River City Mar/Apr 2015 by Advertising Concepts, Inc.

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CONTENTS

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MARCH/APRIL 2015 RichmondNavigator.com PRESIDENT // PUBLISHER

William J. Davis, Jr. VICE-PRESIDENT // PUBLISHER

Cheryl T. Davis MANAGING EDITOR

Annie Tobey FOOD EDITOR

Steve Cook ASSISTANT EDITOR

Tammie Wersinger CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Joey Wharton GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Nora Bollinger

ADVERTISING CONSULTANT

Jared Davis

ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE

Beverly Montsinger CUSTOMER SERVICE CONSULTANT

Colleen MacCabe DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

Justin Warner PHOTOGRAPHERS

Rick Bancroft, Nick Davis, Temple Hill, Rick Lyons, Jesse Peters, Robert Thomas, Daniel Warshaw CONTRIBUTORS

Davy Jones, Jeff Majer ADVERTISING

In This Issue 04

Discover the art and design that lies beyond the canvas at the VMFA.

Sample a variety of sweet spots throughout the Richmond area.

SWEET SPOTS

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP:

Richmond’s beer and music communities are brought together in a thriving pairing.

Our quest for great moonshine cocktails led us to unexpected restaurants in the city.

The Luna 75 from Stella's Restaurant paired with grilled octopus and roasted beets. Photo by Robert Thomas

BEHIND THE FLOWERS

MUSIC AND BEER

RAISING THE BAR

A loving and loyal family of three skilled, creative cooks, and savvy business people.

Explore the history and rejuvenation of a Richmond neighborhood.

A MOTHER & HER SONS

TASTEBUDZ

Discover the latest news in Richmond’s food and dining scene.

SCOTT’S ADDITION

About Our Cover: Vincent Van Gogh's Vase with Cornflowers and Poppies, 1887, oil on canvas. Triton Collection Foundation. Courtesy of the VMFA

The interior of SUPPER! located in Scott’s Addition. Photo by Rick Lyons Shyndigz fresh fruit cake. Photo by Joey Wharton

RiverCity magazine is published bimonthly by Advertising Concepts, Inc., 6301 Harbourside Drive, Suite 100 Midlothian, VA 23112 P: 804-639-9994 E: Info@RichmondNavigator.com ONLINE // SOCIAL

RichmondNavigator.com Facebook.com/RichmondNavigator Twitter.com/RVAnavigator GENERAL // EDITORIAL INFORMATION

All articles and contents of this magazine are not necessarily the opinions or thoughts of RiverCity magazine, Advertising Concepts, Inc or the publisher.

ART

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BEHIND THE FLOWERS: AN INSIDE LOOK AT A VMFA EXHIBIT by Annie Tobey

at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fisher and Trang (VMFA), you get a mental massage, as the displays gently knead your aesthetic and Doug Nyuyen discussing intellectual sensibilities. You move slowly from room to room, piece to piece, soaking The Art of The Flower in details that catch your eye and absorbing bits of knowledge. You take in the broad exhibition design. Courtesy of the VMFA canvas of the exhibit. What is hidden behind the art – as it should be – is the painstaking but loving labor that goes into making the story come to life. From March 21 through June 21, the VMFA presents “Van Gogh, Manet, and Matisse: The Art of the Flower.” The exhibit was co-curated by Dr. Mitchell Merling, Paul Mellon Curator and Head of the Department of European Art at the VMFA, and Heather MacDonald, The Lillian and James H. Clark Associate Curator of European Art at the Dallas Museum of Art. The idea for the exhibit began percolating in Merling’s mind about six years ago. He noted that no one had put together a show specifically on Impressionists and floral still lifes. “It seemed to me that it would be a very interesting way to show the evolution of French painting in the 19th century by tracing the evolution of the French still life from its roots in pre-Revolutionary still-life painting to the end of representational art in France,” he notes. Like a time-lapse film, the exhibit moves from influential art of the mid 1700s to artists whose work bridges the late-19th century avant-garde and early-20th century modernism, from artists such as Anne ValAS YOU STROLL THROUGH THE SPECIAL EXHIBITS

layer-Coster and Jean-Siméon Chardin to Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse. “It’s an exhibition that might sound timid at first, like a nice polite show about little bowls of flowers,” suggests Merling, “but it’s actually turned out to be a very exciting exhibition that covers a lot of art historical ground, rooted in the social history of the time, the history of science, the history of ideas, of philosophy, of sensation, of knowledge, of the big movements and the exciting exhibition history.” There’s a myth that flower paintings were produced for the market, but the reality is that such works were often experimental, as artists played with elements like color and brushwork. “So the show is really about how new ways of painting came into being,” Merling explains. “It’s not just a show about flowers. It’s a show about painting.” The catalogue for the exhibit, Working Among Flowers: Floral Still-Life Painting in Nineteenth-Century France, details ideas behind this art movement, with essays about the literary context of the art, the cultural meanings of vases, botanical illustrations, instruction in flower painting and more. Many complex elements had to fall into place between the exhibit’s inception and its opening. “The first thing that you do is you choose a very good collaborator,”

Merling says. “Heather MacDonald … is wonderful to work with. [It’s been] four years since we started to collaborate and do research for the exhibition.” Merling proceeds to list other elements that go into producing a show like this. The curators outline the narrative and the big idea they’re trying to communicate, and next select the artists and the paintings. “And then we had to go to museums … and say, ‘Please give us your Cezannes and your Matisses and your Renoirs and your Delacroix, pretty please?’” Once the paintings are chosen, “an army of people” must arrange for shipping, design the galleries, decide how much to charge for tickets and create educational programs. “An exhibition like this, which is one of our lead exhibitions for the year, involves almost everybody on staff. It’s a real team effort.” When these paintings are assembled here in Richmond and the galleries are opened to the public, the presentation will flow much deeper than each individual piece of art. Merling passed the installation over to the designers, those creative yet practical people who act to maximize your enjoyment of the show while minimizing their contributions. Indeed, if they’ve done their job, you won’t realize that they exist at all. Exhibitions designer Doug Fisher describes the process of creating an installation, which for this exhibit is headed by senior exhibition designer Trang Nguyen. “We talk with the curator about what kind of look and feel we’re going for. We talk first about what we want to accomplish, not with what color to use,” explains Fisher. The designers consider the flow of guests through the space, the capacity of the rooms and the projected number of visitors. Although you, the visitor, may not realize it, their vision greets you before you even get to the show, in the banners, video monitors and title walls. The first title wall – that large “canvas” that greets you as you come down the stairs to the VMFA special exhibit galleries – also serves as a way-finding guide. And the second title wall not only identifies the show, says Fisher, “It serves as a light block wall. It dims the lights so you’re not shocked by low light [a necessity for preserving the art] when you enter the gallery.” Next, the designers consider traffic flow, aiming to avoid a bottleneck at the beginning, when people are fresh and

