Do you ever find yourself scouring Richmond with the Seinfeldism SERENITY NOW SERENITY NOW raging through your head? That predicament has repeatedly lead me to Reali-Tea at Lombardy and Main, and the destination did the trick every time. Usually, it’s mid-day, I’m still caffeinated and XYandZ sources of tension are weighing on my mind. It’s tea time, or so I’ve learned, and I’m glad it’s becoming part of my reality.
That's one cute tea cookie.
Reali-Tea stocks about 60 of their own blends of tea, about 1/3 of which are herbal. The flavors are as exotic as you can imagine. While writing this I’m drinking coconut lime verbena in the cup pictured here. It was a tough choice between that and “monkey picked,” but that one has caffeine, and I don’t condone animal enslavement (just kidding! Monkey picked means that the tea is rare, but some brands claim actual monkeys do pick the tea leaves). (more…)
This winter, I’ve immersed myself in wine bargains. I’m rebounding, actually, from a bad break-up with craft beer. Not that the beer wasn’t satisfying. I think I was actually gettin’ too much satisfaction. Now, the subtlety and moderation that I associate with wine is serving as my remedy tonic. And, being a value-focused consumer, I really enjoy the pursuit of a good QPR (quality price ratio) that takes you through different regions, grape varietals, and producers.
Spanish reds have always been my fall-back plan for bargain bottles, but recently, they’ve been replaced in my repertoire by even cheaper Chilean Carménère and delicious blends like Oveja Negra. The juice so often over-delivers for the price, that I almost feel guilty. Almost. Instead, I want more! And better! And cheaper! That’s what lead me to Portugal.
Port Wine on the Decline
If you’ve never tried Port wine, I want to thank you. The port wine business has been drying up for decades, forcing the vineyards to branch out. Now, the very skilled Portuguese winemakers are trying to get a foothold in the (normal?) wine world by selling their juice at great prices, sometimes $6-8 per bottle. I’m still doing my homework on Portuguese wine, but that’s where you come in. We may have to pester our local wine shops, and make suggestions to our favorite restaurant sommeliers. How else are we supposed to do our Portuguese wine homework if they’re not stocked with the stuff?
In the meantime, we have Genevelyn Steele, a local Portuguese wine advocate (among other things). She’ll be pouring at a Tuesday tasting at The Empress on , January 24th. Four wines and four very exciting sounding food pairings (with vegetarian options) for $20 (menu and details posted at the bottom). Should be good and you should go. I expect, Genevelyn will jump on here to correct my inaccuracies, hopefully with a guest blog entry sometime before the tasting.
So, that’s one way to get our feet wet in Portuguese wine. Another is Wine and Beer Westpark on Broad near Gaskins. Matty Lake is closing his beautiful shop in February. Last I checked, they had a bunch of the highly rated Cabriz (probably really cheap, when he starts liquidating his inventory).
Get Beyond the Label: No Yellow Tortuga for You
Back to the homework. Most of the grapes are probably as unfamiliar to you as they are to me. A couple of them look like the word “tortuga” (touriga nacional and touriga franca) and another actually is tempranillo, only in Portuguese (tinta roriz). The prominent regions named Dao and Douro hint at their wine’s flavor. George Taber’s new book, A Toast to Bargain Wine, describes Portuguese reds as “big and masculine.” With labels that look about as pretty as you’d expect a big masculine wine maker to create, you pretty much have to go on faith and stop associating low price with low quality. Hence, Portuguese wines are still obscure (not counting the light and fun vinho verde).
My hope is that I’ll get to taste more of these strange grapes and challenge my palate and not my wallet. According to Gary Vaynerchuk, that’s a great role for Portuguese wine in your beverage rotation. Here, he profiles a $6, an $8, and a $15 bottle of Portuguese wine (including that Cabriz I mentioned), unfortunately outdoors in the blazing heat. But, it’s still pretty informative, and of course, bombastic. Note that he was going ape-shit for Portuguese wine in 2009 and probably for years beforehand. And, those prices have probably gone up, at least on the cheaper ones, as they’ve gained acclaim.
But, let’s not let Gary have the last word. Make your recommendations here and tune back in for another post on this topic in a little while.
Join us for another Tuesday tasting! This time we’re getting into Portuguese wine. This will be a great crash course into a region producing spectacular (but under appreciated) wines.
Course 2: Grand ‘Arte Alvanrinho Lisboa
Bacalhau com todos (Salt Cod with “everything”)
Olive oil poached salt cod with carrots, potatoes, broccoli rabe, and garlic.
(Vegetarian option: torched kale and pickled chard stem terrine with carrots, potatoes, broccoli rabe, and garlic.)
