Food News: new restaurants on the horizon, happy hour laws, new beers, and secret clubs

Oh Richmond, each week you’re like a burrito filled with food news.

January 30, 2014; 7:56 AM • by Ross Catrow

Richmond.com has the word that Pomegranate in Carytown is set to open on February 4th. Chef Kevin LaCivita, formerly of the Blue Goat and before that formerly of a previous iteration of Pomegranate in the Bottom, will bring “European comfort food” to Carytown. Seems like this European comfort food business is all the rage—better than European discomfort food, I guess.

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According to CHPN, Metzger Bar and Butchery is coming to Church Hill at the corner of 23rd and Cedar. They’ll focus on “rustic, European comfort food,” and with Brad Hemp of Sausage Craft involved you know there will be plenty of meat. Brad’s partner, chef-owner to be exact, in this new venture is Brittanny Anderson who has all sorts of crazy chef-type accolades. The two hope to open Metzger Bar and Butchery this spring.

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Last week we talked about Harvest Grocery & Supply opening up in The Fan. This week, Richmond BizSense has a good look at the recent trend of upscaleish neighborhood gorceries in Richmond. In addition to Harvest, RVA has seen Little House Green Grocery and Union Market open up shop.

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Friday, Center of the Universe Brewery will release Scotchtown, their take on a Scottish-style ale. There’s malt, there’s barley, it’s all smoked and roasted to give the beer a rich and malty character. The hops are there too, but just to balance things out a bit. The cleverly-named Scotchtown was so popular last year, that COTU has decided to make it one of their regular seasonal brews. I’m in love with the equally-as-clever label.

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It’s not all hops and malts in RVA! Blue Bee Cider will release their limited edition Rocky Ridge Reserve cider this Saturday. It’s the final cider made from their 2012 harvest and has aged in brandy barrels for the past five months. Stop by the cidery from 12:00 – 7:00 PM and see what all the fuss is about.

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So here’s a weird thing: The Underground Kitchen. You join (for free), and each month the UGK picks less than 30 people to attend a secretish themed dinner prepared by a secretish chef in a secretish location. If you make that month’s cut—the lucky 30 are selected at random—you’ll pay $125 for a “couture dining experience and a charitable donation to a local organization.” More details here—but not too many, because that would spoil the fun.

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The laws relating to restaurants advertising their happy hours changed this past Wednesday…kind of. Restaurants can now advertise the times of their happy hours but not the details. At least it’s something…right?

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This past Sunday Richmond Magazine hosted the Elbys, their annual RVA food awards. Restaurants and chefs were lauded, loaves of bread were lasered, and…GWAR was there announcing a GWAR BAR? Read the full list of winners here, spoiler alert: a ton of them are from Church Hill.

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The Super Bowl is this Sunday! It’s one of the few days where your entire caloric intake can come from chips! If, for some unknowable reason, you’d like to branch out beyond chips, at least stick to the four basic Super Bowl food groups: dip, wings, chili, and beer. Here are some delicious, and probably good for you (JK!) recipes to help get you started.

Photo by: Scott Pharr

January 30, 2014 7:56 AM · in East End Daily, Shockoe News, and more 0