Eat It, Virginia!: Recent Episodes
WTVR
Eat It, Virginia! is a deep dive into the food, restaurants, and dining trends of Richmond, Virginia and spots around the Commonwealth.
How does someone leave a successful insurance career at 50 to open one of Richmond’s most beloved wine bars?
On this episode of Eat It, Virginia, Scott Wise and Robey Martin sit down with Melissa Stallard, proprietor of Chez Nous in Richmond’s Monroe Ward neighborhood, to talk about food, reinvention, French culture, hospitality and building community through wine and conversation.
Melissa shares how growing up in her father’s Doswell butcher shop helped shape her love of food, why she left the insurance industry after decades in business, and how a lifelong fascination with France inspired Chez Nous. Her intimate French wine bar near The Jefferson Hotel has quickly become one of Richmond’s hottest dining destinations.
Whether you love Richmond restaurants, French food, wine bars, hospitality culture or stories about personal reinvention, this episode offers a thoughtful look inside one of RVA’s most talked-about culinary concepts.
Subscribe to Eat It, Virginia for conversations with the chefs, restaurateurs and food personalities shaping Richmond’s dining scene.
Chez Nous
4 W Cary St.
Richmond, VA 23220
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Richmond pizza legend Billy Fallen is back with a new Billy Pie restaurant in Henrico’s West End.
In this episode of Eat It, Virginia, Scott Wise and Robey Martin sit down with the longtime baker, restaurateur and entrepreneur behind Billy Bread, Aziza’s on Main, Billy Pasta and Billy Pie to talk about his decades in Richmond’s food scene, his family’s restaurant roots, and why he’s opening another pizza shop.
Fallen shares stories about:
- Starting Billy Bread in Richmond in 1999 after baking in Vermont
- Learning from legendary French baker Gerard Rubaud
- Building Aziza’s on Main with his mother Rusty
- The cult following behind Rusty’s famous cream puffs
- Launching pizza concepts inside Virginia breweries
- Growing Billy Pie frozen pizzas into a six-state wholesale business
- Opening the newest Billy Pie location near Ridge Road Shopping Center in Richmond
The conversation also covers artisan bread baking, Neapolitan-style pizza, restaurant life, balancing business and family, Richmond restaurant culture, and the future of Billy Pie.
If you love Richmond restaurants, pizza, bread baking, local food stories, brewery culture, and behind-the-scenes conversations with chefs and restaurateurs, this episode is for you.
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Five years after his pandemic-era appearance, Chef Evan Campbell returns to Eat It, Virginia with an update on his culinary journey. Robey Martin and Scott Wise catch up on Evan’s move from running The Stables and Franklin Inn in Richmond to a serene apple orchard resort in Sedona, Arizona.
Back home in Virginia, Evan now leads food and beverage at Westminster Canterbury, manages seven dining programs, and curates creative rotating menus for residents.
He also shares how his private chef business — complete with his drag persona “Rita Recipe” — keeps him connected to Richmond’s dining scene, and outlines plans for a grassroots advocacy group to support local restaurants.
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In this episode, we explore the unique partnership behind Richmond's Get Tight Lounge with co-owner Drew Schlegel and Chef Dalisa Campbell.
Schlegel, a Baltimore native who worked his way through the restaurant scene starting at the Lily Pad, brings authentic Baltimore-style pit beef to Richmond alongside business partner Randy O'Dell.
Campbell, whose culinary journey spans from her grandmother's country bar Boot Scooters to international resort consulting in Jamaica, has transformed the kitchen and what she boldly calls "the best cheesecake in the city."
Get Tight Lounge is a neighborhood gathering spot that serves elevated bar food while offering a variety of live music and Baltimore sports on TV.
Schlegel shares how he books all entertainment in-house, while Campbell operates a freezer-free kitchen that can push out Altria Theater rush orders in 30 minutes.
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Join Scott Wise and Robey Martin as they sit down with Fred Enriquez, co-owner of Auntie Ning's Filipino restaurant in Richmond, Virginia. Fred shares how his childhood and family's Filipino restaurant in Virginia Beach inspired him to bring authentic Filipino cuisine to Richmond.
Once in Richmond, Fred and his business partner Kristin Hobday combined their shared faith with their passion for hospitality to create a restaurant that serves traditional dishes like adobo, lumpia, and pancit while also feeding those in need.
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On this month's episode of Eat It, Virginia, hosts Scott Wise and Robey Martin sit down with Herbie Abernethy and Josh Novicki, the Richmond duo behind three of the city's most celebrated restaurants: Cobra Cabana, Hot For Pizza, and Brave Captain.
Herbie and Josh share the story of how two art school kids from East Carolina University, connected through a thriving North Carolina music scene, found their way to Richmond and built a restaurant empire rooted in community.
From the origins of Cobra Cabana's legendary $5 beer and shot deal, to the 40-year-old sourdough starter powering Hot For Pizza's pies, to the newly opened Brave Captain, this conversation is packed with great stories, colorful opinions, and plenty of Richmond restaurant recommendations.
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Eat It, Virginia is available on WTVR.com, the CBS 6 YouTube page, and Spotify.
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Baltik’s Bagel founder Yero Rudzinskas shares his journey from Michelin-starred kitchens and high finance to building one of Richmond’s most buzzed-about bagel shops. In this Eat It, Virginia! podcast episode, he reveals his bagel-making secrets, business philosophy, and why community connection drives his success.
You'll Learn:
- How Yero went from chef to banker to bagel maker.
- The process behind Baltik’s Bagel’s signature chewy, glossy crust.
- Why Richmond’s South Side was the perfect location for his Baltik’s Bagel.
- Tips for perfect bagels at home — fermentation, boiling, baking.
- His plans for expanding in Richmond’s growing food scene.
- Stories from New York City Bagel Fest People’s Choice win.
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Eat It, Virginia, co-hosts Scott Wise and Robey Martin sit down with Tim Gearhart, founder of Gearharts Fine Chocolates, to explore his 25-year journey in confectionery. Tim shares how his love for food began in Charlottesville, took him through a stint as a Marine Corps cook, and eventually led to opening one of Virginia’s most beloved chocolate shops in 2001.
He discusses the artistry behind Gearharts’ signature 16-piece collection, his seasonal creations, and the expansion into a Short Pump chocolate café.
Tim also unveils the story behind James River Chocolate Company and Gunny’s Bark, a veteran-inspired product benefiting the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.
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Eat It, Virginia hit the road to Scott’s Addition in Richmond for a trip to Pinky’s, a Mediterranean‑inspired tapas spot with big personality, unforgettable flavors, and a whole lotta heart. 💖
Owner & chef Steve DeRaffele dishes on everything that makes Pinky’s special, from his mom’s influence (and the nickname that became the restaurant’s name) to the open‑concept vibe, neighborhood events, and some of the most drool‑worthy plates in Richmond.
🍽 Highlights include:
• Tapas that span Spain, France, Italy, North Africa & Greece — totally different flavors on one table
• The legendary pork belly (salt‑cured, braised, crisped, and plated with pickled peppers, fresh orange zest & smoked paprika aioli)
• Gluten‑free fried calamari and other allergy‑friendly eats that make guests cry happy tears
• Steve’s DIY buildout with skills passed down from his grandfather who built diners
• Tropical, vacation‑vibe decor designed by his wife Brittanny (owner of local jewelry shop SUN & SELENE)
• Neighborhood parties like oyster nights, hot dog wine pairings, Friendsgiving, and more
If you love Richmond’s food scene or just want to meet the chef behind one of the city’s most talked‑about restaurants , you’ll want to watch this.
👉 Subscribe to Eat It, Virginia on YouTube or Spotify so you don’t miss our next stop in RVA and beyond! 📺 Watch more at CBS 6’s YouTube page or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
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On this episode of Eat It, Virginia! we sit down with Memi Shehata and Rania Yacoub of Egyptian restaurant Memi’s and Fan favorite 3 Monkeys in Richmond.
Memi’s, now celebrating its first anniversary, is one of the city’s newest Egyptian eateries. It’s the culmination of a journey that began nearly two decades ago and half a world away.
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When music lover and chef Matt Kirwan opened Daisy's at Tredegar this summer, it was like a dream come true. Located adjacent to Richmond's new Allianz Amphitheater, the restaurant has become a pregame destination for concertgoers.
"I still have to pinch myself sometimes," Kirwan told hosts Scott Wise and Robey Martin on the latest episode of Eat It, Virginia! "I got to go into every show and some of my favorite bands came through. Two of my favorite things in life, music and food, and now they're kind of together."
Daisy’s at Tredegar
500 Tredegar Street
Richmond, VA 23219
804-610-4468
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The Smoky Mug recently opened its expanded location along North Avenue off Brookland Park Boulevard in Richmond, growing from a 1,400-square-foot space with 8 indoor seats to a 3,000-square-foot restaurant featuring 35 dining room seats, a 10-seat bar, and a 25-seat lounge area. Co-owners Dan Lee and Ryan Maynes discussed their journey on the Eat It, Virginia podcast, sharing how their restaurant concept began during a COVID-19 pandemic dinner party in early 2020 when Maynes served his homemade brisket and Lee brought bourbon to share.
Maynes, a former paving superintendent, learned his barbecue skills growing up in Clayton, New Mexico, a town so small he graduated with just 42 classmates and could "throw a brisket into Texas from my parents' front door." For their first location, he built a custom smoker from a decommissioned 500-gallon propane tank. The restaurant combines Texas-style barbecue with Virginia and North Carolina influences, using Carolina vinegar sauce enhanced with Southwest seasonings and citrus.
The new space has allowed The Smoky Mug to expand beyond barbecue and coffee, adding a full pastry program with items like brisket-filled churro cookies and biscuits created by their trained pastry chef manager.
Lee emphasized that their success stems from focusing on service, hospitality, and community building, creating a space where families can gather and newcomers can meet longtime neighborhood residents.
The restaurant plans to celebrate its anniversary in October with their annual trunk-or-treat event while waiting for a second smoker to arrive in January, which will enable them to bring back special events like their Oktoberfest sausage-making celebration.
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Eat It, Virginia! takes you behind the scenes with two influential social media creators showcasing Richmond, Virginia restaurants and events to both longtime locals looking for new things to try and audiences who may have never heard of Richmond.
Paige Poprocky, co-owner of the Richmond Experience, and Lauren Z. Ray have built substantial followings by highlighting what makes Richmond special — from vegan-friendly restaurants to businesses that deserve recognition.
Connect with the show on Instagram where you can also find Scott and Robey.
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Chef Kyle Perkins has found his culinary home at Salt & Meadow inside The Tides Inn in Irvington, Virginia, where the breathtaking waterfront views and local seafood inspire his cooking.
"I came and I walked through the front door at the Tides Inn. I saw the view, and I said, 'Yep, sign me up,'" Perkins said.
Before joining The Tides Inn as executive chef, Perkins worked at Twin Farms, a boutique resort in Vermont that he describes as "a true definition of escaping reality" with no phone service and a secluded woodland setting.
The Vermont native's journey to The Tides Inn came after a stint in San Francisco during 2020, when the pandemic made city living unaffordable and limited opportunities. He returned to Vermont, briefly worked in landscaping, then joined Twin Farms under chef Nathan Rich, who provided "an excellent platform for me to excel and grow."
When the opportunity at The Tides Inn presented itself through Tanzerra Resorts, the property's parent company, Perkins was immediately drawn to the unique coastal setting.
The transition from Vermont to Virginia's Northern Neck brought significant changes to his culinary approach. At Twin Farms, Perkins served about 28 guests and could change menus at will. At The Tides Inn, he feeds up to 300 people daily and focuses on consistency.
"Making sure that recipes are extremely consistent, because I don't have the ability every single day to change the menu," Perkins said.
Being on the water has also influenced his menu, with seafood playing a prominent role. Perkins has even worked on an oyster farm to better understand the local industry.
"I've worked out on an oyster farm for a couple of days, and they were 12-hour back-breaking days. It's no joke. I have a lot more respect for what they're doing out there on the water," Perkins said.
To source local ingredients, Perkins explores the area and builds relationships with producers like Young Overholt in Gloucester, which raises cattle on seventh-generation family land.
"He's pushing for quality. He's not pushing for quantity. And that's something that we want to promote," Perkins said. "As we kind of reverse back in time, and we go back to this farm to table, which used to be the norm, and we go back to buying things from your neighbor and not buying it from a supermarket."
The Tides Inn offers guests a unique experience on a peninsula that feels secluded yet welcoming. The property features a boardwalk showcasing their living shoreline, a marina, croquet lawn, bocce court, and the more casual Fish Hawk bar.
While the restaurant is "a little more upscale" with a dress code, Perkins aims to create an inviting atmosphere with elevated home-style cooking.
"We want them to feel welcome. We want them to feel at home, but like whoa. This tastes like home-cooked food, but it doesn't look like it. It's a level up," Perkins said.
The Tides Inn continues to add unique experiences for guests, including crab feasts on boat rides and, most recently, seaplane tours that depart directly from the property.
Watch Chef Kyle prepare oysters on Virginia This Morning.
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Join us as we dive into the unconventional journey of Grayum Vickers, the innovative wine director and sommelier at Richmond’s Lost Letter and Lillian restaurants. Discover how this former high school meteorology teacher and punk rock musician found his passion for wine. Grayum shares his insights on coastal wines, the thrill of serving celebrities, and his excitement about the rare opportunity to offer Dom Pérignon by the glass. Explore how Grayum is helping to redefine Richmond's wine scene with his unique approach and expertise.
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Amy Cabaniss, owner of Revel Market and Bar in Lakeside and Julep's in downtown Richmond, discusses her Richmond restaurant journey which began in 1998.
She highlights the unique features of Revel, including a secret patio and how a trip to New Orleans inspired the venture.
She also addresses some of the challenges of running restaurants during inflation, owning a restaurant in downtown Richmond, plans for future events, and some of the celebrities she's served over the years.
Send your food and restaurants questions to Eat It, Virginia on Instagram or over email.
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Tom Ellington and Jon Schott join Robey and Scott to discuss the evolution and growth of Cirrus Vodka and the recent opening of its new tasting room in the Scott's Addition neighborhood of Richmond. The space, known as Ballast, also houses Yellow Umbrella and Slack Tide Fish Co. The tasting room's drink menu, created by Jon, includes a variety of vodka-based cocktails, with a focus on local products.
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Join hosts Robey Martin and Scott Wise as they embark on a delicious journey through Charlottesville, Virginia. In this episode of Eat It, Virginia, they’re joined by food writer Simon Davidson, who unveils the coveted Charlottesville 29 — his list of the ideal 29 Charlottesville restaurants.
Whether you’re a local foodie or planning a visit, this episode is a feast for the ears that will leave you eager to explore the flavors of Charlottesville.
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Robey Martin and Scott Wise discuss the latest restaurant news in Virginia, including the expansion of The Fishin' Pig to Innsbrook.
Nash Osborn joins to talk about The Fishin' Pig's origins, its growth to six locations, and its philanthropic efforts, including supporting Virginia universities and community events.
They also discuss the upcoming opening of The Fox and Lamb in Farmville, offering a members-only speakeasy and event space.
Scott shares his experiences at Susie's, Brave Captain, and Pink Room.
Robey's offers insight into Stanley's cheesesteaks in Richmond and Frank and Patty's in Virginia Beach.
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Justin Ferguson spends his workdays making Virginia real estate deals. But when work is done and it's time to play, Ferguson becomes TheBlackSommRVA, a role that allows him to share the wine knowledge he's learned while becoming a WSET Level 3 certified sommelier.
"The more I jumped into this business [commercial real estate], I started being around wine more, and I wanted to be a better agent and understand what my clients want. So I'm like, let me learn about it. I've just kept progressing. And here we are now," he said about the bridging of his real estate and wine careers. "During COVID, it was great when the world was shutting down, and you didn't want to talk to anyone about real estate. I would call people and say, 'Hey, let's drink wine and talk about something other than real estate. We'll sit six feet apart and just be humans.' Real estate is transactional, but it gets too transactional. So, like, hey, Justin is here to provide wine value to me as well."
But Ferguson doesn't just use wine to help his real estate career.
He's been able to launch a second career as the wine director at The Underground Kitchen in Richmond, Virginia.
"It is an experiential dining kitchen. So we're not open every day, which is great," he said. "The Kitchen pays respect and creativity to the LGBTQ community but also to chefs of color with flavors. We like seasoning. Chef Steve Glenn likes Creole and Southern cooking. So that's good portion sizes, but really well-seasoned food. It's fun pairing different cultures with wine."
Initially inspired by Dlynn Proctor and the movie SOMM, Ferguson said he hopes his efforts expose more people to the beauty and wonder of wine.
"There was a guy, his name was Dlynn Proctor, and he was, like, the only Black guy. There aren't many Black Master Somms. So seeing him in that role sparked the idea — representation matters," Ferguson said about his initial push toward earning his sommelier certification. "Because my family still, to this day, doesn't drink wine; they aren't wine people. They are beer and other alcohol drinkers. I think [wine] wasn't introduced throughout my culture the same way other spirits were."
When asked to recommend a bottle of wine for Eat It, Virginia listeners to try, Ferguson did not hesitate.
"The thing on top of my mind right now is, honestly, Black winemakers," he said. "One that I've been enjoying is O.P.P wine (Other People's Pinot Noir) by André Mack."
Other stuff on this episode:
- The opening of Ripple Ray's, a Grateful Dead themed bar in Richmond (2:10)
- The new Mardi Gras menu at Get Tight Lounge (2:45)
- The Sunday Bagel phenomenon (4:40)
- The opening of the Ugly Dumpling (6:45)
- Robey's new column in Style Weekly (7:50)
- Robey's recent visits to Brave Captain and Susie's (9:00)
- The Mailbag wants to know about James Beard Awards snubbing Richmond restaurants once again (12:00)
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Richmond is kicking off the new year with a fresh vision as Dr. Danny Avula is sworn in as the Mayor of Richmond on January 1, 2025. Just days before officially taking office, Mayor Avula sat down with hosts Scott and Robey to delve into a variety of topics centered around the vibrant restaurant scene in Richmond.
In this episode, Mayor Avula reflects on how food and family meals shaped his upbringing and shares his hopes toward fostering a strong partnership between City Hall and local restaurants.
Plus, we put him on the spot to reveal his favorite dining spots in both Richmond and its surrounding suburbs.
We want to hear from you! Email the show with your thoughts and suggestions for topics you'd like us to cover in 2025. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram for updates and behind-the-scenes content!
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Antonio Owen, the chef-owner of Sweet P’s in Richmond, Virginia, recently shared his culinary journey and life philosophies on the “Eat It, Virginia” podcast with Scott Wise and Robey Martin.
The veteran’s guiding philosophies in the kitchen is that no job is beneath him.
"If you think you’re too good to take out the trash, your whole mindset is wrong," he said.
This hands-on mentality has been crucial in establishing a strong, supportive team.
The restaurant also embraces fun, with the introduction of “Whitney Wednesdays,” a weekly event celebrating Whitney Houston’s music and food inspired by her favorite dishes.
