Richmond Food News: Week of Oct. 12-16

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How do you feel about oysters? What about Oktoberfest? You're for 'em? Good, because oyster/Oktoberfest Groundhog Day is headed our way, along with new restaurants, bakeries, big beer news and more. We hope you brought your appetite.

  • Hungry? In a rush? Too tired to cook? Feed/treat yo'self with Kitchenette, the now-open brick and mortar from the same folks who brought you the popular South of the James food trailer. Grab some comfort food to-go for breakfast and dinner in Westover Hills, be it from the cold case (ready for heatin') or hot 'n' fresh out the kitchen (and ready for eatin'). More details here. (Richmond magazine)
  • Also now open: Growlers To Go, Short Pump edition! The new West End beer destination, situated right next to Trader Joe's, also offers a tasting room in addition to its bottle sales, growler fills, sandwiches and snacks. Its grand opening celebration is set for tonight, beginning at 5 p.m., so head on out that way for free growler bottles, discounted fills, $2 barbecue sandwiches, pairing demonstrations and more. (RVANews)
  • In COMING SOON/NEXT WEEK news, Whisk bakery soft-opens next Wednesday, then grand-opens next Saturday, with French-inspired pastries, layer cakes, sandwiches, coffee and more. Get the whole scoop on the Shockoe Bottom spot here, complete with slideshow, so you can visually feast before you actually feast. (I will personally be dreaming about those bacon and cheddar croissants every night until then.) (Richmond magazine)
  • In COMING SOON/THE END OF THE MONTH news, Dutch & Co.'s new quick 'n' simple, highly anticipated hot dog haven, Stroops, is set to open in Church Hill within the next few weeks. The restaurant will offer takeout and limited seating, with a menu centered around Dutch's wildly popular Back Door Dogs lunches held on Saturday afternoons. Expect gourmet hot dogs and sausages, house-made soda and stroopwafel, probably ranging from $3 to $7. This Saturday from noon to 1 p.m., you can catch the final Back Door Dogs lunch with a pâté de campagne hot dog with brie, seasonal jam and whole-grain mustard. "We are psyched to continue the tradition of Hot Dogs created on Saturday to Stroops! Literally right across the street, and opening soon," co-owner Michelle Peake wrote in a release. "Thanks to all the loyal Saturday customers, new faces and old. T-shirts will be available for sale [this Saturday], as well as hot dogs & soda. We can't wait."  (Richmond BizSense / news release)
  • In COMING SOON/NEXT MONTH news, Virginia's agriculture is about to hop to it. Black Hops Farm, a massive Loudoun County hops farm, brewing distillery and tasting room, is set to open in mid-November with the hope of making hops a viable crop for the state. It's brought to us by Jonathan Staples, co-owner of James River Distillery, and he envisions hops as The Next Big Thing. For more on the farm, the beer, the food by celebrity chef Bryan Voltaggio, and the plan to supply the national hop demand, read our in-depth feature here. (Richmond magazine) 
  • In COMING SOON/NEXT YEAR news, Carytown's The Daily Kitchen & Bar will soon become Carytown and Short Pump's The Daily Kitchen & Bar, now that Richmond Restaurant Group is adding a second location out west. Next fall we can find the restaurant's trademark healthy fare and allergy- and diet-considerate options, plus similar restaurant design such as patios, open spaces and large windows, in its home at the in-the-works GreenGate development. (Richmond BizSense)
  • Fall Richmond Restaurant week kicks off next Monday! Begin your dining planning and outfit planning now. (I recommend anything stretchy that looks like you're wearing public-appropriate clothes. See also: elastic waistbands, stretchy jeans.) Get a super-handy rundown of many participating menus right over here, and try not to salivate all over your keyboard. (Richmond.com/Richmond Times Dispatch)
  • In food shopping news, WE'RE NUMBER ONE! Though this piece begins with "to no one's surprise," I'm actually quite surprised to hear that Richmond is number one in the entire country when it comes to grocery stores. Who knew? I certainly didn't. Personal finance site WalletHub found that, in a pool of 150 highly populated cities, Richmond's grocery stores ranked first in "affordability, and diversity, accessibility and quality," as determined by user reviews. RVA Magazine, conversely, wrote a really interesting response to the findings, citing the Richmond region's food deserts and actual lack of accessibility to area grocery stores. Check that out here. (Style Weekly / RVA Mag)
  • In #birthday news, happy sixth birthday to you, Garnett's Cafe! Everyone go grab a sandwich and some pie there today in its honor. (Garnett's Cafe)
  • And in pop-up news, chef Travis Milton has put his Shovel & Pick pop-ups on hold for the month of October. They'll return to Rappahannock on Nov. 16, and you can find your tickets right over here. Follow-up: Check out this solid profile of Milton here, and read up on his efforts to bring a taste of Appalachia to RVA! (Travis Milton / Style Weekly)