reading every word, and to keep them moving at a steady pace. “We work hard to use pacing and to set up reveals…that intuitively lead you through the exhibit as they reveal themselves,” Fisher says. “The show unfolds in front of you and icons lead you from gallery to gallery.” Fisher uses another term for this, too: “carrots.” Like those metaphorical carrots dangling on the end of a stick encouraging a horse to keep moving along, these carrots move you subtly and gently through the gallery. “These can be something iconic or engaging,” Fisher says, such as color, the distribution of the art within the room, or “a wall that hides the entrance to the gallery behind it, so that entrance is revealed as you travel through the gallery.” Two other essential but oft-unnoticed elements help set the mood and heighten your appreciation of the exhibit: color and light. “We balance the color, maybe from dark to light to dark again, so that there’s an ebb and flow to it, to create drama,” Fisher says. “We use lighting to do that as well, light in a different style from room to room.” Viewers of the Forbidden City may recall the garden gallery, which used dappled light to give the likeness of a tree. As you stroll through “The Art of the Flower” galleries, you can’t help but notice the masterful brush strokes, rich colors and delightful images, those works of art created by Adèle Riché, Simon Saint-Jean, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne and other talented painters. Perhaps this time, however, you’ll also notice the art and the design that lies beyond the canvas. RC

Other VMFA exhibitions Artists as Art: Photographic Portraits Through March 22, 2015 Photography Gallery Miwako Nishizawa: Twelve Views of Virginia Through March 29, 2015 Water and Shadow: Kawase Hasui and Japanese Landscape Prints Through March 29, 2015 Beyond the Walls Through June 30, 2015 MeadWestvaco Art Education Center Fusion: Art of the 21st Century Through July 26, 2015 21st Century Gallery VMFA Explores the Art of the Japanese Tatto May 30 – Sept. 27, 2015 Evans Court Félix Bracquemond: Impressionist Innovator – Selections from the Frank Raysor Collection Feb. 13 – Oct. 4, 2015 Mellon Focus Gallery Auguste Rodin Nov. 21, 2015 – March 13, 2016 Altria Group Gallery

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts  200 N. Boulevard, Richmond 804-340-1405 VMFA.museum

Édouard Manet (French, 1832–1883) Flowers in a Crystal Vase, ca. 1882, oil on canvas, 127/8 × 95/8 in. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.37 Courtesy of the VMFA

MUSIC

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BACKSTAGE WITH RICHMOND’S BREWERY MUSIC BOOM by Davy Jones

IN 2012 , when the Virginia General Assembly passed SB 604, the bill that made it legal

for breweries to sell beer for consumption on premises, there was much rejoicing in Richmond’s craft beer community. Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, an anchor of the city’s beer renaissance, even served up a celebratory special bitter (appropriately dubbed “SB 604”) in commemorative Mason jars. But beer makers weren’t the only ones who had a reason to rejoice, because in the blink of an eye, when SB 604 was passed, a new music scene was born. From trios in tasting rooms to day-long, outdoor festivals, breweries have been filling their facilities with the sounds of live music, bringing together Richmond’s beer and music communities in a thriving pairing. “It’s great,” says Lee Graves, bassist for the Bluz Catz and author of Richmond Beer: A History of Brewing in the River City. “It’s an extension of the feeling of community in RVA’s brewing circle, which I perceive as being very collegial and collaborative. Many of the people in the tasting rooms know each other, plus beer is a social lubricant, so I see it as a wonderful atmosphere to play music.” The Bluz Catz have played at Isley Brewing Company, Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery, and Strangeways Brewing, bringing additional customers to each spot and creating a win-win-win scenario for business owners, bands and fans. “The Bluz Catz are fortunate to have a loyal following, and I think it’s great that some of our fans who might not be beer aficionados are now discovering RVA’s craft beer scene and the creative brews being made here.” The sense of creativity is especially apparent at Strangeways. “We’re definitely for the adventuresome beer drinker,” says the brewery’s community relations director, Cheyenne Burnham. “Everything from the style of beers that we brew to how we decorate and present ourselves is off-kilter, a little odd, fun, interesting [and] curious.” Music is central to maintaining that eclectic mindset. “Mike Hiller, our head brewer – a lot of the beers he creates are actually musically inspired. For example, we’ve had the Mixolydian Rag, which is inspired by the Grateful Dead. We’ve had Blitzkrieg Bock [and] Wake Me Up Before You Gose.” Even the brewery’s name is a musical reference to The Smiths album Strangeways, Here We Come, a vinyl copy of which hangs on the wall behind the bar. “When [Hiller] is creating a recipe,” Burnham says, “he’ll listen to music, and that inspires the beers he brews. It’s the thread that weaves through it all.” Eclectic live sets fit right in. “It’s fun how certain bands and different music completely change the vibe. Sundays are so much fun to work, because it’s very light, and there’s nothing better than live music.” Given the variety of bands booked at breweries like Strangeways, musicians don’t have to fit into a particular stylistic mold, like they otherwise might at a genre-specific venue.

