Richmond Food News: Week of Aug. 31-Sept. 4

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Welcome to Food News! Pull up a chair and stay a while. This week we've got exciting (re)openings and some very sad closures, plus specials, events, national accolades and kombucha in space:

  • I'm not going to sugarcoat this, and I'm going to start with the week's saddest news because it's important: The Magpie closed permanently on Sunday, shocking much of the dining community. To add to the sting, House of Sichuan, another of our 2014 best restaurant picks, is closed indefinitely. To read more on the closures and some thoughts on our responsibilities as diners (and we do have responsibilities as diners), click here. If you would like to help Magpie owners Tiffany Gellner Lane and Owen Lane, you can do so by purchasing one of these "Magpie Love" shirts, whose proceeds benefit the pair in their next endeavors, whatever they may be. (Richmond magazine)
  • And, sadly, another restaurant closed last weekend: The Chesterfield County Cheeburger Cheeburger shut its doors after 10 years at 11615 Midlothian Turnpike. Its owners, Ed and Sukey McGolrick, say they're leaving the restaurant industry entirely. (Richmond.com/Richmond Times Dispatch)
  • In some happier news, we have a new brewery on the scene: Final Gravity just opened in Lakeside, currently offering nine beers on tap, all made with the very same equipment you can purchase from its retail section. Would you like to know more? We have a quick Q&A with owner Tony Ammendolia right over here. (Richmond magazine)
  • And while we don't know much about the new Dutch & Co. restaurant, we now have a name. Stroops, to be located at 2709 E. Marshall St., is expected to serve gourmet hot dogs and sausages much like the ones you can find every Saturday at Dutch & Co.'s weekly "Back Door Dogs" lunches. (Church Hill People's News)
  • Speaking of Church Hill and restaurant names, you can help name the new space rented by the owners of The Mill on MacArthur! Submit your suggestions via this website; all you need is an email address. (Richmond BizSense)
  • Tomorrow, Sept. 4, fast-casual restaurant Pie Five Pizza Co. opens its second Richmond location, at 810 W. Grace St. near VCU. “I’m excited to bring this unique concept to the VCU area,” franchisee Jeff Percey says in a news release. “The Pie Five concept fits perfectly with fast-paced university life and lets our customers create their own custom pie in only five minutes!" According to its website, a Willow Lawn location is also coming soon. The company hopes to open 500 restaurants across the country within the next five years, meaning 500 locations where pizzas only take 145 seconds to bake, and I don't know, you do the math, but that's a lot of pizza, all the time.
  • Ellwood Thompson's Local Market finally completed those months of renovations, revealing The Beet Cafe, its new dining concept and community room that also serves beer on tap. (Richmond.com/Richmond Times Dispatch)
  • You can also find fresh juice at new juice bar the Pit and the Peel, which also offers light, nutritional food like wraps. The new health food haven is located at 1102 W. Main St., and it may be only the first of many; owners say they hope to open as many as eight locations in the future. (Style Weekly)
  • Do you like the James River? If you answered "no," then A.) You probably weren't aware that it affects the lives of more Virginians than any other natural landmark in the state and B.) we probably cannot be friends, and also C.) how dare you? But if you answered "YES!" then we want you on the team: The James River Association partnered up with a handful of the city's best restaurants for Water for Water, a program that allows you to donate $1 for your tap water throughout the month of September. Some restaurants even offer specials that benefit the JRA's efforts to preserving, cleaning up, and educating the public on The Mighty James. Find more information and a full list of participating restaurants right over here. (Richmond magazine)
  • Let's not forget to congratulate and celebrate L'Opossum, the only Virginia restaurant to make Southern Living's list of the 30 best restaurants in the South. Champagne Jell-O for everyone! (Richmond magazine)
  • To the delight of cycling fans and the dismay of everyone scared to step foot outside for nine days this month, we're but a few short weeks from the UCI World Championships Races hitting our city. In our current issue, I speak with chef Sean Fowler, the chef cooking for Team Ireland, to learn all about the life of a traveling chef and how these cyclists will stay rolling through UCI. The web extra is now online, so if you feel like chowing down on some basmati and buckwheat alla puttanseca and pretending you're a totally active pro cyclist, read/cook on. (Richmond magazine)
  • And now for a SPECIAL SPECIALS ALERT: If you enjoy a fine (and I do mean fine) whiskey, McCormack's Whisky Grill is now offering shots of 20-year Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve for half off at the Fan location, Sunday through Wednesday, cash only. This still means a shot is $65, but hey, big spender, it'll help keep one (or maybe both) Whisky location(s) afloat. (McCormack's Whisky Grill)

Cool off with some crisp cider and more this weekend:

  • This afternoon from 4 to 6:30 p.m., Ellwood Thompson's welcomes you for a Foggy Ridge cider tasting and discussion with Diane Flynt, the owner and cider maker. Learn all about the process ("How do you like them apples?"), plus find bottles on sale. (Ellwood Thompson's Local Market)
  • This evening, head to Fountain Bookstore for a 6:30 p.m. book signing by Leanne Brown, the Forbes 30 Under 30 cookbook author of "Good and Cheap." Brown set out to make a cookbook that could help those living on a tight budget, and modeled the project on the $4 food per diem of SNAP, or food stamps. She made the cookbook available for free download, it became a viral hit, and it's got even more of a philanthropic bent, if you can believe it: For every copy purchased, the publishing company will donate a copy to a family in need. Want to know more? We caught up with Brown for a quick Q&A. (Richmond magazine)
  • Saturday evening, stop by Pasture for a county fair-themed event with house-made corn dogs, pork parfaits, salted caramel apples and fair-themed frozen drinks. There will be costumes! There will be surprises! The fun goes all night long, so there are no excuses for not showing up, unless you're out of town or scared of carnivals. (Will there be carnival clowns? I don't know. I can't promise anything at this point.) (news release)
  • Next Monday, Sept. 7, is the second installment of chef Travis Milton's Rappahannock residency with seatings at 6 and 8:30 p.m... (Richmond magazine)
  • ...And next Tuesday, Sept. 8, is the latest History on Tap collaboration, where you'll find a centuries-old mead brought to life by Black Heath Meadery. 6 p.m. at 428 N. Boulevard, $20. (Richmond magazine)

And now for a few (inter)national links:

  • Would you like to learn how to make knives out of meteor matter? Would you like Anthony Bourdain and one of the word's finest bladesmiths to teach you? We thought so. (First We Feast)
  • The Bloody Mary meat straw is a (very popular) thing and I'm not sure how to feel about it. (NPR)
  • And in your so-weird-but-I-swear-it's-true news, kombucha SCOBY is being sent into space to see how long its organisms can survive, and whether or not it can net any floating, cosmic organisms while it's up there. (Munchies)

'Til next time, I want to believe.