Food News: Monday brunch, a boozy lunch, and cold-brew coffee that packs a punch
The theme of this week’s food news is Learning–from where to find brunch on a Monday, to how to turn canned food into art, to how to cook your own very impressive dishes with help from a friend on YouTube. Put on your learnin’ caps and get ready to expand your brains.
Photo by: Vassilis Online
MONDAY I’M IN BRUNCH
For me, there are two words that, on their own are fine enough but, when combined, are positively thrilling: Monday. Brunch. Sure, brunch is great on Sunday and a boon on Saturday, but when you are brunching on a Monday, you are fighting typical Monday symtoms with powerful ammunition. It’s almost impossible to get bunched up over TPS reports when you’re staring down a plate of Gambas Bravas–crispy potatoes covered with shrimp-and-peppers-scrambled eggs, and a chorizo cheese sauce! TP-WHAT REPORTS? CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE CHEWING, LUMBERG.
Black Sheep is now providing just such relief every Monday from 10:00 – 3:00 PM. LET’S ALL GO! (But not all at once like we do on Sundays!)
BOMBOLINI BY THE GLASS
Want some booze with those noodles? Good news. Bombolini Pasta now offers wine by the glass and beer on tap. Pints of Allagash White, Unita Hopnotch IPA, and Firestone Walker Pivo Hoppy Pils are available for $4.50 each. Wines available by the glass include Pierre Henri Pinot Noir, Chateau Lyonnat Emotion, and Stellenryck Sauvignon Blanc. Finally, you can enjoy a nice red wine with your bowl of spaghetti at lunch! Productivity, be damned!
YES, YOU CAN
You don’t have to be Andy Warhol to turn cans of food into art. On Sunday, August 9th from noon to 5:00 PM, you can turn your boring old cans of tuna fish and Campbell’s soup into actual apartment-beautifying works of art. It’s Foodist Colony III, a canned food drive for the Central VA Food Bank with an inspiring purpose at 1708 Gallery; featuring a big ol’ potluck at the end with food by Mike Hill of Heritage and Lemaire’s Bryan McClure, plus live music, edible screenprinting, and a ton of great local artists.
YES, THEY CAN
When you cross that threshold between home-based food preserver and full-on doomsday prepper, places like the New London Community Cannery have all the equipment you need to put up cans of everything from tomatoes to beef. Canners bring their goods to the facility each morning, working on equipment that’s been there for its entire 70-year history. According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, folks like Barry and Betty Tuck make a day of it, coming in early to can a big batch of tomatoes and then visiting with their friends for the rest of the hot summer afternoons.
A DAY IN THE LIFE…OF BRISKET
Richmond Magazine’s Stephanie Breijo had the enviable task of spending an entire day with ZZQ’s Chris Fultz and Alex Graf and their briskets, and she was able to glean their secrets for you, should you ever want to spend an entire day tending to a giant lobe of meat. Here’s the real secret: You are lazy/busy and would prefer to let Chris and Alex TCB for you, and there is not a dang thing wrong with that.
YOU’RE HIRED
If you live in the East End, are trained in food service, and want a job you can probably walk to, now is your time to shine. Millie’s and Union Market are hiring for kitchen staff immediately, and Pizza Tonight and Whisk are hiring for FOH and BOH staff to train for their upcoming openings. GO GET EMPLOYED.
PASTA KING OF RICHMOND
Tim Bereika is a font of knowledge. When I watched him instruct a Fire, Flour & Fork crowd on how to make the perfect budino (a heavenly Italian pudding-y custard), I knew the chef had plenty to share. He takes a calm approach to instruction, neither intimidating nor glib, that is just as suitable for a professional chef as a home cook. So it’s no surprise that Bereika has teamed up with YouTube network Tastemade to produce Kitchen & Craft, a 14-episode web series that covers essentials like the perfect poached egg and some of Bereika’s signature items, like those glorious fried chickpeas that made chips feel irrelevant and tired from Bereika’s Secco days.
FROM ELSEWHERE…
Tomato pie means many things to many people.
Cilantro, now with less feces! Your weekly reminder to buy local!
SIP OF THE WEEK: CONFLUENCE COFFEE CO. BARREL-AGED COLD BREW
Confluence Coffee Company has finally delivered something I feel like I’ve been waiting for FOREVER–locally-made, bottled cold brew coffee. And it gets better! It’s barrel-aged and bottled using a nitrogen gas method, which imparts a nutty, barrel-y flavor and delightfully creamy sip. It’s kind of like drinking a glass of pillowy bourbon that can actually make you feel more efficient and productive, so: HI COLD BREW, I LOVE YOU.
BITE OF THE WEEK: THE CONTINENTAL WESTHAMPTON’S LOBSTER ROLL
When a menu claims to use fresh, never-frozen lobster, and they’re not located in a shack next to the ocean, I’m always a bit curious. In the case of the Continental Westhampton, it seems as though they’ve utilized overnight shipping to glorious effect, with a $15 lobster roll (with chips) that hits all the right notes of buttery bread, creamy mayonnaise, and sweet sweet lobster. I could eat two in a sitting! #humblebrag
GRAM OF THE WEEK: @THEDOGANDPIGSHOW / @PROPERPIECO
Maybe you can comfort yourself with their ‘grams while they’re both closed THROUGH ALL OF AUGUST. My chinese sausage sandwich and chicken & kumara pie cravings will be at a fever pitch by September. THERE WILL BE BINGEING.
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Stephanie Ganz
Stephanie Ganz thought there would be pizza.
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