Food News: Froyo for a cause, a new fave beer, and Broad Appétit

Plus a return to fried fish, thank you very much!

May 26, 2016; 11:01 AM • by Stephanie Ganz

MORE SPOTS FOR CROAKER

Norfolk and Fredericksburg are the next destinations for Richmond-based Croaker’s Spot, which currently has full-service locations in Manchester and Petersburg and a quick-service concept, Sugar’s Crab Shack, on Chamberlayne. But the big news for RVA is the Spot’s plan to return to their former Jackson Ward home at 2 Street and Leigh, which has sat empty, awaiting the return of fried fish and other comfort foods since the restaurant’s shuttering in 2010.

WEGMANS, AHOY!

If you’re from upstate New York or regularly travel to Northern Virginia for your grocery shopping needs, you’re already well familiar with Wegmans, the beloved Rochester-based grocery chain. And if so, perhaps you were among the hoards of people losing their minds and standing in lines this past weekend for the store’s Midlothian opening. If you haven’t braved the masses yet, take a peek within, and plan your trip accordingly.

THE SWEETEST FROG

If there’s anything I love more than eating, it’s eating for a good cause, and SweetFrog knows that about me. All day today, 25% of SweetFrog purchases from seven local stores will be donated to Children’s Home Society, that’s about $1 per cup; but don’t limit yourself here because Children’s Home Society helps to find permanent adoptive homes for children around Richmond, and now is the perfect time to support them because it’s National Foster Care Month. So, eat up, and don’t forget the gummies.

BROADS, ON AND OFF

Broad Appétit is a little over a week away, and this year looks better than ever, with more than 70 chefs contributing dishes at just $3 a pop. Newcomers Aloha Cafe are bringing poke to the party, with their very Hawaiian shrimp poke bowl; you can find your fix of (The World’s Best) pimento cheese care of Comfort; Q Barbecue will serve up their award-winning sliced brisket and burnt ends; and Millie’s Diner will keep things sweet with their key lime shortbread. And I hope you like Virginia beer because that’s what you’ll find, along with cider and wine, to wash down those bites.

The night before the big show is a more intimate affair at Pasture–Off Broad Appétit brings together seven award-winning chefs from around the country to cook with their friend (and Style Weekly’s Best Richmond Chef) Jason Alley in an exclusive dine-around event benefitting FeedMore. The best part–you actually get to meet these incredible chefs because they’re the ones serving their dishes.

#RVA #PSA

Dutch & Co is now taking reservations online because phones are for suckers!

FROM ELSEWHERE…

I’d pay a ton of dollars to go to a real version of the Peach Pit and even more dollars if I could find a 90s-era Jason Priestley behind the counter.

YOU CAN FREEZE AVOCADO, says Bon Appétit. Life has forever changed.

SIP: BALLAST POINT’S PINEAPPLE SCULPIN

Make way, Steigl Radler, I may just have a new favorite beer! Ballast Point’s Pineapple Sculpin is a tropical-tasting IPA (which is very on-trend, WaPo tells me) that pairs well with spicy food and summer vibes; and what makes it and all of Ballast Point’s beers way more drinkable is the fact that the San Diego-based company will open a new brewery in Boutetourt County, VA (the birthplace and home of my mom’s side of the family for many years!). The business will bring over 175 jobs to Botetourt and another major brewery to Virginia.

BITE: BARREL THIEF’S LOBSTER ROLL

This is $20 of freshly-shucked, lemon-and-mayo-kissed lobster in a potato bun with a scoop of potato salad on the side, and you can only get it on the last Thursday of each month, so run don’t walk to Barrel Thief because that’s today!

GRAM: @ROBDNEWTON

The owner of Nightingale 9, Wilma Jean, and Smith Canteen in NYC will be here on June 4th for Off Broad Appétit. Study up!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFo9Hckvcc7/?taken-by=robdnewton

May 26, 2016 11:01 AM 2