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Eating Dessert for Breakfast at Brewer’s Waffles

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The folks behind Brewer’s cafe are serving up something sweet in their hometown Richmond neighborhood.

The sweeter things in life belong together, and sometimes that means having your breakfast with your dessert. 

Brewer’s Waffles, the latest addition to Manchester, is serving up homemade waffles and milkshakes from the people who brought you Brewer’s Cafe. Ajay Brewer teamed up with a high school friend, James Harris, and chef Josh Reed to bring this black-owned business to life. A native to the neighborhood, Brewer and the team knew Manchester — or as they know it, Blackwell — was the perfect place to open the restaurant this summer. 

“We wanted to cater to the area where we’re from, and what we know,” Harris said. 

Within the community of Blackwell, and throughout Richmond, the team behind Brewer’s Waffles wants to uplift the black community in all that they do. They do this by connecting with the local community in many different ways. For example, attached to Brewer’s Waffles is The Well, an art gallery featuring pieces that highlight black artists in the Richmond area. Currently, the art along the walls was created by Justice Dwight. 

“Manchester was Blackwell when we grew up, so we wanted to bring back what was already instilled in the community and keep it as traditional spots,” Harris said. “So that’s why this is The Well.”

Photo by Brea Hill

“The name of the art gallery is The Well, and that’s the name of the neighborhood — Blackwell,” Brewer added. “The experience over here is just as important as over there. A lot of people aren’t aware that there’s something like this in their neighborhood, so getting the point across — that we stand out like a sore thumb, that we are creative, with the art gallery delivering both great art and waffles — that needs to be highlighted.” 

The genius behind the menu, Chef Reed, met Brewer four years ago. Brewer knew back then that if he ever created a business like this, the well-respected Reed, who had worked in the kitchen at Max’s On Broad and helped manage Lunch and Supper, had to be a part of it.  

“He really came up with an unbelievable menu for us,” Brewer said. 

At Brewer’s Waffles, the names of the menu items pay tribute to various Richmond public schools. 

“We grew up going to the schools here,” Brewer said. “We originally thought about doing streets over here, but after researching some of those people, I just wasn’t comfortable, so we thought about school names.” 

Photo courtesy Brewer’s Waffles

Brewer’s girlfriend went to work researching Richmond Public Schools, and came up with six people whose names currently grace schools in Richmond. They weren’t all black, all white, all rich, or all poor, but they were all good people that had made the school system better. Wanting to pay homage to them, Brewer named menu items after the various schools. 

“The common theme you’ll hear from all of us is that it’s not just about us; it’s the folks that are around us, helping build this business,” Brewer said. “The realization of business is that you can do cool shit all the time, and people love to see cool stuff. Anytime you can come across as authentic is always great.” 

“My hat goes off to these two for making me think outside of myself,” Reed said. 

With their breakfast-dessert infusions, the owners call Brewer’s Waffles the “treat shop.” Despite his longtime love for waffles, Reed had always worked on the more savory side of things. Creating for the new menu was a bit of a challenge, but he soon warmed to it.

“It all made sense once I realized that it had to be more geared towards desserts,” Reed said. “You know, breakfast desserts — so I went back to childhood, and all the little things that I liked.” 

The strawberry streusel waffle, “The Holton,” was inspired by his childhood love for strawberry shortcake ice cream; the banana and Nutella waffle, “The Carver,” is almost like a peanut butter and banana sandwich. “The Blackwell” is more like a parfait, built upon layers of yogurt, then fruit and granola. Brewer’s Waffles also has savory options, like “The Overby,” a bacon egg and cheese waffle, and “The Henderson,” a biscuits and gravy waffle. 

Photo by Brewer’s Waffles

Compared with competitors like Capitol Waffle Shop, Reed’s homemade waffles stand out in part due to his detail-oriented approach. Rather than the traditional pre-made “just add water” powdered batter mix, Reed uses pearled sugar and egg whites to get a lighter, fluffier texture to his waffles. 

“It takes a little longer to make our waffles, but it’s the way they’re supposed to be made, and it shows,” Reed said. “It’s just what I wanted. Everyone does the traditional round Belgian waffles in the city, so why not change it up and make it my own?” 

Reed prides himself on what he calls the “Black Waffle,” which he considers distinct from the Belgian origins of the dish.

“You can change a recipe by simply changing a teaspoon of something,” Reed said. “Once I started tweaking things into something of my own, it’s no longer the Belgians’. We can create anything we want; I’m not giving credit to other people.” 

