Food News: Graze on Grace, Taste of the Fan, donut decline, and Church Hill’s burgeoning culinary scene

This week: Church Hill’s dining scene gets some major love from a national travel publisher, a JMU staple pulls into the former Phil’s space, a local donut shop pulls the plug on its West End location, and details on a whole host of dining events taking place this weekend and into next week.

November 6, 2014; 10:21 AM • by Trevor Dickerson

Three downtown blocks will come alive this Sunday, as 25 different local restaurants offer up samples of their signature dishes. It’s all for the inaugural Graze on Grace event, which aims to showcase the blossoming Grace Street corridor. Neighborhood eateries like Rappahannock Restaurant, Pasture, and Thirst & Fifth Gastropub will take part in the event, along with other restaurants from all over Metro Richmond. Samples are $3 each and will be offered up from 12:00 – 5:00 PM. Along with live music and craft beer, there will also be a showing of ‘Dog Days,’ which focuses on the transformation of a food cart in Washington, D.C.

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A new takeout option is coming to Church Hill, and it’s going to be quite the show. The Dog & Pig Show Café, to be specific. That’s the name of a new venture from New Orleans transplants Isabel and James Eckrosh. The couple is taking over the former Souperb space at 314 N. 25th Street and plans to offer an eclectic mix of Creole and Southeast Asian dishes, mainly focusing on the lunch crowd. The Eckroshes plan to open later this month. A sampling of the menu is already available online, and it looks pretty tasty.

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Speaking of Church Hill, the neighborhood’s burgeoning food scene is getting some national-level love from travel guide giant Zagat. The publisher has named Church Hill one of their ’10 Hot Food Neighborhoods Around the U.S.’ Zagat cites neighborhood eateries like The Roosevelt, Dutch & Company, Sub Rosa Bakery, Alamo BBQ, and Proper Pie Company, all of whom have been receiving both local and regional accolades, as contributors to the neighborhood’s high standard of unique culinary flair.

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A startup urban farm aims to grow more than just fresh, local produce. RVANews’s Nathan Cushing has a great profile on John Lewis, founder of Renew Richmond, whose nonprofit aims to “empower people to cultivate healthier lifestyles through the production of food,” according to Cushing. Lewis’s goal is to change the way lower income communities look at food, avoiding the term ‘organic,’ which he says means far less to the segment of the population he aims to serve and has taken on a life of its own among more affluent consumers. “For the population that is suffering the most in malnutrition and over-exposed to salt, sodium, sugars, high fructose corn syrup, dyes, or other ingredients in processed foods, talking about organic might as well be speaking another language,” Lewis said. Check out the great work he’s doing around town–it’s pretty cool.

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Unlike donuts, cupcakes, froyo, and other trendy foods, ramen is here to stay. That’s what some prominent national-level food writers are saying, at least. Eat Restaurant Partners’ (owners of Blue Goat, Fat Dragon, Osaka, and Wild Ginger) newest joint, Foo Dog, has served up a menu of ramen options in The Fan for just over eight months now. Nathan Cushing has a great piece about the inspiration for the menu, which he drew from visiting hawker stalls in Asia, and more on why the ramen ‘trend’ may be here to stay.

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Harvest Grocery and Supply in The Fan will add a butchery department, and you’ll have a chance to give the new offerings a try this weekend. The grocer’s new meat case, which should be in place by January 10th, will offer a selection of beef, pork, and chicken cuts in addition to house-made sausages and charcuterie. This Saturday, you can sample the forthcoming offerings, and Blenheim Vineyards will be on hand for a wine tasting. A second tasting will take place December 13th.

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There are just a few more days left to enjoy Style Weekly’s Nacho Taco Week! 16 locally-owned restaurants all around town are offering $5 nacho and taco specials, from fish and vegetarian tacos to pork and chicken nacho dishes. Check out the full lineup and our listing of some of the options to check out by neighborhood as well.

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And just as Nacho Taco Week comes to a close, another week of food specials begins. 18 restaurants in the Fan and Museum Districts are hosting the second annual Flavors of the Fan from November 10th through the 16th. Much like the concept of Restaurant Week, each establishment is offering a special dish, with 20% of each entrée going to support a local charity–in this case, Fan Free Clinic will benefit from proceeds.

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Dixie Donuts, who made a foray into the West End when the business took over and rebranded the former Daylight Donuts location, has packed it up. The Innsbrook-area shop, whose original location is in Carytown, decided not to renew its lease for another five years (as their landlord required), citing the uncertainty of whether donuts will still be ‘trendy’ in another half a decade. It’s a legitimate business concern considering our collective short attention spans when it comes to culinary trends. The last batch of donuts was baked last weekend, November 1st.

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Blue Bee Cider will host its final cider release of 2014 this weekend. The Manchester-based cidery will release its premier dessert cider, Harvest Ration, beginning at noon on Saturday. The sweet concoction is a blend of apple brandy and heirloom bittersweets. Camden’s Dogtown Market and Monique’s Crepes will be on hand with a number of food offerings as well.

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If you haven’t gotten your tickets to Dinner in the Field, The Boathouse’s dinner series which aims to connect the food we eat with the places it’s grown, a few spaces remain for this weekend’s Fall Harvest Celebration. The dinner is comprised of a five-course meal, featuring hearty dishes made with locally-grown ingredients. Tickets are $120 (all-inclusive), and while the Saturday seating is sold out, reservations are available both Friday and Sunday evening. Dinner in the Field takes place in a heated barn at Sunday Park in Midlothian, overlooking the Swift Creek Reservoir. Check out the details and purchase your tickets here.

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Finally, a JMU staple will soon open a location in the former Phil’s Continental Lounge space. Jack Brown’s Beer & Burger Joint, which got its start in Harrisonburg in 2009 and later expanded, plans to open its fifth location in the “little oasis” of Libbie and Grove, as co-owner Aaron Ludwig calls the retail and restaurant corridor in the Near West End that they’ll soon call home. Expect to find over a dozen burger varieties and more than 100 beers to choose from when Jack Brown’s opens in early 2015. Richmond.com’s Karri Peifer has all the details.

Photo: Alamo BBQ