Food News: New places, brunches for Mom, and Cinco de Mayo every day

Roundups of tacos, roundups of brunches, roundups of menu comments…it’s a wonderful week for RVA foodies to be alive.

May 5, 2016; 9:15 AM • by Stephanie Ganz

TACO DE MAYO

Today is Cinco de Mayo, which commemorates the Mexican Army’s victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862, or, as is American tradition, a sloppy celebration of tacos, margaritas, and Spanglish. Whether you’re looking for tacos of the gringo or autentico variety, the blogging gals of Let’s Share a Dish have a round-up of five great RVA taco locations for us to try, and try them we shall.

MUM’S THE WORD

If you haven’t buttoned up your Mother’s Day plans yet, time’s a-ticking. As a mother,¹ I’ve got a few recommendations for stuff you can eat together or separately, and if that’s not enough, the Times-Dispatch has worked up a list of Mother’s Day brunch spots organized by menu type. Looking for a last-minute prezzie? Mom would love pretty much anything from Saturday’s Well Worn Market (11:00 AM to 4:00 PM), hosted by Yesterday’s Heroes; and if she doesn’t, just give it to me.

GIVE ME LIBERTY

Liberty Public House opened in Church Hill last Saturday. The family-friendly restaurant is from the team behind popular Northside eatery The Mill on Macarthur. The menu includes snacks, salads, and sandwiches as well as typical dinner entrees like steak, crab cakes, and shrimp and grits. There’s also a simple but solid kids menu and brunch on Saturday and Sunday.

I usually avoid comment sections, but the comments on this Church Hill People’s News story include an interesting comparison of the menu prices of LPH and a few other neighborhood restaurants.

FARE-WEATHER FRIEND

Learn to make the perfect schnitzel and arctic char crudo with the goodies and recipes in Brittanny Anderson’s chef box for the Fare Trade, a Los Angeles-based gourmet ingredient subscription service that’s taken a keen eye toward Richmond. Anderson’s assortment includes Black Hand coffee, Rancho Gordo beans, and a zippy Bavarian mustard, plus recipe cards for six recipes that let those ingredients shine.

FROM ELSEWHERE…

We’re getting our Ecto Cooler back any day now.

Congratulations to the 2016 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef award winners! I want to eat at all your restaurants!

“Your pantry shouldn’t be a storage unit–It should be a tool kit.” Here are Amanda Hesser’s suggestions for whipping your pantry into working order.

SIP: FOGGY RIDGE CIDER

It’s taken me an oddly long time to come around to the fact that not all ciders are created equal. Some are cloying, overly juicy, and downright obnoxious–the Reese Witherspoons of the cider world. But Foggy Ridge is not that kind of cider. It’s layered with delicate and bold flavors that bring you back, sip after sip. It’s like the Susan Sarandon of cider.

You can taste the depth and complexity of Foggy Ridge cider for yourself this Saturday from 4:00 to 6:00 PM at Little House Green Grocery, where the Richmond Brand Ambassador for Foggy Ridge will be pouring samples and answering all your cider-related questions.

BITE: (THE MANY KINDS OF) MEXICAN FOOD

“Mexican food” is as much of a descriptive way to label the cuisine of Mexico as “American food” is to describe the food of the US. There’s just more to it than that. There’s regional nuance. There’s history and culture. To lump it all together in one big taco is, well, reductive. Luckily, Food Republic’s Guide to the Regional Cuisines of Mexico clearly walks us through the dishes of each region, from the Norteño to the Yucateco. You will learn something. You will leave hungry.

GRAM: @THESAVORYGRAIN

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May 5, 2016 9:15 AM · in East End Daily 0