So why did the owners choose to pair their waffles with milkshakes? The answer is simple: because of Brewer’s son, Parker. 

“He likes milkshakes, and I wouldn’t make anything he doesn’t like,” Brewer said. 

Photo by Brea Hill

Parker is four years old, and already he’s the owner of multiple businesses… candy stands, in particular. Brewer and Parker work as a father-son duo. In fact, earlier this summer, the duo even biked 53 miles, from Jamestown to Blackwell, as a fundraiser for the Blackwell Parent-Teacher Association (PTA). Their journey raised close to four thousand dollars for the program. 

“Every time I have an opportunity to do something, I make sure he does, too,” Brewer said. 

On the horizon for Brewer’s Waffles could be a bar featuring alcohol-infused milkshakes. A food truck is also in the works. Catering services are coming soon, too — instead of ordering a dozen donuts for the office, you’ll be able to order mini-waffles.

Above all, Brewer wants this to be a place people are excited to visit, and it shows in his careful choices. Scoop RVA provides the ice cream for the milkshakes, with chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and even vegan options available. For the waffles, options include the traditional waffle batter base, a cornbread waffle, waffle cones, and a gluten-free vegan option to top off the list. Our recommendation: “The Holton” strawberry streusel waffle and the chocolate Snickers milkshake are to die for. They are both absolutely delicious! 

Photo by Brea Hill

Surrounded by eight other black-owned businesses on their block alone, Brewer’s Waffles, located at 1311 Hull St, are excited to be an active part of the neighborhood they grew up in — and to bring a little something sweet to their hometown. 

Top Photo courtesy Brewer’s Waffles

GRTC Connects: Route 1 – Manchester to Ginter Park

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The first installment of a monthly series in which a hometown Richmonder who has spent over a decade abroad explores the many different neighborhoods accessible by GRTC bus lines to find the ways GRTC connects us all.

Manchester:

Walking down Hull Street it doesn’t take much imagination to envision Manchester in its glory days as the seat of Chesterfield County — and later a proudly independent city — that flourished in the Reconstruction era.  

Manchester Courthouse and the Mechanics & Merchants Bank remind visitors of the building boom and prosperity of the 1870s and ‘80s, as newly freed blacks abandoned plantations to find work at the city’s bustling docks, to open shops and eateries, and to make something of their newfound freedom.  

The Late Gothic Revival style of the First Baptist Church of Manchester (today “South Richmond”) personifies the confidence and hope of the day that inspired our city’s oldest independent black congregation to build such a grandiose church along Manchester’s main boulevard.

From the Valentine’s Cook Photograph Collection.

The shuttered storefronts and dilapidated homes tell a very different tale today. Beyond Manchester’s remnants of grandeur, one begins to notice a pattern of neglect. It may be tempting to blame individual property owners or generic urban decay; however, such facile logic belies the systemic abandonment of “Dogtown” — the derogatory nickname Richmonders came up with for their Southside sister city.

After the Supreme Court ruled “separate but equal” schools unconstitutional in 1954, wealthy whites began to flee urban Richmond in favor of the mushrooming suburbs of Chesterfield, Henrico, and — to a lesser extent — Hanover. The failure of Massive Resistance only expedited the trend, leaving large swaths of Manchester abandoned.

Since the 1930s the federal Home Owners Loan Corporation deemed Manchester investment grade D due to its “infiltration of a lower grade population” (read: blacks).  This practice of redlining excluded residents from mortgages and other lines of credit available to those who lived in wealthier and whiter neighborhoods.

The Urban Renewal policies of the 1960s struck another blow to Manchester as federal funds financed the removal of “blight” (i.e. dense, black communities) in favor of public housing like Hillside Court. In the decade after the Housing Act of 1949, 425,000 units of housing were demolished in black communities across the country while only 125,000 were built.  

Suburbanization meant retail flocked ever further south and west, with the construction of Southside Plaza and Cloverleaf Mall, respectively. Several smart investors recognized the opportunity in Manchester and opened pioneering Southside businesses like Croaker’s Spot and Legend Brewing in the 1980s and ‘90s; however, the revitalization of this charming historic neighborhood didn’t truly take off until the early 2000s.

The establishment of the Manchester Historic District and the rezoning of the area’s former tobacco warehouses to loft apartments triggered a wave of investment. The expansion of Capital One and the addition of amenities like the Floodwall Walk and the T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge have brought new attention, new residents, and new tensions to Manchester.

