Food News: Chang, Sally, crabs, and the triumphant return of Ukrop’s (sorta)

Welcome to our fully realized dream of an equitable Ukropian society.

May 7, 2015; 9:00 AM • by Stephanie Ganz

Photo by: Galdones Photography, LLC

SCOTT’S ADDITION IS GETTING SPICY

Peter Chang may call himself a “Sichuan boy,” but to many, the Master Chef is at least a Szechuan demigod. The chef/restaurateur has been spreading his scallion bubble pancakes throughout the land, expanding across Virginia with a new fast-casual concept and more on the way. But the big news this week is that Chang will expand his Richmond ops in an easterly direction with an unspecified (but totally Szechuan) concept, set to open this fall in Scott’s Addition in the Hoffheimer building at 2816 W. Broad Street. Our own Trevor Dickerson has all the hot and numbing details.

UKROP’S IN KROGER, CATS AND DOGS LIVING TOGETHER, MASS HYSTERIA

Kroger announced this week that 29 of their stores from Virginia Beach to Charlottesville would begin carrying Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods products, including their beloved White House Rolls and over 20 other bakery items, under the Good Meadow Homemades brand name. The Richmond Times Dispatch has the story, complete with a handy timeline of the Ukrop’s history in Richmond.

FOR WHOM THE SALLY BELL’S TOLLS

The James Beard Foundation Awards, the Oscars of American culinary awards, took place in Chicago this week. New York-based restaurants and chefs dominated, cleaning up awards from Best New Restaurant (Bâtard) to Outstanding Chef (Gramercy Tavern’s Michael Anthony). No surprises there. But there was love to go around for a Richmond institution as well: Sally Bell’s Kitchen received a 2015 America’s Classics award. Owners Martha Crowe Jones and Scott Jones were there to accept the award, and they looked positively smashing.

GRAZIN’ IN THE GRASS

This year’s GRAZE, presented by Slow Food RVA, focuses on Slow Meat, an international effort aimed at improving education and access around ethically, sustainably-raised meat. Participating chefs include Jason Alley and Travis Milton of Comfort, Brittanny Anderson of Metzger Bar & Butchery, Longoven’s Patrick Phelan and Andrew Manning, Will Richardson from Shoryuken Ramen, and Andrea Huntjens of Sophisticated Soirees. Edible Education will be on-site with kids activities. Origins Farm will host GRAZE on May 17th from 12:00-5:00 pm. Tickets are $25 for adults, $5 for kids 12 and under.

FLAME OFF

A source that works closely with the restaurant reports that Flames 231 has closed for business as of this week. The number to the restaurant has been disconnected, and no one has responded to inquiries via email or Facebook as of this morning.

FROM ELSEWHERE…

Virginia is about to get cheesier, thanks to state grant funds. First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe visited Albemarle County last week to deliver the good news for artisan cheese producers Twenty Paces, who will be creating new jobs and high-end cheeses from their $321,000 Bellair Farms processing facility. The new creamery will also house an apprenticeship program to help pass on farming expertise across generations.

Josh Ozersky was really good at life and very fun to read. The writer and Esquire editor-at-large passed away earlier this week while in Chicago for the James Beard Foundation Awards Gala. He was 47. Ozersky visited Richmond last year for the Mid Atlantic Food Writers Symposium and, shortly thereafter, dubbed Virginia the food region of the year. Eater has a lovely round-up of reflections from culinary figures across the country. Style Weekly shared Ozersky’s “love letter” to Virginia, penned for the Esquire Food & Wine Awards Celebration, hosted by award-winner Rappahannock Restaurant, which Ozersky was unable to attend.

SIP OF THE WEEK: ROSÉ

If you missed your chance at tickets to Secco’s Rosé Crawl next week, save your tears because the entire city is a veritable rosé crawl right now. You can follow in the inevitably wobbly footsteps of your foredrinkers, along the route set by Secco any time you want, people! Or, combine your DIY spirit and Google Maps, and make up your own crawl. The important thing is that you drink pink, as much and as often as possible from now until pumpkin spice season.

BITE OF THE WEEK: RAPPAHANNOCK’S CRAB CAKE

Crab cakes are bit ubiquitous around these parts. They are a Restaurant Week menu staple, a fancy-enough appetizer with good margins; and, I’ll just say it, they’re kind of boring. But when you have a GOOD crab cake, a REAL crab cake, suddenly you realize how these little seafood pucks got to be so ubiquitous in the first place: Done right, they are fucking awesome. It should come as no surprise that Food & Wine listed Rappahannock’s crab cake as one of the 20 best in the country. With their crab-to-nothing-else ratio, celeriac slaw, and Billy bun, Rappahannock Restaurant’s crab cake sandwich is a perfect example of a crab cake gone right.

‘GRAM OF THE WEEK: @HEDLEYANDBENNETT

http://instagram.com/p/2W7b_ZEIMI

If you really loved me, you’d get me all the Hedley and Bennett aprons. These American-made beauts are almost as adorable as Hedley and Bennett founder Ellen Bennett, who you will often find here, jumping and/or crazy-smiling (in a good way!) in a number of cute settings.

May 7, 2015 9:00 AM · in Fan of the Fan, Shockoe News, and more 1