Toast are bringing their own family recipes (and possibly yours) to the West End in roughly one month. Check out the full piece here to learn all about the Talley's community recipes, new look and more. (Richmond magazine)
  • While I'm admittedly not big on sports, I do enjoy a good spot to grab beer and yell things like "YES!" and "NO!" and "CLEAR EYES, FULL HEARTS!" at a screen when everyone else gets excited about a toss/pass/kick/hit/swing/check/strike. (Am I covering all the sports term bases?) Fortunately, even the less-than-athletically-inclined persons of RVA are welcome at Sports Page Bar & Grille, which is opening a new location in Ashland. This will be the fourth outpost for the local chain, opening at 504 England St. by the end of this month/beginning of September. (Richmond Bizsense)
  • And sometimes, when the #RVAdine lords giveth a sports bar, they also taketh away (but giveth us a new seafood restaurant in its stead). Latitude Seafood Co. should be open by the start of October in the former Game On Sports Bar space in the Westchester Commons outdoor shopping center, offering steak and seafood. (Richmond.com/Richmond Times Dispatch)
  • September's clearly going to be a busy month for dining, because that's when we'll also see the grand opening of Sweet Fix bakery in Manchester! Amanda Robinson, founder of Gallery5, has been baking the most extravagant, fun and artful by-order-only cakes, and now she's finally opening up her first brick and mortar on Sept. 19. Read on for the full scoop and all the great details about the shop's opening day. Spoiler alert: free desserts! Cotton candy! Live music! (Richmond magazine)
  • Citizen's last day at its 909 E. Main St. location is tomorrow (Friday), so stop by before 3 p.m. to get your breakfast/lunch/brunch/dirty chai fix. The new location, at 1203 E. Main St., should open 10 days later and we can't wait to check it out. (Citizen)
  • Another temporary closing item: Get in your Southbound and Heritage visits while you can! Chefs need a break, too, so Heritage will be closed from Aug. 16 to 24, and Southbound will be closed from Aug. 17 to 24, accordingly. (news release)
  • A general cheap eats PSA: All day today, Morton's the Steakhouse is offering $1 filet mignon mini sandwiches at the bar in celebration of National Filet Mignon Day. So ... we'll meet you at the bar, yeah? (news release)
  • A keep-it-on-your-radar PSA: If you love bourbon and you love dining, wed the two in delicious matrimony at an upcoming bourbon dinner at The Brownstone, 10 E. Franklin St., on Sept. 4. Butler's Unique Catering will pair Bowman's Bourbon with five courses and hors d'oeuvres, and the menu includes items such as bourbon coffee ice cream, bourbon-glazed beef ribs with white cheddar grits, and bourbon-cured salmon with goat cheese frite. $55. Email todd@butlersuniquecatering.com to make your reservation.
  • Also to keep on that radar: Powhatan's Festival of the Grape is on the Horizon (Oct. 24), and now includes a special Sept. 20 food event, Dinner of the Grape, which will be headlined by chef Travis Milton! If you nab a $65 early bird ticket to the Sunday supper, you'll also receive a free pass to the festival for the following month. (Festival tickets are $20 to $25 alone, so we're thinking this is a steal.) If you're waiting for Milton's upcoming Shovel and Pick restaurant, this may tide you over until then. (news release)

Get ready for these events because they're a real doozy:

  • I hope you brought your ponchos/trash bags/finest already-beer-and-fake-splooge-ruined attire because tomorrow marks the start of three insane days of GWAR-B-Q. Over the weekend, you'll find a whole intergalactic mess of new GWAR product releases (like Bohabanero Sauce), and the return of the Oderus Ale. Head to The National for the "B4BQ" kickoff party with metal mayhem via Beyond Creation, Cattle Decapitation (these guys win my vote for best band name, hands down), The Acacia Strain and more. Saturday is the big day for drinking as much Oderus Ale as you can and trying not to die at Hadad's Lake to the sound of The Descendents, Ghoat Whore, Clutch, Troglodyte and more. While you're there and covered in interstellar juices, grab some food from Alamo BBQ, Goatocado, Rappahannock Oyster Co. and then some soft-serve ice cream and, oh god, there will be so much food. Sunday, Bloody (messy, hungover) Sunday is the day for the official closing party: Brutal Brunch from 2 to 6 p.m. at Abner Clay Park, across the street from GWARbar. (GWAR-B-Q)
  • Oooooooh! Happy birthday, Julia Child! The culinary matriarch would have been 103 this weekend, and to celebrate, Bistro Bobette is offering a three-course prix fixe menu featuring some of Child's most famous and beloved dishes on Friday from 5 to 10 p.m. Dig into chilled leek and potato soup, chicken Provençal, pissaladière and more, all for $28. Call (804) 225-9116 to make your reservation! (news release)
  • Did you miss the Hampton Roads Dîner en Blanc, a white-out, ticketed picnic event you have to supply entirely yourself? Fear not; Amour Wine Bistro is holding its own Dîner en Blanc event this Saturday, but this one will supply the food and the ambiance. Inspired by the original Parisian all-in-white outdoor dining event, Amour's à la carte dinner will feature decorations, color-themed entrées and an all-white cocktail, plus the restaurant's regular menu. Wear your crispest white attire and arrive at any point in the evening, though reservations are recommended. Call (804) 353-4020 to get on that. (Amour Wine Bistro)
  • Then on Sunday, stop by the 17th Street Farmers' Market for the 4th Annual BrewBQ Festival from noon to 5 p.m. You'll find 17 breweries offering sample pours for $2 and full pours for $6, plus a number of Virginia barbecue restaurants and food trucks with succulent, smoky meats and sides available for purchase, too. (17th Street Farmers' Market)
  • SUNDAY BONUS: If you're heading to the grocery store, maybe make it Ellwood Thompson's because for the duration of the day, 5 percent of your purchase automatically benefits HandsOn Greater Richmond, the local volunteer network. (HandsOn Greater Richmond)
  • Looking ahead to next Wednesday, visit Center of the Universe for another installment of its Wednesday Biergarten Concert Series from 6 to 9 p.m. Food trucks, live music and beer abound! (Center of the Universe)

And now for a few (inter)national links:

  • File under "I Love This So Much": Chef Joe Sparatta of Heritage and Southbound was interviewed in this piece on elevating the children's menu, and makes some excellent points on nutrition and mentality therein. I'll eat off a kid's plate, I don't even care. (Bon Appétit)
  • On that nutrition note, one psychologist is studying the ability to train the human brain to become disgusted by high-calorie foods. The process involves quickly-flashed photos of things out of a nightmare factory (you know, just your usual shot of ants crawling on mutilated limbs and so forth), before showing a photo of something like French fries or pizza. It seems to work but at what cost? (NPR)
  • SOMEONE HAS TO STOP SKYNET, but I'll be the first to admit that this robot bartender is pretty intriguing. (Munchies)

'Til next time, I'll be back.