The renovated Hull Street Library, Dogtown Dance Theater, and all the sleek new lofts represent the dawning of a new era for this Southside neighborhood. The Manchester food scene may soon become its own genre of Richmond’s culinary boom, thanks to standouts like Camden’s Dogtown Market, Pig & Brew, Ironclad Pizza, Soul-Ice, and the Butterbean Market & Cafe.  

Across the street from the Butterbean & Hot Diggity Donuts, the owners of those two establishments are also opening Dogtown Brewing Co. — complete with a scenic, fourth floor rooftop bar that feels like something from Washington, D.C.’s U Street.

Your correspondent began his day with a delectable $3.25 cup of cold brew from Brewer’s, a sum on par with any other quality coffee shop in the city that still feels unattainable to many who live in Manchester. Just across the street from Brewer’s, new housing is going up, filling a block long left empty with new life.

Dogtown Brewing Co. (via their website)

This is the contradiction of modern Manchester.  The area’s sprigs of growth promise a better future and higher quality of life, but many of today’s residents question whether they will be able to afford to stick around and enjoy it in a decade.

After boarding GRTC’s 1A at Commerce Road, your correspondent enjoyed the river views while crossing the Mayo bridge, trundled through Downtown and up Chamberlayne Avenue, and alighted the bus in Ginter Park at Westwood Avenue in under twenty-five minutes.

Lewis Ginter, From “Historic VCU: A VCU Images Special Collection” VCU Libraries, James Branch Cabell Library (CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia)

Ginter Park:

While visiting Melbourne, Australia in the late 19th century, tobacco magnate Major Lewis E. Ginter was awestruck by the lifestyles of the local elite, as they retreated each evening after work back to their country manors. Upon his return to Richmond, Ginter acquired several hundred acres of farmland in Henrico so he could realize his dream for a suburb “where a gentleman could ride to and from work without the sun’s glare in his face.”

Ginter immediately set about crafting his eponymous neighborhood in a meticulous manner. First he laid out an extended street grid and divided the parcels into single-family lots, so that each new resident could build their home of a size and style of their choosing. Next he gifted Union Theological (today “Presbyterian”) Seminary a large plot of land at the center of the community in order to lure them from Hampden-Sydney in Farmville and serve as the anchor of his development.  

If the artesian well water and shade-lined boulevards weren’t ritzy enough to entice investors, Ginter even finagled the extension of Richmond’s first electric trolley line up Chamberlayne Avenue (mirroring today’s GRTC Route 1) so residents could enjoy a fifteen minute commute downtown for just a nickel.

Unfortunately, upon the magnate’s death in 1897, only a few cottages had so far been constructed. Ginter Park wouldn’t begin to boom for another decade. Post-1908, construction raced along until a brief slump during World War I, but quickly picked back up during the Roaring Twenties. This prolonged period of building created a rich architectural legacy, with homes ranging from humble cottages to grandiose mansions.  

To this day, Ginter Park remains one of the best parts of town to explore a wide variety of styles nestled comfortably together: Spanish Colonial, Arts and Crafts, Bungalow, American Foursquare, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Shingle Style, and Tudor Revival.  The elite status a Ginter Park address conferred led Richmonders to dub the neighborhood “the Queen of the Suburbs.”

The rise of the automobile and the desperation of the Great Depression caused residents of Ginter Park initially to welcome Chamberlayne Avenue’s designation as U.S. Route 1 — the great North-South corridor that served as the precursor to I-95. However, the resulting heavy traffic and many large trucks began to deteriorate residents’ quality of life and destroy the fabric of the neighborhood.

By the end of the 1950s, many of the area’s once-luxurious manors and mansions had been converted into tourist homes and nursing homes, or were completely demolished in favor of multi-family apartment complexes. Much of the rezoning which so tragically altered Chamberlayne Avenue’s character excluded the rest of Ginter Park, thus allowing the majority of this verdant suburb to dodge ugly redevelopment.

Although former Governor Doug Wilder and Senator Tim Kaine call Ginter Park home, perhaps the legacy of the area’s other most famous resident, Joseph Bryan, best encapsulates the arc of the neighborhood’s character. The newspaper man behind the Richmond Times bought land off of Laburnum in 1883 and built himself a palatial brick mansion, which the Bryan family later donated to Richmond Memorial Hospital. After serving as the hospital’s east wing for decades, the entire structure was renovated in the late 2000s to become luxury condominiums.