Bassist Brian Cruse has played at Hardywood with a number of different groups, from jazz ensembles to a band that covered Green Day’s entire Dookie album. “It’s one of my favorite gigs,’’ he says. “They’re really open, so we can just be ourselves and not have to worry about [whether] we fit into a certain vibe.” Plus, with earlier set times and afternoon gigs, musicians and fans don’t have to stay out until the early morning hours to finish a show. “Sunday is definitely an earlier, afternoon scene… I’ve actually been able to play a brunch gig, like at Savory Grain, and then bounce over to Hardywood,” Cruse adds. “Or, on the flip side, I’ve played a night gig – Commercial Taphouse – that started Kepone performing at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery on 5/31/14. Photo by Jesse Peters

Other area breweries supporting local music as well as brewing creative ales and lagers 7 Hills Brewing Co. Shockoe Bottom Facebook.com/7HillsRVA1 Ardent Craft Ales Scott's Addition ArdentCraftAles.com Black Heath Meadery Scott's Addition Facebook.com/ BlackHeathMeadery Blue Bee Cider Manchester BlueBeeCider.com Center of the Universe Brewing Ashland COTUbrewing.com Garden Grove Brewing Co. Carytown GardenGroveBrewing.com Hardywood Park Craft Brewery The Diamond Hardywood.com Isley Brewing Scott's Addition IsleyBrewingCompany.com Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery Goochland LickingholeCreek.com Legend Brewing Manchester LegendBrewing.com Midnight Brewery Goochland Midnight-Brewery.com

at 8, and I was able to finish the Hardywood gig in time to make my way over there.” Cruse has seen how the tasting room frees up customers as well. “I like it because it allows the audience a chance to go up to a table and carry out a conversation. That’s totally cool – it’s not interrupting the music. But if some folks want to come a little bit more towards the stage and hang out, they can listen to music and not be distracted.” That flexibility is especially meaningful to David Hunter, half of acoustic duo Fredds Unplugged (known to many as “FU”). Like Lee Graves, Hunter spans both sides of the beer-music pairing. He founded the Fans of Virginia Craft Breweries group and recently collaborated with Three Notch’d Brewing in Charlottesville on a red double IPA. “It’s become a great community,” Hunter says. “I remember

growing up in the 80s and going to the clubs, and that’s really all it was. It was clubs. You were there to see the band. But now it’s bands, the locally made beer, and your friends.” When speaking with Hunter, it becomes clear that relationships are at the core of Richmond’s brewery music boom, and that the boom extends beyond the brewing facilities themselves, to the venues that specialize in locally made craft beer. “We have a very personal connection to Hurley’s [Tavern], because the owner, Mark Hurley, is a really good friend of mine and [of Fredds Unplugged member] Chris Galiffa,” Hunter adds. “We’ve known each other since the early 90s – since 1991. We go back to the beginning. Just seeing him behind the bar after all these years, and just having him look at us and smile – we always do a tequila shot to begin the night [when we play] – to me that’s very special.” RC

Strangeways Brewing Northside StrangewaysBrewing.com Triple Crossing Brewing Monroe Ward TripleCrossingBeer.com The Answer Brewpub Libbie & Broad TheAnswerBrewpub.com

DINING

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FAMILY THAIS by Steve Cook

WHEN I FIRST MET Sukanya (Sue) Pala-art in 2002, she spoke very

Sukanya Pala-art (middle) little English. I spoke zero Thai. Despite that, she, her two sons, with her two sons Joe and Songkran (Sonny) Kiatsuranon, and I became business Songkran (left) and Joe (right) Kiatsuranon. associates, and, I’d like to think, good friends. Photo by Robert We first met at the family’s Carytown restaurant, Mom’s Thomas Siam, which opened in 2000. Through the years, as I’ve gotten to know the family, I’ve discovered that the three are skilled, creative cooks, savvy business people, and, most importantly, a close, loving and loyal family. I recently had a chance to sit down with the three of them. Today, Sue speaks English fluently, and I still speak zero Thai. I wanted to know more about how this warm, close-knit family ended up in Richmond, and ended up with what is quickly becoming somewhat of a restaurant empire. The story starts with that love of family. It was Sue’s desire to keep her boys together that prompted her to pick up and leave her home in a northern suburb of Bangkok. She and her husband were separating. He wanted to maintain custody of one of the sons and asked her to take the other. “My husband told me, ‘Either we each keep one [son], or you take both,’ so I said, ‘I’ll take both boys,’ and the three of us came to America,” Sue recalls. That was in 1985. Sonny was five years old and Joe was three. They originally settled in Hollywood, California. “That was hard,” Sue says. “I didn’t have a car and it was not easy to find a job where I could walk to work.”

So she and the boys returned to Thailand for a brief period and then came back to America in 1987 to Northern Virginia. “I wanted to work in a restaurant, cooking Thai food,” she says. “But my first job was in a McDonald’s in Fairfax.” Making just $3.75 an hour, Sue took a second job in a laundry. Eventually, she found work in other restaurants in the area, but she increasingly began to consider the possibility of one day having her own Thai restaurant. She explored the possibility of opening a place in Manassas or Alexandria, but she says, “Everything was so expensive there.” After a visit to Charleston, South Carolina, she began to make plans to move there and open a restaurant, but those plans fell through. Ultimately, in 1999, she came to Richmond with Joe. Sonny stayed in Northern Virginia where he had a job. The next year, she opened her first Mom’s Siam restaurant, about a block west of her current location. She did all of the cooking and Joe worked the front of the house. In the beginning, Sonny would come down on weekends and help out. “I bought a car,” Sue says, “and I’d get up at 5 a.m. each morning and drive to Washington to buy my meats and produce for the day.” Before long, Mom’s Siam became one of the city’s most popular Thai restaurants, a favorite with such local “celebrities” as Mayor (and, ultimately, Gov.) Tim Kaine. That’s when I first met “Mom” and the boys, and with the two of them translating for their mother and me, I sold them an ad in the premier issue of West End’s Best magazine (our companion publication). I returned a few days later to take pictures of several entrées for the advertisement and Sue invited me to stay and share the photographed dishes with them.