In this episode, Robey also discusses an extensive list of Richmond-area Christmas bars that she helped compile for Style Weekly.
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Kat McCay Stanley discussed her extensive restaurant ventures, including the recent rebranding of Holy Mackerel in Prince George County, Virginia, to The Salty Siren, which offers a seafood-heavy menu.
"When Holy Mackerel hit my radar, there was no turning back. The potential there, the view, the building... So I thought, 'Is this crazy? This is pretty crazy,'" she said about her plan to revamp the restaurant along the James River near the Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge. "But I also knew in the back of my mind that if I was willing to chase that craziness, I knew the absolute most dynamite person who would be interested in chasing it with me. So I actually have a 50% business partner there, by the name of Jessica Pilout, and she is the other half of The Salty Siren."
McCay Stanley also owns Old Towne's Alibi, a Petersburg dive bar known for its community involvement and zero staff turnover in three years.
During her Eat It, Virginia interview, McCay Stanley highlighted her community's efforts after Hurricane Helene, organizing multiple relief trips with trailers and trucks filled with supplies to both North Carolina and Virginia communities impacted by the storm.
She emphasized the ongoing need for support in affected area and suggested donating to Covenant Fellowship in Bristol.
This episode is sponsored by Richmond Water
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David Whitby, owner of Shoreline Seafood Market, discussed his journey from his parents starting Yellow Umbrella to his new venture Shoreline -- a seafood market and a 10-seat restaurant for special dinners.
Whitby emphasized the importance of sourcing high-quality seafood globally and shared tips for new seafood cooks who might be intimidated to prepare seafood at home.
Robey and Scott also discussed the state of service at Richmond-area restaurants. Slide into their DMs to tell them which restaurants always deliver the goods.
Shoreline Seafood Market
10614 Patterson Avenue
Henrico, Va. 23238
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When you think of Virginia's finest food and drink, you might think of Virginia ham, Virginia oysters, and Virginia wine. But Marshall Rabil suggests Virginia peanuts should be atop that list. Rabil should know a thing or two about peanuts. (36:35)
His grandparents, Dot and HJ Hubbard, started Hubbard Peanut Company, which you may now know as Hubs, in Sedley, Virginia, back in 1954. (21:07)
Rabil shared his family's peanut story with Scott and Robey, plus shared details about the upcoming Homegrown Harvest Festival he helped create as a showcase for restaurants and food purveyors in that part of Virginia. (50:11)
"I've been in Charleston, New York, I think Richmond is really growing as a food destination. I think it's going to be known as one of the greatest places to eat in the country. It's slow. I mean, the restaurant scene has popped off, but I don't think that Tidewater, Virginia gets the credit that it deserves as the culinary destination with the bounty of ingredients that we have from the Chesapeake Bay and the ocean and all of our farms and the farmers that are raising animals sustainably," he said. "So I always wanted to work with chefs and bring a party to Southampton County and Franklin. And so last year we created this festival to benefit the Food Bank and the CROP Foundation. And this year we've kind of expanded it."
Click here for ticket and schedule information.
Other topics discussed on this episode of Eat It, Virginia include:
- A new bagel place in Richmond (2:30)
- The opening of Toast at Scott’s Walk (5:10)
- Gelati Celesti Turns 40 (6:25)
- The opening of Southern Kitchen at Stony Point Fashion Park (10:40)
- The thought process behind Richmond restaurants offering (or not offering) reservations (11:40)
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Ty Walker and his wife Shannon own and operate Smoke in Chimneys trout farm in New Castle, Virginia. In this Eat It, Virginia episode, Walker joined Scott and Robey and shared his experience revitalizing a 1930s trout hatchery.
He discussed the challenges of starting and running a sustainable fish farm, including public perception, infrastructure limitations, and high start-up costs. (22:45)
Walker also touched on the big role faith has played in his business. (50:05)
Other topics discussed in this episode include:
- The restaurants Robey included on the July 2024 Hot List (1:58)
- The situation with Brittanny Anderson and the Pink Room (8:22)
- An update on the whereabouts of Richmond chef Bobo Catoe (11:20)
- The mystery and annoyance surrounding the lack of prices on menus (13:05)
The best ways to reach the podcast are through Instagram DMs and email.
This episode is sponsored by the Virginia Museum of History & Culture and its new exhibit Julia Child: A Recipe For Life.
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The James Beard Awards, the food world's equivalent to the Oscars in Hollywood, snubbed Richmond restaurants and chefs for the third year in a row, Richmond Times-Dispatch restaurant critic Justin Lo (who appeared way back on Ep. 8) wrote in a recent article that appeared in the city paper.
Lo laid out his reasoning behind the so-called snubs and later called his article a conversation starter on the topic.
Well, consider the conversation continued.
On this episode of "Eat It, Virginia!" co-host Robey Martin shares her beliefs about why no Richmond chefs nor restaurants have been honored by James Beard since the pandemic.
She also lays out what Richmond restaurants and their fans should do to help Richmond get back on the James Beard map (15:15).
Before that, Scott shares some recent breakfast and coffee experiences (2:45) at Rise and Shine Diner in Ashland and Café y Sabor, Brecotea, and Brick Road Coffee Co. all along various parts of West Broad Street in Henrico County.
Robey also wants you yo know about a special Juneteenth Celebration dinner (8:40) with Dr. Leni Sorensen at The Roosevelt in Richmond. Tickets are available here.
This episode is sponsored by the Virginia Museum of History & Culture and its new exhibit Julia Child: A Recipe For Life.
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Virginia Museum of History and Culture curator Paige Newman and her team spent months diving into the life and cultural impact of celebrity chef and icon Julia Child.
Her mission was to season Julia Child: A Recipe for Life, a national touring exhibit, to a Virginia audience.
"At first I was like, what are those? But as you delve in, in the exhibit we have five sections and we call them Virginia à la carte," Newman said. "My first thought was, of course, James Hemings, Thomas Jefferson's enslaved chef. He had to learn the art of French cookery when Jefferson became Minister of France. And that was my first thought, we have to include James Hemings. Then doing a little more research, I'm like, oh, Julia Child was in Richmond in 1976, promoting her fourth book and she did a demo and a book signing down at Thalheimer's department store. Another was, of course, Patrick O'Connell."
Learn more about the Julia Child: A Recipe for Life exhibit here.
Before the interview with Paige, Scott and Robey discussed new exciting updates involving past guests Keya Wingfield (2:32) and Brittanny Anderson (3:51). Plus we jump into the Eat It, Virginia mailbag to answer your questions (6:20).
This episode is sponsored by the Virginia Museum of History & Culture and its new exhibit Julia Child: A Recipe For Life.
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Robey Martin and Scott Wise are joined by James Beard-nominated chef Travis Milton.
Milton discussed the cultural significance of Appalachian cuisine and its role as an economic driver in Bristol, Virginia, where his restaurant Hickory, at Nicewonder Farm & Vineyards, is located.
He emphasized the importance of investing in local talent and building a strong team with diverse skills and experiences to create a unique and elevated dining experience for customers.
Milton also discussed his mentors, his time cooking in Richmond restaurants, and mental health struggles in the hospitality industry. (Jump straight to interview 18:15)
Before the interview, Scott and Robey talked about new restaurants opening in Richmond (2:07), Scott shared details of his epic Spring Break trip to Buc-ee's and Graceland in Memphis (4:32), Robey has issues with some restaurants near her home (10:21), and Scott and Robey made new friends while having a night out on the town (16:05).
This episode is sponsored by the Virginia Museum of History & Culture and its new exhibit Julia Child: A Recipe For Life.
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Cou Cou Rachou bakery owner Rachel De Jong grew up in a large family in Charlottesville, Virginia. She credited her family with helping her discover her passion in the kitchen.
"I'm one of five children, so food was around a lot. When you're feeding seven people in the house, I was always in the kitchen, I was always watching my mom. But I had a huge sweet tooth," she said. "And of course, all my brothers always wanted cookies around. My mom preferred to do the cooking, baking not quite, so I just assumed the role and started baking all the time."
Her love of baking eventually landed her in school at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France.
Stints at Baker's Palette and Gearharts Fine Chocolates in Charlottesville came next followed by the opportunity to work with Chef Patrick O'Connell at The Inn at Little Washington.
Over her four years at the Inn, De Jong's kitchen experience grew.
"The pastry department was baking for the gift shop, it was baking the cookie boxes for favor, the little cute Inn boxes, doing things for room service. Very often, we had VIPs in the kitchen and dessert was one of chef's go-to's to make them feel welcome and special and change up their dinner," she said. "He never liked for people to get the same thing every time, he liked to surprise them. So dessert was often one of those ways that he would do that."
Then, after launching her baking concept during the pandemic, De Jong opened Cou Cou Rachou in November 2021.
Listen to Eat It, Virginia to hear Rachel De Jong share how she chooses ingredients for her croissants and pastries, what it's like working before the sun rises, and how Julia Child inspires her to this day.
This episode is sponsored by the Virginia Museum of History & Culture and its new exhibit Julia Child: A Recipe For Life.
Cou Cou Rachou
917 Preston Ave Suite B
Charlottesville, VA 22903
434-270-0583
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When 14-year-old Bertrand Chemel walked into the bakery near his grandmother's home in France, his life changed forever. Summers at the bakery turned into a more formal kitchen education at culinary school in France. With a degree in hand and military service behind him, Chemel landed at one the finest restaurants in France — Michel Gaudin's restaurant in the Alps. What followed was a culinary adventure that eventually led Chemel to the United States and his current restaurant 2941 in Falls Church, Virginia.
Chef Chemel's restaurant was recently nominated as the most Outstanding Restaurant in the United States by the James Beard Foundation. 2941 is the only restaurant in Virginia to make the semi-final round in that category. What makes the experience at 2941 special enough to earn such a prestigious nomination? Chef Chemel discusses his food, his family, and his leadership style in the kitchen with Scott Wise and Robey Martin on the latest episode of Eat It, Virginia!
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Maria Martin and her family recently opened a Richmond outpost of Juan More Taco on Robinson Street in The Fan.
The family also owns and operates a Juan More Taco in Fredericksburg. Virginia.
But the story of Juan More Taco begins in Honduras, where Maria was born and raised.
"Honduras has a lot of Mediterranean Middle Eastern influence. And we use a lot of spices and I'm not saying spices in the sense of spicy hot food, just flavorful," Maria Martin said when asked to describe Honduran food. "I go to some places [taco restaurants in the U.S.] and I have to see what I'm eating because everything tastes the same. There is no difference. For us and our places, every meat has distinct flavors. So that's the beauty of the Honduran flavors that we have put into our food. You can really, really taste the flavors."
Love eventually brought Martin to Virginia where she and her husband raised their children. Once the children were grown and out of the house, Maria sought another job.
She went from feeding her family and friends to feeding her community through a food truck.
"We started researching and we find this little tiny trailer in Florida. We went, we saw it, we bought it. By December 2, 2016, we opened our doors and served food through our window," she said. "It was amazing. Not even six months later, and I have people saying you know, we want to support you to open a brick and mortar. But I'm like, I'm not ready."
She was ready a few years later.
Juan More Taco opened as a restaurant in Fredericksburg in 2019.
In March 2020, Maria put in a big order of food for the restaurant just before COVID-19 shuttered the industry. Or so she thought.
"In my head, I'm like, 'Oh my God, I'm losing my business,'" she recalled. "I just had a $3,000 delivery of food. What am I going to do? The first thing that comes to my mind is we can feed the elderly, right?"
Martin and her family put out the word on social media.
That first week, about a dozen people took her up on her offer for free food.
By the end of that summer, Maria and Juan More Taco were feeding 75 seniors every single day.
"COVID was our busiest time. It was insanely busy. I had like 20 employees. We didn't close one day of the week. It was work, work, work, work work. We were super busy with the food truck," she said.
On this episode of Eat It, Virginia, listen to Maria Martin talk about what she learned about herself and her business during the pandemic and learn why she chose Richmond to open her next restaurant.
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Brennan Griffith is not from Thailand, nor is he of Thai descent. But Griffith's Thai-inspired pop-up Nam Prik Pao has been turning heads and causing spicy sweats in the Richmond dining community.
"[Thai food] is what I'm most obsessed with," Griffith said when asked why he chose that cuisine to base his business. "I love other cuisines. But I haven't had that connection with anything else to the degree that I have with Thai food."
Started in 2019 and reborn after the COVID-19 pandemic, Griffith typically pops up at Sub Rosa Bakery in Church Hill.
"The first pop-up, my mom bought some extra tickets specifically so I could invite other restaurant people. So some of the people I invited were Evrim and Evin from Sub Rosa," Griffith said. "Four courses into a seven-course meal, Evin's like, 'Brennan, when are you doing this at Sub Rosa?' So that was another validating moment of just having successful restaurant people say like, 'this is delicious.'"
Listen to the entire podcast to hear why Robey thinks Brennan and Nam Pril Pao succeed where some other Thai offerings in town do not.
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Trey Owens' life is a beautiful circle. After growing up in Richmond, Owens' life took him around the world working on cruise ships and later military vessels.
He eventually landed back in Richmond where he became part of the team that opened both Soul Taco and JewFro, the latter a restaurant that combines African and Jewish cuisine.
"The focus [of JewFro] is to bring people together and to start, or/and continue the conversation about these two culinary pathways, these two cultures, and what is so similar about them," Owens said.
Owens was selected this year to travel to Israel to learn more about the people and the food.
"We got to meet Palestinians. We got to meet Israelis. We got to meet Ethiopian-Israeli Jews. We got to meet Muslims. Just so many different people that we got to meet and talk to," he said. "What I really learned and saw was that the people themselves all got along. It was only that when I got into formal places, I'm not gonna say where, but you could kind of see the divide. And it's just like, come on, you know, these people who I met and bumped shoulders with, you know what I mean, they don't feel that way."
Listen to Eat It, Virginia, to hear more about Trey's trip and his culinary that took him around the world and back home.
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When the people who run Massachuttes-based Burtons Grill & Bar asked John Haggai to be the company's new CEO, he pulled what can only be described as a baller move.
"[I said] I'm not moving to Boston, as beautiful as it is, plus I have kids, I'm not moving, there's no way. So I thought that was a deal breaker," but it wasn't Haggai said. So he added another stipulation. "And I said I'm building a restaurant in Richmond. Richmond is awesome but it's not quite big enough of a city typically that we're in. We're in Charlotte. We're going to Atlanta. We're in some bigger markets. And I'm like, I think one could do really well here. That was the really ballsy move was to build a restaurant, right when I took over in my town."
Haggai moved to Virginia 20 years ago to manage Outback restaurants.
He stayed in Richmond and eventually left Outback to be part of the team that founded both Cafe Caturra and Tazza Kitchen.
"I had brunch at Tazza two days ago," he said. "It's like my second favorite restaurant now."
So what can you expect at his favorite restaurant? Allen Brothers steaks for one.
"They're the best cutting house in the United States," he said of his steak supplier. "We use single source, North Dakota ranch, Black Angus cattle. It is the best, no doubt. If you eat a steak at Burtons and you cut into it, it's phenomenal. And you'll pay $20 less than you will wherever."
Haggai said Burtons was also proud of its ability to be accessible to anyone.
"People who have accessibility [issues], people with special needs, and the big one is really the dietary restrictions and allergy friendly because that's a tough one to pull off in our business."
Burtons Grill & Bar is located at 3520 West Cary Street in the new Carytown Exchange shopping center.
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Three years after she first appeared on Eat It, Virginia (Episode 43, Sept. 2020), Keya Wingfield returns to the podcast. In this episode, she discusses the ups and downs of life after winning her Food Network baking championship, the incredible community she's fostered in Richmond, and the launch of her new product -- Bombay Chips.
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Shawn Eubank and Michael Smith of Native Selections join the podcast to discuss the world of natural wine. Smith previously appeared in Episode 26,
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Leah Branch, the executive chef at The Roosevelt in Richmond, exudes quiet confidence in the kitchen and the podcast studio.
She prefers to let her plates do the talking.
Fortunately, the Chesterfield native was willing to sit down with Scott and Robey to share her story on this episode of Eat It, Virginia!
This episode is presented by Duke's Mayo and SUPPER | SUMMER | SOMM.
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A lot has happened to Rabia Kamara since she first appeared on Eat It, Virginia in August 2020. In fact, that first interview took place before Kamara even opened her now Northside neighborhood-defining ice cream shop Ruby Scoops.
"We are now at a place where when houses are listed in Northside, we are in there as a perk, 'you can walk to Ruby Scoops,'" Kamara said about her ice cream shop's success.
While sweet, the journey has not always been easy.
Kamara opens up about the challenges that come with running her small businesses, the sometimes harsh reality of everyone's favorite reality cooking shows. and the planning of her upcoming wedding.
Of course she also breaks down the science behind her crowd-pleasing Duke's Mayo ice cream treats. This epsisode of Eat It, Virginia is presented by Duke's Mayo Hot Tomato Summer July 24-30, 2023.
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Bobby Kruger has managed or owned multiple Richmond-area restaurants and venues, but he got his start as a teenager at the Appplebee's in Chester.
"One of the bartenders that I worked with there, ended up coming up and getting a job in Richmond at a place called Surfish Station, which was where Bandito's is now," Kruger said as he retraced his steps in the Richmond restaurant industry. "When I was 18, I left Applebee's and got a job there as a server. And that was my first Richmond restaurant job."
From there Kruger followed mentor Holly Green to Julep's where he learned about upscaling dining and bartending.
"It was a high-standard environment, but they really took care of me and taught me a lot of stuff," he said.
Then came a short-lived stint running the Fan House.
"I looked at it for a long time as a failure, that my first restaurant ownership didn't last that long. But I feel like I learned as much there in less than a year than I learned anywhere else for as long as I've been, he said.
That newfound knowledge eventually led Kruger to open The Hoff with Carter Snipes in Scott's Addition.
"That was a huge project. A 10,000-square foot building, three levels, four bars, four different concepts inside of it," Kruger said. "Our first year of business, the amount of revenue we did by the third year of business, we had done a 1,000% increase in revenue. And so then, you know, in 2019, we decided to take a swing on Brambly Park."
Kruger and his team secured the Scott's Addition property that became Brambly Park winery in November 2019.
Then came 2020.
"We had a plan in place, some of which we held true to, but COVID really did change a lot of how I was planning on doing that place," he said.
How did COVID change Brambly Park? Why did he swipe right on Alchemy Coffee? And what the heck is Bobby Kruger now doing in Chesterfield County? All that, and much more, on this episode of Eat It, Virginia!
Eat It, Virginia is presented by Duke's Mayo Hot Tomato Summer July 24-30, 2023.
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Devin Rose was born and raised in a restaurant family in the town of White Stone, Virginia. So it makes perfect sense that Devin and his wife Kati now own and operate one of the most acclaimed restaurants in that town -- Adrift.
In fact, Robey Martin called Adrift the best, little-known, restaurant in Virginia.
"There's just an incredible care and detail to the food," Martin said of Adrift, four years after that article was written, on this week's Eat It Virginia podcast. "I'm always utterly impressed."
