Food News: French Food, Thai Food, and All Roads Lead to Biscuits

So many things are happening with food—the making of it, the giving of it to people who need it, and the eating of it.

April 23, 2015; 12:00 PM • by Stephanie Ganz

Crêpe ESCAPE

The 7th annual RVA French Food Festival is this Saturday! Master Chef Paul Elbling will again preside over all the beef bourguignon, coq au vin, and croque monsieurs that Francophiles can expect to find, while The Savory Grain chef Sean Murphy will see to the Cajun side of things, stirring up gumbo, shrimp and grits, and yes, beignets. Kevin LaCivita of Pomegranate, Balliceaux’s Michael McClure, Patina’s Michael Ledesma, Xaviar Meers of Brux’l Cafe, and Sara Ayyash, pastry chef at the Jefferson, round out the chefly talent.

Pro-tip: Wine Slushie. It may not seem French, but it IS wine.

MY THAI

A trio of restaurant pros are set to open Sabai, a Thai street-food inspired restaurant and occasional live music venue (with, eventually, Thai brunch!?) in May, and Richmond Magazine has a very thorough and thirst-inducing preview.

BALLICEAUX’S OUT! FOR! SUMMER!

According to Facebook, Balliceaux will take a summer-long break to renovate from June 7th until September 1st. That seems like a really long time to me! Best to get in your fancy drinks and booty shakes between now and June! Twitter was a-poppin’ with speculation that this will herald the forever-end of the popular (OR IS IT!? JK, it totally is.) restaurant/music venue. Time will tell, tweeters, time will tell. I, for one, wholeheartedly look forward to its return, AND IT’S NOT EVEN GONE YET.

NOW MORE GLUTEN!

Biscuits are fluffy and buttery and downright lovable. Recently, Early Bird Biscuit Co and The Fancy Biscuit (and before that, let’s be honest, Bojangles) captured Richmond’s taste for the quintessential breakfast bread (TAKE A HIKE, TOAST!), and now all roads lead to biscuit. Specifically the road that is Dixie Donuts. They just added a variety of biscuits to their menu.

ON FOOD AND HUNGER

First lady of Virginia Dorothy McAuliffe has committed to eliminating childhood hunger in Virginia, and as Chair of the Commonwealth Council on Bridging the Nutritional Divide, she has been working to improve access to fresh, local food for school-age children and families throughout the state. Well-respected nutritionist and author Marion Nestle has written multiple books on these same issues. The two spoke to Style Weekly about food policy, hunger, and obesity on the heels of their appearances at the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth’s Weight of the State conference earlier this week.

FROM ELSEWHERE…

If you think you want to start a food business (or any business, for that matter), do yourself a solid and read Erin Patinkin’s brutally honest account of how she began her business, Ovenly. I can’t stop enjoying this one sentence in particular: “I was throwing pasta at the wall, trying to find my place in the industry.” But all of the sentences are great, not just that one.

SIP OF THE WEEK: COFFEE, GOD BLESS IT

RVA’s coffee game is pretty strong indeed. This week, Style Weekly’s Matthew Freeman looks at some of the city’s better brewers.

BITE OF THE WEEK: IPANEMA’S MUSHROOM GRAVY

Ipanema shares their recipe for vegan mushroom gravy with Deep South Magazine and, by extension, all of us.

‘GRAM OF THE WEEK: @FOODBABYNY

The ‘grams are full of both babies and food, but this guy has a particularly charming way of combining the two. Anne Geddes, eat yr heart out.

Photo by: grongar

April 23, 2015 12:00 PM 1