Canopy at Ginter Park (via their website)

With multiple massive apartment complexes in the pipeline for Brook Road and Chamberlayne Avenue, one can understand the apprehension of Ginter Park’s residents toward further development, even if one may not agree. For many, their neighborhood’s delicate balance between historic homes and condo complexes hangs in the balance.

If Richmond pundits were right that the debate over the Brook Road Bike Lane was really a referendum on the future direction of the area, then the resounding defeat of Councilmembers Gray’s and Hilbert’s ordinance to block the bike lane may signal Northsiders’ increasing demand for the dense, walkable trappings of New Urbanism — the currently en vogue planning movement towards sustainable, mixed-use communities.

Walking along Ginter Park’s many leafy lanes, it’s not hard to imagine all the empty lots and aging apartments being replaced with more tasteful, denser housing in the coming decades. Indeed, if the GRTC Pulse ever expanded to include a North-South route, the lure of a convenient commute from Northside through to Manchester may prove irresistible for developers and locals alike.

Black Artists Claim Their Own Creative Space in Manchester

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For black creatives living in Richmond, it’s not enough to follow the trends and changes in our ever-shifting city. While all artists have to stay relevant and engaged with the broader culture, there are extra challenges black artists face. A partial list of the extra barriers black artists face includes racism, both implicit and intentional, gentrification in their communities, and the appropriation that happens when white communities step in to fill the gentrified spaces.

This article originally appeared in RVA #33 Summer 2018, you can check out the issue here, or pick it up around Richmond now. 

The aesthetic and look of Richmond are part of a rising popularity that’s sparked infatuation with our collective creative energy. But what about the people who have been here, made it ripe for the picking, and who now struggle to get by? For black folks, organizing isn’t just for marches and confronting white supremacy on Monument Avenue, but an everyday practice to ensure economic justice when threatened by local government and corporate entities. Sometimes, it’s about establishing new spaces for black art, after gentrification and white angst have pushed us out of the neighborhoods where we once lived and worked.

Work by Justice Dwight

On Southside, in the Manchester neighborhood, community boosters formed the Manchester Manifest group to support and build up black art. Working with AJ Brewer at Brewer’s Cafe, they’ve brought back the First Friday Art Walk, an event which first began in Jackson Ward, to celebrate black music and visual arts from the local community.

Black artists in Richmond are used to facing extraordinary challenges. When 6th District City Councilwoman Ellen Robertson proposed using city funds for public art to balance the budget, a measure that passed by a majority council despite opposition from Mayor Levar Stoney, it shocked Richmond’s white art community. For black artists, it was just another day of being undervalued and silenced.

Silly Genius

One of these artists, who goes by the name Silly Genius, said the “lack of support does not feel new.” He links the sprouting of the RVA brand with new challenges to black artists in Richmond; starting with First Friday, which began in Jackson Ward as a civic boost for black residents and businesses owners.

Genius said that event has changed, in tone and audience, due to efforts by the city and Virginia Commonwealth University to create a more mainstream, trendy space for white outsiders. As First Friday became centered on a part of Broad Street that was eventually officially classified as “the Arts District,” police presence increased, the area became viewed as more dangerous, and the original art walk was shut down.

Silly Genius

Genius said First Friday may have become “easier to swallow” for the city, but “the shift left an impact on local artists.” It’s just another example of a city that uses the energy of its black population to appeal to white visitors.

Artist Justice Dwight said the problem also happened with individual galleries not taking an intentional approach to include local artists. “Spaces are almost like a secret. There’s no info out there [about] where to find these spaces for artists. While some spaces are obviously moving forward, some still seem to have quotas. Meet those, and move on,” Dwight said.

Creative Bordeaux

Muralist Creative Bordeaux has his own story of facing racism as an artist in Richmond. After being hired for a mural, he saw it pulled down almost as quickly as it went up. The problem: The work depicted a black man.

“I was doing a nautical theme mural, I wasn’t specifically asked to do anything that was cartoony. When [the client] initially viewed the work, and said it scared him, I was confused at his fear because the sketch was a man in a field with butterflies,” Bordeaux said. Despite the beauty of his work, the man said he “didn’t want any Nelson Mandela faces or black power fists on the piece. But I wasn’t drawing Nelson Mandela, I was drawing a man, who was black. He had the full lips, wide nose and pronounced black features. The hand wasn’t closed, it was open and there were butterflies. It took a second to hear what he said… well, what he was really saying. He was saying that a black man, in any form, is scary. I am a black man, being told not to draw black men.”