That was my introduction to Thai cuisine. I’ve been a raving fan ever since, not just of Thai food in general, but especially of the truly authentic and delicious Thai cuisine that has consistently come out of “Mom’s” kitchen over the past 13 years. Through the years, some things have changed. Mom’s Siam was forced to move into a larger location to accommodate the crowds. Both Joe and Sonny have married, and Joe has twice made Mom a “grand” mom. Also, both of the sons have opened their own restaurants. Sonny operates Fan Noodle Bar at 2301 W. Main St., and Joe owns My Noodle & Bar at 1600 Monument Ave. Sonny hesitated to go out on his own because, he tells me, “I enjoyed cooking in the kitchen with Mom. Being together, that’s the important thing.” “I felt the same way,” Joe agrees. “I decided to open my own restaurant when my first child was born, but I really didn’t want to leave Mom.” “Everybody left Mom,” Sue replies, laughing. But even though they no longer work together, she tells me that they still see each other almost daily. “I even bought an acre of land and am subdividing it to build three houses together,” Sue says. “Joe on one side, Sonny on one side, and me in the middle.” Considering the strong family ties, I asked if they have ever considered opening a larger restaurant, with all three working together in the same kitchen. “I always think about that,” Sue says. In fact, says Joe, “We have a place in mind to build that restaurant, but we’re keeping that a secret.” I had one more question. I asked them what their personal favorite dish is in their respective restaurants. Sue goes first: “The Siam wild pork, the curry and my Siam seafood,” she says. “Only one?” Sonny asks. After giving it some thought, he comes up with a couple of his favorites: the Thai hot pot, also known as Suki Yaki, and the Sukhothai noodle soup. “I like everything. It’s tough to pick one,” Joe says. “I put all my art and love into every dish.” Art and love. That pretty well sums it up. Sue, Sonny and Joe take pride in their culinary artistry. They love what they do. They love serving delicious dishes to their loyal customers. But what really shines through is the love between a mother and her two sons. RC Mom’s Siam 2811 W. Cary St. 804-359-7606

Mom’s Siam 2 1309 E. Cary St. 804-225-8801

MomSiam.com

TASTEBUDZ

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TASTEBUDZ going on in the River City, especially with regards to our dining scene. Some brand new restaurants are soon to open and a couple of the city’s oldest restaurants have undergone some major changes. Plus two new breweries for the city. All this and more in this issue of TasteBudz. If you have any restaurant or brewery news to share, drop me a line at TasteBudz@RichmondNavigator.com. THERE ARE SO MANY COOL THINGS

Openings – In Thai, the expression, “sabai sabai,” means to take it easy, be happy. Sabai is the name of a new restaurant that Joe Kiatsuranon is opening at 2727 W. Broad St. Joe describes the menu as featuring Asian street food, and from what I hear, some of the best food in Bangkok is that offered by the street vendors. Regarding Sabai’s menu, Joe says, “These are popular dishes in Thailand, but no one is serving them here. You won’t find them at Mom’s Siam [his mother’s restaurant], or Fan Noodle Bar [his brother’s restaurant] or My Noodle and Bar [his other restaurant].” Sabai is slated for a late March or early April opening. Keep up with the progress at Facebook.com/Sabairva. GET AWAY TO YOUR HAPPY PLACE

– Two of the city’s oldest restaurants are under new management/ownership with significant changes in store for both. First up: Strawberry Street Café, at 421 Strawberry St., StrawberryStCafe.com. Ron Joseph has bought out his former partner, Grayson Collins, and is now the sole owner of this venerable Fan establishment. Ron has been at the café since 1990, when he came on board as chef. In 1994, he and Collins bought the place from the previous owner. Noting that some of the “old school restaurant” folks can be somewhat resistant to change, he says, “We need to know when to change, and the good ones can make those changes without alienating their long-time regulars.” Some of those changes include a new awning and opening up the entryway so that when you enter, “you won’t feel like you’re walking into a closet,” Ron adds. New glass double-front doors will be installed soon. How about the iconic bathtub, which still holds what just may be the best salad bar in town? “We can never get rid of that,” he says. “But we can dress it up and make it a focal point. I’m going to make this a more fun environment, a place that [guests of] any age can enjoy coming to.” As owner of Strawberry Street Events, one of the top event concessionaires on the East Coast, he’ll be using his concession business to brand the café and expose it to millions of event goers around the state and from Pennsylvania to the Carolinas. “We’re taking Strawberry Street to the people,” he says. Next on the list is the closing of Richmond’s oldest Thai restauEVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN

with Steve Cook

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The exterior of Oyster’s Pearl located in Scott’s Addition. Photo courtesy of Oyster’s Pearl Sambusas paired with The Lovingston from Portrait House. Photo by Robert Thomas Mussels from Grandstaff and Stein Booksellers. Photo by Robert Thomas The iconic bathtub bar at Strawberry Street Café. Photo courtesy of Strawberry Street Café

rant, Beauregard’s Thai Room, and the subsequent opening of Sang Jun Thai Room in the same location, 103 E. Cary St. Ty Tantayanurak, owner of Sang Jun (that’s Thai for moonlight) opened his first restaurant in Bangkok some 10 years ago. Two years ago, he opened a Sang Jun Thai Room in Alexandria, Virginia. So, what prompted the move to the River City? “We were friends with the previous owner [David Roygulchaeron],” Ty says. “When I heard he was retiring, I drove down to take a look at his place.” He says he was immediately impressed with the beauty of the old building, especially the patio. “I took one look and said, ‘Wow! I’d love to be able to work with a patio like this. I love the location. I love the bricks. I love the second floor dining room. There’s lots of potential here.” Ty says that all of his chefs have been brought in from the D.C. area. That includes his uncle and head chef, Tu Tantayanurak, who brings with him over 31 years of experience in the business. “The menu will be virtually the same as in Alexandria,” he says, “but with one major exception. The prices here will be a little lower. Our goal is to serve truly authentic Thai cuisine. We don’t Americanize it.” Diners can still choose their desired spiciness level from one to four, with four being “Thai hot.” So, how about some recommendations? “Try the duck rolls,” Ty suggests. “You won’t find anything like them in town.” He recommends several other specialties, including the chicken satay, the stir-fried basil duck, and, my favorite Thai dish, the tom kha chicken soup. “We make it as spicy as you like,” he says. – Our photographer, Robert Thomas, and I had the opportunity to visit with Ross Renfrow at his Fish Bowl Bistro a few nights ago. We were there to get pictures of (and sample) some of the drinks and appetizers that will be offered at his new Grandstaff and Stein Booksellers , which should be opening in late March or early April. Now, if you’re wondering why a bookseller will be offering drinks and appetizers, you might want to go to our Raising the Bar feature. I’d rather tell you over there. But trust me. It’s worth turning the pages. This is going to be cool. BOOK ’EM, RENFROW

