Woe is the plight of the downtown office worker.  Why should a respectable restaurateur set up shop in a part of town that only has foot traffic from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday — and after the pandemic and the rise of telework even less so?  Across America high rents and next to no residents often make this country’s downtowns into overpriced food deserts, but such a market failure makes for a perfect moment for the government to intervene.

After years of construction and inconveniences, the General Assembly Building on Broad Street finally opened last month.  Standing at 14 stories tall, featuring the perfectly preserved original 1912 façade, and boasting 414,884 square feet of offices, meeting rooms, and halls for hearings, the commonwealth has much to brag about.

With all eyes on the tunnels connecting to the Capital, the two-story grand atrium painted like a summer sky, and other amenities, however, folks have largely missed the gamechanger to the downtown dining scene that the building’s café represents.  Need one say more than “the only publicly-owned pizza oven in Virginia?”

Folks familiar with Meriwether’s earlier outposts in the Truist building or the kiosk in the Capitol are likely to be blown away by the elegance of the space, the variety of the offerings, and the affordability of the food. Since the General Assembly Building is home to the offices of the commonwealth’s 140 delegates and senators, one must go through a metal detector to access the ground floor café.

Spread across an elegantly neoclassical caféteria are 21 tables of varying sizes with views of the Capitol and its grounds, a statue of George Washington, and a sliver of the skyline.  Customers can place mobile orders for pickup, request their food and drinks via five kiosks in the caféteria, or order directly from the staff manning the half dozen stations.

In a corner by the entrance stands the coffee bar with marble countertops and a display case chock full of baked goods.  All of the coffee is regionally sourced from Chesapeake Coffee Roasters — surely a delight for overworked interns and java fiends long frustrated by surrounding shops’ odd hours and limited offerings. Milkshakes will soon join the menu here as soon as the industrial strength equipment arrives.

Virginians can soon expect lots of schmoozing in this space, according to executive chef Ken Bender.  “This is a space down the road where there will be a lot of special events,” he said.  “All the kiosks, tables, chairs, and coffee bar equipment can be moved for nice events that want to have a bar here.”

Those just looking for coffee can find the space open from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Breakfast is served from 7:30 – 10:30 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Dishes rotate daily based on what delicacies Bender can get his hands on for a good price.

Stations include a refrigerated case with grab-and-go items and parfaits, a full salad bar offering build-your-own greens and grains bowls, a grill station featuring everything from burgers to paninis, and a soup selection that varies from chicken corn chowder to sherried shrimp soup. Not to be missed is the “global comfort” station that changes directions daily – hopping from Greek gyros to Thai lettuce wraps, baby back ribs to enchiladas, to chicken piccata within one week.

The true star of the show, however, is the deck oven with four compartments that go up to 650 degrees to get the perfect crisp, crunch and chew on anything Bender’s crew bakes.  Casseroles and breads also get baked here, but pizza is where the team has channeled much of its passion so far. To avoid the waxy texture of much mass-produced pizza, Meriwether’s shreds their own three cheese blend of mozzarella, provolone, and fontina each morning.

“This is the oven of ovens for people who bake nice breads,” Bender says.  “We just want to do the oven justice.”

For now desserts are limited to just cookies, but a menu of housemade sweet treats is on the way as the team ramps up their offerings.  Since Meriwether’s doesn’t pay the state rent, the café is able to keep the vast majority of its meals under $10 including tax.

After serving an average of 600-700 people per day out of the old Truist building for the past 15 years, the upgraded space was long overdue. The team of chefs and servers that make Meriwether’s run seem ecstatic about their new home.

“It’s wonderful here,” Bender says. “As a chef, you sometimes get a brand new piece of equipment but never a brand new beautiful building, so we love this space.”

The General Assembly building is located at 201 N. 9th St. in downtown Richmond.