The House of Marinara

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 »

I was a vegetarian for 2 years, then I said “life is too short”. I realized I didn’t have a problem with meat, just the the way it was produced.

Those words were uttered from the person I commonly refer to as the “Sausage King of Richmond”. His name is Chris Mattera, and you can find him slinging a knife at Richmond’s own Belmont Butchery.

Artisanal gastronomy is something you think you might find in San Fransico, Seattle, or Brooklyn. We are extremely fortunate to have it here in Richmond with Chris. Chris was trained at Le Courdon Blue in Paris. He started to perfect his gastronomy training at an early age and honed his skills by working in a butcher shop, studying in Iowa and apprenticing in San Miniato, Italy. Whether it is curing salami, smoking bacon, forming rabbit terrine, grinding sausage, or breaking-down a side of beef, he can do it all and do it well.

Based on his unofficial title, it is safe to imagine that he makes some amazing sausages, whether they be fresh or dry cured. I remember first trying his Della Nonna (named for his grandmother) about 3 years ago and it changed my view of sausage. I also have a special place for the San Miniato (recipe from Italy), Brats (with their addictive seasoning), and the smoked beef hot dogs. What is fun about Chris, is that he will engage you about the sausages. He did a test batch of a buffalo chicken sausage, and we spent a good 45 minutes going back and forth about what would make it better. He is also willing to try new stuff. My current project is convincing him to try a Texas Rope Sausage.

What I think makes Chris unique is that he is on a mission.

I am personally invested into the whole local foods movement. [Food] is not just any commodity. its the only product that the consumer literally consumes into part of their bodies.

Chris spent some significant time this year helping a small eatery get off the ground in the East End of Richmond. He wants to see local, fresh, healthy food get into the hands of not only the wealthy but also the poor. In his mind, until the less fortunate are able to get better access to ethically raised food, factory farming will continue to flourish.

Chris is also letting his voice be heard. You can read his stuff on RVA News, the Edible Chesapeake, Richmond Magazine, and several newspapers.

In the end, Chris is just trying to make a difference whether its helping me enjoy the delights of cured meats or with the larger community and helping them understand the importance of responsible eating.

I have been to Can Can about 30 times over the past 2 years so it is a place that I have a bit a of familiarity. Most of these trips can be attributed to my friend Bookstore Piet persuading me to head on over to enjoy a late afternoon cocktail or two or three. Needless to say, I am comfortable with the place and, in fact, I really like it.

The trouble with Can Can is that grading it on value can be troublesome. I think in some ways, there is a whole lot of value to be found. Other times, the value is not as great. The difference is not due to inconsistency but instead the diversity of the menu. Read more »

I was looking through some of my photos and ran across this picture of the Super Roast Beef from Nick’s Famous Roast Beef in Beverly, MA. This particular sandwich has a mayo/horseradish sauce on top of thinly sliced rare roast beef on a buttery onion roll.  Unbelievable.

When in Boston, this is worth the 30 minute trip. Try to save room for 2.

When I do make it out to the office, I am heading out to the nowhere land between Chester and Hopewell. This place was a no-brainer for me to try since it was this or your typical chain (Chili’s, Uno’s, Friday’s, Fill in the Blank).

The place is a dive. It’s reminiscent of every sketchy, strip-mall Asian joint. That’s ok. That’s not the purpose of this experiment. It’s value.

And value is what Hibachi Ichiban delivers. While they have a diverse menu, you generally order one of 3 things: steak, chicken or shrimp. I chose steak being the carnivore that I am. For roughly $8, I received a 6X12 container stuffed with fried rice, some sort of noodles, and sauteed veggies. That concoction looked to have 8-10 oz of diced sirloin on top of that. Throw in a couple cups of that addictive, creamy sauce and there you have it folks, a good meal. Ed isn’t joking about this place. the taste is as good as the fancy ones without the showmanship and the price tag. This is takeout, so you don’t even need to tip, right RVAFoodie?

