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Pop-up-alooza
A couple of Secco veterans, Cassie Majidi and Ryan Evans, are taking over the kitchen at The Cask Cafe, 206 S. Robinson St., this Sunday, July 16. To help Richmonders beat the heat, they’re rolling cold Korean noodle dishes. From scallop ceviche to beef noodle soup, it’s a chance to cool off. No tickets, so arrive early to snag a bowl.
BBQ pitmaster Anthony DiBernardo of Charleston’s Swig & Swine is coming to Flora, 203 N. Lombardy St., to slow-cook all the meats on July 24. With a special taco menu and an array of drink specials, here’s a chance to sample what is considered to be some of the region's best BBQ from the comfort of The Fan.
Dust off your fancy duds and pop over to a charity benefit for the Byrd Theatre on July 25. The Roaring Twenties Gala will feature silent movies, a cocktail reception and a five-course dinner created by the Underground Kitchen. Tickets are $400 per person.
If you’ve not caught Millie’s Executive Chef Ian Merriman’s Filipino-themed pop-up series, The Jackdaw, August may be your last chance this summer. Snag your tickets for this Aug. 21 event at The Veil Brewing Co., 1301 Roseneath Road, before they’re gone. You can also read about Chef Ian’s inspiration for this series and possible future Filipino-themed dinners here.
Changes afoot for a couple of local favorites
Boka Grill, 2557 Sheila Lane, and Boka Tako Bar, 304 N. Robinson St., are expanding their menus. Besides a new list of premium-ingredient tacos, with fillings such as crab or poke tuna, they’ll also be rolling out made-to-order guacamole — whipped up in a lava-rock bowl. Then there’s the Shameless, with “a shell made of cheese, bacon and onions” enveloping “a filling of tender pork, tater tots, Tijuana ranch, smoky barbecue sauce, crispy onions and more.” You can probably only eat one.
Over in Carytown, Weezie’s Kitchen, 3123 W. Cary St., has completed their makeover begun last fall. Under the leadership of former Can Can executive chef, Brian Brown, they’ve freshened up the space and the menu, adding dishes such as bacon-wrapped rabbit loin, while continuing to maintain their comfort-food favorites, like their ever-popular mac and cheese. And, yes, they’re still open 16 hours a day.
Food on wheels
Schedules across RVA were thrown into chaos with the abrupt closure of Relay Foods. In this busy world, who has time to shop? Stepping into that void is Instacart, launched this week in Richmond. With food delivered to your door from a number of grocery stores including Wegmans, Publix and even Petco, you might never need to brave a grocery store parking lot again.
For your listening pleasure
Tune in to WRIR, 97.3 FM, this Friday at 2 p.m. (repeated over the weekend and available on SoundCloud on Tuesday) for a food-themed edition of Open Source RVA called Open Face. Yours truly is joined by some of the powerhouses of the Richmond dining scene — Julia Battaglini (of Secco), Kendra Feather (of The Roosevelt, Ipanema, Garnett’s, Laura Lee’s), Victoria Deroche (of Nota Bene) and Michele Jones (of Comfort, Pasture, Flora) for a no-holds-barred discussion of dining, restaurant ownership and those pesky Yelp reviewers.
News From Beyond
Social media uproar
Twitter and Facebook blew up when Air India announced that all domestic flights would only serve vegetarian meals going forward. The move was billed as a way to cut waste, but when you really think about it, will you really miss that dry piece of chicken or questionable fillet of fish?
Who needs a glass
The Negroni has been one of the hotter drinks over the past year or so. With such popularity has come many variations, some that stay true to the classic tipple and others that stray a bit. Culinary guru Alton Brown has come up with his own: a watermelon Negroni. The big difference? You don’t mix it in a glass; you mix the drink in your mouth.
Dietary dogma
Gluten-free might be all the rage in restaurants these days, but not so much in church — Catholic ones, anyway. The Vatican has reaffirmed that communion wafers must be made with wheat. Low-gluten Eucharists have the church's blessing, but totally gluten-free wafers do not.