Rose said owning a restaurant and raising his son in his hometown has been a dream. But the road back home wasn't straight and included stops at The Inn at Little Washington and the Central Coast of California.
We hope you enjoy learning more about the Roses and their restaurant Adrift.
On the podcast, Scott and Rodey also talked about Anthem LemonAid and the Restaurant Challenge sponsored by CBS.
Restaurants are invited to create a lemon-inspired dish or drink to sell anytime now through July 23, 2023. After restaurants donate a portion of the proceeds at the end of the event, the business that raises the most money will win an advertising package from CBS 6 valued at over $1,500.
Message us if you plan to participate or have any questions.
Also, Scott and Robey are emceeing the Positively Delicious dining event on July 15, 2023. The event raises money for The Positive Vibe Foundation.
The foundation provides pre-employment training, job skills, and community to young adults with disabilities.
You can support the foundation. learn more about the event, and buy tickets here.
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After 100+ episodes, "Eat It, Virginia" finally put the focus on condiments. And what better condiment to feature than Richmond, Virginia-based Duke's Mayo?
Founded more than 100 years ago in South Carolina, the Richmond, Virginia-based C.F. Sauer Company bought the brand in 1929.
Over the generations, Duke's Mayo has become synonymous with Southern cooking.
These days, Duke's is the fastest-growing mayo brand in the country, brand manager Rebecca Lupesco said.
"Our team is based in Richmond. We work with a creative agency here in Richmond. We are all over the South and actually, we're national because Kroger has just taken the brand on a national level," Lupesco said. "But we advertise and market the brand all over the Southeast."
The job of marketing the mayo, Lupesco said, is making it relevant to current culture.
"We have [Duke's] diehards who literally get Duke's tattoos on their bodies. And so it's really just celebrating our fans, celebrating the product, celebrating the chefs that use us and telling stories and really fun and meaningful ways," she said.
One story-telling vehicle Duke's uses is an event they call Hot Tomato Summer.
From July 24 - 30, restaurants in Richmond, Greenville, South Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina will feature dishes that allow both Duke's and tomatoes to shine.
"We started [Hot Tomato Summer] here in Richmond in 2021. It was really just a way to, coming out of the pandemic, drive traffic and fun back to some of the restaurants and really help our core customers," she said. "All the restaurants who were involved in it really liked it. So we brought it back last year, for year two, and expanded to Greenville. And then this year, we are expanding into two more cities."
College football is another big branding opportunity for Duke's.
This year the Duke’s Mayo Classic college football game will air Saturday, September 2 at 7:30 p.m. The Duke’s Mayo Bowl will air on December 27 at 5:30 p.m.
As per tradition, the winning coach will have mayo dumper on their head. Listen to the podcast to hear how that messy tradition began.
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Is it possible that the best pizza in Richmond is served out of a truck? Eat It, Virginia podcast co-host and Virginia food critic Robey Martin said yes, it's 100 percent possible.
The pizza Joe Lajoie creates in a truck for River City Wood Fire Pizza consistently ranks among the best slices in town.
But don't ask Joe if he thinks his pizza is the best in Richmond.
"Often people say, 'Do you want to be the best pizza in Richmond?' I go, 'Never,' River City Wood River Pizza boss Joe Lajoie said. "When they ask why not, I say I want to be one of the best pizzas in Richmond because I love Richmond. I've lived here all my life. It's collective. I want it to be a big borough or a big neighborhood, right? And you can't have that if you start off with the chest pounding."
For the last 10 years, the construction worker turned sheriff's deputy turned pizza chef has been baking pizza pies out of his food truck at weddings, concerts, and other events around Virginia.
He said pizza is much more than toppings, sauce, and crust.
"Pizza is tied to memories," he said."You remember being a kid and sitting at the bar and getting a slice. People have this belief of what good pizza is and I personally think that they'll eat something and go that's not as good as this one, and a lot of that is because the memories are not tied to it."
On this episode of Eat It, Virginia, Lajoie shared his success story and the scary moments that happened during COVID when he turned online ordering on.
"COVID was the dragon, we had to learn how to drive," he said. "We turn [online ordering] on and everybody has a cash register [smartphone] in their hand. And within nine minutes we hit $1,800 in orders. I'm like, shut it off! They're big family orders, nobody's getting where they go, and everybody's ordering like crazy. I'm like, holy crap, this is nuts."
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A veteran of New York City's fine dining world, the pandemic forced Erin Keene to take a step back and reset her life. That reset landed the Pennsylvania native in Richmond, Virginia, where she opened Second Bottle Wine Shop in Richmond's Church Hill neighborhood.
"I was in a place where I was ready for a big jump. Life as I knew it had really just shut off [in New York City]. In that time, I started formulating the plans for this wine shop," Keene said. "While I was on the journey to find where the best place or where the best fit would be for it, I had a camping trip planned down here to visit a good friend of mine. We're sitting around the campfire and she's like, 'What about Richmond?' It was like huge fireworks. I had never thought about it as a place that I wanted to live. But all of a sudden, I was like, it makes so much sense in so many ways."
Keene made the move to Richmond in 2020 and opened Second Bottle on N. 27th Street in Church Hill in 2021.
"I was very struck by Church Hill," Keene said about her decision to locate in that particular Richmond neighborhood. "The green space was a big part of that. I have a dog, so that was appealing, all these parks that are very close by, within walking distance. And then the food scene really. What I had experienced of it was exciting The fear of leaving New York is always that you'll be bored or there won't be enough things to excite you and I didn't feel like that would be the case here. And that is exactly what I've experienced."
For people who don't live in the neighborhood and are unsure whether it's worth a drive to Chuch Hill to buy wine, Keene offered this pitch.
"One of the biggest things we offer, or what we aim to offer, is our service and hospitality while you're here," she said. "If it's the end of a long day, and you don't want to talk to anyone you don't have to, but myself and Garrett, who works with me, strive to get to know you and get to know your palate and what you like to drink and what you like to cook and what you've had before that you liked or maybe didn't like, so that you get that customized service or help when you come in. It's what love about it, actually."
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It did not take long for Jesse Wykle and his restaurant Aloha Snacks to make an impact in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Months after he opened Aloha Snacks in 2018, Food Network Star Bobby Flay's producers called and invited Wykle onto the hit show "Beat Bobby Flay."
Wykle defeated the Iron Chef by challenging Bobby Flay in a battle over the Filipino favorite lumpia.
Back home in Virginia Beach, Wykle's food at Aloha Snacks is heavily influenced by Asian and Hawaiian cuisine and his own Southern roots.
"You can put anything in a sushi roll. We've got some poke bowls with fried green tomatoes, which we call the farmer's poke, a little coconut aoli, some pressed mango, and some salmon," Wykle said about one of the dishes he serves at Aloha Snacks in Virginia Beach.
Wykle sits on boards working to improve the Virginia Beach business community and hopes to see many new customers when the Something in the Water festival returns to Virginia Beach April 28 thru April 30.
Aloha Snacks is located at 501 Laskin Road in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
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Bill Cavender: Black Heath Meadery
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Get to know new Richmond restaurant Penny's Wine Shop
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Ben Watters and Rachel Best. the couple behind Blue Atlas Restaurant and Market in Richmond, Virginia, started their business and their family during the pandemic.
For Watters, Blue Atlas was born out of his passion for food and learning how other cultures eat.
"I love being a food dork," Watters told Scott Wise and Robey Martin during his Eat It, Virginia podcast interview. "If I find something on Instagram that I've never heard of before, like the Georgian flatbread we now serve, we both do the deep dive on why they make it the way they do, why they're using this certain type of yeast, why they do this with the cheese, and all these cool components. So that we're learning along."
It's that curiosity which has shaped Blue Atlas into its current mission.
"We're a shared, small plate experience of global cuisine," Watters said when asked to describe Blue Atlas. "We have the menu broken up into the four regions of the world and we try and represent them to the best of our ability."
Learn about the couple's journey toward opening a restaurant during the pandemic, their attempt to balance restaurant ownership with parenthood, and the meal that helped Ben win Rachel's heart.
Also on this episode, Scott and Robey share their Best Bites of the Week, Robey's at Parterre Restaurant in Richmond and Scott's at Fine Creek Brewing in Powhatan.
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Torchy's Tacos will open its second Richmond-area restaurant in February. The new location, in the recently-built Carytown Exchange shopping center, is not far from where the Austin, Texas-based taco chain's CEO and founder came into this world.
"I was born at Richmond Memorial Hospital," Torchy's Tacos boss Mike Rypka told Scott and Robey on the Eat It, Virginia podcast. "We lived off of Monument Avenue. My mom and dad used to work for the Richmond newspaper. They were both journalists. My dad was a photographer. My mom was a journalist."
While the family moved to Northern Virginia about five years later, Rypka said he had "crazy memories" of his time in Richmond.
Fortunately for Torchy's fans, Rypka found his way into the kitchen where a variety of experiences led him to start a taco truck in Texas. After a few years, Rypka's idea grew from a truck to a single restaurant to now more than 100 Torchy's Tacos across the U.S.
The Short Pump location opened in January and a Midlothian location will join the Carytown spot later this year.
Learn more about Rypka's journey from Richmond to Texas Taco King on this episode of Eat It, Virginia.
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Cocodrilo opened to much fanfare on Richmond's Grove Avenue in March 2022. The restaurant had a Latin America-inspired menu created by Lemaire alum Chef Brad Slemaker, Shagbark alum Chef Brandon MacConnell, and River City Roll owner Rob Long and a huge open-flame grill Less than a year later, the chefs remain, the grill remains, but Cocodrilo is no more. In its place, the restaurant owners will open Bar West.
"We were proud of the food we were putting out and I think that the reviews for the cuisine at Cocodrilo speak for themselves and none of that changes. The culinary staff is not changing at all," Long said on the most recent Eat It, Virginia podcast.
So why the drastic change less than a year after opening?
The team behind Bar West (the restaurant space formerly known as Cocodrilo) shares their story with Scott and Robey on this week's Eat It, Virginia!
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We made it to the end of another year! Thank you for listening and being a part of our podcast community. We wish you Happy Holidays and much health and happiness in the new year. See you in 2023.
love,
Scott and Robey
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Elle Correll's life sounds a bit like a country song. Born and raised in Franklin, Virginia, she moved away from the small town when the paper mill closed down. Her friend Will also had to move. But apples would bring the friends back together.
"I was living in DC. It was a lot of fun, but its time had played out. He was living in Richmond opening the cidery," Elle Correll said. "So when I met him, the cidery was under construction here in Scott's Addition. I was like, okay, you're really good at like the founder, CEO thing. But you could use some help on the PR, marketing, and the telling people about it side. Enter Elle."
The friends were dating when they launched the cidery in 2016. They got married about a year later.
"It is super fun and it is also very stressful. We work all the time," she said about working with her husband. "But it is fun because you get to learn about your partner so much more than you would if you just saw them in the evenings because you see how they are at work and their strengths and their weaknesses and how they play out in different locations."
Learn more about Elle Correll, Buskey Cider, and Enneagrams on this week's Eat It, Virginia!
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It's Thanksgiving week and we are so very thankful to all of you for downloading, listening, and being a part of the Eat It, Virginia community.
We recently took part in a gathering of Richmond-area foodies, we'll call it a Foodie Friendsgiving.
In between sips and bites, we had a conversation about where people are eating, which restaurants are consistently great, and what the Richmond food scene is currently missing. We covered a lot of other topics too!
If you like this format, please let us know!
You're about to hear a bunch of voices in this podcast, so here's a list of names and Instagram handles to help you keep track of who's who:
Robey Martin -- Call Me Robey
Scott Wise -- Scott_Wise
James L. Ford III -- Just Something I Ate
Srija Kothakonda The VA Foodies
Saakshi Gunda The VA Foodies
Nick Barahona - Nick’s Food Review
Sara Riso -- RVAFoodsandStuffs
Kici Cofield -- Well Read and Fed
Elaine -- Miss Elaine Neous
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Angela Petruzzelli is about to open her dream Italian restaurant Sprezza in downtown Richmond. When she moved to Richmond with her boyfriend in 2020, she recognized restaurants that served Italian food, but the style of Italian food they served was not the kind she preferred.
"[Italian] food is not only something I relate so strongly to, but it's something that I felt was missing here. And so the minute I moved to Richmond, I knew immediately that I could bring what I grew up eating here," Petruzzelli said. "Obviously I say this with so much respect for the Italian food that already exists here, but I think that Richmond was missing authentic Italian food, Italian food that you would find in Italy, Italian food that I grew up eating that my Nonna used to make."
Petruzzelli's family is from Southern coastal Italy where seafood rules.
"We love linguine alle vongole (linguine with clams). We do a lot of cozze which are muscles. A lot of octopus, a lot of sea urchin," she said. 'It's an acquired taste, but when you put it in pasta, it's so velvety and so perfect like it's just the best thing ever. You don't find it that much in the United States, so I'm so excited to do that."
Shortly after moving to Richmond from Miami, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the city.
"Honestly, it took me a year and a half to know that people even lived in Richmond. When we moved here, [her boyfriend's] company put us up in Short Pump and it was a ghost town. We would go to Short Pump mall, and obviously, the stores were all closed. We would just walk around and be like, 'Wow, what a nice mall. It's so sad no one is here," she said.
It was during that time of isolation that the idea of Sprezza was born.
"He was working from home. And I was like, 'Oh, we live in an apartment complex and nobody's leaving their houses, I could start selling trays of lasagna,'" she said. "Then I started doing more research and I started becoming a little bit more reasonable with what I could actually do. And I saw the pop-up [restaurant] scene was crazy here."
After establishing a social media presence and reaching out to people already entrenched in Richmond restaurants, Petruzzelli began hosting Sprezza pop-ups.
It did not take long for word to spread and for her events to sell out.
"It was me making all the food from front to end and then [my boyfriend] putting it in the bags and handing it off to customers. That's how we went for six or seven months," she said. "[We sold out pop-ups] every time for almost a year and a half now. I've never not sold out. I mean if that's not a sign to go for it. I don't know what it is."
In Petruzzelli's case, going for it means opening Sprezza -- the restaurant.
She found a location where the old Morton's once served steaks in Shockoe Slip.
"I want it to feel elevated and really special. I don't want it to feel like an Olive Garden or a Cheesecake Factory. I want it also to be a place where you come and you're comfortable," she said. "In Italy a white tablecloth is standard. So I want it to be a place where you go and have an amazing, phenomenal meal. But I want it to be a place where you can also go and you don't feel uncomfortable hanging out for two and a half hours and drinking four bottles of wine and getting a little loud."
She hopes to have Sprezza up and running in 2022, perhaps as early as mid-November.
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Christine Wansleben cut her teeth in the fine dining world of New York City before opening Richmond cooking school Mise En Place in Shockoe Slip.
"Danny Meyer was opening two restaurants [in New York City] and I had the opportunity to apply. Then I got accepted and I joined the opening team at Eleven Madison Park," Wansleben said about her time in New York. "I felt it was something I couldn't pass up. One to work for a Danny Meyer establishment. And to work in a restaurant where everything is top of the line and there's anticipation."
After years in the city, Wansleben was looking for a slower, more family-friendly pace of life and a friend recommended Richmond.
"We moved here in 2001. So in 2000, we started checking out the food scene, I started subscribing to Richmond Magazine, checking out the top caterers because we figured that it had a decent enough food scene at the time that we could both come down and get jobs."
Wansleben landed a steady catering gig with Tuffy Stone at A Sharper Palate.
"He was great," she said about her time with Tuffy. "Not only do so many great food professionals and chefs come through there and help out, but it also allowed me to learn Richmond and what people like to eat."
She also got the opportunity to teach others what she learned over the years in kitchens big and small.
"Tuffy would often teach classes at Complete Gourmet in Carytown and there would be times when he couldn't do it," Wansleben said. "So he would ask either myself or sometimes one of my co-chefs to go and teach it for him. And that's what inspired me to look into opening Mise En Place."
Now nearly 20 years later, Mise En Place has cemented itself as one of Richmond's best places to take a cooking class by yourself, with a friend, or as a corporate team-building excerise.
Learn more about Mise En Place and Diner En Blanc on this episode of Eat It, Virginia!
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Aline and Dale Reitzer have owned three Richmond restaurants, in three different Richmond neighborhoods, over the course of three decades.
Acacia in Carytown served guests from 1998 thru 2007. In December 2008, the Reitzers opened a new Acacia near the Fan on Cary and Robinson. That location closed just before the pandemic in 2020.
"Everyone thought we were geniuses because we closed right before the pandemic, which was purely by luck," chef Dale Reitzer, who has been honored with multiple James Beard Award nominations, said. "But now we're picking probably the worst time to construct a restaurant. So I think it's come back to even the playing field out."
The Reitzers are in the construction phase of a new Acacia restaurant, this time at Libbie Mill. They hope to have Acacia midtown open by the end of the year.
But Acacia isn't the couple's only claim to food fame.
Aline Reitzer started Richmond Restaurant Week as a way to raise awareness about the city's restaurants and raise money for the food bank.
"I grew up in New Jersey and being in the restaurant business when New York Restaurant Week started, you could go to Union Pacific and all these amazing restaurants and you know what you're going to spend, and it was affordable, and you get to try these restaurants," Aline Reitzer said. "In 2001, I brought on nine local restaurants. They sat on our porch overlooking Carytown and I pitched the idea to them. I knew that Richmond was a very charitable and giving community. I knew that you couldn't just say, 'Hey, it's Restaurant Week, go out to eat and support the restaurants.' So I wanted to line up this opportunity with Central Virginia Food Bank [now Feed More]. So restaurateurs are feeding the general public on every given day and this money would then, in turn, feed those in need."
Richmond Restaurant Week runs October 24-30.
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Constantine Giavos comes from Richmond restaurant royalty. The son of Katrina and Johnny Giavos, Constantine's grandmother is Stella — yes that Stella — the namesake and inspiration behind his family's most well-known restaurant.
Serving as creative director for his family's impressive portfolio of restaurants, it was the re-launch of Stella's that launched Constantine into the family business.
"I started with the relaunch of Stella's in 2011. That's when I really got involved," Giavos, who studied at the Parsons School of Design in New York said. "Continental was the second one. It kind of steamrolled from there."
While his parents and others handle what comes out of the kitchen at Giavos-family restaurants such as the aforementioned Stella's, Continental (2x), plus Little Nickel, Sidewalk Cafe, Kuba Kuba (2x), Galley, and Perly's, Constantine handles what you experience upon entering the space.
He sets the tone by, among other things, designing each restaurant's decor, choosing the dishes and drinkware, settling on menu font types, and curating the playlists that send music into guests' ears while hearty portions fill their bellies.
Learn all about Constantine, his design philosophies, and his music career on this episode of Eat It, Virginia!
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Fat Rabbit bakery owner Ellyn Hopper transitioned from working for others in Richmond to becoming a full-time business owner near the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.