Course 3: Quinta Cachao Douro Reserva
Braised beef tongue, paella, and herb quick bread
(Vegetarian option: Oyster mushrooms w/ saffron flash fried in thyme oil over vegetarian paella and herb quick bread)
Course 4 – Fita Azul Passion
Dessert – Peach and goat cheese tartlet with lemon aspic and fresh thyme
Some items will be available as entrees after the event and ask about special to-go pricing on the featured wines!
$20 per person
Reservations strongly suggested
804-592-4000
Please let the reservation taker know if you’re selecting the vegetarian option.
What is the worst experience you’ve had in a restaurant, and how did they make amends? Also, if they didn’t do enough, what did you want them to do? These questions come to mind sometimes while watching my Twitter timeline. Every so often, someone fumes publicly about the worst ___ ever and how they’re never going back (read: you should never go there either). I’m not wagging my finger at them, cuz I’d have to stand in front of a mirror when I did. But, it begs the question: Are we trying to get a message to the business, or to our larger community, or both? And what could have been done to prevent the hullabaloo?
One time, I went out for dinner with Karen at one of Richmond’s most respected restaurants. Let’s call it “I’ll Race Ya!” It was a wine-dinner prix fixe, well above the amount we usually spend when we go out. For us, it was a special occasion/celebration type thing. The place was packed. Servers and wine pourers were weaving in and out of crowded dinning room. Our three courses seemed to fly by, but not nearly as fast as we finished our tiny pours of the trio of wines that were paired with our meal. Underwhelming doesn’t quite describe the shortcomings. We tried to talk to someone about the wine, or about a major problem we had with one of our entrees, but our concerns fell on deaf ears, and we never saw the same staff person twice to actually get any follow-up to happen.
The walk home was sullen and depressed, instead of celebratory. We both wished we could have that time and money back. And then, one of us kinda cried a little, which made the other REALLY FUCKING MAD at I’ll Race Ya, I tell ya. I generally accept that I’m gonna get hoodwinked half the time I leave the house, but make my wife cry and I’m preparing for battle like Rambo, strapping on the artillery, streaking my face with grease paint, and tying a red kerchief around my head.
When I got home, I wrote an email and fired it off to the owners about the impersonal system they put in place that in turn produced our unhappy meal. Talking to my mother on the phone in the subsequent days, she told me that some of her favorite businesses are ones where she’s had to complain. And when the problem was resolved, she returned, becoming an even more loyal customer.
A couple days went by without hearing back from the restaurant owners. Great, aloof types. I found their fax number and sent the letter that way. Not long after, I got a response via email (they’d gone on vacation and just returned). My receipt was pulled and our meal was comped. They hoped we’d return, and we did. Many times, actually. Not for the wine dinners, but whatever. The place is on top because they please their customers, usually without angry emails and faxes involved, but even then, there’s a way.
That’s a Motley Crüe reference. Appropriate, since the guest blogger is a metal-head. Anywho, apparently my readers are cheap, likely taking after me. So Jen is passing the hat on here in the hopes of Kickstarting her Rooster Cart. Pitch in or post this where deep pockets are known to congregate.
Hi friends and supporters! Here’s an overdue update from Rooster land:
First off we want to thank you all so much for the pledges you’ve made towards our goal. You have no idea how inspiring it is to check each day and see that friends, peers and strangers who share our dream have come out of the woodwork to invest in the future of this project.
Secondly we had a very successful test run of the cart on new years eve and are happy to report that, as we suspected, vegans and omnivores alike really dug the food! Some folks were skeptical of tofu or pickled radishes at first, or unsure why we were offering an all- vegetable menu, but once we started handing out samples the line really started to form! A few tofu converts came back 2 or 3 times throughout the night and it really warmed our hearts to see their genuine surprise at how enjoyable simple vegetables can be.
It proved to us that fresh and healthy is not a niche market, rather a sorely unrepresented option on the map of so many peoples daily lives. And that with minimal resources we can change those maps to include whole foods just by making them visible and accessible. BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP TO MAKE THIS OPTION A REALITY! Our kickstarter campaign is less than ten days from its end date and we have not yet reached the halfway mark of our goal. Kickstarter is ALL OR NOTHING FUNDING which means that none of your pledges will go through unless we reach the goal by noon on the 18th.
We have reached out to many of the veg- friendly groups, publications and online sites, as well as politicians and celebrities of the vegan/ local foods persuasion but truly believe that the momentum for this thing has to come from the community. So if you have the time PLEASE REACH OUT TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW! Let them know you want to see this project come to life. There are over SEVEN MILLION vegetarians nationally and even more who support local foods and if we can get just 30 of them to pledge $100 this food cart will be in business!
We have until the end of the month as well to find a commercial kitchen as the one we have been borrowing becomes unavailable. Funding of this campaign will make that possible. As far as the rest of the items on our list, we have sourced and priced everything we need and set as many of our ducks in a row as possible so that if this campaign is successful we will be able to hit the streets and start serving immediately. Well that was more than we planned to write, but hey- we’re passionate!