Scoop Du Jour – Do you know how Cary Street got its name? Or when Carytown became Carytown? Or, before there was even one restaurant in Carytown, why it might have been a great place to go for a bison burger? The answers to these and other burning questions plus some great food can be yours on the River City Food Tours Carytown tour. Our managing editor, Annie Tobey, and I took the two-hour tour on a recent Saturday afternoon, and even though I was virtually born and raised in Carytown, I learned some things I had never known. The tour is operated by Brian Beard, who also founded walking tours in Freiburg, Germany. The stroll down Carytown sidewalks features stops and bites at the Water Coastal Kitchen, Portrait House, Xtras and more. Brian got the idea for a food tour after having participated in one in Seattle, Washington. “Richmond has a serious food culture,” he says. “I thought food tours would be a great way for locals and visitors to experience a large swath of that food culture in one event.” For additional information and to purchase tickets, visit RiverCityFoodTours.com. CARE FOR SOME HISTORY WITH YOUR MEAL?

– I visited with Christopher Jone, recently. He’s the general manager of an intimate little seafood restaurant and entertainment venue, the Oyster’s Pearl (1401 Roseneath Rd.; Facebook.com/OystersPearlRoseneath) in Scott’s Addition. Christopher says he’s adding a few new items to the menu. “There will definitely be steak entrées, plus several pasta dishes,” he says. The restaurant features live jazz entertainment on Wednesdays through Fridays. Also, coming up on March 25 is a special four-course bourbon tasting dinner. For more information on upcoming events, check ‘em out on Facebook. To make reservations (preferred), please phone 804-716-5524.

Brews in the News THE SEVEN HILLS ARE ALIVE – Speaking of Ross Renfrow, who

is one of the busiest men in the food business these days, his longtime dream of having his own brewery is about to become a reality. Seven Hills Brewpub will be, as the name suggests, not just a brewery but a 350-seat-or-so restaurant as well. The brewpub, which should be opening within the next month, is located at Dock and 15th streets in the former home of Stool Pigeons and right next door to the Fish Bowl Bistro, which Ross also owns. “I’ve wanted to do this even before I opened the Fish Bowl,” Ross says. That was over five years ago. Ross got the inspiration from visiting similar establishments in Colorado and on the Pacific Coast. Just as the name of the brewpub is a nod to the River City, which is supposedly built on seven hills, so, too, many of the beers are named after area locales, such as the Texas Beach ThaiPA, which features fresh basil, ginger, Thai chili peppers and lemongrass. And yes, in case you weren’t aware of it, there is a place in Richmond known as Texas Beach. Other beers on tap include Seven Hills Saison, Belle Isle Blonde and Brown’s Island English brown. Ross’s brother, Will, who is chef at the Fish Bowl, will also be serving in that capacity at the brewpub. THE COLD ONE HUNDRED – The state’s 100th licensed brew-

ery has opened in Carytown. Garden Grove Brewing Company, at 3445 W. Cary St., GardenGroveBrewing. com, opened in mid-February, offering an impressive array of ales, including Carytown Brown, Ronnie’s Red, The Farmhouse Saison, Southern Hemi IPA, and The Knight Belgian Tripel. There’s one more that especially caught my eye, and my taste buds – the Sparkler. Reminiscent of a fine sparkling wine, this brew is formulated with white sorghum, orange blossom honey and finished with a touch of the French hop variety, Strissepalt. Brewer Michael Brandt (co-owner with Ryan Mitchell) began his professional career as an assistant brewer at Calhoun’s Brewery in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He moved through the ranks of the Virginia wine industry and served as head winemaker and viticulturist at Naked Mountain Winery and assistant winemaker at Linden Vineyards. The tasting room is open Tuesday through Sunday, and in an effort to attract families, Garden Grove is brewing non-alcoholic root beer, Creamsicle and ginger ale, including a ginger ale variation with lemongrass and grapefruit. They’re also planning a family movie night.

The Spirits World

A PLUS TO THE ADDITION

– In the September/October issue of this magazine, we’re going to be saluting the area’s top mixologists. This is your chance to vote for your favorite bartender. You might even win dinner for two or a chance to join us in our Top Bartenders and Their Favorite Drinks tour, coming up in August. Send us the name of your favorite mixologist, and the bar in which he or she works, to TasteBudz@RichmondNavigator.com. RC PLAYING FAVORITES

IN SEARCH OF

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IN SEARCH OF SWEET SPOTS

WPA Bakery from the kitchen of the Well-made Pastry Alliance, including muff ins, cookies, pies, cakes, caneles and sticky buns, plus whole cakes and pies (both available gluten free) as special order items. Every Sunday, WPA makes regular, vegan and gluten-free donuts. The business is co-owned by award-winning Richmond food personalities, Baker David Rohrer, who earned the 2014 Elby award for best pastry chef and baker, and Kendra Feather, of Ipanema Café, Garnett’s Café and The Roosevelt. SWEET GOODNESS ROLLS

2707 East Marshall St. 804-716-9797 WPA Bakery.com

LEFT: WPA Bakery. Photos by Temple Hill RIGHT: Shyndigz. Photos by Joey Wharton

Shyndigz JUST DELIGHTFUL ,

rich, yummy and mouth-watering desserts, nothing more! All of these scrumptious creations are artistically served with delightful beverages, including wine and craft beer. The café features eight permanent menu items – salted chocolate caramel cake, fresh fruit cake, crème brûlée, peanut butter pie and more – plus daily specialty items and a cake du jour. Items are available for dine-in or to go. Check out the cake calendar and mark the day for your favorite f lavor. Shyndigz sweets remind you of just how delicious life can be! 1903 W Cary St. 804-938-DIGZ (3449) Shyndigz.com