"I had been doing wedding cakes along the side of working a full-time baking job for other companies," Hopper, who previously worked at Richmond spots like WPA Bakery and Stella's Market, said. "When the pandemic hit, I was less comfortable working in a huge kitchen setting. So I pulled back and I decided to invest a little bit more in Fat Rabbit, and it just seemed to work."
In the early months of the pandemic, Hopper was baking out of her home kitchen and making cake deliveries all over town.
"There were some days where I was making 10 to 15 deliveries daily, of different orders," she said about the early days of her business. "I just got into this weird little at-home rhythm where I'd wake up really early, bake like crazy, and then around 4 p.m. just head out and drive to people's houses and drop off."
"I think the time was right. People were home. They wanted comfort food and things that were going to make them feel happy."
Fast forward two years and Hopper has opened a standalone Fat Rabbit bakery in the Church Hill/Union Hill neighborhood.
The Venable Street bakery's soft opening earlier this summer created long lines down the block.
"It was personally one of the best days of my life. The neighborhood came out. Richmond came out to support us. We open the doors to a line down the block. We planned to be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and I think we sold out by 11. So it was really quite an incredible day," Hopper said. "I haven't fully wrapped my head around it yet just how wonderful it was. We felt so much support from neighbors all over."
We hope you enjoy this episode of Eat It, Virginia!
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Deb Freeman is a food podcast superstar. The Norfolk native and current Richmond-area resident hosts "Setting the Table," one of the country's highest-rated food podcasts. In fact, the podcast reached #1 status during its first season earlier this year.
"I was hoping that someone would listen to it. I did not know that people all over the world would listen to it," Freeman told Scott and Robey on the Eat It, Virginia podcast. "I was just really caught off guard, I was just like, 'alright, I'm gonna check the stats, check the chart.' And it hit number one, I almost fell out of the chair."
Freeman's podcast focuses on the impact African Americans have made on American food.
"I knew I wanted to do something about Black baking. I wrote an article on yellow cake and people that I did not know were sending me pictures of their grandmothers and their mothers and sharing their memories and crying. So things like that kind of spark, oh, this might be an interesting podcast," Freeman said. " So I lay out, who I would like to talk to who would be interesting. Cheryl Day, who wrote an incredible book, James Beard nominated, was kind enough to say yes. Carla Hall was kind enough to say yes."
In addition to Black baking, Freeman explores Black brewing, Black farming, and lays out the argument for Virginia being the birthplace of American barbecue.
"Barbecue was created in Virginia," Freeman stated with confidence. "It was the combination of Native Americans, enslaved African Americans, and Europeans, that mixture was not happening anywhere else at the time. You've got pigs and vinegar from Europeans, you've got some smoking techniques from Native Americans, and then you've got not only the seasoning techniques of Africans, and later African Americans, but really knowing how to cook something low and slow.
"That's something that only happened in Virginia, and people need to be proud of it you're from Virginia. Let's talk about it because people aren't talking about it."
Oh yes, we talk about it much more on this episode of Eat It, Virginia!
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Mac McCormack probably owns more whisky than anyone you know. The owner of three Richmond-area restaurants that bear his name, the McCormack's locations boast impressively-stocked bars with a wide array of whisky.
"I would guess in the 15 to 18,000 bottle [range] right now," McCormack answered when asked about his selection across McCormack's Big Whisky Grill at Regency Square, McCormack's Whisky Grill in the Fan, and McCormack's Irish Pub in Shockoe Bottom. "I don't know that anybody has more of a selection than we do at Big Whiskey. I don't see how they could, because it took me 10 years to put this collection together. Virginia has some restrictions where we have to buy everything from the ABC. And so one of the reasons we have so many bottles and backstock is because of that. So when things become available, I buy as many as I can, just to make sure that we keep them in stock, because I have to not think about today or tomorrow, I have to think about five years from now. And some of the products that we carry, the only reason we have them is that I stocked them 15 years ago having no idea that they will become so popular."
When you sit down at one of McCormack's bars, don't be surprised if he steers you away from his most expensive bourbon pours.
"My job as a bartender here is to show people the ones that they don't have to pay that money for. If people are doing that, and it's not the corporate guys in suits and it's not their money, I say, well, why don't we take a third of that shot price and I'll show you four whiskies that cost a third of that, that I think are almost as good or equally as good. And you don't have to waste a bunch of money," he said. "I understand the value of the bottles that I have, but I actually down-sell people all the time from those kinds of crazy expensive pours. We're a restaurant and I want you to come here once every two weeks, once every three weeks for dinner, I don't want you to just think of us as the expensive place."
McCormack recently reopened his new Big Whisky Grill at Regency Square in Henrico's West End. Learn more about his restaurants and ascension to the top of the Virginia bourbon scene on this week's episode of Eat It, Virginia!
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There's a greenhouse in Goochland growing some of the freshest lettuce in town.
Greenswell Growers hopes its hydroponically-grown greens can solve a grocery store concern for some shoppers.
"We've all been in the grocery store picked up that package of greens and seen that wet, nasty tray in the bottom of it and put it back on the shelf and said, I'm not eating that," Greenswell Growers president Carl Gupton said on the Eat It, Virginia podcast. "The reason is that that was harvested three, four, five, six days ago at a minimum. It's harvested, cool chain there [California or Arizona], traveled across the country, hit a distribution center. It's not just a problem of fresh produce, they've got drought. We've all seen the mega droughts going on in California. It's changing the way that we are consuming. Throw COVID on top of it and the supply chain is broken in a lot of ways for our food system. We talk with some of our food distributors and when they order from the West Coast, they don't know if they're getting 100% of their order, 75% or 50% of their order. What we can do is bring predictable supply and have a product ready for them on demand with a predictable supply model and we know it's good, clean, healthy, fresh produce. That's our goal."
You can find Greenswell Growers at several Richmond-area restaurants and at stores like Food Lion and at Harris Teeter stores in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.
"Hampton Roads has really embraced our product. Richmond has as well," Gupton said. "But we're seeing a lot of movement out in the beach communities, whether it's Outer Banks, whether it's Virginia Beach, or Ocean City through Performance Food Group."
Learn more about Greenswell Growers and the process they go through to bring fresh greens from the greenhouse to the table on this week's Eat It, Virginia podcast.
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Gwen and Brittny Hurt are the mother-daughter team behind Shoe Crazy Wine and Spirits. They started the Richmond-based business after one of the worst weeks of their lives.
"I was downsized from a company I spent 17 years in," Gwen shared on the Eat It, Virginia podcast. "They said they needed to replace my skills with other skills. I have a degree from a historically black college here in the U.S and I was working in China, and they said they needed [someone from] Yale or Harvard or an Ivy League school because our organization was now being reported to the board. So they let me go."
When Gwen flew back to the states after losing her job, the situation did not improve.
"I was going to my office to clean my desk and we were in a car accident. We were at a red light and this gentleman slammed into us at 55 miles an hour," she said. "So we get the bad news at the hospital. My back is injured. My neck is injured. Brittny's bursa sac and her hip were destroyed."
It was during their at-home recovery, that their new life emerged.
"We did physical therapy. It was a year of physical therapy. And after three, four weeks of crying in my room with the shades drawn, Brittny's trapped upstairs with her cane. She couldn't walk, I could barely move. I got on my walker and I just said, I can't stay in this room anymore," Gwen said. "So I kind of took the walker and toddled out into the great room and said, 'Brittny, we're going into the wine business.'"
And with that, Shoe Crazy Wine was born. But the hard work was only just beginning.
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Chef Danny Mena and Beverage Director Lauren Spain recently opened Big Kitchen Hospitality's newest restaurant Conejo in Richmond, Virginia.
For Mena, a native of Mexico City, Conejo is a chance for him to show off a side of his hometown he finds under-represented at many Mexican restaurants in the U.S.
"Mexico City is very cosmopolitan. It's not the typical idea that a lot of people have of Mexican food. It's a big city with a lot going on. And that's my influence," he said. "I'm a city boy, born and raised. And so that's what we're trying to bring [here], a modern take on traditional food."
Mena cooked in some big-name New York City restaurants and opened two of his own (Hecho en Dumbo and La Loncheria) before he was tapped to lead the Conejo kitchen.
And in that kitchen, Mena said he and his team lean on quality ingredients.
"The quality of meat that we use, the quality of ingredients that we do is far superior [to many other Mexican restaurants]," he said. "We luckily have the time, the effort, the knowledge, and the resources to be able to do that."
So what should you order on your first visit to Conejo?
"The best seller, and this is every Mexican restaurant, is the guacamole. People go into a Mexican restaurant and before they look at a menu they order guacamole and two margaritas and then look at the menu," Mena said. "But really our best seller right now and is a Baja taco. It's one of those we put on that we kind of play with a lot. We use a fish called hake, which is similar to cod, but it's a little bit firmer, but still nice and flaky. We do this beer vodka batter. So it's kind of somewhere between like a Korean fried chicken beer batter and like Japanese tempura. So it's crispy, it's nice and light and flaky."
Conjeo
5820 Patterson Avenue
Richmond, VA 23226
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While Kendall Appich might have been working at Capital One in Richmond, her dream job was not with the area's largest employer.
"I had that, I wouldn't say midlife crisis, but just like, I'm still young enough in my late 20s. where if I want to try something, now's the time we don't have kids," she said. "I've always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I wanted to create the next great food product."
After some soul searching and discussion with her husband, the couple landed on a frozen custard truck. Two, to be exact.
Learn more about jiji's Frozen Custard on this week's Eat It, Virginia!
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Katie Stuart is a TikTok star. The bar manager of Richmond restaurant Foo Dog, in the Fan, has more than 170,000 followers on the social media app. While she joined TikTok in 2019, she was able to focus more on content creation when she found herself stuck at home during the early days of the pandemic.
"The lockdown happened and I didn't have a job anymore," she said. "I was stuck inside with my roommate who was also a bartender. So, it was a way for me to pass the time and stay creative."
Using the handle BarDaddy_, a nickname she earned behind the bar at now-defunct Richmond restaurant Fatty Smokes, Stuart posted drink recipes and funny skits to keep herself and her growing fan base entertained.
"It was a hobby at first," she said. "Now it's a whole tax form. Now it's a responsibility. I have contracts. I have deadlines. Stuff that I never really expected to happen." Brands reach out to Katie now, hoping she will review their product or create a recipe using their spirit.
It seems to be working as BarDaddy fans have been known to show up at Foo Dog to meet their favorite TikTok bartender in real life.
"On Friday I had three people at the bar and they were just staring at me. And they're like, 'Can we ask you a weird question? We love your Tiktok and we want to know if we could take a picture with you?' I was like, you guys came here because of my TikTok? And they're like, 'Yeah, that's where we found you.'"
The Randolph Macon graduate uses her psychology degree to try and read guests as they approach the bar to better meet their needs.
"Body language says a lot," Stuart shared. "When somebody sits at the bar, they're either looking for our conversation or just wants to eat and leave. So it really depends if people maintain eye contact or if people's sentences are short."
Her approach seems to be working. In addition to her growing TikTok following, Stuart has been named among the best bartenders in Richmond by the readers of Style magazine. Learn much more about Katie "Bar Daddy" Stuart on this episode of Eat It, Virginia!
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Elizabeth Redford co-founded Tablespoons Bakery as a way to provide jobs and on-the-job training to adults living with disabilities.
"We are a part of a larger nonprofit, the Next Move Program, and what we seek to do each day is to combat the 70% unemployment rate for young adults with developmental disabilities here in Virginia," Redford said. "Young adults come here, they do training with us on-site, and then we also have them work in different departments within the bakery, everything from packaging, to marketing, to working in the kitchen, to also doing sales at our main sales counter."
On Saturday, May 21, from 10 a.m. to Noon, Scott and Robey will be working at Tablespoons Bakery as part of an effort to help raise money for the Richmond nonprofit.
Tablespoons Bakery is located at 1707 Westover Hills Blvd, Richmond, VA 23225.
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Some of your favorite Richmond restaurants have teamed up and opened in the same spot. Hatch Local, Richmond's first food hall, is now open on Hull Street in Manchester.
Hatch Local consists of seven restaurants: Buttermilk + Honey Sincero The Beet Box Odyssey Fish Fat Kid Sandwiches Royal Pig Bully Burger
Hatch Local general manager Annie Holland said the new food hall can help you and your friends answer an age-old question.
"You can really come in with a group of people that don't know what they want, or the famous 'I don't know what I want to eat for dinner' question and have a perfect spot," she said. "You can really get whatever you want. And then you can all sit together and eat it."
Hatch Local also has craft cocktails to pair with food coming out of the different kitchens.
"So you come in and scan one of our QR codes and then ask the bartender and they're more than willing to be in your business and ask what did you get to eat, and then suggest a cocktail," Holland said. "[The cocktails are] always rotating. There's always room to do a new cocktail or, if a new dish pops up at Sincero, you can kind of play off of that. There's a lot of opportunities there."
You can learn a lot more about Hatch Local Food Hall and the people who make go on the new Eat it, Virginia podcast.
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Tanya Cauthen went to school at the University of Virginia to become a rocket scientist. When she left, her focus was on food. It was a path that would eventually lead Cauthen to open Belmont Butchery in Richmond, Virginia, a national television appearance on the Food Network's Chopped, and the East Coast's Meat Queen.
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While Pinky's might be one of the newest restaurants in Richmond, Virginia, co-owner Steve DeRaffele is no stranger to the Richmond restaurant scene.
The New York native, who comes from a family that literally helped define the look of Northeast diners, cut his teeth at restaurants like LUNCH:SUPPER and Brunch (remember the waffle flight, kids?).
But when it came to opening a place of his own, Steve leaned on his family -- that includes not only the food he serves but the person he honored when it came time to name the restaurant.
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For 10 years, David Avery's smiling face has greeted coffee drinkers at the Starbucks on Gaskins Road in Henrico County, Virginia. In this episode of Eat It, Virginia, David shares some Starbucks secrets, provides coffee-making tips to help you up your home coffee game, and discusses how TikTok has changed the way Starbucks baristas do their jobs.
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Courtney Mailey is the queen bee at Blue Bee Cider. She founded the cidery in downtown Richmond, Virginia a decade ago and has become a champion of Virginia apples. The podcast also features Kel Ward, a member of the Blue Bee Cider production team.
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In this first Eat It, Virginia episode of 2022, Justin Hershey takes us back to California to discuss his life and journey toward opening Chicano Boy Taco in Stauton and Midlothian, Virginia.
Scott and Robey also talk about some of the best wing spots and this week's CiderCon 2020 in Richmond.
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Thank you for another awesome year. We appreciate your support and feedback. Please go back and listen to one of the 72 interviews we've uploaded since the podcast started in 2019. We look forward to launching a new season in 2022. Send us a message on Instagram if there's someone you'd like us to interview.
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When Jay Bayer entered the Richmond dining scene as a bartender in the mid-2000s, he started to get very excited about beer, but at that time, the options in Richmond were limited.
"I was actually working at Galaxy Diner, fresh out of college. And then left there went to Capitol Ale House," Bayer said about his entrance into Richmond dine. "Beer was my first true love. The thing that I knew in an epicurean zone that I really wanted to explore."
So he packed up and moved to Chicago in 2008 to attend the Siebel Institute's brewing academy.
When he returned to Richmond, the microbrewery scene had not yet taken off, so Bayer adjusted his plan.
"I went back into tending bar at Ale House. I was there for a while when I met my first business partner Adam Hall. He and I started homebrewing together, doing dinners together, and really formed the ideas around what Saison would end up being."
Nearly a decade later, Saison, on Marshall Street, remains one of Richmond's favorite places to eat and drink.
"We thought we were opening a beer bar in a neighborhood. But as soon as the quality of the drinks that were being put out from behind the bar connected with a handful of people, and word started spreading, we immediately were like, 'alright, we are now a cocktail bar that serves really interesting beers and a fun wine list.'"
Saison was among the restaurants that created some of the buzz that helped turn Richmond into a foodie town filled with can't miss dining options.
"You could just really see how much the city was really craving so much at that point [in 2012]," he recalled. "It felt like the rumbling inside the volcano was building up steam. And then it was just waiting for that moment to really go."
The eruption of Saison [and Saison Market] was helped by a Food Network star's appreciation of the market's chicken biscuit.
"We have a policy to not be too fanboy around famous people whether actors, musicians, food personalities, but everybody just barely contained themselves freaking out when Alton Brown came in," Bayer said. "So he came in and takes a picture of himself where he's got like a little bit of biscuit crumb on his little five o'clock shadow beard and like a cheek full of chicken and biscuit."
That photo, later posted on social media, was Saison's first viral moment, Bayer said.
"All of a sudden, my phone just starts going wild," he laughed. "The success of the chicken biscuit built a name for Saison Market. That place developed because we noticed there wasn't a nice wine and beer market in the neighborhood. We had all this wine and beer that was in the basement that we were using to sell at Saison. So we just put some shelves up and see if we can make something out of this and then the chicken biscuit really, really took that off."
Building off his Saison success, Bayer helped build Bingo.
The large brewery-restaurant-video game space on Broad Street near Arthur Ashe Boulevard was born after a chance meeting at a Richmond bar.
"A First Friday evening, Quirk had just opened and Ted and Katie Ukrop were hanging out at the bar. Ted and I just started chatting. He was mentioning how happy he was to have the Quirk open downtown, how much he loved downtown, how important it was to him as a kid," Bayer said. "He was just very thankful for what Saison had shown and how kind of how much easier it made talking to the folks about we can do so much more with Broad Street. This is a thriving and vibrant part of the city. So he and I started a conversation, like what do you what would you want to do next?"
Bayer fell back to his beer roots and Bingo Beer Co. was born.
"[We] wanted to bring the culinary side, the bar side, and gaming and fun into a space, a large space for having fun," he said. "Ted actually discovered this space from friends of his. It was clearly a space that had not been kept up in any way since its most recent iteration as a bingo hall. But you can still tell just from the size of it, space of it, and the location kind of trajectory of where Scott's Addition was headed that it was like a really great opportunity to be right here on Broad."
Hear more about what Jay Bayer brings to his Richmond restaurants on this week's Eat It, Virginia podcast.
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To say Daquan and Nicole Woodberry have a lot of irons in the fire would be an understatement. The chef and entrepreneur power couple hopes to transform the way Richmond orders food with both the LoCo food delivery app and virtual restaurants.
"A virtual restaurant is essentially a restaurant within a restaurant. It thrives and operates solely off of delivery platforms," Dequan, who goes by Chef DQ, explained. "So if you go on any of the delivery apps such as [his app] LoCo, Uber Eats, GrubHub and DoorDash. And you're like, hey, I want fried chicken sandwiches, and you're scrolling down and you'll see [his new brand] Absurd Bird pop up. Well, you'll be able to order. And that food will be made at [his restaurant] RVA Cafe and it'll be delivered to you and you may or may not know is coming from RVA Cafe. So the big thing here is a lot of bigger chains and a lot of bigger corporations are getting into this. Maybe people have heard of Hootie's Burger Bar, that's a virtual restaurant from Hooters. But you walk into Hooters and they're going to look at you like you're crazy If you come ask them for a Hootie's burger. They're like, we don't know what that is, the servers are sometimes unaware. So this is how the world is changing. And it was happening way before COVID. But you know, being honest, COVID accelerated that process pretty much five times over."
