Photo by Thinkstock
In the countdown to Thanksgiving, we offer numerous recipes and takeaways for home cooks and good guests. Options abound for those who need to get out or prefer to let someone else do the work.
Tee Time
With Turkey Day almost here, Richmond magazine breaks down the issue to help you know your (food) self better. Genevelyn Steele’s What’s Your T-Day Type? article sources local purveyors for sides and delicacies that hit the heart of the culinary-focused holiday.
Beverage Bonanza
In time for the holiday season of boozing, Catherine Amos Cribbs’ Sips & Swigs article on Pasture’s The Nelson cocktail inspired by Virginia spirits offers a creative drink out on the town or to try at your next party.
Warehouse Wonderful
Tazza Kitchen group is launching a new restaurant in Scott’s Addition next month. This Tazza Comes to Town behind-the-scenes look at the new urban digs describes some of the food you can expect. A highlight was the quality ingredients, many of which are locally sourced. Tacos made from a smoky Tortilleria los Comales wrap is home-run move.
Swiss Miss
Sick of cooking and the relatives? Take inspiration from Todd Kliman’s review of the Brenner Pass restaurant in Scott’s Addition. It will be sure to wow locals and visitors as "the best, most exciting restaurant in all of Richmond."
T-Day Delectables
The right-next-door restaurant/market Chairlift at Brenner Pass is holding a “Last Minute Holiday Survival Party” on Wednesday, Nov. 22, from noon to 8 p.m., offering wine, cheese and charcuterie deals to fill up your Thanksgiving table. The event includes cocktails and sampling Alpine cheeses. Shoppers can get 15 percent off a purchase of three bottles of wine.
Market Milestone
Congratulations to the Little House Green Grocery for marking its fifth year this week. Described as a re-imagined “corner store,” the grocery is stocked with local food, produce and cooking essentials. The Bellevue market celebrated the big 5 by handing out gift bags to customers as well as offering a 5 percent discount on all Virginia products. A recent article in Produce Business said Little House Green Grocery “may be small in stature, but it’s big in the heart of the community.” You can check out seasonal recipes on the store’s website geared to products in its veggie box, a yearlong subscription of local and organic produce packed and ready for pickup every Wednesday.
Eat for the Parks
At Enrichmond’s annual Brunswick Stew & Stout Festival on Saturday, Nov. 18, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., stew crews from all over Virginia will try to win over your hearts and taste buds with their recipes. All of the stews attendees will sample are made from scratch on site. Stew Masters gather at midnight the night before the competition to prepare. Two of Richmond magazine's discerning food writers, Robey Martin and Piet E. Jones, will serve as judges. Entry to the temporary location, at 1615 E. Broad St., one block from the 17th Street Market, is a $1 suggested donation that goes toward the nonprofit’s mission to enhance Richmond parks and activate its public spaces.
China Fare
If a visit to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts' Terra Cotta Army: Legacy of the First Emperor of China exhibition (which opens this week) makes you hungry and you start thinking of hot and sour soup, the in-house Amuse restaurant has got you covered. Enjoy the views of the museum’s Sculpture Garden and Atrium as well as its menu, adjusted to reflect more Chinese fare, including chicken wings with Szechuan glaze, Mapo Tofu and Kung Pao Pork.
Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Camden’s Dogtown Market owner Andy Howell’s heartfelt email to Richmond magazine explained changes to the Manchester restaurant at 201 W. Seventh St. that results in “a constantly changing, three-course dinner menu for $20.” Howell says his market will focus more on fine wine and beer. The dinner menu’s big dishes will offer skillet-roasted shrimp, scallop and crab cakes; veal saltimbocca; mussels; pulled pork; and eye round of beef steak. Howell will again offer the fifth annual Orphan’s Thanksgiving Dinner, where parties of three or fewer “may come and gorge on house-made traditional fare from 3 to 7 p.m. for $22 per person.”
Drinking Days
The Veil Brewing Co. (1301 Roseneath Road) will mark Nov. 24, or Black Friday, with its first annual Dark Daze, a celebration of stouts and other dark, complex, malt-forward beers, with over 10 different dark beers on draft. Veil will release 500-ml bottles of Whangdoodle, the 11.5-percent Imperial version of its robust chocolate milk stout Hornswoggler, aged in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels for 14 months. The Veil will also release 16-ounce cans of Double Espresso Hornswoggler and its once-a-year Black DIPA with Citra and Nelson called blackivy.
En Vino Veritas
Thanks to Wine Enthusiast magazine for calling Richmond’s food and drink scene “congenial” in a recent web article, which highlighted Secco, The Rogue Gentlemen and Blue Bee Cider. To wrap up Cider Week Virginia, Blue Bee Cider is serving brunch on Sunday, Nov. 19, from noon to 4 p.m. with brew from Black Hand Coffee Co., doughnuts and waffles from Capitol Waffle Shop.
Midlo Brews
Fest opened at 7044 Woodlake Commons in Midlothian, with biergarten and Oktoberfest ambience and a limited menu of sausages, cheese, charcuterie, sandwiches and big pretzels. You'll find German, other European and local brews on tap and in bottles in this latest offshoot of Capital Ale House. (Style Weekly)
Fleeting Food
To a raucous playlist, I was privileged to attend Ian Merryman’s last pop-up of The Jackdaw for the season this week. Highlights included vegetable-laden dishes such as pinakbet with tangy bagoog sauce, and a Young N Rich cocktail of rum, passion fruit, green apple, and rosemary, making convivial diners wanting more of Merryman’s artistry. Mystery surrounds the chef’s next move to completely focus on Filipino-inspired fare. Follow The Jackdaw on Facebook and Twitter for future location and schedule updates.
Food Show
Alton Brown’s energy popped more during the second act of his recent Richmond touring show "Eat Your Science," where he riffed on his big love of popcorn. While in Richmond, Brown documented his delectable eats from Alchemy Coffee, Secret Sandwich Society’s Jefferson Sandwich, and The Fancy Biscuit.
News From Beyond
Gobble Gobble
The New York Times' Thanksgiving features delve into reflective writers’ memories as well as the concretely useful and interactive How to Make Thanksgiving Dinner in 8 Hours. The article on holiday dessert ideas sounds bedeviling. Cranberry-lemon stripe cake pushes all kinds of boundaries. Kudos to the Grey Lady for some creatively mesmerizing animation on the web. Never one to avoid conflict, Vice’s Munchies food site offers vegan recipes as a way to piss off your conservative uncle this Thanksgiving, as if the current political climate wasn’t enough to set off opposing viewpoints.
What’s New?
Thanks for the head up, Time magazine, for letting us know The 5 Weirdest Foods You’ll Start Eating in 2018. I know someone in Richmond is already doing the root-to-stem pickling. And Urban Choice Mushroom Farm better get on this mushroom-infused coffee trend. That could really catch on with the Patchouli-loving crowd.