So in Julie and Julia, Julie decides to go though Julia Child’s “The Art of French Cooking” in a year. Great idea and great project, so I was thinking about what my big project could be. As I was hanging out with Ed from Richmond Good Life, it occurred to me that my Everest was right in front of me.

Ed, if you don’t know already, wants to provide readers with a one stop guide to dining in Richmond (among many other things). He wants visitors to Richmond to be able to find good dining without much effort. As such, he has put together his top 50 list.

I thought… WOW! There is a project. 50 restaurants in 50 weeks. To be fair, I have been to several of the restaurants already, but it will be a good chance to view them with a new eye. This time I will be looking at them in terms of value.

Wow…. Polyface Farm products at Ellwood Thompson (ET)! What a good move by ET!

I always wondered how ET would adapt when Whole Foods and other quasi-organic stores moved into the area. I thought that bringing in products from the place that helped define the responsible farming movement was a brilliant idea. Staunton is only 90 miles away so it can be considered local. We can thank Omnivore’s Dilemma in helping us understand the ethical practices that go on there. It’s a winner. We know it. We can feel good about it. It’s safe.

There is something nagging at me about this and I’ve only started to put my finger on it. It’s this idea in branding and our societies comfort in it. It’s the idea that Applebees can survive worldwide because Americans find comfort in them and will go there no matter what. It’s the idea that something says lowfat and therefor we should buy it because it is suddenly healthy. Our world lives and thrives on branding and marketing. I think I saw myself being suckered into spending $4+ for a dozen of really small but good eggs.

I don’t blame Polyface for this. I don’t think they begged for the attention. I don’t want to put down ET for carrying their products. I am just disappointed that I was so quick to purchase something because I was brand aware. Truth is that Central VA is full of farmers trying to do things the right way. They just don’t have the reputation thanks to a extremely popular book.

Am I alone here? Does this bother any of you?

I recently smoked a nice brisket and decided to put a little spin on it. I tried using Bourbon Peat as my smoking agent and main flavoring. I have talked about using peat before on this blog and the Bourbon Peat is just another product that my buddy Peter Baker sells.

The Bourbon Peat that is shown above is processed into a very fine strands. It almost reminds me of some smokeless tobacco. What Peter has done here has combined peat and the char from oak bourbon barrels for a new wonderful flavor. Read more »

It took a few weeks but I finally made it over to Balliceaux. I’ve been anticipating this opening for about 6 months and yet I somehow missed it. Oh well. It really doesn’t matter. Really, it’s one of my favorite chefs running the kitchen so I just needed to get over there and enjoy some amazing food.

BTW, don’t expect an unbiased review here. I’m a huge fan of Russell Cook and so I have a hard time being objective.

I was so desperate to eat there, that I took lil’marinara. I figured it would be a good test on how friendly and gracious their staff could be. I requested to sit in the back because it seemed a bit more low-key.

The Genius- Russell Cook

The staff was very engaging. Russell came by and I ordered “something low carb” and “something for kids.” I also ordered a bowl of their golden gazpacho, which was light, fresh and seasoned with a nice cayenne kick. The “something low carb” showed up and it was crispy pork belly on top of a cabbage salad and served with grilled veggies and au-jus. The “something for kids” was a heritage cheeseburger made with a Flour Garden roll, artisan cheese and local, grass-fed beef and fries.

Both dishes were great. Lil’ marinara tore up the fries and the burger, not before I was able to take a few bites. I dug into the pork belly, which Tony Bourdain refers to as the 5 layers of heaven. It was crispy and tasty on the outside. The inside was rich and tender. The au-jus was only really necessary for the inside pieces. The pieces with skin were perfect.

What I appreciated about the restaurant was that the prices were not outrageous. The pork was $16 and the burger was $10. With reasonable prices, it was amazing how well they were able to stay local, organic, and/or sustainable with the ingredients and wine.

I can’t wait to go back but I think I’ll leave the 2 year old at home and take the wife for a nice night out.