Sorry if it was a ramble. We hope you will know that the urgency of this update comes from a great deal of hope and determination to offer great food to Richmond. We sincerely appreciate everyone who has pledged on our behalf and even if we dont reach our goal, your vote of confidence means the world to us. Now lets get this thing funded!!!! We have less than 10 days! As an extra incentive I will now get a tattoo of anyone who donates $200 or more. What more fun than to know you will forever be in our hearts (and on our arms) as someone who helped vegan street food dreams come true!!!
Love and Roosters, Jen
And, one of the latest videos from Jen’s brother, Luke:
When we last left Jen Mindell, she was facing the tough decision to close Cafe Gutenberg, and we were treated to her fresh perspective on running a restaurant in Shockoe Bottom. It was full of lessons for reactionaries in the media and the food world alike.
New Years Eve pop up in Carytown
Since moving on from that restaurant, Jen’s been hearing from fans of her tofu banh mi and spicy mock-duck “rooster” sandwich. Although brunch was always Gutenberg’s biggest shift of the week, it’s those vegan creations that seem to inspire folks to follow her around like puppy dogs. So, now Jen’s bringing those vegan treats back in mobile form, and it’s called the Rooster Cart. But, to start this new biz, she needs some seed money for expensive equipment and various down payments. That’s where you come in.
There’s a list of things that Jen needs to get her cart rolling, and you’ll find those on the Rooster Cart Kickstarter page (along with a bunch of exciting menu items). But there are also intangible challenges and barriers in Jen’s path. Your donation will translate into moral support that can make all the difference when battling bureaucracies, working to balance business and community interests, and navigating a new terrain to find her niche.
In short, it’s hard out there for a cart. Just ask Nate or Patrick at BokaTruck, two of Jen’s closest allies (and previous employers). Sure, every business starts as an underdog (under-roos..ter?). But when your food and your concept has to make inroads from outside the mainstream, you need backers. Heavies. Cheerleaders. And generous investors. Each will get their name printed on the cart, by the way (or tattood on Jen or her brother Luke, depending on how much you donate).
ps: If you can’t give money, maybe you know people who can. Share the kickstarter on your blog, Facebook page, tweet it, etc.
UPDATE: I’ve been trying to figure out how much I’m going to give to the Kickstarter. Birthday banh mis would make sense. A recipe card, almost essential for anyone excited about home cookin and Richmond’s indy food scene. But, what’s this at the $100 level? Jen’s brother Luke featuring me (or you) in one of his Rooster Cart promoting short films that he’s posting on their Facebook page? Even though I’m camera shy, I know what a thrill this would be. Luke is obsessed with the art of motion pictures, be they big screen, TV, or web-based. Talk to him about The Wire, Miranda July, Dead Wood, or the ridiculousness that Dexter has become. Hopefully, Luke wi’ll wind up with a movie review and analysis type show and be the next Roger Ebert (one of my all-time idols) or Spike Jonze (everybody else’s), but in the meantime, you really should seize this opportunity to be in one of his films, support his effort to throw in on this cart thing with his sister, and take part in a somewhat random act of generosity. Here’s a taste:
I’ve written about him before, but I only know him as Abraham. First at Aladdin’s (from the late 90s to the late aughts). Then, until just recently, at Mediterranean Market on Meadow with partner Mustafa. Now, he’s flying solo in Carytown. Actually, in addition to his years of Middle Eastern food experience, Abraham’s got his three teenage sons, if he can wrangle them into helping out. I’m hoping Carytown will welcome this new restaurant into the fold, cuz it’s been a long time in the making. After waiting on the city for over two months for permits, it’s go time for Döner Kebab at 3459 Cary St.
The alluring conical meat stack (made of wood).
One constant at all of Abraham’s establishments is his humble pride in his food. The menu items are familiar and enticing, considering the lack of Middle Eastern cuisine in Carytown. But it’s his attention to detail that will bring you back. The sumac in the spinach pies. The very slight rosewater in the honeyed kanafeh. And then there’s the preserved lemon that pops up in every third or fourth bite of falafel.* This spice mix, along with the affordable prices, is a great addition to Carytown’s diversity.
Abraham and his eldist son (who prefers Facebook to Twitter, btw)
Although the western-most block of Carytown (east of the dueling grocery stores) isn’t really the hub of activity that you see at the eastern end, it’s an ideal location for quick takeout. Usually, there’s street parking, but if on foot, you could probably walk with hot shawarma in hand all the way to the Byrd, finishing your mobile dinner just in time for the movie.
For those keeping score at home, Carytown’s pita sandwich crown recently moved from the Eatery to Basili’s without much argument. That’s right, the chicken pita at The Eatery still claims many grease addicts, though they tend to keep it on the DL. I predict Abraham’s gyros and shawarma will make a case for a new pocket sandwich king, and his falafel will put him over the top. That is, if you all get educated on these candidates and submit your votes (sauce-drenched napkins are the official ballots).