Creative Bordeaux

These experience illustrate why organizing in black spaces is vital to the survival of black art as well as black creative minds. Receiving messages that your body invokes fear and is generally unaccepted in your own city is what keeps black folks in a silent rage. The cure for this rage is to enter a space made for black folks, by black folks, where the silence turns into the sounds of laughter and home.

J Bizz at Brand New Wave

Historically, one space that has supported the innovation of black events and culture free from gentrification is the barbershop. By the early 1900s, barbering and the men’s grooming industry became the hub of learning and produced unprecedented wealth and opportunities for black men during some of the toughest eras in modern history. If we are watching and listening carefully, we can see how this is manifesting in Richmond. Chatting with black artists, creatives, and go-getters, the Brand New Wave barbershop was a place continually mentioned as a place to get a haircut, but also to share ideas. Brand New Wave is a barbershop on Hull Street owned and operated by J. Bizz, who is also a musician who hosts events in the city. What happens in the shop is more than expression of hair and socializing of friends; it is also a place to organize the community.

When J. Bizz meets with clients, he hears their interests and what they want to see in their neighborhood, which is how the RVA Ball for a Cause Charity Basketball Game at the Ben Wallace Gym has come together. For two years, the event has raised funds for the youth of Richmond Public Schools.  J. Bizz uses a team approach, gathering clients, business owners, artists, and friends to play a pretty decent game of basketball. It provides a fun day for the community with food, entertainment, and resources, but also a stage for local musicians to promote their art. Brand New Wave gives more than hair; it gives hope of new pathways for creatives in the city.

That hope needs molding, planning, and execution to help artists overcome challenges that appear insurmountable. Alex Gwynn, a creative who has lived in Richmond since 2011 and works with J. Bizz, said that creating a team to showcase art for the world means creating a whole network of support within a community. The challenge is that everyone is working with limited resources of space, supplies, and promotion. But at the end of the day, the artistic community is coming together to make it happen. Through venues like Brewer’s Cafe and the Manchester Manifest group, the same energy that started First Friday in Jackson Ward is keeping spaces for black artists alive, long past the quota that limits our participation on Broad Street.

 

Manchester Community Divided on Proposed Homeless Shelter

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At a town hall meeting Wednesday night, over 200 people crammed into the former Community Bainbridge Street Baptist Church to voice their concerns and discuss the opening a new homeless shelter in the heart of a Manchester residential district. Residents and business owners clashed across the aisles of the former church, staking positions on a development that reveals deep divisions in the city of Richmond.

The proposed new shelter, which would be operated by CCC, or Commonwealth Catholic Charities, would replace the current cold weather shelter, located in the basement of the downtown Public Safety Building. It would house around 200 people and provide a centralized base of operations for food, medical, and outreach services, to provide a transition stage for people without housing.

In an earlier decade, this plan might not have been controversial, but with development in Manchester surging, the meeting revealed the cracks between residents, business owners, and government services. CCC began the meeting by presenting the plan for the shelter, leading into Q&A with residents. Jay Brown, director of CCC housing services, led the discussion for the meeting.

According to Brown, this building would relocate CCC’s resources out of necessity. “The conditions at the current site are such that we don’t believe we can provide that service in a way that we can afford people the dignity that they are due,” Brown said. With the new building, Brown said the size and location was perfect for effective services, noting that the plan was in development for three years. While the previous location was only open from 7 p.m. to 10 a.m., Brown hopes to keep the new one open 24/7.

Despite Brown’s confidence, many attendees expressed fears and concerns surrounding the new location. Some thought the area lacked appropriate infrastructure for a facility of this size. Speakers described the plan as well intended, but feared it would fail in a district with poor access to food and public transportation. There are other programs that provide similar services in the area; less than a mile away, Caritas operates a 5-acre center, and Liberation Family Services runs a roughly 17,000 square-foot building serving homeless veterans at 1201 Hull St., just two blocks from the proposed location.

Others argued it would be disruptive and hurt perception of the neighborhood, resulting in lower property values. This argument was summed up in a recent article by developer and blogger Michael Hild on his site Dogtown Dish, where he wrote, “The City needs to calm down, think this through, and come up with well thought out plans rather than this coliseum induced rush-job.” Although Hild and others have tried to tie the shelter to the leaked Coliseum redevelopment plan, there is no evidence for this; the shelter move was planned several years ago under a previous administration, and the Coliseum redevelopment proposal is new.

