• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

RVA Mag

Richmond, VA Culture & Politics Since 2005

Menu RVA Mag Logo
  • community
  • MUSIC
  • ART
  • EAT DRINK
  • GAYRVA
  • POLITICS
  • PHOTO
  • EVENTS
  • MAGAZINE
RVA Mag Logo
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contributors
  • Sponsors

Kabana Rooftop chef to open restaurant in Scott’s Addition

Caitlin Barbieri | September 6, 2017

Topics: GOOD EATS RVA, Joy Garden, Kabana Rooftop, richmond restaurant group, rvadine, Scott's Addition

Kabana Rooftop’s head chef, Mike Ledesma, is set to open his first independent restaurant in Richmond’s Scott’s Addition neighborhood.

The restaurant will reflect Ledesma’s mastery of New American cuisine, drawing inspiration from his culinary travels as well as his Filipino culture.

“When you open a restaurant, you get to take full ownership of the menu and the path it’s going to take,” Ledesma said in a recent press release. “I like to have the ability to push culinary trends. When I play with food, I want it to be creative.”

Originally from Baltimore, Ledesma discovered his passion for the culinary arts while living in Oahu, Hawaii. After traveling back to the east coast, Ledesma moved to Richmond in 2011 to open the downtown Hard Shell location and in 2015 up until last month, he served at the helm of Richmond Restaurant Group (The Hard Shell, The Daily Kitchen & Bar, Pearl Raw Bar) as Corporate Executive Chef.

In August, he came on as Executive Chef for Kabana Rooftop, giving his own spin to their menu.

Top photo credit: Jess Aicholtz

Ledesma hopes to use his forthcoming restaurant to support local culinary schools and the Richmond community.

“It’s nice to put money back into the city,” Ledesma said. “Now, having a place to train, I want to give students a real world experience.”

The opening date for Ledesma’s restaurant is yet to be announced but it will be located at 2918 W. Broad St. which housed Chinese restaurant, Joy Garden for almost 60 years. And if the menu is anything like his creative and delicious dishes at Kabana, it’s going to be popular spot for sure. 

 

RVA #29: ZZQ brings a taste of Central Texas to Scott’s Addition

Amy David | August 28, 2017

Topics: BBQ, brisket, Good Eats, rvadine, Scott's Addition, Texas BBQ, ZZQ, ZZQ RVA

If you’ve driven through Scott’s Addition on a Friday night, chances are the alluring aroma of smoked brisket in the air has piqued your interest. You may have also seen the giant wood-burning smoker being hauled into Ardent Craft Ales every other week with nothing but a line of people as far as the eye can see.

For four years, local truck ZZQ has provided barbecue to Richmonders, catering weddings and other private gigs, and for the last two they’ve parked their smoker, dubbed “Mabel,” at Ardent to serve up Central Texas-inspired smoked beef barbecue. In the fall, the husband and wife team will launch their business into the next phase with their own restaurant on West Moore Street, just behind the brewery that fueled their success.

This article was featured in RVAMag #29: Summer 2017. You can read all of issue #29 here or pick it up at local shops around RVA right now.

“The thing about Ardent was, that environment was exactly the kind of place, culture that we envisioned for ourselves and it fit the model of what inspires us in terms of barbecue, which is Central Texas barbecue,” said co-owner of ZZQ Chris Fultz. “If you think of barbecue joints in Austin, there’s always a really cool comfortable place to hang out and eat your barbecue at a picnic table or some lights. That was a hand and glove kind of fit.”

Served up on one big heaping tray lined with butcher paper, customers can order anything from beef brisket, beef short ribs, pulled pork shoulder, pork spare ribs, and bone-in pork belly along with a variety of made from scratch sides such as jalapeno macaroni and cheese, buttermilk potato salad, blackstrap collard greens, frijoles de charro, Orange’s Texas caviar, and Terlingua coleslaw.

Of course, it wasn’t just the brewery’s atmosphere and patio that drew the duo to the space, the beer pairing with the barbecue didn’t hurt either. “The beer is such a big part of the culture in Texas too, in a lot of barbecue joints they give you free beer while you’re waiting in line,” Fultz said. “While our customers are waiting in line for us on a Friday night after work, Ardent would bring them beers in line, and the lines started getting longer and longer and we were selling out quicker and quicker.”

