Richmond Food News: Week of Sept. 14-18

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CONGRATULATIONS! You've almost made it to the end of the week! Here is your reward: new restaurants, specials, cookies, beer, barbecue and more:

  • IT'S FINALLY HERE! Quirk Hotel opens today, and with it, Maple & Pine Restaurant. Its modern American menu takes cues from French, Asian and North African cuisines, among others, and is helmed by executive chef David Dunlap, formerly of The Ashby Inn and The Inn at Little Washington. Maple & Pine opens tonight with a limited/bar menu, and, according to Marketing Director Kate McDonald Brown, will possibly launch its full menu on Sunday, but will definitely launch it by breakfast on Monday morning. For more on the concept and the man behind the menu, click here. BONUS: Effective immediately, you can stop by the stylish hotel's lobby cafe for a cup of the new custom-blended Quirk coffee from Blanchard's. (Richmond magazine)
  • Talley's Meat & Three, the homestyle-cooking hot spot from the others of Hutch and Toast, is now open! Located in the former Estilo space, the new West End rotisserie offers a selection of roasted meats and homestyle sides, all inspired by their families' Southern cooking. (Talley's Meat & Three / Richmond magazine)
  • And in more new restaurant news, Kokonut Grill is now open in the Fan at 1201 W. Main St. Stop on by for tropical and pan-Asian fusion fare.  (RVANews)
  • Looking ahead to October, downtown's Belle & James will open on Oct. 9 and is just one of three concepts from the team to fill the space at 700 E. Main St. This French-American restaurant will focus on building community, whether it's through local purveyors or a weekly "Fundustry" night, where guest bartenders will raise money for local nonprofits every Tuesday. Learn more about the concept/space/menu/team/ethos right over here. (Richmond magazine)
  • Later in October, Talley's Meat & Three will get a juicy new neighbor in the Village Shopping Center. Ginger Juice is opening its first brick and mortar, offering fresh juice, acai bowls and Goatocado fare beginning Oct. 20. We can already feel ourselves getting healthier. (OK, maybe that's just wishful thinking.) (Richmond magazine)
  • Also coming in October: Sugar & Twine, the new cafe and bakeshop in Carytown! Owner Beth Oristian purchased the Capital Coffee & Desserts storefront, and will continue the business as Capital Coffee until the UCI races end, at which point she'll close up shop, redesign and rebrand. She hopes to open the spot as Sugar & Twine by the end of the month. (Richmond magazine)
  • ALSO opening in October: Loft 17, an event space and Thursday-to-Saturday dinner restaurant from the co-owners of Shockoe Whiskey and Wine. The new venture will be located next door to Whiskey, at 1717 E. Franklin St. (Richmond BizSense)
  • Zaxby's, Zaxby's everywhere! The fried-chicken franchise is coming to Richmond with multiple new locations around the city, the most recently announced being just west of Willow Lawn, at 5816 W. Broad St. At least two new Zaxby's locations should open within the next 90 days. (Richmond.com/Richmond Times Dispatch)
  • Looking all the way to the future (all right, maybe just to January), Sally Bell's Kitchen will move blessedly/dangerously close to the Richmond magazine office. In January, you can find the heralded, beloved restaurant at 2337 W. Broad St., and you'll probably find our entire staff in there, too. See you there? (Richmond.com/Richmond Times Dispatch)
  • Because you cannot have dozens of new restaurants opening without others closing, it's sadly that time again: Yet another Richmond dining stalwart is shuttering its doors. Carytown's Mezzanine has been serving up fine dining since 2008, and is sadly closing on Sept. 26. Go and visit one last time, and eat and drink as much as you possibly can. More on what's to come for owner Todd Johnson, and what will fill the space, right over here. (Richmond magazine)
  • Also, a general PSA: STOP STEALING FROM RESTAURANTS. The Greenbriar needs its chalkboard sidewalk sign back. Come on, guys. (Greenbriar Cafe)
  • And because a restaurant round-up this month wouldn't be complete without some UCI janx, here's a piece on the very real and, to be frank, very justifiable concern that restaurants have regarding international tipping policies, and how those may affect their servers during the races. In an effort to safeguard themselves against low tipping, a few Richmond restaurants are adding service fees or mandatory tips to their checks through the duration of the races. (CBS 6)

Ready for events that make you go mmmmmmmmm?

  • Tomorrow, Friday, catch live music and sugary samplers with Red Eye Cookie Co. at the company's new location, 935 W. Grace St. Enjoy 12 cookies for $12, and some fine patio seating, from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. (h/t contributor Robey Martin)
  • ZZQ returns to Ardent Craft Ales tomorrow at 5 p.m., with brisket, spare ribs and pork shoulder. EXTRA BARBECUE BONUS NEWS: The ZZQ pop-up just got extended through Nov. 20! The team also just put down a 50 percent deposit on a new, double-the-size smoker, which means more brisket for all of us in the future. Good things all around. (ZZQ)
  • Close out summer with a bang, and a whole lot of Hardywood's Berliner Weisse variants, tomorrow evening. We're talking Berliner Weisse with cucumber; Berliner Weisse with cherries; Berliner Weisse with apricot; the list goes on. Go get some. 4 to 9 p.m. (Hardywood Park Craft Brewery)
  • Also, oh hey, Friday is also National Cheeseburger Day! To celebrate, Carytown Burgers & Fries is offering half-price cheeseburgers at its Lakeside and Short Pump locations. Just be sure to mention this deal, mmk? (Carytown Burgers & Fries)
  • Hit the road and head to Prince George on Saturday for SHRIMP BLAST, a large outdoor shrimp festival where $30 gets you boiled shrimp, coleslaw, hushpuppies, baked beans and all-you-can-drink iced tea, beer and wine. (The value!) 5 to 10 p.m. at Appomattox Harbor, 1604 Fine St. Feel-good bonus: The $30 fee benefits the W.W. Cato Foundation. (Shrimp Blast)

And now for a few (inter)national links:

  • Looking to the future of food, one Michelin-starred chef has devised the ultimate technologically-tinged dining experience, which uses virtual reality goggles and a light and sound show. Would you like to know more? (Yahoo! Food)
  • Here's something unsettling: Studies show that many varieties of fruits, vegetables and grains have lost a bit of nutritional value over time, due to a number of causes ranging everywhere from food processing to farming methods. (The New York Times)
  • Live Your Best Pasta Life with this collection of tips including a pointer on not even boiling your water. Really. (Serious Eats)

'Til next time, just give us all the noodles you have. All of them. We'll take no pasta prisoners.