Food News: More Valentine’s Day eats, more online grocery shopping, more pasta

This Food News is full-to-bursting with basically too many things to tempt you. Don’t even bother reading it if you’re still on that dumb January diet thing.

February 11, 2016; 8:21 AM • by Stephanie Ganz

KROGER TO GO-GER

In “Best Possible News For New Moms” news, Kroger will soon introduce online ordering with a feature called ClickList. Load up your shopping cart with any of 40,000 different in-store items, pay online, and then sit in your car while someone that’s not you fills your trunk with the goods. The first store in the area to feature ClickList will be the Kroger Marketplace in Chester, located at 10800 Iron Bridge Road starting in March.

I LOVE IT WHEN YOU CALL ME BIG PAPPARDELLE

Dutch and Co. just announced a new Chef de Cuisine, and they’re celebrating in the most Italian way possible–with pasta! Starting this week and for weeks to come, Monday is pasta night at D&C, and guests will find a changing line-up of pastas and risottos at the hands of Chef de Cuisine Paul Winston, who previously cooked at Acacia Mid-Town.

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE…AND FOOD

That creepy cherub Cupid has you in his cross-hairs, ready to release his love arrows straight to your heart. Actually, when you put it that way, it’s kind of scary. Better to think of the many opportunities you have to take the most direct route to your loved one’s heart–the stomach. Our own Susan Howson shared her picks for edible adventures earlier this week. To her round-up, I’d add these equally splendid options:

Pops

If you’ve ever had a brilliant idea for a King of Pops flavor, now is your chance to see it happen, nay, to make it happen. This weekend, Paul Cassimus, The King of All RVA Pops, will open up the Pop Factory from 12:00 to 6:00 PM to host Make-Your-Own sessions.

Each sesh will last an hour and a half and will include a tour of the factory, cool info on the pop process, and a chocolate and cheese tasting. Plus, as advertised, you’ll be able to choose from ingredients like chocolate chip cookies, marshmallows, sprinkles, and all of the berries to make a flave to your exact specifications. Oh, and every ticket comes with a complimentary one-hour massage from Brick City Spa, a new mobile massage business. So, I’m saying you can make the pop of your dreams (actually six of them!) for a mere $35 and then after all that “hard work” get an hour-long massage that COMES TO YOU. Sometimes, I feel like the King of Pops spoils us. BUT I LIKE IT.

Treats and tunes

Fancy multi-course dinners are can be so formal, so stuffy, so 2015. Why not enjoy a continuous stream of small bites, both sweet and savory, while walking around, better modeling your outfit, and listening to the musical spinnings of Marty Violence of Steady Sounds. Longoven will be back at Sub Rosa for another Sunday pop-up, but this one isn’t the sittin’ kind. It’s a great option for a first date (what a cute story for your grandkids!) or as a stop on a whirlwind Valentine’s tour of Church Hill.

Brisket and beer

Strangeways is taking Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to share their love…of women in the craft beer industry! This event is all about education and celebration, and to that end, you can expect presentations by Blue Bee Cider’s Courtney Mailey, Hardywood’s Kate Lee, Annie Tobey of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Paige Newman of the Virginia Historical Society. Fill your brains with their knowledge, your growelers with Strangeways’ beer, and your bellies with ZZQ’s glorious brisket, which will be served from 11:00 AM until it’s sold out.

Coffee

Valentine’s is a day-long affair, so don’t wait until the end of it to start celebrating. Perk! Coffee & Lunchbox celebrates their first year in business on Sunday with a new special roast by Adbibo Coffee Co for $1 a cup all day. Plus, enter your name to win prizes like coffee beans, lunch boxes, and even a sweet Hario V60 pour-over starter kit. You don’t even have to be there to win. Now that’s amoré.

Home cookin’

Nothing says “I want to get to at least second base with you” like a home-cooked meal. But what, pray tell, are you supposed to cook? Little House Green Grocery has three meal kits for you to choose from. Whether you’re looking for red meat and red wine, white meat and white wine, or a mushroom risotto (also with wine because: Valentine’s Day), sign up for one online and then swing by LHGG to get your kit.

FROM ELSEWHERE…

Feel the Bern.

I got hot sauce in my bag.

SIP: TRIPLE CROSSING’S LIBERTY OR DEATH PORTER

This was a big week for Triple Crossing Brewery, who announced that they are expanding their operation to a 30,000 square feet building in Fulton. Raise a glass of their own Liberty or Death porter to them this Saturday at its release at their Foushee Street tasting room from 12:00 to 10:00 PM.

BITE: KING CAKE

This Tuesday was Mardi Gras, aka Fat Tuesday, and many a purple-and-green-sprinkled cake was consumed in New Orleans and around the world. The Dog & Pig Show and Early Bird Biscuit Co. served up versions of the famous cake, and Sugar Shack created a special cinnamon-custard-filled King Cake Donut. But where did King Cake come from, and why is there a plastic baby inside it? NPR’s “The Salt” has the story of how King Cake came to be.

‘GRAM: @WPABAKERY

I appreciate WPA Bakery’s Instagram because it’s always reminding me to do things like walk down the block and buy all the macarons and then eat them in one of those cute chairs outside. Super helpful stuff like that. This week, I learned that WPA will host a book club called Pastries and Paperbacks starting March 19th. Check out their instagrams for more details!

https://instagram.com/p/BBh2jkitM-i/

February 11, 2016 8:21 AM · in East End Daily, Near West End News, and more 0