Fultz, born in Austin, grew up outside of Dallas eating the same barbecue he now so warmly and pridefully cooks and serves to Richmonders. For those who’ve never tasted it, Central Texas barbecue differs from North and South Carolina and Virginia styles.

“Texas-style barbecue started with German and Czech immigrants in and around Central Texas,” he said. “It was kind of an off-shoot of a butcher or meat market, one of the least desirable cuts is brisket because it’s such a tough muscle.”

The style is stripped down with meat, mainly brisket, being the focus. Sides play second fiddle and the sauce is not even considered in some places. The way it’s prepared is the major difference, however. “One of the biggest differences in what happens in this part of the country and the way they cook and the way we cook. We cook on a traditional offset smoker, and it’s all wood, there’s no secondary heat source,” said Fultz.  “It’s all old school techniques.”

Fred + Elliot Photography

Fultz began honing those techniques in Austin 15 years ago and after moving to Virginia to attend grad school at UVA, he soon got a job in Richmond and realized beef barbecue was few and far between here.

“I called my dad and I said, ‘how do you cook a brisket’ and he told me what he knew, I just kept trying to perfect it…that carried me through several years and parties taking brisket to friends,” he said. “’I went to one party and some guy said, ‘you really should think about doing this for real, I’ve never had anything like this.’”

Around that time, he met Graf who championed the idea for ZZQ which is when the business officially took off. “We were doing these underground backyard pop ups which enabled us to experiment and kind of hone our craft and cultivate our original customers and fans,” said Fultz.

Fred + Elliot Photography

Word began to catch on about their smoked barbecue and they’ve been selling out at Ardent Craft Ales ever since. Graf and Fultz parked “Mabel” on Thursday at Ardent and smoke all night and serve all day Friday. “People would actually help us and pull her out and that’s how Friday nights worked for that first year we were there,” Graf said.

But as they became more well known in the food truck scene after that first year passed, “Mabel” could only feed so many hungry barbecue fans so the two decided it was time for a bigger project.

“We could only serve about 150 people max on our old smoker so we would run out of food too fast, we had a lot of people in line still wanting food,” Fultz said. “That first year gave us the courage to invest in a smoker three to four times the size of our first smoker.”

The two had a new 3,000-pound smoker named “Maxine” made outside of Austin and revealed it at the grand opening of The Veil Brewing Co. in spring of 2016, which allowed them to feed 1,200 people. Once they had the new smoker, Graf and Fultz decided to shift their vision into high gear. After checking out a few spots in that area, they decided to build a new restaurant from the ground up in Scott’s Addition.

“We wanted to be in Scott’s Addition, we’ve both always loved this neighborhood, we love the character, the diversity of the businesses, the industrial quality, the accessibility from the interstate, the city,” he said. “Ardent opened our eyes to what it could be with that patio.”

A friend of the couple’s owned the land on Moore Street and was just using a few buildings for storage. In April, the duo demolished what was left and started work on their brick and mortar spot. ZZQ’s restaurant, which will be a pre-fabricated metal building like those you’d see in Texas, will seat 90 people on the inside and 90 on the outside on their patio which will connect to Ardent’s parking lot.

Both work as architects at their firm Singh and Fultz and from the way they describe it, they aren’t just aiming to draw crowds with the food. The couple is hanging on to one brick wall from the previous buildings that will be the backdrop of the smokehouse along with a metal shed which will house their smokers.

“It fits with the neighborhood, also with the industrial feel and it gives us a real open plan because that open feeling is really important both in the patio and inside,” said Graf.

It will be a full-service restaurant serving up all their signature dishes cafeteria style, a nod to Texas-barbecue joints. “You build your tray, so in Texas, you go to the meat cutter first and he asks you how much you want of each and then the next person builds your sides and you go down the line and pay,” he said. “We’ll have two meat cutters and two or three staff on the sides.”

The restaurant will also have a bar in the second half which will seat about 12 people and focus on bourbons, tequilas, mescal and craft beer primarily from regional breweries and Texas. “We’re going to be serving Lone Star beer which is a staple of any Texas barbeque joint,” he said. “We’re going to be selling off premises so you can come by a case of Lone Star and take it with you.”

