Now you can eat this spinach and foie gras dip nearly any time of the day because 1.) it's nutritious and you can't argue with that, and 2.) Vagabond now serves lunch! More on that, below. (Photo: Stephanie Breijo)
On a scale of one to not at all, how prepared for this snow storm are you? Don't worry. Regardless of your answer, we've got cocktail recipes to warm you, new restaurants to dream about, events to catch (yes, even this weekend) and more:
- Already dreading the onslaught of snow that may or may not debilitate the city's infrastructure for a few days? We're here to help: We asked this year's Elby Awards cocktail program nominees to share a few recipes to warm you this weekend, and boy did they deliver. (We may or may not make all of them — don't you dare judge us.) Click through for sips from The Rogue Gentlemen, Saison, Pasture and The Roosevelt, and be sure to stay warm from the inside, out.
- No, the Internet is actually not a series of tubes, but new restaurant Kinfolk's lunch offerings will be. The new spot, which will open at 3514 Forest Hill Ave. in the former Chef MaMusu's African-Caribbean Cuisine space, sports a lunch menu that's served in tubes. Yes, tubes! The lunch of the future. Expect sandwiches (spicy shrimp, corned beef, chicken breast, pimento cheese, marinated portobello, to name a few) that you can customize with unlimited vegetables, plus spreads for an additional 60 cents (olive oil, deli mustard, apple butter, habanero blackberry jam, house-made mayo, red wine vinegar, to name even more). You'll also get a soda, and you can add dessert or chips for an additional charge. You can also order salads, which, we presume, will also come in a tube. (What we do know is that you'll need utensils for those.) "We intend to recreate the wheel by offering a TUBE LUNCH program as an answer to the countless cumbersome box lunch offerings in the area," owners Tiffany & Danny Ingram, also of Bell Cafe, say in a news release. "Kinfolk's Tube Lunches will be available Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m." At dinner, the "quirky tubes go home for the night," and chef Cory Chaney, formerly of Southerly, will serve a dinner menu that is specifically not served in a tube. Kinfolk will also offer craft beer, wine and cocktails, which can be fairly cylindrical, though not necessarily tube-like.
- Hot on the tail of opening the new Urban Farmhouse at 1200 Semmes Ave., the local chain just announced its plans to fill some space within the Linden Row Inn downtown by spring. Can't stop, won't stop this sandwich-and-coffee shop. (Richmond BizSense)
- Speaking of local chains killing it, Mexico Restaurant is now open in Ashland at 11670 Lakeridge Parkway, making it the seventh in the family owned restaurant's roster. (Richmond BizSense)
- Now closed, but opening soon, is Carytown's Water Coastal Kitchen, which is currently shuttered but will reopen and rebrand as East Coast Provisions next month. The new restaurant will still be owned and operated by Richmond Restaurant Group, as will its sibling concept, West Coast Provisions, set to open sometime next year in the West End. Both restaurants will serve a seafood-focused menu using their respective coastal names as inspiration. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
- In some much sadder news, Carytown staple Dixie Donuts will close at the end of the month, the end of an adorable-tiny-doughnut era. Be sure to stop by for a dozen or two, maybe even for some of these cute snowglobe specials. (Style Weekly)
- Richmond's dining community is generous and supportive, though one thing it sometimes isn't is accessible. Here's a thoughtful and important piece on what restaurants can do, from bathroom and wheelchair planning to something as simple as updating a website, in order to make #RVAdine a place everyone can enjoy, regardless of disability and/or physical limitation. (Richmond magazine)
- Let's hear it for JM Stock Provisions, which recently merged with the local market formerly known as Harvest Grocery + Supply, because Stock just won a Good Food Award for its tasso ham! The butcher shop and sausage outpost is this year's only winner from Virginia. (news release)
- When you need lunch and life is making you hun-gry you can always go ... down-town to Vagabond because it just launched lunch this week. Stop by Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for smoked chicken wings with tequila honey sauce (these are good, these are so good), weekly bento box specials, house-made sodas, sandwiches, that insane foie gras spinach dip and more. View the full menu here. (Vagabond)
- Downtown and open for dinner is Citizen, which recently secured its ABC license! Expect items such as rockfish pozole, grilled house-made Merguez with lentils, and mofongo with Criollo Mojo, available during dinner service, which, by the by, is Thursday through Saturday from 5:30 to 10 p.m. beginning Jan. 28. Want more on the happy hour you'll also find there? Got yr back. (Citizen)
- Also, a general note: According to a news release, Stuzzi will keep its coal-burning oven going and open for business throughout the weekend, and the restaurant is equipped with a generator for, you know, non-oven warmth. Sweet deal.
Ready for the weekend? (Haha, maybe no one but a doomsday prepper is actually ready for this weekend, but let's all try our best, right?)
- Into cocktails? Into Whitney Houston? Sunday is The Rogue Gentlemen's two-year anniversary party, where you'll find snacks, TRG's best-of cocktail list and owner John Maher opening champagne in the middle of the street to the diva's robust belt. The fun starts at 6 pm. and goes until who even knows when. This is going down, snow or shine. (The Rogue Gentlemen)
- Then on Monday, stop by Lunch for dinner by The Jackdaw. This particular pop-up menu will feature chili noodles with adobo broth, brisket, bok choy and chicharrones; Taiwanese fried chicken with Red Boat Fish Sauce caramel, Chinkiang cole slaw and more. (The Jackdaw)
And now for a few (inter)national links:
- Sure, you can take that store-bought cake to the restaurant for your friend's birthday, but it'll cost you $20 tacked onto your restaurant bill. Sound familiar? Or maybe you've seen it from the other perspective, where store-bought or home-made cakes are cutting into your restaurant's business and under- (OK, not even) utilizing your very talented pastry chef. Whichever way you look at it, cake service can be a touchy issue. Here's a sound-off from a number of chefs on the topic of cake fees, and some are pretty funny. Nearly all are enlightening. (The New York Times)
- One Hawaiian distillery is now using deep ocean water to make premium vodka and all I can hear in my brain is "Under the Sea" from "The Little Mermaid." Read more on the new operation right over here. (Munchies)
'Til next time, what do they got, a lot of sand? We got a hot crustacean band.