Others at the meeting questioned CCC’s past success at ameliorating homelessness. The organization was founded in 1923, and attendees requested data from previous programs and developments. Brown said they would gather such data and make it accessible at a later time.

Several attendees came with their own assumptions about the impact of the shelter. Some said it would bring an influx of drug dealers, while another speaker said it would deteriorate the past decade of neighborhood improvements. One speaker, Manchester developer Bryan Drake, raised concern for his own safety. “I, for one, don’t want to go back to that place where I have to wonder if should I be putting barbed wire around my yard,” he said.

Residents in support, like Linda Brown, called for compassion and reason. “Everyone needs a place to stay, whether it’s temporary or permanent,” she said. She described the outrage from investors and developers as “convenient” and opportunistic. “When you feel your security is at risk, then you come in droves,” she said. “That’s not how you do it. You have to work together for the common good.”

One resident, Sheri Shannon, spoke about her hopes for the neighborhood, contrasting community development with gentrification. She said, “For community development, the focus is to improve the neighborhood for existing residents. Gentrification is improving the neighborhood by replacing many of the residents. I believe this an opportunity to re-envision and revitalize what we see for Manchester and what [we] dream of for the community.”

Another local, Theodore Woodson, spoke in support of the shelter from personal experience, having spent seven years surviving on the street. “Not all drug addicts are bad, just as not all homeless people are bad,” Woodson said. “It takes a community to have a success story. I understand your concerns, but you shouldn’t put value in property over human beings, because we don’t know who in this room will need these services tomorrow.”

While the shelter was originally meant for use from October through April, many attendees thought they should consider year-round services. Others offered community help to develop the facility. Preston Page, an advocate for the Blackwell community, offered condolences and aid to CCC. He said, “Your mission is charged with a very broad portfolio of services, is there any way we can help you all, can the community help with what you’re trying to execute and how?”

Montigue Magruder, who has run for office with the Green Party, emphasized a need for community members, himself included, to attend city council meetings more often and to focus on voting in representatives who share community priorities into office. “If the city truly cared about its people, we would not be having this discussion,” he said. “If we have the guts to stand up to our city leaders, stand up to the mayor, to see that our resources go towards helping our fellow human beings, we would probably have no homelessness here because more than likely, there are more empty houses in this city than there are homeless people.”

Sixth District Councilwoman Ellen Robertson made closing remarks, sharing sympathies for those afflicted by poverty stuck in the middle of this issue. “At first, discussion was only to provide a new overflow shelter,” she said. “Little discussion was offered about other outreach services. I’m telling you because I want you to appreciate the progression to where we are today.” Councilwoman Robertson also called for appreciation for the developers and real estate investors in Manchester. “You are the community that have opened the door, that have invested the money from what it was into what it is today. They spent their money, their investments, to provide roofs over our heads,” she said.

Brown was open to more community involvement but stressed the tight time frame. “From what we have looked at, this site, from what we have seen, allows us with the best potential to do so successfully, to do it right, and to provide the service with dignity, but we have to move quickly if we want this to happen,” he said.

Nearly 100 people had relied on the downtown shelter nightly from October 1 to April 15, as demand for spots in privately-run shelters routinely exceeded the number of beds available to people in need. Foil blankets and mattress pads are only allocated to women and children, while men are required to sit up in chairs. Through a slideshow of pictures and previous reports done on the shelter, CCC demonstrated the inadequacy of their current facilities. “We think this location is perfect because it has the space to relocate all of our services- we have the room to accommodate all the people we need to,” Brown said.

To accomplish all this, CCC needs to secure a special-use permit from the city. Mayor Stoney’s administration is working with the non-profit to draft a Special Use Permit to clear the city’s zoning restrictions. Approval may be expedited at a proposed August meeting; Brown said they will let the community know when they schedule the meeting.

“This is the first large-scale conversation of what will determine how to go forward,” Brown said. “The feedback I have gotten from [our organization] is that the success and failure is determined on how well we connected with the community – how well you have conversations with people, how you invite the community in to keep them informed throughout the process,” Brown said. Representatives from CCC estimated a 150-180 day process to receive approval; even without community concerns or involvement, construction can’t start soon.

Brown acknowledged that it was a difficult proposition for some in the audience. With the need being so great, and resources being so few, there will always be someone inconvenienced or put out by any change. The meeting, which drifted between logistics and engagement, often came back to matters of perception. Who needs help, how, and where and when? Ultimately, that’s a question for the entire city of Richmond.

