Olio making some changes and becoming the Branch & Vine

Full Press Release on the changes to Olio:

The restaurant space at 2001 ½ West Main Street in the Fan has been an institution for over 15 years. Chapter 1 was European Market. Chapter 2 was Olio. Owners Matt Fraker and Jason Ferrell are writing a new chapter in the story when Olio closes on December 28th and opens as Branch & Vine on January 3rd . Renovation progress (and, no doubt, shenanigans) will be shared on social media @BranchVineRVA.

“We’re proud to be not only business owners in the Fan, but also residents. The neighborhood has supported this business for almost two decades, so our job is to make sure the restaurant keeps up with the changing preferences of the community,” said Jason.

Like Olio, Branch & Vine will remain a fast-casual concept focused on sandwiches, salads and an assortment of seasonally appropriate sides and soups made in-house, daily. There are numerous gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options available. Flatbread pizzas are a new addition to the menu, and have already been met with praise from lucky taste testers.

“Our loyal customers will absolutely be able to find options that are familiar,” Matt noted. “My goal with the new menu was to simplify and freshen things up. The menu largely hadn’t been touched in 8 years and included a lot of ingredients customers are no longer interested in. Since we took over, we introduced weekly specials to figure out what customers really want to see on the next menu.”

The menu isn’t the only thing that’s changing. The interior is getting a serious facelift. “The concept inside will be a mash up of rustic and modern,” Jason commented. “We donated the old furniture and are bringing in new tables, chairs and barstools. We’re installing TV’s and creating a more casual section for people to hang out, study or hold meetings.” Jason said he ultimately wants Branch & Vine to be the place you swing by for lunch, come to hang out on a random weekday night, or for a Sunday Funday. The space is already popular to rent for rehearsal dinners and birthday parties, and they’re hoping to attract even more of that business with the new look inside.

The new brand, Branch & Vine, was created to connect two concepts Matt is passionate about – food origin and wine. “Whenever I’m creating a new recipe, it’s incredibly important to me that it stay true to where it came from, so I spend a fair amount of time researching those types of things. I thought ‘roots’ was a good way to describe that, but there are a lot of restaurants out there with ‘roots’ in the name. That ultimately led us to ‘branch.’ Matt’s also a self-proclaimed nerd about wine and that’s where ‘vine’ came from. He’s been building the wine program with the hopes of becoming Fan residents’ go to wine shop. Soon, he’ll be taking an exam to become a Certified Specialist of Wine. “People say it’s similar to the second level of the Sommelier program, and I’ve really enjoyed everything I’ve learned and using that to help my customers find wines that fit their needs,” Matt said.

Like Olio, the new Branch & Vine will offer delivery, as well as lunch catering. “We’ve already developed great relationships with clients like VCU, Martin Agency, Capital One and Eli Lilly, so we hope to keep that up,” said AJ Johnson, the restaurant’s General Manager. Branch & Vine is at 2001 ½ W Main Street in the Fan, online at www.branchvine.com and social media as @BranchVineRVA