Food News: Happy birthday Sugar Shack and Ardent, pig fat for all, and weird orange wines

You are what you eat, and Richmond is just doughnuts, bacon, and beer all the way down.

June 11, 2015; 8:21 AM • by Stephanie Ganz

Photo courtesy of: Sugar Shack

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, DOUGHNUTS

Sugar Shack celebrates their second anniversary all day TODAY, and they’re fixin’ to party. Maybe you missed national doughnut day? Consider this your second chance at heaven, and by heaven I mean cornhole and a photo booth, and oh yeah, lots of doughnuts, including filled doughnuts, beer doughnuts, and even, good people, chicken doughnuts. So, I’m basically saying you don’t need to look anywhere else for food today because all the important food groups are well-covered at Sugar Shack.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEERS

Hot on the entrepreneurial heels of Sugar Shack is Ardent Craft Ales, celebrating their very first year of business this Saturday with a massive block party from 1:00-8:00 PM, and you’re going to need every minute of those seven hours if you intend to try all 18 varieties of Ardent’s finest, which will be pouring freely from the taps. OK, not freely exactly, but flowing certainly. And because no block party can be truly awesome without food trucks, you can expect to find nine such trucks–including Goatocado, Happy Empanada, River City Wood Fire Pizza, and King of Pops–lining Leigh Street. The Ardent crew will make it a full-fledged party with live music by the likes of The Milkstains, NO BS! Brass Band, and more.

DIAL B FOR BACON

It’s that time of year again–time to simultaneously clog the side roads of downtown Richmond AND our own arteries for the third annual Richmond Bacon Festival. Do you love bacon? Prove it by eating something from every single one of the nearly forty food trucks and restaurants that are participating. Bring a fan; there will be meat sweats.

I WANT THE WORLD. I WANT THE WHOLE WORLD.

If the idea of having early and exclusive access to events and chefs during the massive food celebration that is Fire, Flour, and Fork¹ (October 28th-November 1st) appeals to you, mark Monday, June 15th on your calendar. That’s the day the big schedule—revealing the line-up of presentations and meals—will go live, and more importantly, a small number of VIP GOLDEN TICKETS will go on sale. I’m not sure if these Golden Tickets will give you access to a world of pure imagination, but they WILL open the doors to enough Virginia food and culture to make you feel like Augustus Gloop sailing down a river of chocolate (in a good way!).

FROM ELSEWHERE…

GRAVY TRAIN, BISCUIT WHEELS

I’ve never had much time for KFC or that weird creepy-vibes Colonel Sanders, but marketing geniuses being what they are, I am now on #teamcolonel, thanks to Darrell Hammond’s portrayal of the man in the white suit. If you’re feelin it too, I’ve got big news: From now until August 16th, you can get your turn-by-turn directions Colonel-ized via the Waze App (which is amazing if you ever drive anywhere for any reason, and I don’t even like apps!). If it were up to me, the Colonel would just send drivers to various KFC locations no matter where they were trying to go, but I’m pretty sure it does not do that.

JUST SAY NO TO K HOLES

Do you really need to read this article from The Atlantic to know that Keurig K-Cups are a horrible, gross thing? Well, then please read it.

SUNSET

Roger Vergé, a pioneer of nouvelle cuisine, died this week at the age of 85. He created a style he referred to as “Ma Cuisine du Soleil” or “The Cuisine of the Sun.” Vergé was a giant in his day, training legendary chefs like Hubert Keller, Alain Ducasse, and Daniel Boulud. Take a minute to read up on the legend.

SIP: ORANGE WINE

Orange wine is like a white-ish wine with a bunch of red wine attitude, thanks to white grapes having macerated in their own tanniny skins, developing a distinct flavor and even more distinct amber hue. They’re kind of weird! Try them for yourself–You can find them at J. Emerson Fine Wines and Barrel Thief.

BITE: CHEF PEDRO ALVAREZ’S PORK THIT KHO

Sausage-maestro Pedro Álvarez, of Puerto Rico’s AlCor Foods, was among the talented chef line-up at this past weekend’s Off Broad Appetit (which raised more than $6,000 for FeedMore!), and his Pork Thit Ko–wherein Álvarez’s own Longanzia sausage floated in a pho-like pork broth with cilantro, lime, and onions–was good enough for me to come up with several excuses for extra helpings: “It’s for the kids, right!?” “Actually, FeedMore doesn’t get more money if you keep eating all of this soup…” “SLURP-SORRY, CAN’T HEAR YOU-SLURP.”

‘GRAM: @ipanemaveg

OK, this week’s ‘gram was going to be @kubakubarestaurant, who just now entered the world of Instagram, and we should all certainly still welcome them by following them and liking their every post, but I’ve got to give the ‘Gram of the Week to Ipanema Cafe right now because LOOK WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY.

KEEP IPANEMA WIERD

A photo posted by Ipanema Cafe (@ipanemaveg) on Jun 10, 2015 at 4:29pm PDT

June 11, 2015 8:21 AM · in Fan of the Fan, Shockoe News, and more 0