Photos By: Branden Wilson 

Soul N’ Vinegar Comes to Church Hill and Waffles & Milkshakes Head For Manchester

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These stories originally appeared in GOOD EATS RVA in RVA #33 Summer 2018. You can check out the issue here, or pick it up around Richmond now. 

This summer, Michelle Parrish is hoping to serve busy working families in the Church Hill community more affordable and nutritious options. Her forthcoming grab and go food shop, Soul N’ Vinegar, will open in the former Ruth’s Beauty Shop spot on R Street, selling vegetarian, gluten-free, and other healthy lunch and dinner options, along with beer and wine.

Residents can expect a variety of packaged to-go meals and sides, from octopus salad to pickled veggies, homemade salsa verde, vegetarian curries, and mac and cheese.  

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Vegan falafel bowl with roasted sweet potato, cabbage cucumber slaw, couscous, whipped avocado, and lime

“A lot of the meals will be microwavable, and some will be ready to eat, such as salads and sandwiches,” Parrish said. “It’s right in the middle of a residential neighborhood. It’s meant to be for people who don’t necessarily need a place to eat, they just need food.”

Originally from Massachusetts, when Parrish moved to Church Hill a couple of years ago she wasn’t aware of the food deserts that plague certain areas of the city.

“I didn’t know about the other side of Richmond, where people don’t have access to fresh food [and] the majority of the population is living below the poverty level,” she said. “I was like, this doesn’t make any sense. Richmond’s supposed to be this huge food town, but all of the options are in the same category.”

Image may contain: food

Living only a couple of blocks away from the shop, she said she felt a calling to it while she was earning her business degree at J Sarge last year. With the urge to revive the shuttered building and offer Church Hill residents affordable fresh food, she enrolled in a free business course through the Office of Minority Business Development.  

After that, she decided to focus all her efforts on getting Soul N’ Vinegar up and running. She took a semester off and applied for funding through LISC and Bon Secours’ SEED grant program, which strives to jumpstart small Church Hill businesses. Parrish was awarded $20,000, which gave her the boost she needed to launch the market.

“Up until that point, everything was a daydream,” she said.

About 80 percent of the food at Soul N’ Vinegar will be vegetarian, keeping costs low to cater to a wide range of people in that community.  

“The goal is to keep as many of the entrees under $10 [as possible],” she said. “There will always be a $5 meal, and I will accept EBT cards so people who use that have access to fresh options. There are a lot of people that are in the area, a lot of older people that have dietary restrictions. I just wanted to have something that was different.”

Prior to leasing her space, Parrish held pop up events at Sub Rosa and catered for local companies, offering boxed lunches and other snacks including deviled eggs, pimento cheese sliders, smoked chicken salad, and honey cake with candied orange. She plans to continue the catering after the market opens.

Parrish said there will seating for six inside, but she will expand with a 15-seat patio after they open sometime this summer.

Editor’s Note: Soul N’ Vinegar has opened since RVA Magazine went to press. 

Brewer’s Waffles & Milkshakes

The owner of Manchester coffee shop Brewer’s Café will open a spot this fall just down the road from his Bainbridge Street location for those with a sweet tooth. 

Leasing two spaces at 1309 and 1311 Hull St., Ajay Brewer will not only serve up waffles, alcoholic milkshakes, and lunch fare at his new place, Brewer’s Waffles & Milkshakes, but also will use one half of the building as an art gallery. 

Plans didn’t get cooking for the shop until a few months ago, but expansion has been churning in Brewer’s mind since last summer.

“I always wanted to have waffles or pancakes in my shop [and] couldn’t,” he said. “We would bring people to make waffles in the shop, but that was just an ongoing thing, it wasn’t that pressing.”

Brewer and his son

The café owner and former stockbroker, who opened his shop about three years ago, has played a significant role in bringing people to the neighborhood, launching the monthly Manchester Manifest on first Fridays and drawing in customers recently with “Wu-Tang Sandwich Week.” The proceeds from this collaboration with Wu-Tang Clan members to create some of their favorite sandwiches went to benefit Richmond Public Schools.

“The whole idea is to create a community right here where we live in Southside. Doing what I can to make this population better. I truly feel like we can change the world, we just have to start with these communities,” Brewer said.

