Photo courtesy Ukrop's
Ukrop’s Rainbow Cookies have always perplexed me. Sure, they’re good, but as a relative newcomer to RVA, I’m a little bemused by the childlike squeals of joy from grown adults when a plate of Rainbow Cookies is spotted on a table. What is it about these little cookies that reverts Richmonders into little kids?
Well, there’s the appearance. The cookie actually isn’t a rainbow, it’s three stripes of color. Stripes, it turns out, that match the Italian flag — they were introduced by Italian immigrants over a century ago, initially as a sponge cake with a thin layer of chocolate in between the different colored layers, then simplified into the tri-color icebox cookie we recognize today.
Despite being so closely associated with the much missed Ukrop’s grocery chain and still made by their bakery, they actually aren’t a Ukrop creation. Nope, the rainbow cookie RVA loves actually originated from the kitchen of Dot’s Pastry Shop in Carytown Court, home today to Jean Jacques Bakery.
Opened in the late ’40s by Dorothy, “Dot,” Robinson and her husband, Charlie, Dot’s Pastry Shop was, as recalled by Bobby Ukrop, “Richmond’s premiere bake shop.”
Joe and Jacquelin Ukrop (left) with Charlie and Dot Robinson in front of Dot’s Pastry Shop (Photo courtesy Ukrop's)
Exactly when Dot’s introduced the rainbow cookie is unknown. But by the ’60s, the rainbow cookies had become a fixture in Richmond, especially with children, who would “stop on their way to school in the morning” for fresh cookies to put in their lunch bag, according to Ukrop.
In 1971, the Ukrop family began to add bakeries and delis to their markets. But, lacking real bakery experience, the results simply weren’t very satisfying.
“Our products were kind of crummy,” Ukrop jokes.
Bobby’s brother Jim approached a number of local bakeries, from Thalhimers to Dot’s, seeking a partner to improve the quality of their baked goods, to no avail. Their luck changed on Dec. 23, 1976, when Dot’s husband, Charlie, spotted Jayne Ukrop, Bobby’s wife, in their bakery.
Charlie told Jayne that he and Dot had no children and were looking to retire. He asked if the Ukrops would be interested in purchasing the bakery. They were.
New bakery in hand, along with Dot’s brother to assist, Ukrop’s began building out its bakery business.
“We wanted a product that people would say was just as good as when Dot and Charlie were running it,” Ukrop says.
“When you walked into the store as a child or were riding in a cart, one of our bakery clerks would offer you a Rainbow Cookie,” says Scott Aronson, president of Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods.
“That’s why people have this big emotional connection,” he adds. “Every time I went shopping with my mom or dad, I knew I was going to get this cookie.”
Today, although Ukrop’s no longer has grocery stores, the tradition lives on through Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods, which continues to bake the cookies and distribute them throughout the region to stores including Kroger and Harris Teeter. Visiting distant family who still reminisce about the Rainbow Cookies? You can even pick them up in Hudson News at the Richmond airport.
Bobby Ukrop and the rest of the Ukrop family are touched when people say it made their day to find the cookies someplace far from home.
It’s that “connection” the cookies provide to Richmond and childhood that Ukrop and Aronson believe makes them so special.
Local Shops With Local Products
King of Pops’ Popsicle with Ukrop’s Rainbow Cookies (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
If your idea of a small gourmet market is a place where overpriced artisanal jars of sauces gather dust on shelves, chances are you haven’t checked out Richmond’s independent markets. Little House Green Grocery in North Side and Union Market, recently celebrating five years in Church Hill, are filled with useful and locally produced goods near and dear to the hearts, and stomachs, of Richmonders.
Either store’s freezer case is well-stocked with Nightingale ice cream sandwiches, nestled next to an array of Popsicles from Scott’s Addition’s King of Pops — both creating uniquely Richmond flavors that are hot, or should we say cold, year-round — Rainbow Cookie Popsicle, anyone?
Perhaps you’re in search of a bite for dinner. Union Market has you covered with Bombolini pasta and sauces hailing from The Fan, while LHGG features frozen pizzas whipped up by Billy Fallen, formerly of Billy Bread, who now tosses dough at his own brick-and-mortar, Billy Pie, on Patterson Ave. RVA’s longtime obsession with Billy Bread lives on through Antbear Bakery, which continues the Billy Bread tradition for LHGG, among other local outlets.
Don’t forget to grab something to wash it all down with. Richmond’s myriad breweries, cideries and meaderies are well-represented in the little markets — occasionally with small-batch, Richmond-centric offerings you won’t find anywhere else.
Is there anything more RVA than noshing on Billy Bread paired with Birdie’s Pimento Cheese (or UnMoo vegan cheese) and washing it down with libations from Hardywood or Blue Bee? I think not.
