Caroline Ciulla of Nota Bene (Photo by Tyler Darden)
ET at the ICA
The hotly anticipated Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU will open in the spring of 2018, and hungry art patrons won’t have to leave the premises to grab a bite: Ellwood Thompson’s will open a cafe inside the new museum offering “healthy, locally sourced, made-in-house food,” according to a release. Expect coffee, juices and smoothies, baked goods, sandwiches and salads, and more fresh snacks and drinks.
New to the Plate
New fall menus are out! Personally, after a summer of salads and ceviches, the return to heartier, richer fare is welcome.
Glancing around town, Chef Joe Sparatta over at Heritage has rolled out a new Rohan duck with curried butternut squash — Rohan is a heritage hybrid that is meatier and richer than your average duck — as well as a black-pepper torchio pasta with a local-mushroom ragout and a pistachio pistou, all topped off with a beautiful soft-poached egg.
It’s the return of an old favorite at Shagbark, with the Eastern Shore Fisherman’s Stew, a locally sourced bourride of shellfish with hominy and charred red onion lovingly simmered in a cilantro-lime broth and finished with a coriander aioli. Or you could sink your teeth into an Autumn Olive pork chop, grilled and served up with toasted cashews and pickled Fresno peppers.
Chef Michael Macknight at Kitchen on Cary has rolled out a savory doughnut appetizer, a pork-belly doughnut with roasted apples and a red-wine apple butter, because I need to get my Lipitor prescription refilled. Yum.
Meanwhile, at Dutch & Co., the chefs have introduced a rather amazing roasted-mushroom soup, flavored with lemon yogurt and puffed freekeh (a Lebanese grain) and finished with some lightly roasted sorrel.
New to the Glass
The Lesser Gods cocktail (Photo courtesy Secco Wine Bar)
Some seasonal menus are for drinking rather than eating. Take Secco Wine Bar, now churning out tasty little tipples that please the eye and the palate. Case in point, their new-for-fall Lesser Gods: cognac and eau de vie with cardamon-pear syrup, simply garnished with a slice of dehydrated pear.
Fans of “T,” aka Thomas Leggett of The Roosevelt, have a few weeks to sample his beverages at the Church Hill eatery. New for fall, he’s concocted the Bee’s Mode, gin and rum with madeira and bourbon barrel-aged honey. You can catch T through the end of October, before he moves on to open The Jasper in Carytown.
Over in the Bottom, Nota Bene’s Caroline Ciulla (pictured above), formerly of Acacia Mid-town and Secco Wine Bar, has rolled out a new, exciting cocktail menu. Perhaps most exciting is The Postman Always Brings Ice, a celebration of fall with muddled apple and ginger mixed with whisky and sherry and a hint of lemon. Sadly, this will be Ciulla’s last menu for the Richmond cocktail set; she’s leaving RVA this week for the Windy City. We wish her happy journeys!
Oodles of Noodles
A noodle pop-up at Branch & Vine, in the old Olio space on Main (Olio itself has reopened over on Cary a couple blocks away, for those trying to keep track), to benefit the American Cancer Society on Monday, Oct. 16, sounds like it could be fun and compelling enough to hit the Interested button on Facebook. When you find out that that the pop-up is the work of Ian Merryman of The Jackdaw along with mobile kitchen Kudzu, you might change the reply to Going.
Kudzu? Wait, what is Kudzu? Well, turns out its chef is none other than Will Richardson, formerly of Shoryuken Ramen, which consistently drew long lines of fans during its relatively brief run. Kudzu is Richardson's new venture, and his “mobile kitchen” is actually a food truck that should be hitting the road in the next month.
New Landings
Former Mint Chef Malcom Mitchell is back with Lower 48, in the old Flames spot in the Bottom at 423 N.18th St. The cuisine is American fare with old favorites like Maryland crab cakes and newer takes on familiar dishes like deep-fried lobster bites with truffle sea salt and a lobster roll sauce.
Also new is Little Saint. This Park Avenue eatery in the Museum District promises lighter fare that doesn’t skimp on taste. (Marco Style)
In Midlothian, The Shaved Duck is set to spread its wings on Oct. 12. Former Rogue Gentlemen Sous Chef Matt Kirwan will be at the helm, getting creative with American-inspired cuisine. Duck and waffles anyone?
Back to School
Have you ever thought you wanted to open a food-related business? Pop into Ellwood Thompson’s Beet Cafe the second Monday of each month at 11:30 a.m., starting Oct. 9 and running though January, for the Appleseed Series. Hosted by Stephanie Ganz and Barbara Upchurch of The Apple Cart, each workshop will help you answer burning questions like, “Do I really want to do this?” Buy tickets here.
Quick Bites
- In case you forgot because it’s not raining, the State Fair of Virginia is in progress, running though this Sunday, Oct. 8.
- The 4th Annual Arts Junction Chili Throwdown is today, Oct. 6, to benefit the Visual Arts Center. Admission gets you a handmade ceramic bowl, chili from over a dozen different restaurants, and an evening of fun and live entertainment.
- Also today, Oct. 6, is the Richmond Potluck to benefit Puerto Rico
- Henrico Restaurant Week starts this Saturday and runs through Oct. 15 — proceeds benefit Henrico Christmas Mother.
- RVA’s own Emmy Sumpter, a fifth-grader at St. Catherine’s, will be appearing on Food Network’s Chopped Junior. The show airs Tuesday, Oct. 10; tune in and cheer her on!
