Find a ton-o-seafood this weekend at two full days of Slow Fish event goodness. Of course, if you're not feeling shellfish, you've got a bevy of other options, below. (Photo by Stephanie Breijo)
Greetings, food fans! Your end-of-the-week reward is new restaurants, new sweets, a recipe from The Roosevelt and Southbound's own Lee Gregory, plus a handful of celebrations and events:
- On Saturday, sate your sweet tooth at the grand opening of dessert shop A Peach in a Pear Tree, which will bring its slices of cake and pie, plus cookies, cupcakes, tarts and more to 1248 Sycamore Square in Midlothian. Self-taught baker Alicia Darnell founded the company in 2007, and grew her passion for pound cake into a full-fledged business, whipping up cakes for weddings and other special events. "My clientele grew pretty rapidly, and seven years later, I [started thinking] it was about time to open up a retail location," she says. Her new bakery specializes in "sky-high cakes," which stack six layers in rotating, daily flavors that you'll find by the slice or available for special order online. How do you feel about face painting? You're for it? Great, because that'll be available during Saturday's party, from noon to 6 p.m., and so will cotton candy, gift cards and probably some good times. Stop by the shop during its regular hours, too: Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Also new in Midlothian: Burger Bach's new South Side outpost at 101 Heaths Way Drive, near the Stonehenge Village Shopping Center, is now open! Check out a quick video of the ribbon cutting here. (Burger Bach)
- Over in Shockoe Bottom, burger enthusiasts will find a new way to stack at the end of the month: Bottom Burger is set to open at 1719 E. Main St. with roughly 40 seats and a menu that offers customizable turkey, beef and vegan patties, plus grilled chicken sandwiches and po' boys. (Richmond BizSense)
- Looking further ahead, the family members behind the original Mom's Siam, My Noodle & Bar and Fan Noodle Bar are reuniting for a new venture, this time in Short Pump. The upscale Thai restaurant YaYa's Cookbook is slated to open at 11674 W. Broad St. in the Downtown Short Pump Shopping Center next March. (Richmond Navigator)
- And in potential-restaurant news, the team at Tazza Kitchen has its eyes on the prize — that prize being a space in Scott's Addition. Though nothing is yet set in stone, the local chain hopes to bring its wood-fired pizzas and entrées to the neighborhood in a large space, 1500 Roseneath Road. (Richmond BizSense)
- Pizza fans and party people, rejoice: musician, motivational speaker, food lover, party demigod and man-with-a-pizza-guitar Andrew W.K. hits our fine city next Wednesday, Nov. 9. We caught up with him to talk his favorite RVA meal, pizza mysticism and what to expect at next week's downtown Capital Ale House visit, and that interview is now available online.
- In ownership news, local loaf business Billy Bread has changed hands. Founder Billy Fallen just sold his business to the husband-and-wife team behind Lecker Baking Co., and they hope to open up a retail bakery at 1 S. Allen Ave. later this month. (Style Weekly)
- Get to know your local farms: Our October Purveyor column is now online, so get to readin' about Amy's Organic Garden, why don't you.
- Tomorrow afternoon marks the return of Ledbury's annual, autumnal nosh-and-drink-on-a-gorgeous-nature-preserve event, Hunt / Gather. For the first time in the event's history, tickets were made available to the public. Unfortunately, those tickets are now sold out, but never fear; we snagged the recipe for the day's Brunswick stew, made by chef Lee Gregory of The Roosevelt and Southbound. If that's not a tasty consolation prize, I don't know what is.
- And now, on a more serious note: Over Halloween weekend, an employee of longtime bar/restaurant/venue Balliceaux donned blackface as part of his costume, and was not sent home by any owners of or colleagues at the popular Fan business; he has since resigned. This is getting a mention in this week's Food News not to vilify, nor insinuate whether or not you should ever visit Balliceaux or its restaurant, Kampot, again (in fact, Kampot was one of our Best New Restaurants picks this year). I'm sharing it as an important reminder — and also now a national news item — that racism takes many forms, and the repercussions of even one instance ripple out and affect not only multiple facets of one organization but also neighboring businesses, the entire community and, perhaps most importantly, the patrons who could feel targeted, unwelcome and unsafe in that place of business. My own colleague, Samantha Willis, wrote an incredibly thoughtful piece on the events and blackface's history in Richmond. I recommend you read it.
Ready for the weekend? Dive headfirst into some fall food events:
- Drink for an excellent cause tonight at the Willow Lawn Craft Beer Harvest from 6 to 9 p.m., where proceeds benefit Special Olympics Virginia. You'll find 14 craft beers, plus kid-friendly activities, live music and more. (Craft Beer Harvest)
- Back to Brunswick stew: The temperature's dropping this weekend, which means it's all the better weather for it. Fortunately, 17th Street Farmers' Market's annual Brunswick Stew and Stout festival is upon us. Snack on samples, and if you fall in love with a bowl, you can purchase it by the quart. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. (17th Street Farmers' Market)
- Happy third birthday, Cask Café! Clink some glasses for the cause with specials on Saturday and Sunday, plus special, rare, and final keg tappings. 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. (The Cask Café)
- They say it's Cask's birthday; well, it's Vagabond's birthday, too: Head to the downtown restaurant tomorrow night at 10 p.m. for Life On Mars, a David Bowie tribute band. (Vagabond)
- And a happy first birthday to you, Home Sweet Home! To celebrate, the Carytown restaurant and bar slingin' gourmet grilled cheese is offering some $5 Bacardi specials on Saturday beginning at noon. (Home Sweet Home)
- Get ready, Gingerbread Stout fans, because Hardywood's cult-classic beer is back this weekend. Stop by the brewery on Saturday for a full afternoon of release-day goodness beginning at 1 p.m., including live music, food trucks and — get this — a collaboration with Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches for a very sweet Gingrbread Stout frozen treat. (Hardywood Park Craft Brewery)
- There are somehow still tickets for tomorrow night's Slow Fish dinner at Shagbark, where some of the city's finest chefs will be preparing fresh and local seafood, with all courses paired with wine. Your $150 ticket benefits Slow Food RVA and working toward a sustainable and eco-friendly seafood industry, and most deliciously, it includes a dinner featuring dishes such as smoked bluefish with celery root, apple-and-celery salad and lemon mousseline from Acacia mid-town's Dale Reitzer; and Chesapeake Bay rockfish with root vegetables, Virginia chestnuts, Surry sausage, Brussels sprouts and a saffron-clam emulsion by Shagbark's Walter Bundy. 7 to 11 p.m.
- The Slow Fish fun continues on Sunday at Ardent Craft Ales with Slow Food RVA's walk-around, family-friendly event from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be oyster-shucking contests, live music and kids' activities, and of course fresh, seafood-based dishes available for purchase: Ruby Salts Oyster Co., Lehja, Sugar's Crab Shack, Tangier Island Oyster Co., The Blue Goat and others will all be there dishing out the day's cuisine. (Slow Fish 2016)
And now for a few (inter)national links:
- I now present to you a rollicking romp through one man's experience at Carl's Jr. — a fun and lively essay on the meal that ended his friendship with his brother. Give it a read and try not to smile at least once. (Eater)
- You go to the store or your local coffee roaster, grab a bag and check out. Sound familiar? Chances are, you're probably missing a step, and that crucial step is checking the roast date on your bag of beans. Here's why when your coffee beans were roasted matters, plus how long to store your coffee, and why you actually shouldn't keep it in your freezer. (CNET)
Till next time, keep buzzin'.