Daquan, who served in the Marines, said he learned his work ethic from his father Maurice and was inspired to follow his dreams by his wife Nicole.
"When I say she saved my entire life she did. I was in a really dark space. I had just come out of the Marine Corps. I was actually injured. So I'm more than thankful, that God spared life on that end and I'm still able to function because I have friends that can't," Daquan said. "She really refreshed my life. She really came and poured life back into me and kind of encouraged me to go and find what I love to do. So that's actually what led me to be a chef. She said do what you love. And, you know, she supported me the whole entire way."
Several years and businesses later, Daquan admits it's more than support.
"Now she's the real boss of the whole business," he said. "I just sit here and look pretty. She does everything else."
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Evrim and Evin Dogu are the brother and sister team behind some of the country's best bread. Their Richmond bakery, Sub Rosa, has become a favorite of locals and a tourist destination for traveling foodies. Five years after opening Sub Rosa Bakery in Church Hill, Evrim and Evin were named James Beard Award Semi-Finalists outstanding bakers in the country. A feat the duo repeated in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
What's the secret to their success? Quality ingredients, a nice brother-sister balance, and their wood-fired oven.
"We load each bread by hand into a wood-fired oven. And the wood-fired oven is the whole thing." Evrim shared on the latest episode of Eat It, Virginia. "It has fire in it from around 3 p.m. till 10 p.m. So it's just fire inside of the oven."
"So even if we wanted to bake more, there's a cut-off at 3 p.m., we can't bake anymore, because we have to start the fire for the next day," Evin added.
It's a baking method the Dogus can trace back to ancient Egypt. "It's the same thing. They built a room, they build a fire in the room, they take the fire out, the room is hot. Put the stuff in," Evrim said. "So [the Sub Rosa oven is] the same exact principle, the bricks are a little better now and we get our wood from Powhatan. They call it a falling oven, the temperatures falling all night long. And then the baker comes in early in the morning, and just tries to catch that wave of heat as it goes from 7 a.m. till 2 p.m."
Evin added that their team switches up jobs often to avoid burnout in the bakery and they hold each other accountable to help ensure the best quality bread.
"We have a monthly meeting and whoever bakes that day will pick out the croissants and the breads they think are their best example of their best work. And we'll just talk about it. So I think just like constantly talking to each other and checking in," she said.
Sub Rosa Bakery
620 N 25th Street
Richmond, VA 23223
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Bobo Catoe is a self-described nerd on topics such as beer, vinyl, and superheroes. But what Bo knows best is food. The past Elby's nominee for the best rising chef in Richmond, Catoe can be found creating award-winning dishes in the open kitchen at Alewife in Richmond's Church Hill neighborhood. Listen to the podcast to get some pointers on what to talk with Bobo about before striking up a conversation at Alewife.
Click here for tickets to the VisArts Chili Throwdown on October 1.
Click here to attend a live Eat It, Virginia podcast recording with Sub Rosa Bakery founders Evrim and Evin Dogu.
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Richmond native Libby Lewis left the familiar confines of office and city life for the family's Shenandoah Valley farm. But don't call her a cow farmer.
"Maybe a steward of the land," Lewis said when asked about her new job title. "Someone dedicating their life now to bringing healthy meat to families in Virginia."
As the CEO of Lewis Cattle Company, her mission is to get high-quality beef onto kitchen tables across Virginia.
"I decided about a year and a half ago that I was super frustrated with the food industry and the quality of the meat that you can find in grocery stores and knew that we could do it better," she said.
To accomplish her mission, Lewis had to first convince her husband to let her change the way their family farm did business.
"His first thing was, 'no, you're going to get tired of it. You're going to do this for a month, and then you're going to quit because you're not going to like the farming aspect of it,'" she recalled. "After about six weeks, I came to him and I had found a refrigerated truck. I had it wrapped in our logo. And here we are 16 - 17 months later, and I'm diving deeper and deeper into it. So he's stunned."
Lewis Cattle Company is now offering its ribs, beef, and steaks for home delivery. To learn more about Lewis Cattle Company, click here.
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When Chef Ida Mamusu fled Liberia after a coup d'état in 1980, she landed in New York City alone and without a plan. A stranger approached Mamusu, crying at the airport, and took her back to her apartment to help get her on her feet.
After connecting with family in the states, Mamusu made her way to Richmond where she opened businesses to earn money to bring her family over from Africa.
It was family, she said, specifically her grandmother, who set her on the path to opening her restaurant Chef Mamusu's Africanne on Main.
"When I turned 10 years old, she put an apron on me and gave me a cooking spoon," Mamusu said. "That day was the day that I knew that I was going to be a cook, just the apron and spoon was in my hand, it transformed my whole idea of what I wanted to do in my life."
It wasn't long before her father made Mamusu the chef of the house. She was just 13 years old.
"I was feeding 11 people, doing the menus, the budget, everything," she said. "I knew that this was it, there wasn't anything else that I ever wanted to do in my life. And I say this to everyone, if I die and had to come back in any form, I will be doing the same thing. Because this is all I know. And it is all I love to do."
After several moves since its 1995 opening, Chef Mamusu recently re-opened Africanne on Main in a larger space at 1102 West Main Street near VCU.
There she hopes to connect with more international students seeking a taste of home and Richmonders looking for healthy meal options.
"I want to be the chef that will heal you with food by natural herbs and spices," she said. "[If you ask for advice] I will start you off with vegetables and I've done that with customers. Looking at their tray, I would say to them, 'I don't see any vegetables on your tray.' They will say, 'I got a little greens right here.' Sometimes I will send them back to the buffet and say take some spinach, it is good for you."
Africanne On Main offers mainly West African cuisine served buffet style at $7.99 per pound.
The restaurant is open Tuesday thru Saturday from 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.
This episode of Eat It, Virginia is sponsored by Farmer Focus. Learn more about Farmer focus here.
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One of Richmond's newest food brands came to life after a dark period for Danny Sterling. It was 2016 and the chef was shocked to learn he had cancer. The surgeries and recovery that followed (along with the support of his wife) convinced Danny to take better care of himself by making better food choices.
"It doesn't hurt to look at holistic health and see how food can play a role in that. And it's changed my life dramatically," Sterling said. "I feel better. There's been a lot of just a lot of benefit that's come from really focusing on what I'm putting in my body." With that in mind, Sterling started ELYA after he moved to Richmond.
ELYA, which stands for Eat Like Your Ancestors, provides meals-to-go placed in refrigerators around Richmond.
While popular menu items include a beef burrito bowl and chicken, bacon, ranch bowl, Sterling said ELYA offers diners a healthy, convenient alternative to fast food. "The way that we look at [healthy food] is to make sure it comes from a good quality source," he said touting food purveyors such as Joyce Farms for chicken and Autumn Olive Farms for bacon. "We're here to support you, whatever your health journey is."
ELYA meals are available to the public at 3121 W Leigh St. in Scott's Addition and 7 E 3rd St. in Manchester.
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The world's best tomatoes come from Hanover County, Virginia. And some of Hanover's best tomatoes are grown at Village Garden Farm.
"Amazing soil here," founding farmer David Hunsaker said about his Hanover farm tucked away on 10 acres near Kersey Creek. "We are east of the fall line in Hanover County. There's plenty of Hanover County that really does not have our soil. If you're west of I-95, you're on the other side of the fall line. And you don't have this glorious, coastal plain soil that we have."
It is that soil, Hunsaker and his partner Barbara Hollingsworth, said, that helps keep Hanover tomatoes consistently great.
"You eat with your eyes as much as your tongue. So if you've got these beautiful fruits there and the textures are perfect, and the colors are beautiful. That's certainly going to amplify it," Hunsaker said. "I don't know that you'd really be able to sit down on a blind tasting and have a clue [whether or not a tomato was from Hanover]. But if you found tomatoes that didn't taste as good. They're probably not a Hanover tomato."
A recent write-up on Food and Wine went into great detail about the soil that helps Hanover produce "the best heirloom tomatoes."
Over the last decade or so, Village Garden has grown from a farmer's market mainstay to one of the most sought-after providers of tomatoes for Central Virginia chefs.
"It's really hard to keep up," Hunsaker said. "We continually have new people who hit us up. And depending upon the harvest time, it's like, well, we may have some for you in a few weeks."
The garden recently teamed up with several Virginia restaurants to pair their Hanover tomatoes with Barboursville Vineyards wine in a series of Supper, Summer, and Somm dinners.
Village Garden tomatoes are also featured in several of Duke's Mayo #HotTomatoSummer dishes available this week at participating Richmond restaurants.
Learn about all the events, the tomatoes, and David and Barbara on this week's episode of Eat It, Virginia!
This week's episode is sponsored by Duke's.
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On July 1, 2021, Virginia's marijuana laws changed making it legal in Virginia to grow up to four marijuana plants per household and possess up to an ounce of the drug.
While smoking may be the most well-known way to experience marijuana, it is not the only way.
Chefs Nikki Gregory and Paul Polk, who own Charlotte's Southern Deli and Tapas in downtown Richmond, appeared on the Eat It, Virginia podcast to discuss how best to use marijuana as a cooking ingredient. They also shared their plans to incorporate marijuana into future menus and business ventures.
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When Joe and Emilia Sparatta arrived in Richmond about a decade ago, they hit the ground running. From helping Jason Alley open Pasture, to opening their wildly successful Richmond restaurant Heritage, to opening a second successful Richmond restaurant Southbound, to expanding from a couple to a family of four, there has not been much downtime for the Sparattas.
That all changed in March 2020 when COVID-19 shut down the restaurant industry.
"It was really hard to try to completely shift gears and amazingly stressful to try to make these decisions," Joe Sparatta said about the month the COVID-19 pandemic hit Richmond. "Being worried about people's health. Not knowing how the virus worked. Not understanding, are we keeping people safe? Is this a terrible idea being open? It was just very challenging, to say the least."
After a few weeks of limited service and to-go orders, the Sparattas decided to temporarily close their beloved restaurant.
"It was super traumatic. It was so hard to have to close down. It was so hard to think that this might be the last time we're ever in this building," Sparatta said.
One year later, the Sparattas are preparing to reopen Heritage -- with some modifications.
"I just feel fortunate that we're able to come back," Sparatta said. "I probably think we will be disappointing some people by not being open for brunch or they might not be able to get a table for a little while, because we're doing such a limited capacity. But we're just happy to be back and trying to move on. There is certainly a little PTSD from that. I think everybody has that now. My mental health was certainly shaken up a bit."
On this week's Eat It, Virginia! Joe Sparatta shared what it's going to take to reopen Heritage and maintain a healthy family dynamic.
"Trying to find a middle ground is challenging, but we're working on that, and that's part of our reopening strategy with Heritage. We're going to start out really small," he said. "So just right now the team is myself, my wife, we have great bar managers lined up, we're still working on a couple of servers, but only doing a couple of days a week to start, because that's currently what we have with staffing. And we're going to kind of see how it goes from there. We might only do Friday and Saturday to start, maybe 20 or 30 people, and just keep it super low key. Just go to the Farmer's Market every week, get everything I need, and make the menu weekly."
Sparatta said he hoped to have Heritage reopened sometime in mid-July.
"It's really going to be me and one other person cooking in the kitchen. And that's it. And it will be Emilia, plus a bar manager and a server, super minimal start," he said. "We're just going to take it literally day by day. But I'm excited to work with my wife again. We haven't really worked together for last few years because she took on a larger role with our family and taking care of our children. She's a wonderful mom and she's also incredibly talented. I'm excited to see her on the floor again and she does such an amazing job she makes Heritage work, I just make food."
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Drive just about 15 miles east of downtown Richmond on Route 5 you are in another world. The Lilly Pad, which dubs itself Richmond's only waterfront bar and restaurant, sits at Kingsland Marina along the James River in Varina.
While the Lilly Pad has been around for decades, it has a new owner and a new menu which has created a new vibe in the old spot.
"I've been in Richmond long enough to know that the restaurants that have the good food are the ones that sustain," owner Max Walraven said. "Mamma Zu's is a perfect example. Crappy little building, weird little location, line out the door for 35 years because the food was so good. I don't want to run a restaurant that has a subpar menu and say, 'oh, but the view is nice.' I want to have a great menu. I want people to come out here in the winter to eat and huddle up under the space heaters that all the restaurants have now to have a good piece of fish or a burger."
Walraven has pushed for many changes at the Lilly Pad, but there are some aspects of the old restaurant he refused to touch.
"We have the buckets of beer, which I must say we've done a lot of comps to other bars and restaurants around Richmond and I have yet to find a restaurant with a domestic beer special, as inexpensive as ours. That bucket of beer for $10 is $2.50 a domestic and we run that every day. That's, you know, we that's not a happy hour special. That's every day," he said. "That was one of the things from the previous Lilly Pad that I said, we've got to keep the burger and bucket, we got to keep the bucket of beer special. There are these elements that kind of make the Lilly Pad the Lilly Pad. And I wanted to keep those intact, including the name you know, I purchased the name from the previous owner because I said we can't rename it. It can't be River Grill. It can't be the something bistro. It's got to be the Lilly Pad."
The Lilly Pad features live music on Saturday nights and Salsa dancing every Thursday.
It is located at 9680 Osborne Turnpike in Varina.
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Can you keep a secret? Chef Steve Glenn sure can. The Chesterfield native is about a make his national television debut on Hell's Kitchen Young Guns with Gordon Ramsay. A secret the 23-year-old Manchester High School graduate had to sit on throughout the pandemic.
The competition, which begins its television run at the end of May, was actually filmed in 2019. The pandemic pushed back the start date, forcing Glenn to keep quiet.
"I had to pretty much be silent for two years," Glenn said. "Of course my family knew and, of course, the people that compete with you. But as far as everybody else, we just kind of had to go back to normal life, which was really weird. Just, going through all of that and then coming home like, alright, go back to normal life as nothing happened. I'm glad I can finally let the world know. It's good to get that off my chest."
In the kitchen, the former executive sous chef at Richmond Country Club said he gets inspired by music and his grandmother's cooking.
"She would make all types of stuff. She loved to do fish and grits. She made the best greens and mac and cheese I've ever had in my entire life," Glenn said. "She got me in the kitchen, at like 10, peeling potatoes and cleaning collard greens. I was just always amazed at her ability to transform these raw ingredients into you know, something I could eat two bowls of."
You can follow Chef Steve Glenn on social media here.
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Adam Musselman and Joshua Franklin, two of the forces behind Cobra Burger in Church Hill, come on the podcast to discuss the Cobra Burger name, the importance of local ingredients, and how their past experiences as a "meat guy" and "cheese guy" melted into one of Richmond's hottest new spots.
Cobra Burger
400 N. 27th Street
Richmond, Va. 23223
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Life is good for Donnie Glass. The husband and father of a baby boy spent the last 13 months successfully guiding his Richmond restaurant Grisette through pandemic-related shutdowns and restrictions.
A challenging time, for sure, but not the most challenging time in the restaurateur's life.
The Northern Virginia native was in high school on 9/11. An experience that led him to enroll at Virginia Military Institute and enlist in the Army. Before graduation, Glass was overseas in Iraq. The experience changed his outlook on life.
"Very, very quickly those ideals that make one 15-year-old boy enamored with joining the military are in absolutely no way reality," Glass said about his time overseas. "I was disenchanted by it. I was crushed that the way I thought my life was going to be was no longer an option at all."
Glass returned to Virginia and graduated from VMI. But his previous military experience was enough to convince him to do something else with his life.
That something else was restaurants.
"Life changes so quickly and what you think you want when you're 18 and 19, and 20, and 21, and 22, and 23 can be five different things, and then you can flush that whole plan down the toilet and start over. And it doesn't matter, it really doesn't matter," Glass said.
Glass's culinary journey took him across the country and put him in a position to meet his future wife Megan.
The couple eventually settled in Richmond where they opened Grisette in Church Hill.
"The goal of this whole place is to just have everybody that walks through the door. Have a great time. That's it. And our way of doing that is providing them with good food and good wine and not having it be super expensive."
Learn more about Glass, his food, and his family on Eat It, Virginia! with Scott and Robey.
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Carlos Ordaz-Nunez went from working on his parents' Virginia farm, to managing a series of successful pop-up events, to opening his dream restaurant TBT El Gallo in Richmond in one year.
A pandemic year in which he learned a lot about his food and himself.
"What I've learned [during the last year] is to love who I am and what I cook and to really embrace that and not pigeonhole myself or put myself in a box and not be like, 'yo, this is Mexican cuisine, you have to do this, or this is Southern cuisine and you have to do this.' For me to accept my perspective of my culinary influences and to do food the way I want to do it," Ordaz-Nunez said about his new venture. "
We encourage you to try his food -- but order ahead of time -- to ensure you get what you want.
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David Dunlap was at the top of his game in March 2020. The executive chef, who gained experience in notable restaurants like The Inn at Little Washington and The Ashby, was running Maple and Pine at the Quirk Hotel in downtown Richmond and had just opened a second location in Charlottesville when the pandemic closed restaurants statewide.
"Fifteen days of 'slow spread' turned into four months," Dunlap told Scott and Robey on the Eat It, Virginia podcast. "Then I got a call saying they weren't bringing back my position."
The husband and father was now faced with a life-changing decision. Move the family to a place where restaurants were hiring during the pandemic or figure out a new plan. Fortunately for David, his wife Brittany took over.
"My wife is a hustler. Her background is in marketing. She made a website and started to promote private dinners," he said. "I reached out to a bunch of wineries and breweries and started wine dinners and beer dinners for small groups of people and then kept myself really busy throughout the summer."
And it was Brittany who found the space that would be the family's next adventure -- Midlothian Chef's Kitchen.
"I needed a commercial kitchen. Where my daughter goes to cheer, that's where Midlothian Chef's Kitchen is now, and my wife kept passing by it. It used to be Shane's Rib Shack. They, unfortunately, didn't make it and this restaurant was open has had an awesome patio," Dunlap said. "And so in October, we signed a lease and got to work. We built the whole thing out ourselves. We didn't take on any investors so kind of just poured our life savings into this restaurant."
Opened in early 2021, Midlothian Chef's Kitchen offers indoor/outdoor dining, curbside pickup, and prepared meals that can be reheated later.
Midlothian Chef's Kitchen
11501 Busy Street
North Chesterfield, Virginia 23236
804-893-3562
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When Sequoia Ross enters the room, everyone knows she has arrived. Ross, known to viewers of Virginia This Morning as Chef Coco, is the force behind Favour Cookie Company.
She credited divine intervention for her vegan cookies business that is now expanding across Central Virginia.
"Jesus. I have to tell you that it was Jesus. I started really at Unbound RVA and they were trying to help me figure out what kind of business I wanted to start. And I was always having to bring my own treats to the meetings because there was nothing ever there for me to eat. I would bring my cookies with me. And I'm coming to them with all types of business ideas, and they're like, but what about those cookies? Cookies, what are you talking like I didn't I was like cookies, I'm just bringing this and other people would buy those cookies, they would not believe that they're vegan," she said.
