Business
Ardent Craft Ales launches food bank for restaurant workers affected by closures, reduced hours
“The restaurant industry has been decimated by the COVID-19 virus and the country’s need to close or restrict public gathering spaces. We want to do our part to help the thousands of restaurant workers in Richmond and the surrounding area who have been laid-off, furloughed or are suffering from reduced hours,” said Tom Sullivan, Ardent’s co-founder.
Ardent Craft Ales is teaming up with Sysco, The Holli Fund, and Digital Minerva to launch Ardent Helps, a food bank resource inspired by Harrisonburg-based Pale Fire Brewery to support restaurant workers during the COVID-19 crisis.
The food bank will start taking orders on Monday, March 30. All orders must be placed online at www.ardenthelpsrva.com. Orders will be packed and made available for pick up the next business day between 2-8 p.m. at Ardent Craft Ales’ taproom at 3200 West Leigh Street in Scott’s Addition. Orders may be placed seven days a week, with pick-up times scheduled during our operating hours of 2-8pm on Tuesday-Sunday.
“The restaurant industry has been decimated by the COVID-19 virus and the country’s need to close or restrict public gathering spaces. We want to do our part to help the thousands of restaurant workers in Richmond and the surrounding area who have been laid-off, furloughed or are suffering from reduced hours,” said Tom Sullivan, Ardent’s co-founder. “Pale Fire’s popup food bank concept connected with our brewery and community and we’re honored to be able to help the Richmond service industry.”
The Ardent Helps food bank will only be available to restaurant industry workers. However, it is not limited to Richmond residents, and all restaurant workers are welcome to place orders and pick up goods. Participants are asked to avoid stockpiling and take only what they immediately need. The program will last as long as it can safely continue to operate and donated items are available. Responsible sanitation and social distancing measures will be followed at all times.
A variety of perishable and non-perishable items donated by Sysco will be available. Ardent is also accepting both shelf-stable food donations to support this program and monetary donations to directly benefit affected restaurant workers via grants from The Holli Fund.
There is no cost to participate in Ardent Helps. Participants are asked to show their most recent pay stub to confirm eligibility upon pick up. Ardent’s taproom will remain open to the general public for to-go beer and merchandise purchases.
Learn more about the program at www.ardenthelpsrva.com.
Ardent Helps. Photo courtesy Ardent Craft Ales
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.
Business
Richmond Flying Squirrels hosting series of job fairs ahead of 2023 season
Positions are available in food & beverage, ticketing and operations for the team’s home games from April through September.
The Richmond Flying Squirrels are looking to hire part-time, game-day positions for the upcoming baseball season. The team has three upcoming job fairs for interested candidates to fill out applications and find out information about available positions.
Positions are available in food & beverage, ticketing and operations for the team’s home games from April through September. Information on the Flying Squirrels’ upcoming job fairs can be found here. The 2023 game schedule can be found here.
The job fairs will take place at The Diamond (3001 N Arthur Ashe Boulevard, Richmond, VA 23230) on the following dates:
- Wednesday, March 8, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- Saturday, March 25, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Thursday, March 30, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Available positions include:
FOOD & BEVERAGE
TICKETING
OPERATIONS
Questions regarding game-day positions with the Flying Squirrels can be directed to [email protected].
The Flying Squirrels open the 2023 on Friday, April 7 against the Reading Fightin Phils. Individual-game tickets, including tickets for Opening Night, are available now online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-FUNN (3866) or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.
Business
Feed More relocating food bank and other operations to new $40 million facility north of city
The local nonprofit confirmed to BizSense that it’s behind Project Nourish, the development plan recently filed with Henrico County for a wooded site at 8020 Villa Park Drive.
From Richmond BizSense:
A code-named industrial project in the works near St. Joseph’s Villa has turned out to be the planned new home for regional food bank Feed More, setting the stage for a move that would free up some prime real estate near Richmond’s Diamond District.
The local nonprofit confirmed to BizSense that it’s behind Project Nourish, the development plan recently filed with Henrico County for a wooded site at 8020 Villa Park Drive.
The project name is a reference to Feed More’s slogan of “nourishing communities and empowering lives.”
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