And now for the weekend's best events:

  • Grab a stein and also a pretzel (you can comfortably, simultaneously utilize both, I know this for a fact) because tomorrow (Friday), Richmond Oktoberfest returns! On Friday and Saturday, the Richmond International Raceway Complex will be graced with colorful flags, all of the dancing, and German foods including but not limited to: Bratwurst, Knockwurst, broiled chicken, pork roast, sauerkraut, pastries, pretzels and potato pancakes. $12 advance tickets, $15 for tickets at the door. Full details here. (Richmond Oktoberfest)
  • Speaking of those aforementioned hops, now (or Saturday, anyway) is the time for the Virginia Hops & Harvest Festival at Pocahontas State Park. Get down with beer from 20 of the state's craft brewers, plus food and a ton of live music. Seriously, it's an entire day of live music. The fun starts at noon. Advance tickets are $12.50 and full tickets will set you back $15. Full schedule and details here. (Pocahontas State Park)
  • It's time for OystoberFest, a beacon of bivalves, brought to us by St. Thomas' Episcopal Church. This Saturday, bear witness to an enormous oyster roast in Ginter Park! And then eat all the oysters you can! Drink wine! Drink beer! Eat brats! Dance to live music! What's not to love? Noon to 6 p.m., with free admission ($2 suggested donation, however) and food and drinks available for purchase. (OystoberFest)
  • On Sunday, it's time for OYSTER/OKTOBERFEST Groundhog Day, and if ever there were duplicate themes for events, oysters and Oktoberfest themes would be right up at the top of our list. Sunday, the Virginia Oyster Shell Recycling Program hits Manquin with its Shell-Raisers Shindig for an evening of feasting to support a great cause. Expect live music, small plates from incredible chefs and oysters from Richmond's seven oyster regions. Once more, with feeling, here's that menu: Walter Bundy of Lemaire: Chesapeake Bay she crab bisque; Donnie Glass of Public Fish and Oyster: Monkfish ossobucco; Ed Gross of Virginia's Executive Mansion: Thai fish and crab cakes wrapped in bib lettuce; Owen Lane of The Magpie: Autumn Olive Farms crispy pig head torchon with Brussels sprouts slaw and horseradish cream; Mike Ledesma of Pearl Raw Bar and Hard Shell: fire-roasted Cedar Point Oysters with braised kale, bacon and local cheese; Joe Sparatta of Heritage and Southbound: kale gemelli, butternut squash, ricotta salata, pecan and maple brown butter. BONUS: whole-roasted Hog Island Farm lamb. Grab your tickets and details here! (news release)
  • If you're more into festive German fare, head to Metzger on Sunday for its Oktoberfest shindig. Sausages! Schnitzels! Pretzels! Kraut! So much beer! A DJ set from Steady Sounds' Marty Key! Special edition T-shirts! The event is free, with food and beverage tickets available for purchase. 1 to 8 p.m. (Metzger Bar & Butchery)
  • Looking ahead to next Wednesday, here's a cool event alert: Restaurant and pool hall Greenleaf's Pool Room is hosting a Straight Pool battle royale between two world pool pros. "Straight Pool, the most elegant of the billiard games, has historically decided the 'world champion,'" owner Jim Gottier says in a news release. "Both Mika [“The Iceman” Immonen from Finland] and Jayson [“Eagle Eye” Shaw from Scotland] are as charismatic as they are skilled, so this challenge match promises to be a spectacular show and insight into the highest reaches of this beautiful game." (Suddenly, I feel like I need a really cool nickname to be complete as a human being.) While you're watching, we recommend snacking on one of Greenleaf's killer house-made ice cream sandwiches.

And now for a few (inter)national links:

  • The news that shook the dining scene this week came via this truly fantastic longread on Danny Meyer, New York restaurateur, and his decision to do away with tipping in all restaurants within his Union Square Hospitality Group empire. Providing an evenly distributed living wage for all restaurant staff is a practice with its benefits, as well as its setbacks, and you can find them eloquently explained when you click that link, along with charts and graphs in a really fabulously designed/coded piece. It's worth your time. Click it. (Eater)
  • This just in: A new study notes that drinking one glass of red wine per day may not only be good for your heart health, but also for curbing diabetes. That's reason enough for me. (NPR)
  • What do [land walkers] got, a lot of land? [Ocean dwellers] got a hot crustacean band, plus ingredients we can all get behind. Here's your guide to sea vegetables, aka seaweed, and how to use them. (Food 52)

'Til next time, I'll be under the sea, but not really, because I am not a mermaid.