This was written while stuffing our faces with every seasonal snack imaginable (read: soft shell crabs, ramps, asparagus and strawberries). Spring is here and, as evidenced by our previous writings, it’s our favorite season.
What we’ve heard
Brunch is back, baby.
One of our biggest post-COVID woes has been restaurants that removed brunch and decided never to bring it back (we’re looking at you Stella’s and Heritage). But we are seeing some spots slowly return to it and more are adding it, too.
Havana 59 brought brunch back on April 20 after a three-year hiatus. Seatings run from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. for food with the last reservation at 2:45 p.m. Last call for mimosas and mojitos is 3:30 p.m.
Brittanny Anderson’s Pink Room (next to Metzger) also recently launched brunch on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The spot remains tiny and walk-in only, so we suggest you show up at 10:50 a.m. on the dot for pea pancakes with Alabama crab salad, cinnamon rolls, croissant bread pudding and bloodys.
Truckle is having a cheese prom—what will we wear?
When Truckle Cheese Bar owner Maggie Bradshaw decided to try an after-hours event, she wanted to do something fun that promoted “general silliness.” And, what’s more fun and silly than a cheese prom? Get out your best formal attire and snag your $20 ticket to the soiree on May 2 from 8 p.m. to midnight. There will be a big cheese board, a special sangria punch, music and even a photo opp with the best date ever—a cheese wheel. There will also be a cheese prom king and queen crowned at the end of the night.
Un morceau de Paris in Monroe Ward
Cutie-patootie miniature French bar Chez Nous demurely opened its doors on April 2. Owned by first time restaurateur Melissa Stallard, a self-described Francophile, the bistro has a pithy French menu with fun options like escargots and jamon buerre (ham, cheese and butter) and a lengthy list of French wines.
“I looked at another location in the Northside and didn’t get it,” Stallard says. “When we saw this space, we knew it was right.”
Chez Nous has a half-dozen seats at an intimate bar and five tables up a tiny flight of stairs. You’ll pass some fun, curated French kitchen items headed to get a leisurely dinner made of light bites and specials.
Chez Nous tells us they’re getting their snails from Burgundy. They are served with house butter compounded with shallots and slices of baguette most recently sourced from Jane Lukas.
Stallard says this is a second career for her and her heart is on her sleeve with this venture. “A few France trips ago, I asked friends what the words or phrase would be if I were to say ‘You are welcome in our house’ and they said ‘It’s definitely Chez Nous.’ I want everyone who visits to feel welcome in our house. Also, we are close to so many things like the theater, the new amphitheater—they can walk from Chez Nous (our house) to all of them.”
You can visit after 3 p.m. Wednesday-Friday and noon on the weekends.
It’s raining winemakers
This spring, so many winemakers are descending upon Richmond. There’s a great (grape?!) event for you, no matter your style or preference.
Bougie: Jean-Charles Boisset at Dover Hall on May 2
Jean-Charles Boisset, known as “The James Bond of Wine” comes to Dover Hall on May 2 with his portfolio of wines that span Burgundy to California. Megan has been to one of his Baccarat-crystal-encrusted tasting rooms and tasted his bubbles—this dinner is sure to be fun. Five courses with a cocktail hour before cost $295.
Inspiring: Ntsiki Biyela at Click on May 12
The South African winemaker and businesswoman will be at Click from 6 to 8 p.m. to chat about her passion for wine and her inspiring story. You’ll also be able to taste her collection of Aslina wines.
Wine on Wednesday at Kismet
Speaking of wine, Kismet has also launched a fun weekly happening and Robey stopped by to check out their first one with Le Storie Wines and City Limits Winery out of Seattle, Washington.
The deets: every Wednesday, the restaurant is hosting a free wine tasting from 5-7 p.m. “We created Wine Wednesdays as a way to bring people together over great wine and even better company,” says restaurant managing partner Sachin Mahajan. “It’s informal, fun, and a perfect introduction to Kismet’s unique approach to hospitality.”
In addition to the wine—like you need more—Kismet is also offering a $25 chef’s special wine pairing where you can get a glass of your favorite wine from the pairing with a featured dish. We had the butter chicken, palek paneer and rice combo and it was (don’t tell Kismet!) plenty of food for two.
