A burst pipe due to the cold has forced Heritage to close temporarily for repairs. (Photo courtesy Heritage)
It’s been cold. Very, very cold. RVADine has had a few burst pipes, but we’ve also got an army of terra cotta, some high-tech gadgets, and lots and lots of schnitzel.
Icy Disasters
Not one but two RVA favorites got knocked out of action during the sub-zero temperatures that have afflicted us in January. Both Heritage and The Rogue Gentlemen had pipes burst in the apartments above them, causing significant water damage in the restaurants.
Heritage has had to tear out and repair walls and floors in their dining room and behind the bar. Owner/Chef Joe Sparatta admits the experience has been full of “stress,” but work crews have been working diligently since the incident and he’s grateful that insurance is covering his employees’ lost wages during the closure. While an official reopening date is still up in the air, Sparatta hopes to resume service Saturday night.
The Rogue Gentlemen was hit a little harder. Water damaged not just the dining room but the kitchen as well, rendering some of the equipment unusable. Owner John Maher has been overseeing ripping up of the floors and walls throughout the space. He hopes to have the restoration work done by the end of the month, but the extensive work required makes it hard to pin down a date for the cocktails to start flowing again.
Demon Days
Another spot, an unnamed restaurant in The Fan, seems to be suffering this winter, too. According to their Craiglist plea, they need an exorcist to help them cope with drafts, apparitions, odd smells and general malaise. Of course, many Fan restaurant owners have commented that this description could apply to any eatery in the neighborhood.
The Future of Dining?
Have you ever been out to eat and realized you’re missing that one thing — more ketchup or a fresh glass of wine — but can’t quite seem to get the attention of your server? Well, a new startup, Tablee, thinks they have the answer to all that with a small device that will notify your server that you need attention. Home Team Grill in The Fan is gearing up for a trial run of the device, according to General Manager Mark Overby. He hopes it will help increase customer satisfaction and reduce unnecessary interruptions, especially important when guests might be at the table for several hours watching a game. Personally, all I can think of when envisioning this is the look a stewardess gives me when I press that button on an airplane.
Lifting a Glass to the Invaders
RVA has gone terra-cotta crazy. You’ll see replicas of the Qin Dynasty statues all over RVA and promos for the VMFA exhibit on buses and menus at places like Fat Dragon and Beijing on Grove. On Sunday (Jan. 21), Garden Grove Brewing & Urban Winery will be releasing their collaboration with the VMFA, the Elixir of Life — a beer based on the discovery of a millet-and-chrysanthemum-flower brew excavated from the tomb of the terra-cotta army. For you trivia buffs, they’ll be following it up with a trivia night on the 24th. The games start at 7:30 sharp, so make sure you don’t have feet of clay.
Bring on the Schnitzel
Cafe Rustika (formerly Cafe Rustica) on Main Street has long been one of those places that many enjoy but is easily overlooked among the din of RVADine. Well, perhaps it’s time, with a menu reshuffle rolled out this week, to make sure Rustika is back on your radar. Chef Sam George has revamped the menu to focus on what the restaurant does best: schnitzel. From Jägerschnitzel to Rahmschnitzel, with even a little Käsespätzle thrown in, you’ll be able to quench your craving for Bavarian cooking here. But what about the Mediterranean Short Stack, Rustika’s famous crustacean cake? It’s still on the menu, now called the Nordsee Frikadellen. George says he couldn’t remove that dish, as “People would riot and break the windows if we got rid of that.”
Wintry Fare at Julep’s
Downtown’s Julep’s has also rolled out its winter menu, featuring a rather interesting vegetarian dish for those of you on your January diets: roasted cauliflower and candied spaghetti squash with scarlet kale in brown butter. For those of you not refraining this month, might I suggest the 40-day dry-aged New York strip? It helped me feel my toes again during this latest cold snap.
Cures for Cabin Fever
The snow and ice has made us all a little stir-crazy. Cease your hibernation and head over to The Broken Tulip, where The Jackdaw is popping up on Monday (Jan. 22) for a Kamayan Dinner, literally a hands-on meal where diners will use banana leaves to scoop up siapao asado (Carolina-style beef with sweet chili sauce) and bagnet (crispy pork belly). Or you could pop over to Dutch & Co. on Thursday (Jan. 25) for a wine dinner featuring Italian wines from GD Vajra with winemaker Francesca Vajra on hand to present and answer questions. A little further out on the calendar, there’s also Chef Mike Tam’s Maiko Kitchen Take-Over of Laura Lee’s on the 29th. He’ll be dishing up a Chinese-American a la carte menu that includes vegetarian options.
Spare Change
Johnny and Katrina Giavos’ new South Side tiki bar venture, Little Nickel, is still slated to open for lunches late next week, assuming the inspection overlords cooperate. Over in Midlothian, Forest Hill watering hole O’Toole’s (the original location is just down the block from Little Nickel) is making a second attempt at a second location in Charter Colony Shopping Center. They’re looking at a late spring/early summer opening, with the center going through an overhaul that includes a possible yet-to-be-named grocery store replacing the closed Martin’s.
Defying Demolition in Carytown
As if the traffic isn’t bad enough in Carytown already, plans are underway to tear down the historic Toll Takers House, home to Carytown Burgers & Fries, to make way for another big-box grocery store. A change.org petition to stop the plan is online to help save the approximately 200-year-old building and the nearly 20-year-old Carytown mainstay.
Quick Bites
- Burger Pop-up, Citizen (Jan. 20) — Meat purveyor JM Stock Provisions is rolling out some serious dry-aged meats to create some super special burgers.
- Brekkie Waffle Pop-up, Alchemy Coffee (Jan. 20-27) — Coffee and waffles.
- Khristmas, Kuba Kuba Dos (Jan. 20) - A final holiday party with food and drink, plus a silent auction to benefit Virginia Recovery Foundation, helping to fight the opioid crisis.
- High Tea Cocktail Party, Maple & Pine at Quirk Hotel (Jan. 25) — Tea-inspired cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.
News From Beyond
Paralyzed by Lunch
Grocery store sushi often requires a bit of caution but is usually OK. Pufferfish sushi, a potentially dangerous dish that requires extensive training to prepare, might require a little more wariness. One grocery store in Japan accidentally sold some of this delicacy without removing the toxic liver, leading the city to employ its emergency loudspeakers to warn residents not to eat their tasty snack.
Twitter Triggers
Americans love to post pictures of their food on social media. This has led to an unusual trend on Twitter for a specific category of ethnic food: Italians are taking great offense at what is being done to their beloved dishes. Their unique way with words makes the insults and comments great reading, but they should be taken with a grain of salt — or at least a pinch of Parmesan.