Lucille’s Bakery for the eyes and the palate, beautiful and bursting with flavor! This local retail and wholesale bakery serves a variety of special occasion cakes, pastries, breads, cookies, biscuits and other baked goods, with a focus on gorgeous, delicious wedding cakes. Lucille’s custom cakes range from simple to elaborate, offering traditional buttercream cakes or English-style rolled fondant with gum paste flowers. The baker will create kids’ birthday cupcakes or anniversary cakes, cookie platters or flaky croissants, and more. YOU’LL FIND A FEAST

719 N. Meadow St. 804-204-1524 LucillesBakery.com

LEFT: Lucille’s Bakery. RIGHT: Mo’s Sweet Minis. Photos by Rick Bancroft

Mo’s Sweet Minis THE TASTE OF THE FAMILY passion for sweet goodness is front and

center in Mo’s Sweet Minis cupcakes and cookies, baked fresh from scratch daily using high-quality ingredients. Mo’s regularly features fabulous, creative, rich cupcakes like red velvet and banana pudding, plus specials such as the peanut butter cup; s’mores; raspberry lemonade; coconut rum raisin; and the hummingbird, a banana cake made with pineapple and topped with cinnamon cream cheese and coconut. Cookies include mocha shortbread, chocolate peanut butter, gingersnaps, oatmeal raisin and many more. Pick up your favorites today – you’ll be back for “mo”! 902 W. Broad St. 804-643-CA KE (2253) MosMinis.net

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RAISING THE BAR – MOONSHINE COCKTAILS by Steve Cook / photos by Robert Thomas

Having grown up in Franklin County in Southwest Virginia, I was pretty excited when we decided to feature moonshine cocktails in this edition of Raising the Bar. You see, Franklin County is, without a doubt, the moonshine capital of the world. Oh sure, there are other locales that proudly make that claim, but you ask anyone who knows his corn licker and he’ll tell you. It’s been Franklin County for over a hundred years. Back during Prohibition, it is said that for every 100 people in the county, 99 were involved in the moonshine business. I don’t know if I believe that, but it sounds good and helps make my point.

But we didn’t select moonshine cocktails as our feature just so I could wax nostalgic. In case you hadn’t noticed, moonshine is more popular than ever. You know, the legal kind, where the revenooers get their cut. One of the major contributing factors in the resurgence of moonshine locally is Belle Isle Craft Spirits. Even though the Richmond-based distillery isn’t on Belle Isle, the name is quite appropriate. The world’s first premium moonshine was born there, in copper kettles produced by Belle Isle Manufacturing. Even though moonshine is distinctly southeastern USA, homemade hooch is not. Virtually every culture has its own history of homemade spirits. We discovered this as we visited three excellent ethnic restaurants in the city in putting this piece together. The fourth stop on our tour was a very special one. More about that in a moment, but let’s get started on our quest for great moonshine cocktails. We found some in restaurants that you might not expect to be serving moonshine.

Stella’s Restaurant was Stella’s Restaurant, perhaps Richmond’s premier Greek dining spot. Stella is Stella Dikos, who, along with her husband, Steve, opened her first Richmond restaurant on Harrison Street in 1983. Although Stella retired in 2005, her daughter, Katrina Giavos (Johnny’s wife), reopened a new incarnation of the place about four years ago. And, yes, Stella is still very active in the business. Katrina describes the new location as warm and comfortable. “Many say our lighting is magical,” she says. As for the menu, “We decided to take things more traditional this time,” Katrina tells me. “We really wanted to focus on the meze, offering small plates to share. In the Greek culture, sharing your food with family and friends is more important than the food itself.” Meze, by the way, is originally a Turkish word meaning snack. The Greek meze is similar to the Spanish tapas. At Stella’s, you’ll discover a delightful variety of mezes. There’s even a communal OUR FIRST STOP

LEFT PAGE CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The Luna 75 at Stella's Restaurant; the Midnight Moonshine Margarita at Lalo's Cocina Bar and Grill; a variation of the French 75 at Grandstaff and Stein Booksellers; the Benjamin Barker at Portrait House. THIS PAGE: The Luna 75 from Stella's Restaurant paired with grilled octopus.

table where walk-ins are seated, plates are shared and strangers become fast friends. Having a moonshine cocktail in a Greek restaurant is not that unusual. The Greeks have their tsipouro, a strong (about 45 percent alcohol), colorless drink produced from the residue of the wine press. Tsipouro is not produced in any other part of the world and is a favorite beverage, served with mezes. At Stella’s, we enjoyed a drink that Katrina has named the Luna 75. It’s a variation of the French 75 and is made with Belle Isle Premium Moonshine, Grand Marnier and Metaxa, a Greek brandy, along with fresh lemon juice and orange marmalade, and topped with champagne. This delightful concoction was complemented by two mezes: the roasted beets and the grilled octopus. While I’m generally not a fan of beets, these were the best I’d ever tasted. However, I would strongly recommend you try the grilled octopus. I’ve had calamari, but this was totally different, and quite delicious. It went perfectly with our Luna 75. 1012 Lafayette St.

StellasRichmond.com

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Lalo’s Cocina Bar and Grill Mexican moonshine cocktail? That’s exactly what we enjoyed at the newly opened Lalo’s Cocina Bar and Grill. Owner Eduardo “Lalo” Macias says he’s too young to have sampled it, but when he was growing up in Guadalajara, he remembers a homebrew known as pulque. This milk-colored drink with a sour buttermilk-like flavor is made from the fermented sap of the agave plant. It has traditionally been a favorite at celebrations and social gatherings. No pulque for us during our visit. Rather, Lalo served up a tasty concoction he created, which he calls Midnight Moonshine Margarita. Combining Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon cranberry-flavored moonshine with Lunazul tequila (Lunazul is Spanish for “blue moon”), Lalo produced an exceptionally refreshing drink, not too sweet and not too HOW ABOUT A

strong, but, as Goldilocks would agree (I feel sure), it tastes just right. For our appetizer, Lalo prepared his famous nacho con chorizo. He makes his own chorizo (Mexican sausage), which is topped with pico de gallo and jalapeños. This dish is fantastico. 2617 W. Broad St.