And don’t expect to have a never-ending selection of sauces to douse on your brisket, Fultz thinks the barbeque should speak for itself.  “I’m not a believer in a lot of sauce…you need two or three staples and that’s all you need,” he said. “Texas sauces have tomatoes, but it’s not sweet, it’s thinner and [has] more vinegar in it, salt and pepper and we put chipotles in ours to give it a smokey flavor.”

When they get up and running sometime in early fall, expect to see additions to the menu like duck, pork steaks, smoked prime rib and brisket tacos. Graf and Fultz also plan to continue collaborations with local cideries, meaderies and other businesses in Scott’s Addition.

ZZQ is currently under construction at 3201 W. Moore St. You can keep up with their progress and opening date here. 

Top image credit: Fred + Elliot Photography 

 

 

Self-serve wine bar pours refreshing new concept into Scott’s Addition

David Streever | August 25, 2017

Topics: GOOD EATS RVA, Richmond Wine Station, rva wine bar, rvadine, Scott's Addition, self-serve wine bar

The arrival of Richmond Wine Station, a retail outlet and tasting room with self-service wine options, is a refreshing concept to the brewery-heavy Scott’s Addition. It’s a popular model in California and Colorado, but a young one on the East Coast and a first for Richmond. We visited the Broad Street storefront last week to learn more, and try a little wine of course.

The wine bar is built around a namesake technology called WineStations. The stations hold four vertical bottles in temperature-controlled environments, using argon gas to maintain freshness. This is the first spot in Richmond built around them, inspired by a trip to South Carolina, where general manager Bill Hartsock saw a smaller operation on Kiawah Island.

Richmond Wine Station has 16 units housing 4 bottles each, for a total of 64 wines, which are organized around style and flavor. Unlike a brewery, patrons show ID at the door; once in, there is no bartender.

Purchases are made from two types of smart cards; either a pre-paid, reloadable membership card, or a bar tab style card linked to a credit card. At the machine, patrons choose from single-ounce tasting pours, half glasses, or full glasses. Tasting pours are under $2, with glasses usually between $5 and $7.

Wines on tap can also be purchased in bottles, sold at retail prices. Patrons can drink from the bottle on-site or take it home. City permitting has delayed food, but Hartsock assures it’s coming soon. He’s working with neighbor Mosaic Catering and Events to offer traditional vineyard fare. Cheese, charcuterie, spreads, breads, and crackers will be among the offerings.

Recommendations are offered, aided by Hartsock’s sommelier background and the dispensing machines tracking capabilities. Merlot and Pinot Noir drinkers alike can feel at home; Hartsock assures that his recommendations are judgment-free.

Not to worry craft beer enthusiasts that get pulled there by their wine-loving friend, spouse or significant other, there’s something for you too.  A different card provides access to eight taps of beer, from a variety of suppliers at Richmond Wine Station. 

Many patrons seemed to come on foot from the neighborhood, but they have bike racks and car parking too. Friday and Saturday nights are busiest, but they are open daily from 3pm to 11pm,

Image may contain: indoor

Indoors, it’s comfortable couches and butcher-block style high-tops. They also offer outdoor seating, in a small courtyard surrounded by grapevines. Self-serve invites comparisons to froyo, but it’s more like a convivial coffee shop.

It’s all very cozy, with a striking lack of cellphones and laptops. Despite the free wi-fi, the only cell phone I saw was mine; everyone else was too busy enjoying the ambience, their company, and the wine. Richmond Wine Station is located at 2930 W. Broad St.

A tale of food and culture from Sudan in Jackson Ward

Caley Sturgill | August 17, 2017

Topics: Jackson Ward, richmond, rva food, rvadine, Sahara Grill & Cafe, Sudan

“I’m still a stranger to some people here, but I don’t see myself as a stranger,” said Miriam Salah, owner of Sahara Grill and Cafe. “I see myself as from Richmond, Virginia.”

With family and roots in North Sudan, the culture Salah came from has many contrasts to the Commonwealth — but living in Richmond since 1998, the entrepreneur aims to show Americans the world through her food. Salah hopes her presence in Jackson Ward will invite customers to experience new tastes. 

