Food & Drink
RVA Beer Explorer: Board, Kindred Spirits, Lifting the Veil, Power, Roots, Final One
Let’s take a sip of local beer news, not a pitcher that’s way too much.
I’M BOARD
Most local breweries have a few games sitting around for patrons. Garden Grove on Monday and Triple Crossing on Tuesday have taken it a step further and host game nights where you’ll likely see a different breed of game. You’ll see your more traditional games like Scrabble or the destroyer of peace and quiet, Jenga. If you look closer you’ll also find board games that take the strategy, luck, and fun up a couple hundred notches.
My favorite gaming site Shut Up and Sit Down has a series of videos that show off many of the games you’ll find at theses two game nights. Triple Crossing tends to skew a little heavier on the complexity scale of games than Garden Grove. Go to both and find the folks you’re comfortable with or bring in your own pack of gamers.
If you’re up for a bit of thinking with your drinking I highly recommend giving one of these nights a try. Everyone is friendly, welcoming and more than willing to teach a new game. You’ll see games you can’t find, can’t afford and get to play them all while drinking beer.
CALLING KINDRED SPIRITS
A new brewery is opening this weekend. While not in Richmond proper it’s located right off 288 so that means easy access while you’re out and about. I’m totally in the dark on this new spot so if you’ve got words of beer wisdom please share them with the group. The Kindred Spirit Brewing Facebook has more details.
LIFTING THE VEIL
Good Beer Hunting, which should get an award for that name, has an article and beautiful pictures that dive deep into The Veil Brewing Co. Seriously one of the best written and photographed articles on a brewery/brewer I’ve ever seen.
“I never had any ideas of opening a brewery,” Durrance says. “When I met Matt, one of my first thoughts after ‘Wow this is the nicest brewer I’ve ever met,’ was, ‘I wonder if he would ever want to set up a brewery in RVA so I don’t have to drive to Vermont all the time.’ I definitely wasn’t thinking of ever trying to start a brewery.”
But then they started considering the opportunity to import a bit of what was happening in the Northeast down to The River City.
MUSICAL ROOTS
This event is FREE to attend and open to all ages. Hardywood taprooms open for service at 2PM, with last call at 9:30PM. Entertainment will be staged outdoors. Enjoy refreshing draft beer and delicious gourmet food from Shamasuki, Happy Empanada, Arroz RVA & Dank Eats!
POWER DRINKERS
Style Weekly has released their 2016 Power List. In the category of Food and Drink there were two beer related entries and surprisingly Stone Brewing wasn’t one of them. Stone was mentioned in the introduction but we’re all about the list. No number in front of your name means you don’t count. We’re pretty sure they just forgot to mention us.
Eric McKay and Patrick Murtaugh – Co-owners, Hardywood Park Craft Brewery came in at number one.
Murtaugh and McKay lead by example, actively helping the craft beer scene with advice and cultivating relationships with lawmakers. In November they broke ground on the first phase of a $28 million expansion project on 24 acres in Goochland County, with Gov. Terry McAuliffe and other state officials by their side.
At number 10, Matt Tarpey – Co-founder and brewer, The Veil Brewing Co. was selected but you already knew Matt was awesome because you read the article that we linked to above.
Tarpey, a pedigreed brewer from Vermont’s Hill Farmstead Brewery and Alchemist, had the chops to pull off the stellar India pale ales and the wild fermentation of the best sour beers. The Veil has become a craft beer enthusiast’s tourist stop.
FINAL ONE
Final Gravity is tiny but mighty and this weekend they turn one year old and are having a party. Head out there and wish them a happy birthday by having a beer or five.
It’s our one year anniversary! Come by and help us celebrate. We will be tapping a keg of our bourbon barrel aged Irish Goodbye that we saved from our opening as well as serving several new beers just for our anniversary. Los Gauchos will be serving up some tasty Argentinian food on site from noon to 7:00 or so, a bluegrass band starts at noon and Zion #5 Dub Squad will be playing the crucial dub starting at 7:00. It should be lots of fun and oh yeah, we’ll have cornhole set up outside too!
BEERAGRAM
Business
New full-service commercial kitchen, fast casual food hall opens Wednesday
The new facility consists of 16 kitchen suites, each operating unique dining concepts. For the initial launch, ChefSuite has announced three restaurant concepts available for pick-up or delivery through their website, order.chefsuite.com, or through DoorDash, UberEats, GrubHub, and other delivery apps.
