Weekly Food News: The Boathouse launches a chef’s table, a Mexican food cart puts down roots, glass blowing and cocktails, and 20 years of Ipanema

All the news that’s fit to eat

Boathouse at City Point puts diners in the kitchen – The Boathouse’s newest restaurant in Hopewell is offering diners a behind-the-scenes look at where their food comes from. The Boathouse at City Point has launched a new chef’s table with six seats in the seafood restaurant’s kitchen. The new experience begins at $60 and goes up depending on the number of courses you’d like to take part in. A wine pairing is also available. Style Weekly reports.

Mexican concept taking over former Kenn-Tico space – An area food cart is putting down roots in the former Kenn-Tico Cuban restaurant space that closed several years ago. Richmond BizSense reports that Raquel Gomez has opened Ay Caramba at the building at 204 E. Grace Street in the Arts District. You can expect tacos, burritos, quesadillas, salads, and nachos, plus more. Read on here.

Carytown concept melds eating, drinking, and glass art – What do food, drink, and glass art have in common? They’re all a part of a new space in Carytown called The Melt, and no, you don’t get to get tanked on delicious cocktails and then partake in glass blowing, if that’s what you were hoping for. However, you can enjoy some, along with a selection of tacos and sandwiches, while watching artists partake in their craft at the new restaurant at 3027 W. Cary Street. Style’s Laura Ingles has more here.

Ipanema celebrates 20 years on W. Grace Street – Perhaps few restaurants have been geographically positioned to see more change around their digs in two decades than Ipanema Cafe, which owner Kendra Feather opened in 1998 on W. Grace Street on VCU’s Monroe Park Campus. That portion of Grace is virtually unrecognizable since I attended school there ten years ago. The basement vegetarian bar, which has stood its ground all these years despite new highrises and the expansion of campus, with an anniversary party on September 15th. We’ve got all the details here.

This week’s restaurant reviews

• Salt & Forge (Richmond Times-Dispatch)