Green Acres, Red Tape
Following a legal battle with the Virginia Department of Health, Ian Newell — owner of Varina’s Celeste Farms and founder of Main Street’s Goatocado — is spearheading a grassroots campaign for the Farm Restaurant Act. The goal: Establish a clear, streamlined regulatory system that allows small-scale Virginia farms to cook and serve the food they harvest. (Richmond magazine)
His and Hers
No more pop-up, no more tents, no more toting bagels around in the back of a truck. Spouses Julie and Jesse Roberts — a chef and a designer — have unveiled the brick-and-mortar version of Sunday Bagel after three years of slinging loosies and sandwiches as nomads. Learn more about the new Jackson Ward shop, open Sundays and beyond. (Richmond magazine)
Butter My Biscuits
Fall feels inherently like the time to be securing biscuits, from rustic drop versions to a generously buttered version stacked with egg, bacon and cheese. Writer Genevelyn Steele serves up five top biscuit contenders in the city. (Richmond magazine)
Best Bites
Find local dining inspiration in our monthly roundup of Best Bites. The latest assortment shouts out superb baked oysters at a coastal hangout, an easy meal from a Charlottesville import and a signature sustainable tea. (Richmond magazine)
Bring on the Bivalves
Today is the start of Oyster Week, the statewide celebration of the briny bivalves that help clean the Chesapeake Bay and grace restaurant menus around the commonwealth. Pop into participating spots Oct. 1-7, order an oyster dish, and 15% of sales will go to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The local list includes 1870 Kitchen, Alewife, Blue Atlas, Chez Foushee, East and West Coast Provisions, Lolita’s, Lillian, Shagbark, and more.
ICYMI
Event series RVA Girl Dinner Club brings local women together. (Richmond magazine)
Coffee maven and culinary enthusiast Gray Fultz is fueled by human connection. (Richmond magazine)
Our relationships with food and beverage businesses should be reciprocal. (Richmond magazine)
Little Bites
The final days of the State Fair of Virginia are upon us, but there’s still time (through Oct. 4) to make the drive to Doswell and eat a Cheeto-dusted corndog, ride the (slightly sketchy) Ferris wheel and check out the blue ribbon tent with a smoked turkey leg in hand.
Even though it’s sold out, the annual fall-is-here event — the Visual Arts Center of Richmond Chili Throwdown — returns Oct. 2, and I can’t wait to hear who takes the top title and get a peek at the clay creations.
Friday nights are about to get a bit more risqué. Pizza pop-up Danger Pie, from longtime brewer Nick Walthall, plans to open up orders for an Oct. 9 pickup at Blanchard’s Coffee Roasting Co. and slowly increase service from there.
Lindsey Hospitality Group, from husband-and-wife duo Mike Lindsey and Kimberly Love-Lindsey, is back at it with a new eatery in the West End. Lindsey Sandwiches is now open seven days a week at 4336 Pouncey Tract Road.
Local roaster Dentwood Coffee Co. is introducing a cafe at 5404 Lakeside Ave., with hopes of opening at the end of the year.
Chile en Nogada is an iconic Mexican dish not often seen on local menus. Conejo in Westhampton is currently offering a fall-inspired version, featuring a chile relleno stuffed with braised pork, apples, pears, pine nuts and cashews, before being blanketed in a creamy walnut sauce and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds.
Upcoming Events
Harvest Festival, Shalom Farms (Oct. 1): Tour and hang out at the North Side farm during the community gathering.
Movie Night, Pizza Bones (Oct. 1): Grab a pie and catch a screening of “Donnie Darko” on the patio.
Vegan Club x Kickshaws, Kickshaws (Oct. 2): The vegan and gluten-free bakery hosts the local club for a free tasting.
Oyster Roast & Low Country Boil, Old Tavern Farm (Oct. 3): The fall tradition features oysters cooked over open flames
Powhatan’s Festival of the Grape, Historic Courthouse District (Oct. 3): The 23rd annual festival of Virginia wineries, distilleries, cideries and craft breweries
Lager World, The Veil Brewing Co. (Oct. 3): The annual invitational welcomes breweries from around the country that do the crisp, sessionable brews best. Bonus: German-inspired food.
2nd Street Festival, Jackson Ward (Oct. 3-4): A neighborhood block party celebrating the “Harlem of the South” with music, food and more
Ye Olde Jasper, The Jasper (Oct. 4): The Carytown cocktail bar locks shields with Richmond Ren Faire to present a medieval evening with themed food and drink specials and a special surprise by royal decree; costumes encouraged.
Zrunch 2, Zorch Pizza Parlor (Oct. 4): Resident baker and creative cake artist Mog Made It is behind the diner-themed takeover promising an all-vegan menu, breakfast pies (with non-vegan options) and fun drink specials.
Musca-Day, Musca-Night, Jardin and Beaucoup (Oct. 4): Celebrate muscadet, the crisp, bright white wine from the Loire Valley of France, with an oyster roast and wine tasting and/or a five-course wine dinner.
Oktoberfest, Metzger Bar & Butchery (through Oct. 5): Schnitzel sandos, beer cheese and brats await at the Union Hill den.
Spanish and Portuguese Wine Dinner, Shoreline Seafood Market (Oct. 7): A multicourse dinner with pairings at the market’s in-store restaurant, The Dory; call for reservations.
Dining and Cooking