ChefSuite, a full-service commercial cooking facility and fast-casual food hall, will open its flagship location in midtown at 4711 W. Broad Street this Wednesday. The brainchild of co-founders Jay Modi and Jarnail Tucker, and Chairman Andrew Kadish, ChefSuite provides ghost kitchens for both new restaurateurs and seasoned chefs, allowing them to open or expand their restaurant business at a fraction of the cost of a traditional brick-and-mortar restaurant.
“ChefSuite’s mission is to provide a seamless experience for restaurateurs to focus on their dream,” Kadish said in a news release. “ChefSuite features a fool-proof system that supports our chef tenants with every opportunity to succeed.”
The new facility consists of 16 kitchen suites, each operating unique dining concepts. For the initial launch, ChefSuite has announced three restaurant concepts available for pick-up or delivery through their website, order.chefsuite.com, or through DoorDash, UberEats, GrubHub, and other delivery apps.
Restaurants at launch include On A Roll Italian Subs; Latin Quarter Kitchen, specializing in smashed plantain sandwiches; and A Pinch of Sugar, offering comfort food. Additional restaurant concepts will be added to ChefSuite’s offerings in the coming months, owners say.
For chef tenants, each suite is equipped with a CaptiveAire exhaust hood, commercial use sinks, gas/fire safety systems, grease traps, hot/cold water lines, industrial water heater, shelving, tablet, and order printer. ChefSuite also provides cold storage, a cooking oil removal system, third party app onboarding, consulting services, financial reporting, and substantial vendor discounts. ChefSuite offers tenants flexible lease terms with options to include cooking equipment.
Arts & Entertainment
Husband-and-wife duo bringing new restaurant concept to former Mill on MacArthur space
The deal closed Monday for an undisclosed amount. Sperity Real Estate Ventures’ Nathan Hughes worked the deal.
From Richmond BizSense:
Barely a month after its closure, The Mill on MacArthur restaurant space in the Bellevue neighborhood is set to be reborn.
Husband-and-wife duo Rawleigh and Jaya Easley purchased The Mill’s lease at 4023 MacArthur Ave. and its equipment and are planning to open a new restaurant in its place called Neighbor.
The deal closed Monday for an undisclosed amount. Sperity Real Estate Ventures’ Nathan Hughes worked the deal.
Food & Drink
Blue Cow Ice Cream Co. to open Short Pump location March 24th with free scoop event
With stores in Roanoke, Virginia Beach, and Fredericksburg, Richmond will become the first and only market to have two Blue Cow scoop shops.
On Friday, March 24, Roanoke-based Blue Cow Ice Cream Co. is opening its second Richmond location at Greengate Shopping Center in Short Pump, marking its fifth location in the state. With stores in Roanoke, Virginia Beach, and Fredericksburg, Richmond will become the first and only market to have two Blue Cow scoop shops.
Blue Cow offers a fresh take on familiar classics and a creative approach inspired by the craft food scene. All flavors are made by hand using simple, quality ingredients.
“When my wife and I started the business in 2017, we saw an opportunity to elevate the classic ice cream shop with local, fresh ingredients,” said Jason Kiser, co-owner and founder of Blue Cow Ice Cream Co. “With each new opening, we’re making a commitment to serve up unique flavor combinations in a fun, community-oriented shop.”
Just in time for spring, the Greengate grand opening is set for March 24. To celebrate, Blue Cow will offer a free single scoop and unlimited flavor samples to everyone from 6 p.m. until close at 10 p.m. The first 50 people in the door will get an ice cream pint koozie.
The first Richmond location opened in the Village Shopping Center in August 2022.
“The reception in Richmond so far has been a warm welcome, and we’re excited to expand our footprint in the area to continue providing quality ice cream that everyone can feel good about,” Kiser added.
Popular menu items include classics like Birthday Cake and Cookies & Cream to chocolate favorites Blue Cow Patty and Chocolate Brownie. Goat Cheese with Blueberry Swirl and Sea Salt Brickle are other original menu items with a cult-like following. Partnering with local coffee roasters in each market, Blue Cow also offers Ironclad Coffee with Bittersweet Chocolate Chips in each Richmond store. In addition to classic flavors, dozens of seasonally available flavors rotate on the menu. Non-dairy and gluten-free scoops are available daily.
The new space at 12171-C West Broad Street is just over 1400 square feet, next to The Cocky Rooster and Mellow Mushroom. Blue Cow locations are open daily, with scoop shops open from 12-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 12-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, hours are extended to 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily.
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