Community was also a big part of the appeal to open Brewer’s Waffles & Milkshakes. “You think about a city environment — a lot of millennials, a lot of folks who want to be out and about,” he explained. “What do they want to be doing? Where do they want to eat at night time?”

Brewer said plans for the new shop came together rather smoothly. “I got a call from the landlord a couple of months ago, he wanted to lease the space. He was like, ‘You can have both spaces if you want it, we just really want to get this café idea out,’” he said.  

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Photo Courtesy of Brewer’s Cafe

James Harris, an investor in Brewer’s Café, was also looking to dive into his next venture. “He was itching to do something else, he has several businesses and all that came to me around the same time so what would we do became the question,” he said.

Brewer said they threw around different ideas for the Hull Street location such as a biscuit restaurant, ice cream shop, even burgers, but ultimately, he knew he wanted to serve the fluffy, golden brown treat.  

The menu is in the beginning stages, but Brewer plans to have savory dishes like chicken & waffles and waffle sandwiches that come with sausage, along with a toppings bar with strawberries and other sweeter options. To satisfy the lunch crowd, the shop will also serve sandwiches and salads, with vegetarian and gluten-free options.

Sodas from Union Hill’s Roaring Pines are also on the menu, as well as alcoholic milkshakes, so whether you’re an early riser or a night owl who likes their midnight munchies, Brewer’s forthcoming spot plans to cater to everyone.

As for the art gallery, the spaces will be connected so patrons can walk between the two, and Brewer hopes to showcase art from near and far.

“Personally, I’m an art lover. I’m not really pretending this is something that interests me,” he said. “This space, obviously I’m going to open up for locals too, but I would hope to attract regional, national, and international artists. I’d love for the art space to be an attraction that brings in talent across the world.” His goal is to host exhibits and other gallery openings once he reaches out to community artists.

Brewer’s Waffles & Milkshakes will open sometime in September, operating from 7 am to 2 am seven days a week.

Twisted Ales Brewing Closing

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Sad news craft beer fans, one of Richmond’s breweries is closing its doors. Manchester’s Twisted Ales Brewing announced that their journey had come to an end, coincidentally on their one-year anniversary last weekend.

“Our adventures in the brewing industry have come to an end…Life has unexpectedly set the Price family on a new and exciting path taking us outside of the great state of Virginia. Raise a glass with us this weekend as we celebrate the good times we had together, the friendships made, and the worthy RVA causes we supported this year,” the brewery wrote on the Facebook event page for their anniversary celebration.

However, if you missed the celebration this weekend, don’t worry you still have time to raise a pint for them. Twisted Ales will remain open through the weekend during regular hours, according to co-owner Debbi Price, a California native who opened the brewery last June with her husband Jason, a homebrewer.

“We will be open Thursday through Sunday during our regular hours while we secure the sale of the brewery,” Price told RVA Mag in a statement.

During their short time here, Twisted Ales churned out some awesome IPAs like their Sleight of Hand IPA which mango and blood orange, a West Coast IPA called Magic Lantern, and my personal favorite, the Bang Up to the Elephant, a citrusy brew with pineapple and grapefruit.

But IPAs weren’t the brewery’s only offering, Twisted Ales also experimented with different brews like the Twisted Musketeers, a chocolate milk stout, an English Brown Ale made with espresso, hefeweizen, and a lemon-peppery saison. The historic taproom, located at 212 W. 6th St., regularly supported causes like FeedMore, James River Conservation, Amy Black’s Pink Ink Fund, and Richmond’s Daily Planet.

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As for the closing, Price said her husband Jason, who has more than two decades of experience in IT, has decided to take a job in Raleigh, North Carolina.

“When the opportunity came, we evaluated our lives and decided to take it. Although brewing is a lot of fun and we have met some great people and helped support some great causes in RVA, we were concerned that we were spending less quality time as a family with our two sons. My husband’s mother passed away a couple of weeks ago and it caused Jason to reflect on his life, in general. He wished he had spent more quality time with her before she had passed,” she said. “He told me, ‘I thought brewing beer was my passion, but my passion is really my family.’ The job offer came a week later. We felt forces were moving our lives in a new direction.”

But not to fret just yet craft beer fans, because Price said while nothing is set in stone, it looks as though the space will remain a brewery – perhaps even still called Twisted Ales with the same beers.

If you haven’t made it out there to try their beers yet, you have until the end of the weekend to head to Manchester and grab the remaining beer until the kegs are kicked. They will definitely be missed, but something tells me we will have no shortage of breweries coming in around that area.