LalosCocina.com

Portrait House one of our favorite mixologists, Shannon Hood. Shannon is the bar manager at Portrait House restaurant. She truly does raise the bar when it comes to taking a professional, passionate approach to her job. “I read as much as I can…books, and several newsletters, to keep up with the trends in the industry,” she says. As you no doubt know, now that Yoseph Teklemariam, formerly of the Nile Restaurant, has come on as the head chef at Portrait House, the menu is predominately Ethiopian cuisine. NEXT, WE VISITED WITH

LEFT: The Midnight Moonshine Margarita at Lalo's Cocina Bar and Grill paired with nacho con chorizo. RIGHT: The Benjamin Barker at Portrait House paired with Ethiopian hot chicken strips.

So is there an Ethiopian moonshine? “Yes there is,” Yoseph says. “Araqe is a popular drink that is primarily served at holiday gatherings.” Araqe has the aroma of anise, and, while Shannon did not serve a cocktail featuring the traditional Ethiopian beverage, her recipe did include absinthe, to add a hint of that culture to the drink. She calls her cocktail The Shirak. It’s not just a pretty name, but it’s a derivative of the Amharic word for moon. Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia. The recipe, Shannon says, is inspired by a drink called the Benjamin Barker, which comes from one of her favorite New York City bartenders, Brian Miller, and one of the city’s top bars, Death & Company. The drink is made with Belle Isle Premium Moonshine, Campari, fresh lime and a few drops of absinthe. Perhaps everything tastes great with Belle Isle moonshine. This cocktail certainly did. I enjoyed that slight hint of absinthe.

They say it makes the heart grow fonder. Yoseph served us his Ethiopian hot chicken strips as an appetizer. Talk about chicken tenders – I’ve never tasted a bird that tender, and the batter had just the right amount of heat to take this way beyond your typical chicken strip. Yoseph has added several items to the appetizer menu that offers traditional bar food but with a distinctive Ethiopian twist. 2907 West Cary St.

Portrait-House.com

Grandstaff and Stein Booksellers NOW, THAT BIG SURPRISE I’ve been hinting

at. Our fourth stop on our moonshine cocktail tour was to a place that hasn’t opened yet. In fact, we didn’t even go to Grandstaff and Stein Booksellers, which is slated for a late March or early April opening at 2113 E. Main St. Rather, we headed over to the Fish Bowl Bistro at 101 South 15th St., in order to photograph and sample some of the

drinks and appetizers that we will soon be enjoying at Grandstaff and Stein. Ross Renfrow, the owner at the Fish Bowl, is also the man behind this new place. So, what does a bookseller have to do with moonshine? Okay, come closer. Here’s the secret, but you have to promise not to tell anyone. Okay? It’s not really a bookstore at all. It’s a speakeasy. That’s right. To the typical passerby, this place will look like a bookstore. But, come on in. Look closely – do you see that bookshelf over there? Well, it’s also a secret entryway into the speakeasy. Now, you have to know the password, but Ross told me, and this is strictly confidential, that if you go to his Facebook page (Facebook.com/ BooksellersRVA), you can probably figure that out. Once you get through the bookshelf, Ross says, “You’ll go 100 years back in time.” He prepared some excellent period drinks for us to sample and photograph but says he’s waiting to reveal his special-

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Grandstaff and Stein Booksellers previewed deviled eggs, bruschetta and oysters, paired with a variation of the French 75 featuring Belle Isle Premium Moonshine.

ty drinks. In fact, he says, “Our cocktail creations haven’t come to life yet.” Both the food and the drink are from the Prohibition and pre-Prohibition eras. Throw in the player piano providing the sounds of jazz and ragtime music, and the whole thing is going to be unbelievably fun. “It’s all designed,” Ross says, “to make you feel that you’re doing something wrong.” One of the drinks we sampled was a variation of the French 75, featuring Belle Isle Premium Moonshine along with gin, simple syrup, lemon juice and champagne. We also sampled several other cocktails as well as great appetizers prepared by Will Renfrow, Ross’s brother. The oysters were fantastic, as was the bruschetta, but I get the feeling that both Ross and Will are holding a few tricks up their sleeves for the grand opening. But really, isn’t the keeping of secrets what moonshine and speakeasies are all about? I just hope I haven’t revealed too much already. RC Facebook.com/BooksellersRVA

ST E L L A’S H A PPY HOU R Monday through Friday, 4 to 6 p.m. / Most mezes (small plates): $4 / Beer on tap: $4 / Carafe of house wine: $10 / Select specialty cocktail: $6

P ORTR A I T HOUSE H A PPY HOU R Monday through Friday, 4 to 6 p.m. (Thursday, 4 to 9 p.m.) / Pints: $4 / Beer flights $4 / Rail drinks $3

L A L O’S COCI NA BA R A N D GR I L L H A PPY HOU R Daily, 4 to 7 p.m. / Classic Margaritas: $3.99 / Miller Lite pint: $2 / Draft beer pint: $4

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SCOTT’S ADDITION: NOT FORGOTTEN ANYMORE by Jeff Majer

ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO, I worked in a forgotten Richmond neighborhood. I’d tell people

that my artist’s studio was in Scott’s Addition, and they’d inevitably reply, “Where?” These days, though, Scott’s Addition is booming.