“I’ve lived here for so long, I’ve witnessed all these changes in downtown Richmond,” she said. “I just came to Jackson Ward last year, but I came at the right time, I think the opportunity is here. We have a lot of young people who know better than our old people, Richmond is getting more multicultural. ”

Miriam Salah

Even with 19 years in Richmond, Salah has deeper roots around the state. She got her MBA from Howard University in Washington, D.C. before opening her restaurant here with her husband.

Sahara Grill and Cafe had its debut as Al Kawthar near VCU’s Monroe Park campus. Salah’s recipes were loved by many for about four years while Al Kawthar was open at 1517 W. Broad St., before moving to the new rebranded location last year, which opened last year at 114 East Clay St.

“Al Kawthar has more to do with Middle Eastern and Muslim cultures, but a lot of my American fellows didn’t know how to pronounce the name correctly,” Salah said. “I decided to change the name to Sahara Grill and Cafe because it reflects the food we’re doing, and people know it.”

In Jackson Ward, the new spot gave them space for a full restaurant dining room and a hookah lounge in the back. Salah plans to cover all of the Saharan and sub-Saharan nations with her menu, which already includes dishes across the area from Morocco, Yemen, Sudan and Egypt.

Hookahs at Sahara Grill and Cafe. Photo by Landon Shroder

“Our chefs are from Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, Morocco and Saudi Arabia,” Salah said. “I have a sister from Uganda. She learned how to make all the food here, and now she does it better than I do!”

Salah sees much of her business from international VCU students and Richmond’s Arab communities. As VCU attracts more Middle Eastern students to her business, she wants to cater her business to those kids while showing Americans what she has to offer.

Photo by Sahara Grill & Cafe

“I’m here, I’m trying to make it,” she said. “There are some challenges here, we are at the heart of the black community in Jackson Ward and it’s hard to build exotic foods and ideas. I have some market niche to support me with VCU and the people here in Richmond.”

Salah noted her business is about 25 percent VCU students, 25 percent Arab communities, and 25 percent white Americans. The other 25 percent, she says, are Muslim people other than Arabs and often people travelling through the country who look for Halal food along their trips.

“Americans are very friendly, very open-minded and open to strangers unlike any other nationality,” she said. “I travel a lot, I’ve never seen something like this. And I share this with so many people and they agree, they know the difference between nations. American nations have a very specific and very friendly people.”

Photo by Landon Shroder

The business draws many Americans who have travelled abroad, Salah said. She notices that many travelers appreciate the food and know it as a healthy option. Their Halal food is created from the very beginning, and they don’t believe in pre-processed food that is common in the American industry.

Halal refers to the standards for Muslim food, and is prepared according to codes laid out by Muslim law. Halal criteria are comparable to those of Jewish kosher food (though still with notable differences), and Salah has noticed the two cultures supporting each other.

Photo by Sahara Grill and Cafe

“Even though they fight, they really appreciate each other,” she said. “I think the Jewish and Muslim people have a lot in common culture-wise. We look for their places, they look for our places. We eat the same things and we come together.”

Catching up with Salah, the RVA Mag team was treated to a dish with Halal lamb cut fresh and marinated overnight in cinnamon and other spices. The meat is then cooked for three hours while the basmati rice is cooked from scratch: an Indian rice that’s fluffy and long, then garnished. Sahara Grill and Cafe makes everything homemade, even their lentil soup and cucumber sauce which combines garlic and mint for a surprisingly great taste.

Fresh Cut Halal Lamb with Cinnamon and Spices

“Food is cultural, food is like a drug,” she said. “The more you eat of a certain kind, the more you want it.” 

For people with all different tastes, Salah encourages curious customers to come check out her menu and its variety.

“I’m in Jackson Ward, and I’m trying to sell Halal food,” she said. “But a lot of the people here don’t know hummus or falafel, they don’t want it…so this is a challenge. I’m trying to get the word out, I’m trying to get people to taste it and read about it.”

In the meantime, Salah is just glad to see the friendly faces of her community and share her craft. She brings pieces from American culture into her work and leans on her family for support, with history in Sudan where people share everything they have.

Salah’s Team at Sahara Grill and Cafe. Photo by Landon Shroder

“Sudan has the good things and the bad things,” she said. “The food is a good thing, the people are the good things, how family comes together. But we lack freedom there, we don’t have freedom to express ourselves. I think I’m one of those lucky ones that made my way here to the United States of America, and I’m living my dream here.”

