Allow us to quench your thirst for beverages *and* knowledge this week, from the latest on Commercial Taphouse to the finer points of Belle & James, as pictured above. (Photo by Beth Furgurson)
Welcome to the weekend! I hope you brought an appetite, some thirst and some free time over the next few days, because I've got a lot of goodness to throw at you, including drinks with Santa. Let's dive right in and leave the floaties at home:
- IT'S BACK: Commercial Taphouse shuttered at the end of summer, but now it's coming back, all according to plan. Richmond beer titan An Bui is out of the equation, but his friend and colleague Joseph Miller took the reins and plans to reopen the beloved Fan beer bar sometime next week. To wet your whistle, we chatted with Miller about what deliciousness we'll all find when the Taphouse reopens, what's changed and what's new at 111 N. Robinson.
- And speaking of that new-new, Richmond's got a few fun new pop-ups and concepts comin' your way, and you can try some of them this weekend. From a secret dinner series to the latest from Metzger Bar & Butchery's team, these events are designed to test the waters and allow you to sample food or sit down to a meal prepared by some of the city's rising talent. At Metzger on Sunday, try Iki Kai: a Hawaiiain-food pop-up featuring poke bowls, spam musubi, yakitori and halo-halo, alongside tiki-inspired cocktails and a palm frond or two. You can also catch Gold Cart, the internationally inspired pop-up from some of the staff of Pasture and Citizen, serving up yuca fries with mushroom gravy, a hearty black-bean and beef stew, and more this Sunday. And don't forget The Ivy Wall, the secret super club that pops up around the city every two months. Read all about all three, plus more on what you can expect from each, right over here. (Richmond magazine)
- Because it wouldn't be a Richmond Food News post without Brew News, here's the latest from Scott's Addition's beer scene: Come next fall, the SunTrust building at 3022 W. Broad St. will become Statement Brewing Co., a 10,000-square-foot brewery and restaurant sporting both an outdoor bar and beer garden. (Richmond BizSense)
- In Bellevue, the owners of Dot's Back Inn are breathing new life into 4017 MacArthur Ave., formerly Omega Grecian Restaurant. Demi's will be a sort of Mediterranean grill serving up cuisine from Italy, Greece, Turkey and Spain and is projected to open in early January. (Style Weekly)
- And in closures (but also openings), the VCU-area Urban Farmhouse at 800 W. Broad St. recently shuttered. Those looking to get their Farmhouse fix can find it downtown soon enough at the new location, set to open next month inside Linden Row Inn. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
- A general feel-good PSA: Jackson Ward's Idle Hands Bread Co. is donating 10 percent of its Saturday sales to FeedMore through the month of December. Go get you some pastries and naturally risen fresh bread and fill your hearts and bellies while you're helping to fill the hearts and bellies of others! (Idle Hands Bread Co.)
- Meatless made easy: Here's a spotlight on Vegtabowl Foods, a Henrico small business selling premade vegetarian and vegan goods such as vegan chicken salad and vegan barbecue. Though these products are only sold locally, the husband-and-wife team behind them has plans to expand beyond our city's farmers markets and other food outlets such as Ellwood Thompson's and Perk! Coffee + Lunchbox. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
- NOW ONLINE: Downtown's Belle & James and its sibling rooftop bar, Kabana, are undergoing some serious changes, and they're almost all delicious. Fresh from the pages of the December issue of Richmond mag is our review of Belle & James, a restaurant offering a serious beverage program and, now, a more global cuisine. Warning: These photos may cause extreme hunger and/or thirst.
- And will ya look at that, more accolades! Congratulations to Perly's Restaurant & Delicatessen, which beauty and lifestyle site Refinery29 just named the best brunch spot in Virginia. I'll take my Schnorrer with corned-beef hash as usual, thanks.
Ready for that weekend? Cool, because it's here whether you like it or not. Just lean in.
- HAPPENING NOW: Want to fill your heart with the spirit of giving? 'Tis the season, after all, and Pasture is once again here to help those in need. The restaurant is currently hosting a holiday gift drive for children in foster care, so please drop off unwrapped presents for children, be they infants or 18-year-olds, as well as new clothing, sports items and infant supplies such as diapers. Pasture, at 416 E. Grace St., is taking donations through Sunday, Dec. 11.
- What could be better than day-drinking and meeting Santa? I'll give you a minute to come up with an answer, but only a minute because I can only wait so long to give you the news that Quirk is hosting a Boozy Santa Brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Sit down to brunch at the hotel's restaurant, Maple & Pine, be sure to load up on bellinis and mimosas while there, and get a free photo with Santa. (Quirk Hotel)
- Rhyming with "Quirk" is "Perk," where you should stop by the following day for a Sunday Social. Sunday morning you'll find fresh bread and gourmet Nightingale ice cream sandwiches at Perk! Coffee + Lunchbox l in Bon Air from noon to 2 p.m. This is, of course, all in addition to the li'l café's regular menu of pastries, sandwiches, coffee and house-made yogurt. (Perk! Coffee + Lunchbox)
- On Sunday evening, don't forget you've got two new pop-ups to check out. Iki Kai, the new Hawaiian-food concept from the team behind Metzger Bar & Butchery, is turning Metzger into a tropical paradise from 5 p.m. to midnight. Gold Cart, a pop-up prepared by Pasture's sous chef and one of Citizen's line cooks, will be serving up Latin American cuisine at downtown's Citizen from 6 to 9 p.m. Once more, with feeling, get more details here.
- And speaking of pop-ups, catch another Jackdaw industry night at Millie's beginning at 7 p.m. and goin' late with dishes such as kare kare steak pupusas, red rice congee with pached egg and shaved bonito, and char siu pork skewers with crushed peanuts. Peep that full menu here. (The Jackdaw)
And now for a few (inter)national links:
- A delightful read on a truly kitschy and arguably underappreciated food item: the cheese ball. I read this and learned all sorts of interesting facts about the humble holiday snack, such as Amy and David Sedaris' play featuring many of them, and that the cheese ball can trace its U.S. origins not to festive Midwestern parties, but to bars and taverns. (The New York Times)
- What's it like to go to ramen school in Japan? As it turns out, fascinating. Here's one account, from breaking pork bones with a sledgehammer to clipping the nails off chicken feet. (Serious Eats)
Till next time, I'll just be over here straight slurpin' a bowl of noodles.