History In the 1700s, Col. John Mayo owned Hermitage, a sprawling 600-acre estate in Henrico County – yes, the same Mayo who in 1784 opened the first bridge spanning the James between Manchester and Richmond. When Col. Mayo died, he left the estate to his son-in-law, Gen. Winfield Scott. The land stayed in the Scott family until his descendents laid out the grid-patterned streets and lots in 1890. The original development was planned residential but its proximity to the developing train lines shifted the area to industrial. The shift in focus created an interesting mixture of industrial and residential. The land became an “addition” to the city in the 1914 annexation

Interior shot of Ardent Craft Ales. Photo by Daniel Warshaw

of parts of Henrico and Chesterfield. Broad Street Station, now the Science Museum of Virginia, opened in 1919 on part of what was Hermitage, bringing in a huge amount of commercial and commuter traffic. Scott’s Addition is bound by Broad Street, the Boulevard and the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. It’s easy to imagine factory workers pouring out of buildings like the 1953 Coca-Cola Bottling building at 1310 Roseneath Ave. The folks who lived in the residential houses scattered through the area could have easily walked over to the A&P,

which was built in 1938 and now houses McLean’s Restaurant, or to the Cavalier Arena Skating Rink that opened 1940 at 1302 MacTavish Ave. or to their jobs in one of the many factories. Scott’s Addition was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005, which has given a boost to the redevelopment of the area. A couple of my favorite buildings in Scott’s Addition are the old Richmond City Stables and what is today Handcraft. The stables at 3101 W. Clay St. are idle for now, but the structure was built about 1920 for the Parks and Recreation’s Department of Public Works. Its simple rectangular buildings were built in a “U” shape, but the stone structure harkens back to a time when horses would have walked down Richmond’s streets. The Handcraft Building, built in 1946 as the Binswanger & Company Glass Factory at 1501 Roseneath Rd., looks like it could be used to film a live-action Jetsons movie.

As a young girl, Martha Smith and her family moved from Dunn, N.C., to Scott’s Addition, where she lived until her family moved to Carytown. There she met and married Richmond-born William Harkess. Now 84 years old, Martha and William share their story on the History Replays Today podcast. They discuss the neighborhoods where they grew up and raised a family as well as how the city has changed. This and other episodes are free to download on iTunes or can be streamed at HistoryReplaysToday.org.

Living Quarters When I had my studio in Scott’s Addition 10 years ago, the only people I saw on the streets were Handcraft workers on break. Now, the streets see residents walking their dogs and visitors looking for a drink and a bite to eat. Like much of Richmond, a number of the old buildings are being repurposed into housing. Scott’s Addition is very conveniently located near I-64, I-95 and I-195, between downtown and the West End. Buildings like the eight-story 3600 W. Broad St. buildings and The Altamont at 1620 Altamont Ave. are already developed into housing. Currently under construction is The Preserve in that old Coca-Cola factory, offering a new generation the opportunity to pour out of the historic building. According to their Facebook page, they welcomed their first residents in January. One of the owners of Handcraft, Jay Nichols,

told me that the number of 20- to 30-year olds walking around the neighborhood has increased substantially. Nichols also told me that Handcraft, which has been in the building since 1983, is getting ready to move to Richmond’s Southside, where they will have more space, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that building becomes housing sometime soon as well. If you don’t want to live in an apartment, there are also a few residential houses in the neighborhood.

Entertainment Living in Scott’s Addition gives you plenty to do within walking distance. The Triangle Theater Players at 1300 Altamont Ave. has been putting on theatrical performances since 1993. Just across Boulevard is Bow Tie Cinemas. If you’re a sports fan, The Diamond is visible from the north side of the neighborhood. That not

Interior shots of The Preserve at Scott's Addition. Photos courtesy of The Preserve

only means you are a short walk away from a Flying Squirrels game, but you can also see the numerous fireworks displays from inside the neighborhood. If the type of fireworks you enjoy happen on the gridiron, the Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center is just up Leigh Street. For the younger audience, the Children’s Museum of Richmond is a short jaunt down Broad Street and, for all ages, the Science Museum of Virginia is right next to that. Scott’s Addition has also gotten into the festival scene. The second annual Pumpkin Festival was held last year and featured local craft beer, live music, pumpkin dishes, and family movie night, playing The Great Pumpkin and Monsters Inc. at the Redskins training center.

Food and Beverage Food and drink are crucial to the Scott’s Addition’s rejuvenation.

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TOP: Interior shot of Richmond Bicycle Studio. Photo by Nick Davis BOTTOM: Interior shot of SUPPER! Photo by Rick Lyons

Breweries like Ardent Craft Ales at 3200 Leigh St. and Isley Brewing at 1715 Summit Ave. have started brewing and serving beer in the last two years. Both offer excellent craft brews and a great environment for relaxing with friends. Also poised to open is Black Heath Meadery at 1313 Altamont Ave. If alcohol is not your drug of choice, next door to Isley Brewing Company is Lamplighter Coffee Shop. The conjoined restaurant LUNCH. | SUPPER! on Summit Avenue continually gets rave reviews. In addition to its ongoing menu, the business is hosting Shoryuken Ramen as a pop-up restaurant on Mondays and Tuesdays until the end of April, which is a must try. The Urban Farmhouse Market and Café has opened at 3015 Norfolk Street, providing casual farm-to-table dining and local products. For more casual fare, head to En Su Boca Tacos on Boulevard. But the Scott’s Addition’s food scene is not all about the new. It also includes and established eatery, The Dairy Bar. The Dairy Bar opened in 1946, making it one of the oldest restaurants in Richmond. One step in the Dairy Bar transports you to a better time. As Bill Webb, president and owner of the Dairy Bar, told me, they have “families that have been coming in to eat for three or four generations.” It’s in the Curles Neck Building, which opened as a milk processing plant in 1944, making it the second

oldest building in Scott’s Addition. In 1986, the building became multiuse, and the restaurant continued.

Shopping and Other Business Tom Sullivan, Ardent Brewery co-owner, told me one of the things that surprised him when they opened was how many businesses were already in the neighborhood. Etec Mechanical, a contractor at 3117 Norfolk St., installed the Ardent brewing equipment. The flowers in Ardent are from Claymore Sieck, a wholesale florist at 3210 W. Leigh St. There are also small businesses such as Richmond Bicycle Studio, and for the gas-powered bikes fans, Velocity Motorcycles has a showroom of beautiful classic motorcycles. The growth continues. The new owners of the iconic Hoffheimer Building, of exotic, revival style architecture are determining what exactly to make of it. Webb told me that since he’s been at the Dairy Bar, he has seen Scott’s Addition go through cycles. However, he added, “The last three or four years have been some of the most exciting times of the past 20 years.” Nichols says it reminds him of the Fan in the 1970s when it was being revitalized. If they are right, Scott’s Addition will never again be forgettable. RC

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