Food News: Rappahannock in Esquire, Fall Restaurant Week, and Cultured Swine

This week: Rappahannock gets some major love from Esquire Magazine, feathers are flying with a new chicken joint and a chicken wing festival, plus we’ve got details on next week’s Fall Restaurant Week and Fire, Flour & Fork. All this and more!

October 16, 2014; 11:12 AM • by Trevor Dickerson

No big deal or anything, but Esquire Magazine has named Rappahannock Restaurant one of the best new restaurants in the entire country! And with good reason. Owners Travis and Ryan Croxton have been serving up unique coastal-inspired dishes, not to mention fresh oysters from his family’s own oyster farm in the Northern Neck. Esquire’s Josh Ozersky seemed to be most impressed with the breadth of creative offerings. “On one visit, it was crispy braised oxtail sitting on top of four plump Virginia scallops, which in turn rested on a radiantly white, viscous pool of curry-scented cauliflower,” Ozersky said. “Another night, [chef Dylan Fultineer] served a braised lamb neck as big as a big man’s fist, meltingly moist but with all the meaty power of a rib steak.”

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The Devil’s Triangle is down one restaurant after The Viceroy closed its doors last Friday, but the space may not be vacant for long. Co-owner David Bender (who also owns nearby Caliente) confirmed to Style Weekly’s Brandon Fox that he has a letter of intent to buy the property. Nothing official yet, but a popular Fan bar has reportedly been eyeing the space, according to several sources. Cryptic enough for you?

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It’s ‘adios, amigos’ for Jorge’s Cantina in The Fan. The Tex-Mex spot co-owned by serial restauranteurs Jake Crocker, D. Hayden Fisher, and Jose Garcia closed for what the three thought would be a short summer siesta brought on by lackluster sales, but mounting unpaid back rent and the loss of a set of city-required parking spaces made reopening impossible, according to Crocker. BizSense’s Michael Thompson has all the details.

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The culinary wonderland that will be Fire, Flour & Fork is next week, and there’s still time to get tickets! Two of the three Thursday night dinners and three of the five Saturday night dinners are sold out, but the rest of the weekend’s events and talks around town (and there are many) are still open, but going very, very fast.

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Next week also brings the return of Fall Restaurant Week, and we’ve got a full rundown of the great, local restaurants offering three-course, prix fixe meals for just $25.14. Restaurant Week is a great opportunity to try that place you’ve been meaning to go to, plus everyone wins–you get a fantastic local meal at a great price and FeedMore receives a $2.14 donation.

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Ah, Richmond–the city of awesome and eclectic festivals. Last weekend was folk; this weekend it’s fowl. The inaugural Kickin’ Chicken Wing Fest takes flight at the 17th Street Farmers Market this Sunday from 12:00 – 5:00 PM. Billed as “Richmond’s biggest tailgate party,” the festival features 20 local and chain wing vendors and plenty of beer. Plus, if you’re looking to channel your inner Joey Chestnut and devour as many wings as possible, you could take home the title of ‘RVA Wing King,’ not to mention a cool $500 bucks.

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Speaking of chicken, Chicken Fiesta has opened its newest location on West Broad Street, across from the DMV headquarters (in the former Cameron’s Seafood building), and there’s been a line almost out the door every night this week. Positioned almost directly across the street from Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken, you’d think the feathers would be flying–but Chicken Fiesta offers something wholly different from Lee’s. The joint is known for its charcoal-roasted Peruvian rotisserie chicken, but also offers a variety of Tex-Mex options like burritos, quesadillas, and nachos. RVANews’ Richard Hayes laid out all the offerings and has details on the “secret of the sauce.”

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I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you didn’t make it over to Garnett’s Cafe yesterday for their 5th birthday celebration, you missed out on free pie and cake. The Fan eatery gave away a slice with each meal in celebration. Owner Kendra Feather said of the giveaway, “We love being part of this neighborhood, and want to have some fun with this… and who doesn’t like pie?”

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Speaking of birthdays, Chez Foushee is celebrating its silver anniversary all this week with $25 two-course dinners and brunch for two at the French-inspired restaurant. Richmond.com has all the details and a little history of the restaurant, which apparently started out as a simple deli and takeout business in 1989.

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A local upstart brewery, Garden Grove, has selected a spot for its new tasting room–in the heart of Carytown. Co-owners Ryan Mitchell and Michael Brandt, a duo who are already brewing a small but interesting lineup of Belgian and British influenced beers, say they selected the site, adjacent to Nacho Mama’s, due to the popularity and convenience of the Carytown area. Buildout is already well underway.

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Strangeways Brewing is doing an extremely limited (as in, only 333 bottles limited) beer release this weekend, and there’s plenty of food and live music to go with it. Soledad, an 8% ABV brew, rum-barrel aged with tropical citrus and spice, will be released Saturday. Check out more on the two-day event and get details on the Caribbean-inspired food and music.

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Corey Johnson, a chef who’s worked at spots around town including The Boathouse, Sticky Rice, and Alamo BBQ, has started his own food cart. The Cultured Swine launched earlier this week and serves up Korean-style Bool Gogi beef, a house-made kimchi/salsa hybrid, and also offers a selection of tamales and tacos. Johnson has set up shop outside the American Civil War Center near Brown’s Island for his first week. All tamales are $2.50 this week in celebration of the launch.

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As part of his 100 Days to a Better RVA series, RVANews’ Aaron Williams opines on starting food pantries at all Richmond-area colleges. It’s a concept VCU has already made a reality with their RamPantry, which helps food insecure students (a subset that’s often overlooked) who need it the most secure access to healthy food options.

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Finally, your long-read of the week. The quaint community of Bon Air is getting some new locally-owned dining options, including Perk!, Southbound (headed up by The Roosevelt’s Lee Gregory and Heritage’s Joe Sparatta), and Brew Gastropub. RVANews’ Stephanie Ganz has an in-depth look at how the area has become a hot spot for young families and how local entrepreneurs are catering to the influx.

Photo: The Cultured Swine/Facebook