Ross shared her life story with Scott and Robey on the March 15 episode of Eat It, Virginia! Subscribe to the podcast and listen today.
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When it comes to sandwiches, bigger is often better. Now some of Richmond's biggest sandwiches are being created at Hatch Kitchen in South Richmond.
Fat Kid Sandwiches launched last year during the pandemic as a to-go concept. Later this year, Fat Kid will be one of the restaurants opening in the now-under-construction Hatch Local food hall.
Liz Clifford and Jon Martin, the couple behind the concept, said when it came to naming their business -- the choices came down to naming it after Jon's grandmother or Fat Kid.
"Well, we were sort of trying to explain to people what kind of business we wanted to run, what kind of sandwiches we were gonna make. The easiest way to explain it to people is we're gonna make real fat kids sandwiches," Liz Clifford said. "Our plan is to put mozzarella sticks on a chicken parm and have a club that's so tall you have a hard time eating it. These are really big, serious sandwiches. And we could never come up with a better name you know? I mean, it really got the point across this is what we're trying to do."
Neither Clifford nor Martin are strangers to Richmond kitchens. They shared their story along with the birth of Fat Kid Sandwiches on the most recent episode of Eat It, Virginia!
They're also offering a giveaway to Eat It, Virginia! listeners. Click here for details on how to enter.
Scott and Robey also discussed the Richmond Black Restaurant Experience which runs March 7 - 14.
You can also get more information about Robey and Chef Mike Lindsey's virtual dinner to benefit Greater Richmond SCAN when it is posted here.
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It did not take Ja'Mia Brooks long to make a big impact on TikTok. While relatively new to the app, the Virginia State University graduate uses the app to create TikTok tours of can't miss Richmond-area restaurants and small businesses.
One of her recent videos went super viral, increasing business for the restaurant and Ja'Mia 's fan base.
Ja'Mia took some time to Zoom with Robey and Scott to talk about what makes TikTok tick.
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If you've seen their viral Instagram posts, you might think Coco + Hazel is just an over-the-top dessert spot known for putting cakes, cookies, and candy atop their over-sized milkshakes. But it is so much more than meets the eye. Owner Chelle Bravo shares her story about the friends, family, and the Mexican coffee beans that make the West End spot (and soon-to-open Bon Air location) a success even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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In an effort to start 2021 on a sunny note, Eat It, Virginia! asked listeners to nominate the chefs, restaurant owners, and food industry people who seem to remain positive, even during the darkest days.
Chef Evan Campbell was one name that appeared over and over again in the nominations.
As chef at both The Stables and The Franklin Inn, Campbell has had to navigate a most difficult time in the restaurant industry as COVID has changed the way everything worked. So how does he stay positive amid this chaotic time?
“I just woke up like this,” Campbell joked with Scott and Robey before he dove into the real reason behind his seemingly permanent smile. “Life's too short to not approach every day with at least some semblance of positivity. I tell every person that I hire in any place that I work, we all have to be here every day. And for a lot of us, we spend more time in the restaurant than we do in our own homes. So let's make it a fun place to be. I've never been a leave-your-problems-at-the-door kind of guy because certainly, you have problems. But if you understand that your workplace, especially in this industry, is for a lot of folks more like home, especially now where we can't see anybody else really get to see each other. It's best to keep it positive.”
With stops in Boston and New Orleans, the Virginia native returned to the Commonwealth to leave his mark at the Stables and later the Franklin Inn. Now he’s had to transform the restaurants for the times, coming up with foods that worked well in a to-go format.
“We have not stopped. I mean, the minute that everything shut down, I created a new menu strictly for take-out food that was budget-friendly, because I knew everybody was afraid about what's going to happen with their own jobs,” he said. “Once that settled for a bit, we were losing money at quite a fast rate. I pivoted again and I created a menu that was more stylistically what we've always done here at the Stables but could be put in plastic containers and sent out without majorly impacting the food."
Campbell said restrictions, plus rising prices, have put most restaurants in a perilous position.
“Most weeks we aren't making money and we're booked almost every night. With restrictions where they're at half capacity with limited takeout and delivery, most of the restaurants in town are just losing money really slowly. If you're doing well, you're losing money slowly. If you're not, then you're losing money really quickly, “ he said. “If one more person in Richmond says, ‘well think of all the new places that are going to open,’ I'm going to smack somebody across the face. For us to be working so hard and for people to not understand that. It's going to majorly change the food culture in Richmond.”
Despite the hardships, Campbell wanted to put a positive spin on the situation.
“We're looking at end of January, beginning of February, for vaccines to start coming to restaurant workers. And I can't speak for everybody but I could not be more excited just to get the ball rolling to make sure that we're continuing to be as safe as we can so that we can keep doing what we're doing,” he said. “My hope is that in conjunction with these vaccine rollouts, we can start seeing some lifting of restrictions, at least to the degree that you know, we are able to serve more people in a safer and reasonable fashion.”
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After years of working together as part of Richmond's powerful EAT Restaurant Partners group, the husband and wife duo of Mike Lindsey and Kimberly Love-Lindsey decided it was their time to open up a new restaurant of their own.
The opening of Lillie Pearl on Grace Street in downtown Richmond coincided with the birth of the couple's son and during a time when restaurants face strict COVID-19 regulations.
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Jason Alley has had a notable career in Richmond restaurants. When it opened, his restaurant comfort was credited with breathing new life into downtown Richmond and helping put the city on the country's culinary map.
So when Richmond went looking for a person to help map a road to recovery for Richmond restaurants, both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, Alley answered the call.
On this week's episode of Eat It, Virginia!, Jason Alley talks about his new role at City Hall and what Richmond is doing to help restaurants and other small businesses survive the pandemic.
He also opens up about his personal recovery from alcohol addiction and how he is helping others find a path to sobriety, one day at a time.
Click here to learn more about Ben's Friends.
This episode of Eat It, Virginia! is sponsored by #SmallUnites.
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Richmond is home to many craft breweries. So many, in fact, it can sometimes be overwhelming to not only decide where to go but also what to try when you get there.
Fortunately, there are people like Eric Jackson around to help.
Jackson is a beer experience curator.
He uses his social platforms Uncap Everything and Capsoul to demystify Richmond's craft brew scene for anyone who wants to learn more. He is also working to bridge the gap between Richmond breweries and Richmond's Black community.
"I think since we started Capsoul, I know there are more Black people in Richmond that are drinking beer. And not only drinking beer but going to the breweries because I think a lot of people are drinking beer but it's like I don't want to go there because I don't feel like I fit in or whatever the case may be. So our again, back to creating that experience around beer. That's what Capsol does, we do events at breweries and make that experience for people."
So which Richmond beers sit atop Eric's list? And what led him to Richmond in the first place? Listen to this week's "Eat It, Virginia!" podcast for those answers and so much more.
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Do you believe in love at first sight? Scott fell hard when Sarah Tocco, the head chef at Fine Creek Brewing Company, posted a photo of Peach Pizza on Instagram.
He knew he had to know more about the pizza and its creator, so he and Robey drove out to the Powhatan brewery to meet Sarah, hear her story, and learn more about her fantastic looking food.
This episode of Eat It, Virginia is brought to you by Hungry Harvest.
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To say that a lot has happened in 2020 would be an understatement. The arrival of COVID-19 put the restaurant industry on uncertain footing. That uncertainty is reflected in many recent "Eat It, Virginia!" podcast interviews.
But this week, we take you back in time.
All the way back to January 2020, when we sat down with Brenner Pass co-owner James Kohler to learn about his accession from Richmond dishwasher to partner at one of the city's top restaurants.
We also caught up with Southern Kitchen owner Shane Roberts-Thomas about her fight to stay open during COVID and her recent appearance in "Chopped."
This week's episode is brought to you by Hungry Harvest. Subscribe to the new "Eat It, Virginia!" YouTube page for your chance to win free Hungry Harvest.
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When Phish announced it had to reschedule its entire 2020 Summer Tour due to COVID-19, thousands of fans across the country adjusted their plans. Jim Hamilton adjusted his life.
Phish hired the Richmond-based chef as touring chef after meeting him at the band's historic Baker's Dozen run at Madison Square Garden.
No concerts in 2020 meant no need for a touring chef.
But Hamilton decided to get back on the road.
Not with bands but with burritos.
He launched Sous Casa, delivering frozen burritos to homes in and around Richmond.
On this week's episode of Eat It, Virginia!, Hamilton talks about his new business, his time on the road with some of the world's biggest musical acts, and is extremely patient while Scott (a Phish fan) asks too many fanboy questions.
Hey Phish fans, the Phish talk gets going around the 29:30 mark.
Eat It, Virginia! is sponsored by Hungry Harvest. Subscribe to the new Eat It, Virginia! YouTube page for your chance to win a FREE Hungry Harvest box.
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Most businesses (and people for that matter) have changed the way they do things since COVID arrived.
For many in the food and hospitality industry, that change has been drastic.
Hardywood Craft Brewery co-founder and brew-master Patrick Murtaugh and vice president of operations and quality Kate Lee joined Scott and Robey for a special, socially-distant, live podcast event at Hardywood West Creek where they discussed their personal journeys that led them to Richmond and how COVID prompted Hardywood to get creative.
"Of course, people love Richmond Lager over and over again, and Singel, and Pils. But we were finding that people were really seeking innovation, and creativity during the quarantine," Lee said. "And so we responded to that. And we really started brewing a lot of what we call one-off beers, really just trying to keep people interested and coming back week to week give them something new to look forward to."
The live podcast was recorded at a Real Local RVA event.
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Life is full of what-if questions.
What if Circuit City had not fired Keya Wingfield for her role in a forbidden relationship?
The answer is easy. Richmond may have lost out on a creative cake pop artist and Indian chef.
Keya shared both her love story and the details behind the creation of her delicious businesses on Eat It, Virginia! with Scott and Robey.
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Soul Taco has grown from a single Richmond storefront to three locations in less than two years. And despite the pandemic, co-owners Nar Hovnanian, Ari Augenbaum, and Richmond's own Trey Owens are planning their next expansion of the Soul Taco empire.
Owens credits the restaurant's success to the community it serves.
"Our mission was to be embedded in the community," Owens said on the Eat It, Virginia podcast. "Engaging with other small businesses, and engaging with people that are movers and shakers in the community. And I'd like to say that now that COVID has happened, and a lot more people are a bit more aware of the political landscape, I'd like to say that us starting off that way, being in the community, is what helped us to become so successful."
The co-owners also share stories of how they met, how they landed on the Soul Taco theme, and what a visit from a flamboyant Food Network star meant for business.
Be a part of the podcast! Send messages and questions here.
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Rabia Kamara grew up outside of Washington, D.C. as a child of immigrants, in a community of immigrants. The diverse cooking styles Kamara was exposed to at an early age followed her into the kitchen.
Kamara pulled from those life experiences when creating flavors for her ice cream and dessert business Ruby Scoops.
"Most of my friends were also first-generation Americans. So I grew up in a neighborhood where my next-door neighbors, one family was Ethiopian, one family was Vietnamese. So l would go to someone's house and eat Injera one night, or go to someone else's house and have Pho," she recalled. "We explore flavors that I think are important to us. My business partner grew up a military brat, so they got to experience life in different countries and also here... [we're] not afraid to try new flavors and be open to the criticism that comes with that."
Kamara said they also look to what's in season when setting the flavor menu.
"We use local dairy and local produce whenever we can," she said. "Since it's a beautiful summer produce season, we're gonna be doing some peach flavors, some peach and berry combinations as well as a corn ice cream [at their next pop up]."
Kamara, who first came to Richmond to attend VCU, said she hoped Ruby Scoops would also serve as an inspiration for others to follow their dreams.
"Growing up, I didn't see anyone that looked like me cooking. So I figured even if [our logo] was a cartoon, if I could make this logo of this little girl that looks like me, other little Black or brown girls would see that and be like, "oh, she looks like me. Her hair is curly like mine,' it will represent us in a way that we're not used to seeing," she said. "So I didn't mean to be a walking logo, but I'm happy to be if it's going to encourage other people to kind of try to follow their own back the path and dance to the beat of their own drum."
After a false start opening a brick and mortar location earlier this year, Kamara is raising money to open Ruby Scoops in Northside Richmond. She's launched a successful Kickstarter that offers rewards to those who donate.
For now, you have to catch Kamara and Ruby Scoops at pop-ups around town:
Tuesday, August 18, 2020 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. Charm School 311 W. Broad Street, Richmond, Va.
Friday, August 21, 2020 Fuzy Cactus 221 W Brookland Park Blvd, Richmond, Va.
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It took nearly two years of saving and hosting regular fish frys for Helen Holmes to raise the money she needed to open Ms. Girlee's Kitchen in Fulton.
Holmes raised her family in the East End neighborhood and family is the secret to Ms. Girlee's success.
The restaurant is named for Holmes' grandmother Girlee Francis Crump. Grandma Girlee also provided the inspiration for recipes like meatloaf, fried chicken, and mac & cheese.
Holmes and her brother Frank Crump both plan the menu and execute that vision in the kitchen. It's a vision that has had to adjust.
Days after the restaurant opened its door in March 2020, COVID-19 descended upon Virginia and forced restaurants to rethink the way they do business.
Ms. Girlee's transformed into a take out restaurant with hungry diners traveling from across Central Virginia to try the old fashion Southern dishes.
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For Duron Chavis, the founder and executive director at The Happily Natural Day, food is much more than breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
"I think food, especially the act of growing food, is one of the most practical, accessible tools of resistance that communities can utilize to take their power back," Chavis told Eat It, Virginia! podcast hosts Scott Wise and Robey Martin. "When I say take your power back, I mean, health-wise, we live in communities that don't have access to grocery stores or healthy food in general. The act of you growing your own food is you practicing agency and determining for yourself what your input is going to be. That's just the individual level, right? But on a communal level, the act of growing food is and builds community."
Through his food justice community activism and non-profit work, Chavis is training volunteers to plant gardens in communities where fresh food is needed the most.
"The Resiliency Garden Project is designed to help increase people's access to healthy food. Through COVID, lots of folks lost their jobs are lost people were laid off. So we said, one of the things that is going to be challenging is if people have less money, then that means that they have less food. And once COVID started hitting, really started seeing shortages of food and different types of products inside of the grocery store. So I tried to figure out how we can help people have more immediate access to food in their homes, by the virtue of them growing their own food," he said. "So if you're food insecure, you can apply for a raised bed and go on our website, click the link, put in your name, address, phone number, and you'll be put into a queue. A volunteer, once your materials are ready, they'll contact you and come out and build you a raised bed. Six by four size, 12-inches high, it's about a cubic yard with the soil. Then volunteers will also bring you some seedlings to help you get your raise pit started. So it's really simple. It's nothing complicated at all. It's really our way of trying to help people connect to where their food comes from, as well as help mitigate people's lack of food access."
To learn more about Chavis' work and impact in the community, download Eat It, Virginia!
Links mentioned in the podcast:
Raising Funds For Food Justice in Richmond, Virginia
The Happily Natural Day
RVA Land Justice Fund
Fat Kid Sandwiches
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For Shola Walker, cooking and baking are about community.
On this week's "Eat It, Virginia!" podcast, Walker shared her story with Scott and Robey.
Learn why she left a career in theater for the kitchen and how this Richmond native rose through the ranks to eventually open her own health-conscious bakery, Mahogany Sweets.
Walker now works at Shalom Farms where she teaches others about living off the land and how that connects to her culture.
"I spend a lot of time and energy being dedicated to the history, particularly of Black women, Black chefs, Black pastry chef, Black cooks who have come up in the South. And so the work that I do, the recipes that I get to look up, the history that I get to study is relevant to the struggle, particularly because African Americans have always used food as a form of protest," Walker said. "If you don't have to depend on someone else for your livelihood and your sustenance, that is a form of protest. It's not necessarily an aggressive form of protest, but it is still a form of protest."
Listen to the podcast to learn more about Walker's mission to educate others, improve the community, and the belief system her parents instilled within her that has kept her on the path to success.
Oh yeah, she throws in some great baking tips as well. Enjoy!
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Michele Wilson did not grow up in Virginia, but she has roots in the Commonwealth. Wilson, who owns Ma Michele's Cafe in Midlothian, shared her life story on the "Eat It, Virginia!" podcast. Learn about Wilson's upbringing, her food, her commitment to her community, and her restaurant staff.
"They're the best investment I've ever made," she said. "It may sound cliche, but if you're smart and you want to be successful, then you need to take care of the people that are taking care of you. And that's not necessarily always the customer first. It's your employees first. And with my being a small, minority business, I can't compete with larger businesses and what they can offer their employees. So you know, you damn well better be nicer."
Ma Michele's Cafe is located at 10811 Hull Street Road in Midlothian. Call 804-912-1644 to order lunch or dinner.
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As we process these historic protests Richmond and the rest of the country are experiencing, Chauncey Jenkins shared stories from his life about what is like being a Black man in America. Jenkins most recently worked as general manager of Lemaire restaurant inside the Jefferson Hotel. He is now in the process of opening Common House, a social club in downtown Richmond, where he will serve as general manager.
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In these uncertain times, people can take comfort in advice and guidance from others. That includes ideas on where to eat.
In the months since COVID-19 shutdown dining rooms around Virginia, more than 15,000 people have joined the RVA Dine - Take Out & Delivery Options Facebook group to share stories, restaurant reviews, and food photos.
Kevin Clay, one of the group's moderators, joined Scott and Robey this week to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of managing such a large social group.
Additionally, Robey spoke with six RVADine fans and got their insight into the restaurants they've visited again and again based on quality food and to-go service.
Send questions, comments, and restaurant reviews to the Eat It, Virginia! Instagram page.
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Beloved CBS 6 meteorologist Nikki-Dee Ray left Richmond last month for a new job in Nashville. But, in her final interview before leaving town, Scott and Robey spoke with Nikki-Dee about the food (and wine) she'll miss the most.
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As Virginia dining rooms remain closed to help slow the spread of COVID-19, Scott and Robey continue to highlight those restaurants staying open to safely serve their customers. Featured on this week's podcast: Ronnie's BBQ Saucy's Bar.B.Q Gelati Celesti Amanda Sanders FAT RABBIT — Ellyn Hopper
Send show feedback here.
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From James Beard Award nominations to laudatory write-ups in national media like Southern Living and Bon Appetit, Lee Gregory has established himself on the Mount Rushmore of Richmond's decade-long restaurant renaissance.
Right now, Gregory is in the fight of his professional life as he works to keep his two Richmond restaurants, Alewife and Southbound, open for take-out while the COVID-19 pandemic has closed dining rooms across the country.
Weeks before coronavirus wreaked havoc on the restaurant industry, Gregory sat down with Scott and Robey to discuss his rise in Richmond restaurants, his philosophy as a chef/restaurateur, and why it's so dang hard to run a restaurant -- even on the good days.
We hope this slice of life before the virus closed many Richmond restaurants provides a brief respite from current events. His interview begins around the 22:00 mark.
