The Small Town Beef sandwich
The path for food lovers in Richmond seeking a good meal most commonly leads them from the outer suburbs into the heart of the city. But if you’re only ever looking toward downtown for great food options, you’re missing out on a lot of gems — like The Caboose Market & Cafe, a long-standing jewel in Ashland.
Executive Chef Jeremy Luther
The Caboose, originally established as a wine and cheese shop on a main stretch of downtown Ashland, has been around since 1997. In 2015, a casual restaurant was added in the back space of the shop. Serving lunch, dinner and brunch, the kitchen is helmed by Executive Chef Jeremy Luther, an Ashland native. From the sizable crowd on both our visits, it’s clear the Caboose is hardly just a local secret among the quaint town’s roughly 7,000 residents.
The entrance to the shop sits directly across from the railroad tracks — as if on cue, a train rushes by as we reach the front door. Entering, we’re greeted by an inviting market, shelves laden with craft beer, wine, cheese and local Virginia products. We follow the sounds of laughter and clinking plates and glasses to find ourselves welcomed by a warmly lit dining room, the Caboose’s well-loved cafe. With 10 tables, a five-seat bar and a coffee counter, the vibe is cozy and intimate. It’s also boisterous and crowded for a Wednesday — we’ve stumbled onto date night. Couples dot the room, dining there for the night’s special: $40 for a plate of cheeses and charcuterie or hummus, two mains, a bottle of wine and a shared dessert.
The Caboose is a casual dinner spot — it may not be where you’d choose to lavishly celebrate a special occasion, but it is absolutely where you want to be on a weekday night. There is no pretense here; I wouldn’t be embarrassed to ask for an ice cube for my glass of wine or ketchup for my fries. Salt and pepper shakers sit on the table, a move mostly eschewed by finer dining spots based on the assumption that the food should already be properly seasoned. The Caboose is the exact opposite of stuffy.
Indeed, the most elaborate dish on the menu is a gumbo that — at least according to this non-Louisianian — seems to mirror a chicken bake featuring classic gumbo flavors: onions, celery, bell peppers and Cajun spices. Nonetheless, it is delicious, served in a diminutive cast-iron skillet and topped with crispy panko. It was perhaps lacking a flick of salt, but — aha — I just reached over, grabbed the salt shaker and added a dash.
Cast-iron gumbo
The rest of the menu tends toward more simple offerings like sandwiches, salads and an array of snacks like dolmas, grilled cornbread and pate with crusty bread. But there is such an attention to quality and detail that the Caboose is even bound to win over people like my husband, who takes issue with the concept of sandwiches for dinner on principle alone. My opinion: Sandwiches are appropriate for any meal, but you might want to consider which camp you’re in before dining at the Caboose.
Service here can be a little slow, but the kitchen makes up for it by being on top of things: Food comes out promptly, hot and nicely plated. Ingredients from local farms, purveyors, bakeries and the like pepper the menu; there is clear care taken with every component of the dish.
We decided to go for the date night special — when in Rome — and chose a bottle of drinkable, bright Portuguese rosé and a cheese and charcuterie plate to start. The Small Town Beef sandwich I ordered for my entree was excellent: Seven Hills beef braised in a Caribbean jerk barbecue sauce with a tangy apple and honey mustard fennel coleslaw nestled on a sturdy toasted roll. My husband opted for the aforementioned gumbo, and we followed it with a piece of towering three-layer spice cake. Everything was simple, well-made and an incredible deal, especially considering we both went home with leftovers.
Cheese and charcuterie board
Brunch, offered on Saturdays, was similarly delightful and homespun. Service, again, was a little lagging, but my cappuccino was good and frothy, and the succession of dishes we ordered was virtually flawless. The breakfast hash was a mix of creamy yellow potatoes, sausage, quinoa, peppers, chives and eggs, while a morning salad of crisp local greens, thin slices of colorful radish, apple-fennel slaw and crunchy slivers of almonds — all offset by a creamy horseradish dressing — supplied welcome acidity and depth. A giant, buttery biscuit arrived blanketed by a peppery, full-flavored gravy; a few shakes from a bottle of nearby Cholula finished the dish.
I don’t consider brunch complete unless it includes a dessert, and here, a custardy Dutch baby pancake on the small plates menu delivered. Warm, dense and topped with sweet-tart cinnamon apples and maple syrup, it was an ideal end to the meal.
On the way out we perused the Caboose’s market half and took home a bottle of wine and a few beers to enjoy with our dinner leftovers the next day. But they didn’t make it that long.
4 out of 5 stars
108 S. Railroad Ave., Ashland
804-798-2933
$3 to $17
