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Slurp Ramen originally emerged as a pop-up in the summer of 2020.
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Slurp will specialize in tonkotsu ramen and aims to debut by spring.
In March of 2020, the co-owners of The Jasper bid a temporary farewell to last calls and slinging classic cocktails.
Quickly adapting to pandemic life, the Carytown bar soon adopted a concept called “Friends and Family,” offering a way for out-of-work dining industry colleagues to flex their kitchen skills and earn money through pop-ups, including one of their own.
“[Jasper co-owner] Kevin [Liu] makes really great tonkotsu [ramen], and he had made it for several of us before,” says Brandon Peck, beverage director at The Jasper.
When Peck and his Jasper counterparts were reevaluating ways to move forward during COVID-19 and brainstorming a food venture, Liu’s tonkotsu ramen, an umami bomb with a foundation of rich pork bone broth, sparked a memory.
“I said, ‘Kevin, you should do your ramen, this is perfect,” Peck recalls.
Dubbed Slurp Ramen, the onetime pop-up dedicated to the Japanese noodle soup has evolved into a long-term concept. In the coming months, Liu and his Jasper co-owners Thomas “T” Leggett and Mattias Hagglund, along with Peck, will introduce a brick-and-mortar ramen restaurant in Church Hill.
“We had a really good time with ramen and the other food concepts during the time we were shut down [for indoor service], and it was kind of because of that enjoyment we got out of it that we stared looking for a space,” Peck explains.
Offering a limited menu of tonkotsu and miso ramen along with a cold noodle bowl, appetizers such as bao buns and wings, and an occasional birria ramen special, Slurp has clocked in roughly two dozen pop-ups since its inception in the summer of 2020.
Liu says he has developed the recipes for his ramen over the years, turning to YouTube and cookbooks to develop the broth, making big batches of the comforting soup “every time the weather got cold.”
“For the dan dan mian [dish] in particular, I followed recipes for chile crisp I found online and then tweaked based on my own memories from eating noodles growing up in China,” Liu says, describing the noodles with super spicy numbing broth. “I also had my mom and aunt taste test a lot of the dishes to get their seals of approval.”
While the majority of The Jasper crew will remain focused on the Carytown watering hole, leading the kitchen at the future space will be Erik Emery, their current in-house chef.
Aiming to open by April at the earliest, Slurp will operate as a fast-casual concept with counter-style service and offer lunch and dinner. Asked if there will be cocktails, beer or wine, Peck answers, “Probably all of the above. You know us, we like all that stuff, and I’m sure there will be a smattering of options.”
Liu, also a founding member of Richmond Restaurants United and co-owner of Carytown Cupcakes, says having a permanent space will also allow Slurp Ramen to take things up a notch.
“I’m super excited to be able to take this to a brick-and-mortar, mainly because having consistent volume will allow us to source ingredients that it didn't make sense to buy just for a pop-up — think fancy soy sauces, bespoke chile pepper blends, Asian leafy greens, etc.," he says.
Moving into the new mixed-use building at 2416 Jefferson Ave. from developers Matt Jarreau and Daniil Kleyman, Slurp will add to the growing collection of food businesses coming to the space that currently includes New England-style pint business Spotty Dog Ice Cream. North End Juice Co. and Pizza Bones — a fellow former pop-up that was also a member of the “Friends and Family” collective — are just down the block.
For Peck and Leggett, the Church Hill area brings back a lot of memories. The Roosevelt, the duo’s former stomping grounds and where Leggett spent a six-year stint, is a few hundred feet away from the soon-to-be site of Slurp.
“Lot of good neighbors, and I’m really excited to be within such close proximity to The Roosevelt after working there for so long,” Peck says.
And while there is a nostalgia that comes with returning to an area where he and Leggett made a considerable mark on the Richmond bar scene, there is also an excitement surrounding the evolution of their hospitality journey.
“We’ve talked about doing another concept for a while, and nothing has really jumped out at us," Peck says. "We all come from food backgrounds, so it's kind of cool to be returning to that in some form. The Jasper is not food-centric, so to be going towards something that is primarily food feels kind of cool and unexpected.”