Where we’ve been
Cirrus Vodka’s new tasting room
The new tasting room for Cirrus Vodka softly opened April 24 at the new Ballast Development. We stopped by for a preview—it’s a major upgrade from the old digs with fancy glassware, sprawling patios and classy design, all in the old Blue Bee Cider space in Scott’s Addition. The cocktail menu has also been expanded and upgraded. We tasted many—being food writers is hard! Standouts include a smooth, citrusy 50/50 martini that’s less boozy and ideal for afternoon drinking, three takes on the dirty tini, a standout spin on an appletini with cardamom and absinthe foam and a strawberry sour that’s fruity without being overly saccharine. Snacks are coming soon as well. You’ll order from a QR code and pick up from a window at soon-to-open Slack Tide Fish Co. There are clam bellies and a lobster roll on the menu.
Wine and Swine
Earlier this month, The Mayor Meats kicked off a dinner series called Wine and Swine. Owner Kyle Morse spent over 10 years working in fine dining in New York before fulfilling his sausage-making dreams in Richmond and these dinners provide a taste of the old days. He says it’s about “having fun, enjoying whatever it is I feel like cooking, and pairing it with wine. It’s a way to do something different and be creative.”
The first dinner included a layered ham terrine en croute with endive, burnt orange, shallot and thyme vin; a fresh and creamy spring onion vichyssoise; giant Autumn Olive Farms pork short ribs with polenta, peppernata relish, charmula, glazed celeriac, carrots and fennel; and flan with madeira-poached pear and crunchy house-made rye clusters. Morse presented each dish with the wine pairings and told attendees about the ingredient origins and flavors. We all left stuffed.
The menus for the dinner will change based on the ideas of Morse and his staff, as well as local ingredients: “I’m a whole animal butcher, so I start there,” he says. The next dinner will be on May 3 and will feature a 17-day aged Autumn Olive Farms pork loin. Annie from The Dinner Party wine shop will be pouring the wines.
If you’re more of a casual diner, The Mayor has also added a hot case with all-beef “space dogs” wrapped in foil that are hot and ready to-go Friday through Sunday. We hear breakfast sandwiches might be coming, too.
You’ve got to try it (and can we get more of it)?
If you are looking for soft-shell crabs, we’ve got you covered. We’ve written about where to get them, when to get them and how to eat them all over the state of Virginia. We’ve even covered your needs in Virginia Beach.
It’s still early for Virginia-born softies, though, so the delicious crabs you are eating now are quite likely from South Carolina or Georgia. You can read about when and how Virginia gets most of theirs and also, get some understanding as to why we are sourcing them (TLDR: they popular) from other states as well as our own, here.
Dinamo puts out the simplest dish of sauteed soft-shells, two per order. They’re absolutely stunning and covered in chiffonade basil.
The Roosevelt features a soft-shell dish with potato salad and greens from local farm Cabbage Hill.
Beaucoup and Grisette both are ushering in softies with specials. Most recently, we spied a soft shell sandwich at Beaucoup and a fun dish of apples, scallions, fennel and peanuts with a fried softie at Grisette.
Heritage is serving them with kimchi fried rice, togarashi vinaigrette, nori furikake and scallions or you can add a crispy crab with any menu item.
Crab caution: soft-shells come in waves, so call your favorite spot to make sure they’re available if you’ve got your heart set on a softie.
What we’re eating at home
Robey: So many spring herbs, so much lettuce. Everything in my “cocktail garden” is growing like gangbusters in part, I am sure, because previous chef/almost winner of Food Network’s Chopped/pro planter, Jaclyn Beasley planted it for me. Beasley has firsthand knowledge—she cooked at the James Beard house—of what’s needed for someone who likes to tinker in the kitchen (me!). I’m really impressed with how much is growing in such a little space and how much I find myself using all the things she planted for me, like tarragon, nasturtium and marjoram. I have peaches, blueberries, strawberries and pears, too, but they are taking their sweet time.
Megan: My recent takeout obsession is Ariana Kebab. First off, I love that this Afghani joint serves the famous mantu dumplings not only as an appetizer, but as a satisfying entree over tender, aromatic chickpeas. The qabeli palaw is a generous, slow-cooked lamb shank that can almost feed two people, served over fragrant satisfying basmati rice with raisins and carrots. And, the chicken kobidah kebabs are tender and packed with flavor.
—XOXO Megan and Robey
