The House of Marinara

This piece has been submitted home-chef extraordinaire and Marinara-proclaimed foodie- Michelle C.
**********************************************
So by now, you’ve likely heard there’s a new restaurant in Carytown. And if you haven’t stopped by yet, you need to know what you are missing! Basilis’ is located at 3107 W. Cary Street, which used to be home to Carytown Seafood. With all the elements needed to make this place Greek Diner-Chic, it’s easy to see that Basilis has put a tremendous amount of effort into renovating this space over the past 14 months.

Now on to the menu… Read more »

People have been clamoring for this; so I did it. I have created my top 20 list…. sort of. I have listed all 20 establishments withing 3 categories: 1)The Best in RVA, 2)Other Top Dining Spots, 3)The Best Value Restaurants. I have not listed them 1- 20, so don’t try figuring that out. Other than singling out the top 3, all the others fit into the remaining 17 slots.

There are some notable omissions from this list- Coast, Bouchon, Lemaire. Honestly, I haven’t had the chance to dine at some of those places. I will eventually be moving the list to the sidebar, where I will keep it officially updated.

The Best in RVA These Top 3 restaurants I love. To me they are the BEST OF THE BEST. They are the places I want to go out for special occasions. They are the places where money is no object. I wanna go and experience heaven on a plate. Read more »

*This is number #6 on my trek though Richmond Goodlife’s Top #50 Restaurants in Richmond

It is difficult to argue against Comfort. It’s a good concept. The prices are reasonable. The food seems to be good.
I will always have a certain respect for Comfort. They were pioneers in bringing the Richmond dining scene back to Broad Street. They brought it back and they did it with style.

For those of you who are new to Comfort, the restaurant plays on the traditional Meat and Three concept. You pick your meat and 3 sides to go along with it. While traditional Meat and Three places are basic comfort foods, Comfort takes those same basic meals and tries to kick it up a notch. Read more »

I’ll admit it. I am a Biggest Loser geek. I used to watch the show because I thought some of the drama was hilarious. I still think it is hilarious. What I have grown to appreciate, is that for 2 hours a week, I get spoon-fed information and stories about living a healthy life. As a huge fan I love talking about it at every opportunity. So when I heard that Biggest Loser Bob Harper was coming to Richmond, I had to go.

Here was the problem; it was an event for employees of the Commonwealth of Virginia. So I contacted the agency sponsoring the event and asked if I could cover the event for my blog. They were gracious and granted my request.

The event was held this morning at the Richmond Convention Center. I know there were 1,500 people signed up to attend. I am not sure what the actual attendance was but there a lot of people there. Read more »

Thursday night I had the pleasure of grabbing some good beef at Shula’s Steakhouse in the new Hilton Richmond Hotel.

I’ve been asked several times- “What do you think?”

My only response- “It was fine”

For the money that was spent on that meal, I feel like I should have been more excited. But in reality Shula’s is just another chain restaurant that invaded the Richmond area that happens to serve Prime Steak. Read more »

This is number #4 on my trek though Richmond Goodlife’s Top #50 Restaurants in Richmond

I dig Grandpa Eddies BBQ. Mind you, I won’t put it on my top 25 list nor advertise it as the best bbq, but given it’s location, it’s a great option. Located in the chain infested waters of the Short Pump area, the place survives and puts out a great product and perhaps a great value.

Let me first start by saying, the old location was so much better. The newer location makes more sense. It just has no atmosphere. It’s too clean and polished on the outside and bleh on the inside. Read more »

I am crossing a restaurant off my list of places I visit- Bailey’s Smokehouse & Tavern.

The term “smokehouse” is quite appropriate. Somehow they have managed to make the place a smoking facility by blocking of 6 tables as non-smoking and making the other 50 table tops smoking.

The food is mediocre at best, but no one really goes there for the food. They go there to watch sports and drink a crapload of alcohol. I believe in the right to smoke, and the Libertarian me has some issues with the smoking ban. That doesn’t keep me from enjoying the results of the ban and setting certain expectations. So when those expectations aren’t met, expect me to be angry.

Anyway, the place was slammed. I am convinced that every smoker in Richmond found there way out there. And such, I will make sure not to return.

*It also doesn’t help that there was open drug dealing in the rest room and angry customers wielding axes.

Croakers was one of those place I knew I wanted to visit and yet I never made it out there (out there- meaning Jackson-Wardish area). While being in the middle of the city, it really isn’t convenient.

I had heard rumors of their seafood chili being amazing; alas, they didn’t have any. So it was going to be one of their fish boats. I figured I would delve into the Buffalo Style Fish Boat, and man did I hit a home run. It was 2 or 3 huge fillets of “Lake Trout” breaded and fried perfectly and drenched in hot sauce. The “Lake Trout” was light and flakey. The breading provided nice texture and crunch without overwhelming flavor and the sauce blended well into it. Read more »

I haven’t been watching High Fidelity, but suddenly I am in the mood to rank things. So tonight, I am ranking my top 5 pizza places in Richmond.

1) Mamma Zu- They don’t advertise it. It takes forever to cook. It’s light, spicy and perfect.
2) Tarrantino’s- I am a huge fan of the char on the crust and the peppery sauce.
3) Mary Angela’s- This has been the standard. I adore the 18 inch pie. It’s perfect 30 minutes out of the oven.
4) Arianna’s- This is my neighborhood shop. The eggplant parm pie is ridiculous.
5) Cappriccio’s- Frank makes traveling to the West End worthwhile.

****8 1/2 has essentially the same pie as Mamma Zu except that it only comes in the small size. That doesn’t fly for me. I like large slices that I can cup.

Feel free to argue with me or supply me with your Top 5.

It is no secret that I like love Brazilian Churrascarias. So when I read about Dora’s Brazilian Grill, I knew I needed to visit.

Let me start by saying this is a brand new restaurant. I believe it has only been open a little over a week. That being said, the place was clean, the staff was friendly, and the service was professional.

This place is slightly different than Texas de Brazil and Ipanema Grill. Yes, they have the traditional rodizio (all you can eat meat-fest), but they also have other entrees in case someone in your party is not a true carnivore. Read more »