Of course, we cannot ignore what's happening in our community right now. That's why we invited Jack Berry, President at Richmond Region Tourism, to the podcast.
Berry explains what his office is doing to help support the restaurant industry and how his planning ahead for what will undoubtedly be an unusual summer travel season.
Since Scott and Robey are socially distancing, most of this podcast was recorded via Zoom. The Lee Gregory interview was conducted in January 2020.
Alewife
Southbound
Richmond Region Tourism
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Robey and Scott continue to focus on the people keeping their restaurants open amid COVID-19 uncertainty.
This week's guests include:
Beth Dixon - Perch
Trey Owens - Soul Taco
Andrew Broocker - Reginald's Homemade
Saadia Yasim - Saadia's Juicebox
If you would like to be featured in featured We're Open themed podcast, please reach out.
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Since the last time we saw you, the world turned upside down with the arrival of COVID-19. As Virginia restaurants either close or adapt to social distancing, Robey and Scott focused this week's podcast on the people who continued to run their restaurants with the hope of providing for both their restaurant families and the communities in which they serve.
This week's guests include:
Lee Gregory - Alewife
Jessica Bufford - Toast
Donnie Glass - Grisette
Michael Smith - Laura Lee's
If you would like to be featured in featured We're Open themed podcast, please reach out.
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Brittanny Anderson runs some of Richmond's most successful restaurants. On this week's "Eat It, Virginia!" Anderson told Scott and Robey about her start in the restaurant industry and the decisions that led her to open Metzger Bar and Butchery in Church Hill and Brenner Pass in Scott's Addition.
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It is a question often asked every night around Richmond.
"Where should we eat tonight?"
Now imagine trying to choose 20 places to eat.
Such is the tough [read: fabulous] life of David Hagedorn.
Hagedorn, a chef and restaurant owner turned food critic and writer for publications like the Washington Post, Bethesda Magazine, and Arlington Magazine, visited Richmond last fall for a piece he wrote titled Where to Eat and Drink in Richmond.
Before writing the piece, Hagedorn visited nearly two dozen Richmond restaurants and ate, and ate, and ate.
Hear all about which restaurants he loved and why he thinks they make Richmond such a special place to dine.
Did you enjoy Robey's conversation with Kelli Lemon about the Richmond Black Restaurant Experience? Learn more about it here.
At the end of the podcast, Robey also talked about the Autumn Olive Farms “On The Fly” Dodgeball Tournament. Click here for additional information about the tournament and The Holli Fund.
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Shane Roberts-Thomas is a Tasmanian devil. At least that's what she told a worldwide television audience when her Richmond restaurant Southern Kitchen was featured in "Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back."
The show, which travels the country helping restaurants improve their business, was filmed in October 2019 and debuted on television in February 2020.
Roberts-Thomas sat down with Eat It, Virginia! co-hosts Scott Wise and Robey Martin to break down Gordon Ramsay's surprise visit to Richmond and discussed the life decisions she made that led her to open a restaurant.
The Gordon Ramsay experience started with a phone call.
"[The producers called] and they didn't say was Gordon Ramsay. They said it was [a show called 'Famous Kitchens,'" Roberts-Thomas recalled. "[They said] they were just calling because they had heard about me. And they do a lot of analytics and they wanted to feature me on a new show and that 'the expert' is looking at you. I said, 'Who is the expert?' They said, 'We can't tell you.'"This expert we can tell you.'"
She signed the papers and allowed the producers to set-up cameras and microphones in her new Jackson Ward restaurant to collect the content they needed to make the show.
Weeks passed, until one day a disguised guest arrived in the dining room.
"You see [Gordon] go, 'Shane,'" she said. "The record scratched, the bombs dropped, the wind started blowing, you were like -- it's a hurricane!"
A what a storm it was -- and has been -- for Roberts-Thomas and her family. Get the full story on Eat It, Virginia! with Scott and Robey.
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When you walk into a Richmond restaurant, Michael Smith is the kind of person you want to encounter.
"You'll see me most nights at the front door greeting guests," Smith, the general manager of Laura Lee's Semmes Avenue in south Richmond, told Eat It, Virginia! co-hosts Scott Wise and Robey Martin. "I'm not this satellite manager that sits in an office and comes out when it's time to do the money at the end of the night. I'm very hands on."
For Smith, hands on means making sure his guests are kept comfortable from the moment they arrive.
"What I try to bring to the table, from a hospitality standpoint, is just warmth all around. We want people to feel like they're wanted there. Oftentimes the place is packed, but because we're a large restaurant, we can find you a spot. If it's in the lounge or if it's at the bar, if it's in the patio outside, there's a space for you, until there's a better space for you."
Smith described Laura Lee's as a female-centeric fern bar, opposite the vibe of his previous job at the lauded Richmond restaurant The Roosevelt. Both restaurants are owned by Kendra Feather.
"We wanted to interpret a restaurant in a way that was a little less about male ego and more about feminine sensibilities. So what does [Kendra] do? She hires me," Smith said with a laugh.
Smith also recounted the intense celebrity encounter he once had while running Amuse, the restaurant inside Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond.
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Nikki Gregory and Paul Polk are in love. Need proof? Eat their food. The chef/owners of Charlotte's Southern Deli and Tapas drew from their Virginia roots to develop the menu at their new downtown Richmond restaurant.
"A lot of our menu items are influenced by stuff we grew up on," Gregory, a Newport News native said.
Polk, a native of Kilmarnock, Virginia, shared the story of how he and Gregory met at culinary school in Charlotte, North Carolina and how that relationship has heated up in the kitchen.
"I don't think [Charlotte's ] would exist without both of us," he said. "We were really good at doing things separately and then coming back together and making a really good product."
One of the products the couple brought to Richmond is their traditional Tidewater yock a mein dish, aka Yock.
"Our version has ketchup in it," Gregory said. "Green onions, red onions, garlic, and we reduce it and let it get that flavor. And then we put smoked chicken in it, collard greens, shaved onion, green onions, a pickled egg and then tomato jam."
Get to know Nikki and Paul on this week's episode of "Eat It, Virginia!"
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It was not so long ago that River City Roll owner and Richmond native Rob Long was an investment banker who hated his job. So, he got out of the office and did something about it.
"Corporate America wasn't really for me," Long told Scott and Robey on the CBS 6 food podcast Eat It, Virginia! "I lived in three other cities across the country and they all had concepts similar to River City Roll. I saw them and spent a lot of money at them when I lived there. So when I moved back to Richmond, I actually moved into the Cookie Factory Lofts. And the acreage that [River City Roll] is on now was kind of a dilapidated old parking lot. And I was like, somebody is going to do this in Richmond. I don't particularly care for corporate America or my current job. So I'm going to take the leap of faith."
And it was quite a leap. With neither restaurant experience nor an impressive bowling average, Long opened River City Roll on Myers Street, off Arthur Ashe Boulevard, in 2018.
The concept combines an upscale bowling environment (think leather seats and playful lighting) with elevated dining options not typically expected at a bowling alley.
Since this is a food podcast, it's that menu which drew our interest. The man behind the menu is Chef Brad Slemaker.
"I couldn't do it without Brad Slemaker our chef," Long said. "He's just so talented. I mean he's trained under the best. So he was Walter Bundy sous chef at Lemaire. So, you know, Walter, I would say is, you know, one of the people I respect the most in the city. Shagbark [Bundy's current restaurant] is where I eat for my birthday every year. And for us to get Brad and give him kind of his own kitchen, he's really doing a great job."
While wood-fired pizzas remain River City Roll's number one seller, Long highlighted other menu items such as Chef Brad's pork belly steamed buns and the truffle fries.
"[Chef Brad has] tried to take the truffle fries off the menu the last three times and it's just the only time I give him a firm 'no.' They're probably also the biggest culprit for why I've gained 15 pounds since we've opened," Long laughed. "The ginger glazed chicken bowl is something I eat four to five times a week. I've convinced myself that it's somewhat healthy, which it is. But that that's my go-to. The new tuna dish which he's going to do on the next menu is incredible. Sesame crusted tuna, which I'm a big fan of. Our burger is underrated. I think his take on the Mexican shrimp cocktail is really cool and different."
In addition to food, drink, and bowling, River City Roll bring music to Scott's Addition. The venue hosted a dozen concerts both inside the alley and out in the expansive parking lot. Long hopes to bring even more acts to town in 2020.
"We had over 1,200 people here for Robert Randolph on our outdoor stage," he said. "We have had other acts like Andy Frasco who played at Lockn and Chris Jacobs played outside. The Wailers played inside."
River City Roll made local headlines in 2019 when Long and his team opened Tommie's patio - a space dedicated with a Richmond's dog whose abusive death captured the community's hearts. When guests order a TOMMIETAIL cocktail, a portion of the proceeds goes to Richmond Animal Care and Control (RACC).
"We wanted to think of a way that we could honor Tommie, but as well continue to support RACC in an ongoing fashion. So, the original debut of Tommie's patio, I think we raised close to $7,000," Long said. "But you know, sales on Tommie's patio get donated to RACC every month. So it's not just a one time thing. It's a kind of a constant thing."
Long hopes River City Roll remains a constant choice for Richmonders looking to have fun in the city. Email EatItVirginia@gmail.com to provide podcast feedback and suggest guests for future shows.
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Thank you, so very much, for listening to Eat It, Virginia! We're ending 2019 with a look back at some of our favorite Season One moments. Season Two begins in January and we're looking forward to sharing all new stories from the people who make Virginia dining so dang great. In the meantime, catch up on past episodes and shoot us a note to tell us who you'd like to hear from in 2020.
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Michelle Williams has been a leader in Richmond restaurants for more than 30 years. From student, to chef, to restaurant owner, it's safe to say Williams has seen it all during her culinary career. But it has not been easy.
Williams shared a deeply personal story with Robey and Scott about the day her professional and personal life changed in an instant.
"While [working] at the Butlery, I met what became my fiancé, his name was Robbie Robert. He and I met a gentleman named Bob Talcottt," Williams said. "Bob wanted to open a restaurant called the Island Grill. Robbie and I joined on with Bob to open his restaurant, Robbie was also a chef. And so we thought, we'll do this, we'll run this for him, we kind of let him know will be there for a couple years, but that our intention was to open our own. And about a year and a half into that scenario, Robbie was killed in a car accident. So still hard now. But it's, it's part of my story. So it got me here."
Williams credited business partner Jared Golden for helping her come back from the tragedy. In the years since, Williams, Golden, and the Richmond Restaurant Group have opened restaurants like The Hard Shell, The Hill Cafe, and The Daily.
Williams shared her views of the ways Richmond restaurants have changed over the decades, dove into some of the challenges facing restaurants heading into 2020, and discussed what it takes to lead a kitchen.
"If anything, I feel like because I am a woman and I wasn't afraid to take leadership and ownership and be strong, that that maybe got me more respect from my staff, and maybe even potentially from my peers. I think that when you set your mind to something and then, if you're decisive and stand behind your opinions that it shouldn't matter, man, woman, black, white," she said. "If you're going to be a woman in this industry, you have to be strong and if you're going to be a woman and be strong, you're going to end up at the top."
Also in this episode, Allie Hochman, with Starr Hill Brewery, shared details about the Charlottesville brewery's entrance into Richmond beer community with the opening of Starr Hill Richmond Beer Hall & Rooftop in Scott's Addition.
And as a side note, due to the holiday and some bad computer juju, this episode's sound and structure is, ahem, not the norm for Eat It, Virginia! Apologies in advance.
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Paige Healy has a lot on her mind and she is not keeping it inside. As Chief Creative Officer at Richmond, Virginia-based HOUSEpitality, it falls on Healy to set the vibe at her family's collection of restaurants: The Boathouse, Casa Del Barco, and the recently-opened Island Shrimp Co.
"The atmosphere, the food, the plating, the way you're greeted, the way the voice message sounds, all of that stuff," Healy said about her impact on the properties which dot Central Virginia. "I like to have my hand in that, and with the big team we're able to shape and steer and create concepts that I feel like have full personalities versus you know, personalities that are one dimensional."
On this week's episode of Eat It, Virginia!, Healy told Scott and Robey how previous life experiences now help her tell specific stories through her family's restaurants.
"I started guiding tours in the Grand Canyon, so I learned in that experience how to tell stories," she said. "So when you bring somebody out to the Grand Canyon, they can look at the Grand Canyon, and they can see it, but they don't really appreciate it, usually, until you've given them some sort of context to understand like, have their brain actually understand the entire magnitude of what's in front of them."
Healy said she applied that philosophy when setting the aesthetic at Island Shrimp Co. -- an Instagram-ready restaurant that opened in Chesterfield Towne Center.
"One thing we did was we built the exterior of the restaurant out of 13 shipping containers. So we felt like the restaurant has a story to tell and the story is that the shipping containers have seen things, they have been on those waters, they have traveled from port city to port city on long ocean stretches, and they do a great job of reflecting that same depth of flavor that we want to reflect in our menu in kind of the dings and dents in history that they bring to us," she said. "Then we wanted to make sure that this kind of port-to-plate concept has memories that are evoked for people who have been on that amazing vacation and they get that every time they walk in."
"Our vision for this restaurant was to transport people to the last time that their toes were in the sand, coconut trees were over their head, and they were staring at turquoise blue waters," she continued. "We want to make sure that we have elements that visually reflect those colors, that vibrancy, and that experience because a visual reminder can trigger a memory, but then also the smells and tastes that trigger that memory."
Healy also discussed her less-than-glamorous entry into the family business, the plan she and her brothers have to lead HOUSEpitality into the future, and the fateful trip to Italy where she met a woman who led her to her future husband.
"We started getting coffee and hanging out and chatting and then one time I saw her on the boardwalk, walking arm in arm with this gorgeous guy," Healy recalled. "So I went up to her very confidently and said, 'oh my God, he's so cute' and she quickly told me that that was her cousin and she set us up on a date and he picked me up on his motorcycle and then I was his forever."
Click here to reach Eat It, Virginia! to suggest future podcast guests.
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For thousands of people in Virginia, Belle Isle is a historic location turned gathering place to run, hike, bike, or just relax on the James River rocks. But if Vince Riggi and Brian Marks have their way, Belle Isle will be known around the country for much, much more.
Riggi and Marks are brothers-in-law who created Belle Isle Moonshine, a Richmond-based spirit.
In this week's episode of "Eat It, Virginia!" the founders of Belle Isle Moonshine tell Robey and Scott how a dream shared over drinks as friends became a full-on family affair.
They also discussed the decision behind launching Belle Isle's new brand of canned cocktails and answered their most frequently asked questions:
1) What is moonshine?
2) Does it taste good?
3) What the hell do I do with it?
Plus, Robey goes old school -- literally -- bringing up high school experiences she shared with Brian.
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"There's no easy path in barbecue," ZZQ pit mistress Alex Graf told Scott Wise and Robey Martin on the "Eat It, Virginia!" podcast. But Graf and her husband, pitmaster Chris Fultz, sure make it look easy.
A lot of hard work -- and mouth-watering food -- helped make their Richmond restaurant ZZQ a smash hit from the moment it opened its doors in 2018.
Graf and Fultz shared the story of why and how they brought Texas barbecue to Virginia, discussed their many in-restaurant celebrity sightings, and spilled a secret about the absolute best day and time to order your ZZQ meal.
Pull up a seat at the table, download the podcast, and hear the story behind one of Virginia's most honored new restaurants.
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Beth Dixon has a long and storied history in Richmond restaurants. Her path to bar manager at Perch in Richmond's Scott Addition started inconspicuously enough nearly 20 years ago at Texas Roadhouse near Virginia Center Commons. But it was her next stop as a "cocktail waitress in a wing bar" that helped propel Dixon in Richmond's beverage and hospitality industry.
In addition to meeting future award-winning chef Brittanny Anderson (Brenner Pass, Metzger Bar and Butchery) at Buffalo Wing Wings, Dixon studied the bartenders, asked questions, and learned how to make the popular shooters of the day.
When Dixon joined the team that opened Can Can Brasserie in Carytown, she was able re-create some of those shooters the fancier bartenders were less accustomed to making.
Then, one fateful night, Can Can's regular bartender was a no show.
"Here I am a cocktail waitress from a wing bar," Dixon recalled. "There was a manager there who had come down from New York and I told him I wanted to bar tend. He had a bartender who didn't show up one night and he said, 'Here's your chance. Sink or swim.' And I swam."
On this episode of Eat It, Virginia!, Dixon shared with Scott and Robey stories from behind the bar including her experience working while pregnant and the transition from Pasture to Perch.
She also discussed some do’s and don’ts for home bartenders, the best things customers can do you help their bartenders, and what it means to a homesteader in Richmond.
People, places, and products mentioned in this podcast:
Brandon Peck
Brittanny Anderson
Buffalo Wild Wings
Can Can Brasserie
Fire Flour & Fork
Heritage
Jason Alley
Joe Sparatta
Legend Brewing Company
Lemaire
Lindsey Scheer
Michele Jones
Mike Ledesma
Pasture
Safe Bars
Texas Roadhouse
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The best chicken wing in Virginia has landed in Richmond. Marvin Nguyen, who owns Manchu on North Avenue, is winning the chicken wing game.
"I did not know chicken wings were in my future, because I used to be in an office job, behind cubicles and windows, but at home cooking was something I enjoyed," Nguyen said when asked about his entree into the Richmond restaurant scene.
You could say slinging wings was in Nguyen's blood.
He took his family super successful part Vietnamese, part Cajun chicken wing recipe from their home base in New Orleans and flew it north to Virginia when his family moved here.
Nguyen, who later attended VCU, knew Richmond would be the perfect place to expand his family's wing empire.
"I chose Northside because it reminds me of home in New Orleans," he said. "The foot traffic that we have, the bus stops, the people that are around. It just reminds me of home. Northside is just the perfect fit for Manchu itself."
Business is so good Nguyen was actually working during his Eat It, Virginia! interview, a first for the podcast. He said a second Manchu location was in the works. You'll have to listen to the podcast to hear where Nguyen would like to build Manchu II.
In the podcast, he also shares the secret to making a good wing, the one Manchu menu item that serves as the perfect hangover cure, and why he broke with family tradition and put ghost pepper wings on the menu.
"Virginia's a little extra when it comes to their food," he said with a laugh.
PODCAST CONTEST NOTE: At the beginning of the podcast, Robey mentions a ticket giveaway for Powhatan Festival of the Grape. To win two unlimited wine tasting tickets to Powhatan Festival of the Grape go see Beth Dixon at Perch at ask to see the secret closet door.
People, places, and products mentioned in this podcast:
Bon Appetit Magazine
Booth Hardy at Barrel Thief
Grochau Cellars
Longoven
Old Chatham Creamery
Powhatan Festival of the Grape
Turkey and the Wolf
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There are places in Richmond that change the game. The Jasper, a nearly two-year-old bar in Carytown that promises "full pours and honest prices," is one of those places.
The Richmond bartender power trio behind the The Jasper -- Mattias Hagglund (former co-owner of Heritage), Thomas Leggett, and Brandon Peck (both formerly of The Roosevelt) -- appeared on the Eat It, Virginia! podcast to talk about the biggest surprises they've faced, the changes they've made since opening The Jasper, their current favorite drinks, and separate paths they took that led them to find each other.