Although there
Cheese pies, spinach and sumac (with or without feta), meat or chicken pies… At $2 a pop, they’re hard to pass up. The spinach is my favorite for it’s tartness. Nonetheless, the thing that puts Döner Kebab on the map for me is the falafel. It’s not an afterthought menu item for rabbit-food eaters. Instead, it’s thoughtfully constructed with subtlety and surprises. The salty pickled cucumber together with red onion adding sweet tang. And then there’s the odd bit that tastes distinctly of preserved lemon.* You’ve got to eat it hot to really appreciate the mildly spiced chickpea patties, though whole coriander and cumin seeds will pop in your mouth at any temperature. (within a few days of posting this, Abraham started baking the pita for his falafel and it’s made a big difference)
There’s no conclusion to this story. Not yet. We’re all still wading into Abraham’s repertoire. I’d ask that some of you help me with the homework. What the heck is “Chicken Doner?” Who will be the first one to reference an airplane crash in the Andes mountains when talking of this place? Wait. Does that say strombolis on the menu? Can’t wait to watch this unfold. Hope you enjoy it.
Noteables:
Cash only
Open to 3am on Friday and Saturday, 11pm on weeknights.
No baba ghannouj yet (tell Abraham you want smokey eggplant puree NOW)
*Abraham corrected me. It’s not preserved lemons. He uses little pieces of whole fresh lemon, rind and all.
**Apparently, I need to read my history. The Donner Party were wagon-training pioneers headed for California. Essentially, a particularly hard winter caused them to break some basic tenets of strict veganism.
UPDATE 1/7/12:
On another, more recent visit, Abraham asked me to post some pictures of the gyro meat. This monster is much less intimidating in person, especially when there’s a guy with a knife ready to cut it down to size.
Apparently, he cooks it half-way as it sits in a big stack, rotating on a spit in front of the heating element. And then it’s carved into strips.
The meat then passes through an oven before going into a pita sandwich. Did I mention that Abraham bakes his pitas fresh ever day?
This post is not going to help me or anyone adhere to sober January, but I had to share these pictures somewhere besides Twitter. While crouching before the floor-level shelves of scratch’n'dent wine at Fresh to Frozen Salvage Grocery on Midlo, I nearly fell over at the sight of four bottles of 2009 Volver Single Vineyard Tempranillo. Sure, I tend to like Spanish reds, but I’d just heard of this bottle the night before on a blog that called it the best wine bargain of the year. Weird that it would immediately present itself in such a random place and for only $5.25. The labels were stained, so I hoped the only issues were cosmetic, and I bought all four bottles.
Feeling a little magic in the air, I went around the store taking pictures of the beer bargains. In recent months, I’d bought a few $10 cases of Flying Dog variety packs that taste like they were almost good as new. Another case of NC’s Cottonwood winter ale was a value at 8% alcohol, lots of hops, but a little off from some kind of neglect (Paul Karns called it oxidized and didn’t finish the bit I poured for him). It’s not bad if you’re already buzzed, tho (yeah, I’m not proud). So, this Organic IPA from the Napa valley might be a hit or a miss. I’d never seen it before. Beer Advocate readers gave it 78 out of 100. I didn’t bring it home, but maybe you’ll want to.
I got excited when I saw the words Belgian and beer together, but a little deflated when I saw the beers that were included in this holiday box. Whatever with my snobbery. All three of these would hit the spot for any epicure at 5 o’clock on a weeknight. Lefe is a good yeasty golden ale. Hoegaarden is an icon of blonde beer smoothness. And Stella Artois is just what the doctor ordered, if the other beer options are Budweiser’s American products (yes. Bud bought Stella a while back). Anywho, for $18, that’s three $6 sixers. If they were normally $10 each, then you saved $12. Somehow, that wasn’t enticing enough for me, but you might see it differently.
Whatever a Paulaner Wiesn Bier tastes like, that mug is humongous. When you find out your friend is gonna have a keg at their next party, this is the perfect thing to bring if you don’t wanna remember any of it. Upon further reading, I see that beer is a light and fruity Oktoberfest that’s rated 87 by Beer Advocate members. Damn. Shoulda bought it. But, then again. I don’t think I want to spend a year or two recovering from the damage that I’d do to myself with that mug in the cupboard.
This is probably the best deal of the lot, if it’s not skunked. Perfect for winter, the founders of the Beer Advocate site basically said it’s a flawless dark beer. Well, a salvage store might be able to bring out some flaws, but for that price, it’s gotta be tempting to find out. Anybody wanna split a case with me? Notice that I glossed over the Rolling Rocks. They also had some generic looking cases of Mexican beer. No gracias.
