Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The First Week of April in Richmond

This year April has been a perfect month for residing in Richmond. Hubby and I have done quite a bit and eaten even more. I wanted to share some of our local adventures with you for the first week in April.

Right at the beginning of the month we attended the Homestyle Brunch at Six Burner hosted by Chef Philip Denny and The Marinara. I got to take photos! Check them out here. We had three flavors of sous vide fried chicken (Thai iced tea, tandoori spiced, and Korean spiced) along with greens and waffles and kimchi. All yummy.

The Virginia Historical Society invited all of Richmond to the inaugural Food Truck Court. Lots of excitement was generated and lots of people and lines. We ended up getting dessert first at Mister Softee (chocolate milkshake).

Mister Softee Food Truck
Mister Softee

We then wandered over to Caliente to enjoy burgers (half price on Tuesday nights).

With the burgers we enjoyed a Petite Syrah from Foppiano. We had heard earlier that day that old man Foppiano had recently passed away at the ripe old age of 101. We toasted the venerable vintner.

Avocado and Peppers Burger
Santa Fe Burger with Roasted Peppers and Avocado
Lot 96 Petite Sirah
Lot 96 Petite Sirah from Foppiano. 

On the the first Friday in April we went to the VMFA to view the silent ode to Communism - Battleship Potemkin. What really made this special was the band Goldrush. The super talented musicians performed live while the movie ran. So cool.

Battleship Potemkin

And afterwards we headed over to Carytown for a lovely dinner at Amour Wine Bistro. After taking a little bit of time figuring out the menu options and eventually getting a wine list to peruse (everyone wanted to suggest wines by the glass and I wanted to know what they had by the bottle and the price range), we decided on the 3 Course Prix Fixe Menu and a bottle of 2008 Chateau Lyonnat Bordeaux.

Chateau Lyonnat
A Lovely Bordeaux

The amuse bouche was a grilled ramp on crostini. Such a nice ode to early Spring.

Ramp Crostini
The Season for Ramps

We proceeded to enjoy a garlic and leek soup and grilled beef tenderloin. Dessert was chocolate creme brulee with caramel and sea salt. What a delight!

Chocolate Creme Brulee
Incredible Dessert!

The  South of the James Winter Market is still going strong and Ault's Family Farm had a fresh chicken waiting for us. Yeah! Spring onions, greens, and asparagus are now available. Of course, the pooches are also out in full force.

Asparagus
Time for Spring
Spring Onions
Onion Variety
Oh Joy!
Oh Joy!
For Easter we had brunch at the Empress and enjoyed a pitcher of mimosas.

Mimosas
Mmmm...Mimosas
The pulled pork and eggs were outstanding. The biscuits with the eggs benedict were most excellent. But I think it was just a wee bit early for the kitchen. One of my eggs was missing and the seasoned potatoes were almost not done. Breakfast potatoes need to be cooked until extremely tender. Maybe if we had wound up there after Easter on Parade we would have hit the kitchen in its stride?

Eggs Benedict
One-eyed Benedict
  In any case make sure to see the mural on the side of the building by Lelo. Bright and colorful.

Lelo Mural
Isn't this cool?
Easter on Parade is always fun. Bunnies, eggs, a yarn bomb, bonnets, dogs. And this year the Art 180 project. I'm glad that residents found front yard homes for these young artists' works after Easter.

Easter Egg

Bunny Ears

Knitted Rabbit

Easter Bonnet

White Rabbit

Peeps Bonnet

Art 180 What Do You Stand For 3


Art, entertainment, and FOOD! Go out and enjoy Richmond in April!

1 comment:

Kristal Dawn Evens said...

Lovely post! Richmond certainly IS a wonderful place - especially this time of year.