"Tee [Thomas Leggett] and I had been talking about trying to do something for years," Hagglund told Scott Wise and Robey Martin on the Eat It Virginia! podcast. "We looked at a number of spaces around town over the course of three or four years. After Heritage, our other partner Kevin Liu -- who owns Carytown Cupcakes -- found out that this space [3113 W Cary Street] was becoming available and reached out to us and was like 'hey, I know y'all are trying to do something, I have the beginnings of this weirdo idea for a bar, let's see if we can find a way to make it work."
The weirdo idea was to open a bar in a state where liquor laws were created to dissuade business owners from doing just that. Virginia law dictates "a minimum 45 percent of the total gross sales must be from food and nonalcoholic beverages. Conversely, alcohol sales should comprise no more than 55 percent of these sales."
That could be a difficult threshold to meet for an establishment with a focus on craft cocktails and whose menu is "aimed at satisfying the hunger you get when you're having a drink."
"We serve a ton more drinks than we do food generally," Hagglund said. "It's an usual concept for Virginia because we do focus more on being a bar than anything else, as such I think it's been something where we've had to learn new efficiencies and ways to handle volume that we maybe aren't quite used to."
So far, it's worked. Garden & Gun magazine. named The Jasper one of the "The South's best new bars" and the bar's Christmas-themed Miracle in Carytown nights produced lines that stretched down the block.
Despite their success, the owners of The Jasper still feel a bit misunderstood.
"One big super important quality of this bar going into opening this place was that this can be anybody's bar," Brandon Peck said. "We like to think we have something for everybody, from a really cool wine list, to cheap canned beer, to cool cocktails, we're open until 2 a.m. every single day. We want to be a bar for everybody and I think a lot of people have this misconception that we are a speakeasy which is kind of funny because we have big wide open windows and a sign that says 'bar' outside."
Other topics discussed on the podcast include places -- other than Popeyes -- to grab a killer chicken sandwich and our Eat It, Virginia! podcast sommelier Booth Hardy from Barrel Thief explains why he's pairing Shooting Star Creamery's Aries sheep's milk cheese with vin jaune.
Send Scott and Robey your podcast questions and feedback.
People, places, and products mentioned in this podcast:
Barrel Thief Wine Shop & Café
Booth Hardy
Carytown
Carytown Cupcakes
Copycat Co.
Fire, Flour & Fork
Heritage
Hot Chick RVA
La Bete Food Truck
LOWCO Eatery
Reservoir Distillery
Saison
Shooting Star Creamery
The Chicken Box
The Roosevelt
Virago Spirits
Virginia Spirits
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Food and baseball are so intertwined that the iconic baseball song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" brings up food before it ever mentions balls and strikes.
The Richmond Flying Squirrels draw thousands of baseball fans to the Diamond on Arthur Ashe Boulevard each game and it's Josh Barban's job to make sure every fan goes home well fed.
"Not only do we feed 6,200 fans a game, we go from business clientele, like in the suites, to the ballpark fan. So we cover a lot of different aspects of the food industry," Barban said. "We have something for everybody. We want to cover all walks of life."
Barban, who also has a background in sales and marketing, told Eat It, Virginia hosts Scott and Robey how he's used those skills to attract more people to the ballpark, not just for baseball -- but also to eat.
"Food has always been kind of the hallmark of the baseball experience," he said, "I remember smelling the fried onions on the flat top grill when you first get to the ballpark. The smell of a burger cooking. It just feeds your interest."
Listen to catch Barban's thoughts on:
Must-try Diamond dishes
"Foul" stadium food ideas
How Richmond's craft brew scene has changed drinking at the Diamond
Would a new stadium would improve the food at Flying Squirrels' games
In our Eat It, Virginia! podcast sommelier segment, Booth Hardy from Barrel Thief explains why he's pairing Veritas Vineyard & Winery's Mousseux with the American Cheese Society's award-winning Professor's Brie cheese from Old Chatham Sheepherding Company in Old Chatham, New York.
Other topics discussed include:
The Hot List of Richmond restaurants people are talking about this month.
A preview of Richmond's premiere food event Fire, Flour & Fork.
People, places, and products mentioned in this podcast:
Ardent
Baja Bean
Barrel Thief
Cary Street Cafe
Center of the Universe
Cooper's Hawk
Dinner on the Infield
Fire, Flour & Fork
Milton's Local
Sanderling Resort
Scuffletown Garden
Soul Taco
Veritas Vineyards & Winery
Wegmans
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From forklifts to forks, spoons, and knives, Minibar chef and owner Micah Crump has had quite an interesting culinary journey.
After working warehouse jobs, the Richmond native started his career path as a dishwasher at the now defunct Europa Italian Cafe and Tapas Bar. Just one of the many Richmond Restaurant Group spots where Crump worked.
"I worked for them for a long time. Most of my cooking career has been working for [Richmond Restaurant Group]," Crump told Scott and Robey during a podcast recording session for Eat It, Virginia! "I got most of my knowledge from the kitchen from working with those guys."
But it was in the kitchen at Europa where Crump made the move from washing dishes to creating the food served on them.
"Frank Crump, that's my cousin, he was working there at the same time. He was, I think, one of the executive chefs there. I was like, 'man, put me on the line.'" Crump recalled. "So he put me on the line. I stated at salads. And it just kind of grew from there. Working different stations and learning different techniques."
Crump combined his in-the-kitchen learning with some classroom knowledge at Stratford University before going into business on his own. But he was not really on his own.
He was guided by the love of his life, and wife, Ashley Ramsey.
"She played a big part in it. Just pushing my cooking ability and my career the whole time," he said.
Crump and Ramsey met at a red light in Shockoe Bottom, not far from where Minibar is now located (14 N 18th Street in Richmond).
Before opening Minibar nearly three years ago, the two started The 2020 Experience in 2012.
The 2020 Experience saw Crump serve as a private chef for dinner parties and date nights.
"A lot of people think it's for the rich, but you can just be a regular person and have that service," he said.
Still, Crump and Ramsey have fed their fair share of celebrities.
"There was one time, I think it was a Monday, me and chef were out having dinner," Ramsey recalled. "We're about to order our food and the phone rings. Chef is talking and he hangs up and says 'someone needs me to cook right now.'"
The couple left money on the table for their drinks and got to work.
"We go to the grocery store. Chef picks up all of the stuff he needs for the reservation. We ring the doorbell [and] somebody comes and buzzes us in. It was a celebrity!" Ramsey said with a laugh. "I was completely frozen! I didn't know what to do!"
IF YOU'VE LISTENED TO THE PODCAST AND THINK YOU KNOW WHICH CELEBRITY ASHLEY IS TALKING ABOUT, TELL US HERE FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A MINIBAR GIFT CARD.
When they opened Minibar in 2016, Crump and Ramsey saw many former 2020 Experience clients come eat their food at the restaurant. Crump said they've also built a buzz around the restaurant by using social media and taking part in festivals that once filled the Shockoe Bottom streets.
"I think they should bring the festivals back," Ramsey said when asked what Richmond could do to improve business in Shockoe Bottom. "The festivals have been very beneficial in the growth of Minibar. We've gotten so many customers from that. Each time there's a festival out there, we're always the first to sign up and go out there and vend. We've had nothing but positive experiences."
If there's a Virginia restaurant or food story you'd like to hear, email Scott and Robey here.
Places Mentioned in this Episode
Minibar
Early Mountain Vineyards: Virginia Vineyard
Barrel Thief Wine Shop & Café
Saturday Morning Cafe (in Baltimore)
Fine And Shapiro's Jewish Deli (New York City)
The Black Rose (Boston)
Southern Kitchen
Pig and Brew
Morton's
Fatty Smokes Barbeque Joint
Oak & Apple
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In a special live podcast recorded during a Real Local RVA meeting, Georgiana Dearing with VA Foodie spoke with Scott and Robey about how she grew her social media presence, some do's and don't's of Instagram marketing, and changes she has seen with sponsored content. Back Pocket Provisions and Peg's Salt are also featured in this bonus episode.
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One of Virginia's finest restaurants is in what some might consider an unusual spot for a destination-worthy dining experience. But that is the case at Short Pump Town Center in far western Henrico County where Sandeep "Sunny" Baweja's Indian restaurant Lehja delights diners and racks up awards for both its mouth-watering dishes and expertly curated wine list.
"Our first thought was either [opening] in Carytown or the Fan," Sunny said when asked about choosing the location of his restaurant. "After looking for a location for a few months, we could not find the one which we liked. The one [we're looking for] should have parking space and the square, the design of the restaurant is supposed to be."
On his first trip to Short Pump Town Center, he knew he found the right place.
"[Mall management] was so excited. They wanted to bring an ethnic place to the town center and they wanted something local," Sunny said. "It just worked out to perfection."
On this week's episode of Eat It, Virginia! the James Beard nominated chef talks about his childhood in India and the decisions he made as a young man that put him on the path that eventually brought him to the United States and eventual open Lehja -- a restaurant named Richmond's Restaurant of the Year by Richmond Magazine.
"I'm lucky this is my passion and profession at the same time," Sunny said. "I enjoy every single thing. If I'm in the kitchen, I want to give 100 percent. If I'm at the bar, I want to make sure you tell this is the best drink... I love it all."
Subscribe to Eat It, Virginia! on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Places Mentioned on the Podcast
Lehja
Nawab Indian Cuisine
Short Pump Town Center
Acacia
ZZQ
Jason Alley
Jimmy Snead
Dale Ritzer
Mel Oza
Eat It, Virginia!
Robey Martin
Scott Wise
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When Ronnie Logan lost his job at age 57, he was not sure what to do to provide for his family. So, he decided to follow his heart.
"A whole lotta men don't really get to do what they're called to do," Ronnie Logan said. "I think, if you can do that, man, that's one of the biggest things in life, to do something you love."
Logan combined his love for cooking with his love for his family and created Ronnie's BBQ, now located in his hometown of Varina, Virginia.
"I just love Varina," he said. "Most of the people born in Varina, love Varina. Most of the friends I grew up with are still in Varina. Varina is just heaven here in Richmond."
After 10 years making some of the best BBQ in Virginia, Logan remains the heart, soul, and BIG SMILE behind Ronnie's BBQ. He sat down with Scott and Robey to share his inspirational story on the "Eat It, Virginia!" podcast. During the conversation, he talked about his leap of faith, his love for Varina, and how Food Network nearly put him out of business.
Restaurants, people, and events mentioned in the podcast include:
The Original Ronnie's BBQ
Manchu
Bateau
L'opossum
Barrel Thief Wine Shop and Cafe
Millie's Diner
Shagbark
Lucy's Restaurant
Parterre
Greek on Cary
Lemaire
Bookbinder's Seafood & Steakhouse
En Su Boca
Ipanema Cafe
Real Local RVA
Ronnie Logan of The Original Ronnie's BBQ
Booth Hardy of Barrel Thief Wine Shop and Cafe
David Shannon of L'opossum
Delilah Winder author of "Delilah's Everyday Soul: Southern Cooking With Style"
Walter Bundy of Shagbark
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When the Virginia is for Lovers tourism slogan was created 50 years ago, its aim was to attract travelers to Virginia to experience the commonwealth's scenic mountain ranges, sunny beaches, and rich history. In the decades since the mountains still stand, the sun still shines at the beach, and Virginia's history keeps aging -- the tastes of travelers have changed.
"Today's traveler is sophisticated," Virginia Tourism Corporation President and CEO Rita McClenny said on the Eat It, Virginia! podcast. "What can make a vacation or travel experience stand out?"
The answer, for many traveling in, around, and to Virginia is THE FOOD!
"Perhaps at one point [food] was not in the forefront of a travel experience, but now it's as much as the attraction or the place that you're going," McClenny added.
During her conversation with Scott and Robey, McClenny shared her suggestions of some of Virginia's top food and beverage travel spots, discussed her rise to the top spot in Virginia tourism, and broke some news about a popular TV show landing in Richmond later this summer.
Show Links:
Bring Safe Bars to Richmond!
Fire, Flour, & Fork
Virginia is for Lovers
Rest in Peace, Quy.
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If you listen to Sarabeth Hagen talk about her job, it will take less than a second to realize she loves what she does, where she works, and the people she employees.
Hagen owns and operates SB's Lakeside Love Shack, funky old shack on Lakeside Avenue in Henrico.
In this week's episode of Eat It Virginia,!, Hagen tells Scott and Robey about the inspiration behind both her restaurant's name and colorful food combinations. She also shares the little things she borrowed from other Richmond restaurants to bring to her own space.
Eat It, Virginia! publishes every other week and focus on the people, places, and events that make Virginia such a great place to eat!
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While Joey Darragh was working on cars at Telsa in California, he dreamed of brewing beer in his home state of Virginia. In this episode of Eat It, Virginia! Darragh tells Scott and Robey about the "aha moment" he and his cousin Tony Giordano had when they decided to give up their careers and build Väsen Brewing Company in Richmond.
Also on the podcast menu, we run down some of the new restaurants opening in Richmond, Booth Hardy from Barrel Thief recommends a great canned wine to enjoy at the pool or beach, and Robey shares her dining experience at one "the best restaurants" in Virginia
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The role of restaurant critic is a critical one for a city with a food scene like Richmond. While social media and websites like Yelp! have allowed diners to share their good, bad, and ugly restaurants experiences with the community, it is a city's restaurant critic's job to elevate that discourse.
At least that's what new Richmond Times-Dispatch restaurant critic Justin Lo believes. When Lo brings his diverse and well-traveled palate to a Richmond restaurant, he hopes he review goes beyond the basic "this meal was good, but this one was bad" narrative.
On this week's episode of Eat It, Virginia! Scott and Robey discuss Lo's review style, which restaurants he's already fallen in love with, and what he does when questioned by a chef after he's served a dish that did not work.
In addition to Justin's interview, Scott and Robey touch on Rose in a can, the places to find soft shell crab, and what some Richmond diners are doing that has Robey REALLY angry.
Be sure to subscribe to the Eat It, Virginia! podcast on your phone -- so you never miss an episode.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Booth Hardy
Barrel Thief
Williamsburg Winery
Hardywood Craft Brewery
Heritage
Joe Sparatta
Alewife
Katie Bess
Yale University
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Longoven
Kelli Lemon
Stephanie Ganz
Shannon Siriano
Karri Peifer
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Michael Shaps is to Virginia wine what Michael Jordan was to basketball. In a word, dominant. Shaps not only owns and operates Wineworks, an award-winning vineyard in Charlottesville, he also consults and makes wine for 17 other Virginia wineries. Twenty-two of Shaps' wines recently earned gold medals at the Virginia Governor's Cup and five of his wines were included in the prestigious 12-wine Governor's case.
In this episode of Eat It, Virginia!, Shaps shares the interesting story of how he got into the wine industry, what brought him to Virginia, and some of the secrets of his success. He's joined by Tayloe Dameron, owner of Upper Shirley Vineyard and one of Michael's wine partners.
In addition to wine, Scott and Robey discuss last-minute Mother's Day gifts for food-loving moms, their experience at the Elbys, and some breaking news about the future of Ukrop's in Richmond.
Subscribe to Eat It, Virginia! to ensure you never miss a podcast. Also, follow @EatItVirginia on social media to submit questions and provide feedback.
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In this action-packed episode of Eat It, Virginia! we talk Games of Thrones (SPOILERS), preview the Elbys with Richmond Magazine, learn about the perfect date wine, and Robey offers her Richmond Restaurant Week recommendations.
We're celebrating the opening of Richmond's newest restaurant - Fatty Smokes - by sitting down with EAT Restaurant Partners Director of Stuff Chris Staples. Chris talks about his upbringing in the Richmond food scene, when he decided to devote his life to hospitality, and his role in one of Richmond fastest-growing restaurant groups.
We close this week's episode by jumping into the mailbag to answer questions about Ashland and Petersburg and discuss the importance (or lack thereof) of a restaurant's name.
Please subscribe to Eat It, Virginia! on your favorite podcast platform and send feedback via social media or EatItVirginia@gmail.com.
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Samantha Kanipe (one half of the husband-wife team behind the Richmond Experience) talks about her successful side hustle, the highs and lows of sharing on social media, and the Richmond experiences she suggests we all try.
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Chauncey Jenkins is the son of a Richmond chef. Growing up in his father's kitchens (and sustained by his grandmother's Mac & Cheese), Jenkins could not resist the sirens' song that is the food and service industry. To help achieve his dream of owning his own hotel, the Richmond Community High School graduate studied at the famed School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University in upstate New York.
Jenkins eventually found his way back to his hometown where he started to work at The Jefferson Hotel. Today Jenkins is the general manager of Lemaire Restaurant, the AAA Four Diamond restaurant inside The Jefferson Hotel.
In this week's episode of Eat It, Virginia! Jenkins talks about his service style, the advice he gives hotel guests visiting Richmond, and how he is working to make one of Virginia's finest restaurants more accessible to the community it serves. He also discusses his alter ego, the rapper Mr. Chance Fischer.
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Graffiato closed its Richmond outpost in 2018 after its Washington D.C.-based founder, a celebrity chef, was accused of sexual harassment. Kristel Poole was the general manager of Graffiato in Richmond at the time and shared her experiences from that chapter of her life. She and Robey also reminisced about past culinary adventures involving lamb testicles. And Kristel offered suggestions on what NOT to do when going out to eat.
It's been a big month for local food honors as both James Beard semifinalists and the Virginia Governor's Cup wine winner were announced. Scott and Robey will discuss those honorees, debate who serves the best french fries in Richmond, and brainstorm where to take kids out to eat.
Robey ends the podcast discussing her "unbelievable experience" at the national steakhouse chain. SPOILER ALERT: It wasn't good.
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After we get caught up on Scott's new love affair, Robey dives into Richmond restaurant openings, the proper price for a good burger, and upcoming food festivals. Booth Hardy from Barrel Thief recommends this episode's perfect pour and Chef Johnny brings the heat from the kitchen to tell us what's wrong (and right) with Richmond's restaurant scene. We close the show with by answering questions from the mailbag and Robey's Valentine's Day themed Rant.
Mentioned in the show:
John Maher - ChefJohnny
Tiny Victory - tinyvictoryrva
Laura Lee's - lauraleesrva
Brenner Pass - brennerpassrva
Adarra - restaurantadarra
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Starters: We'll get caught up on some Virginia food news headlines, try to determine who serves the best margaritas in town, and discuss the ups and downs of healthy eating in Richmond.
Main: We'll check in with sommelier Booth Hardy (Barrel Thief Wine Shop and Cafe) who suggests this week's perfect podcast pairing with our special guest Mike Lindsey, the Executive Chef and Director of Culinary Operations at Eat Restaurant Partners.
After Dinner Drinks: Robey does her best to embarrass Scott by exposing his lack of restaurant knowledge. Then we'll dip into the mailbag and answer some of Richmond's most pressing restaurant questions. We cap off the episode with Robey's rant. This episode's target -- celery juice.
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