Salah’s roots have impacted her life in the States deeply, but she is always enthusiastic to share the best pieces from her origins with the community in Richmond.

“Wherever you go, you interact, and I believe in blending,” she said. “We take and we give. I think we’re taking from the American culture and we’re giving back as well.”

The Boathouse/Casa Del Barco owners to open two new restaurants at Chesterfield Towne Center

Amy David | August 14, 2017

Topics: Casa Del Barco, Dinner in the Field, Good Eats, mexican, rva food, rva restaurants, rvadine, seafood, Shrimp Shack, The Boathouse at Rocketts Landing, The Boathouse at Sunday Park

HOUSEpitality Family Restaurant Group, which owns the Boathouse restaurants as well as outdoor dining concept Dinner in the Field and Casa Del Barco, will bring two new dining options to Chesterfield Towne Center next year.

Restaurant owner/head of HOUSEpitality group Kevin Healy will open seafood restaurant Shrimp Shack along with the third location of their Mexican restaurant Casa Del Barco, which has a spot downtown and a location slated to open sometime this year in Short Pump.

“Given Chesterfield Towne Center’s support of local business owners, the mall was very interested in opening one of our restaurants at its location and approached us about it,” said Paige Healy, director of concept development for the group in a release. “We were so intrigued that we decided to go all in on the location and open two restaurants.”

Shrimp Shack will feature dishes with tropical ingredients, locally sourced seafood options, and influences from Key West and Hawaii. The concept was inspired by Shrimp Shack seasonal outdoor bar at The Boathouse at Sunday Park in Midlothian.

Recycled shipping containers will be used to form the exterior structure of the restaurant according to the news release and it will have two patio areas. 

Casa Del Barco will continue to serve up its Mexican cuisine and cocktails. Each restaurant will have a rooftop bar with a bridge connecting the two for patrons to move between both locations. Shrimp Shack, as well as Casa Del Barco will serve lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch.

No word on the exact date for the restaurants, but both are scheduled to open next year.

Kabana Rooftop Revamped: A new chef and new menu take the restaurant to new heights

Amy David | August 11, 2017

Topics: GOOD EATS RVA, Kabana Rooftop, rva food, rvadine

Located on the 20th floor of Hilton’s Hampton Inn and Suites and Homewood Suites above Belle & James restaurant on East Main Street sits Kabana Rooftop.

This week, the rooftop restaurant and lounge announced its revamp with a new menu and cocktails, with restaurant veteran Mike Ledesma at the helm as Executive Chef.

A former partner with Richmond Restaurant Group (RRG), Ledesma brings over 16 years of experience to the rooftop restaurant and lounge. Enrolling in culinary school in 2000 in Hawaii, the new chef moved to Richmond in 2011 and opened The Hard Shell, a part of RRG. He’s since opened French/Belgian restaurant Max’s on Broad, relaunched Patina Restaurant and Bar, and in 2015, he returned to RRG as Corporate Executive Chef for the menu development for The Daily Kitchen and Bar, East Coast Provisions, Pearl Raw Bar, The Hill Café and both Hard Shell locations.

On Wednesday evening, RVA Mag had a chance to try out some of Ledesma’s dishes that are featured on the menu. Now to be fair, this was my first time at Kabana so I didn’t have anything to compare it to so I can’t speak on the menu prior to Ledema’s arrival, but all of the dishes we sampled at Kabana were excellent, creative, and presented with flair.

When we first sat down, we were greeted with crab gazpacho. Gazpacho isn’t something I usually order when I’m out, not because I don’t like it, just not something I tend to go for. Anyway, this little tiny dish was full of flavor and I wish I had more of it. The gazpacho, made up of tomato, cucumber, and red peppers, was spicy and the huge chunks of crab meat coupled with their house white wine started off the tasting right. I loved the spice and the crab meat was tasty. This is a perfect summer dish to cool you off without feeling too full.

Next, we enjoyed ribs, with a potato croquette and jicama slaw. Unlike my fiance, I’m not as bbq-obsessed as he is, but these were delicious. Falling off the bone and packed with flavor. The combination of the tender meat, with the crunchy potato cake and fresh, light slaw made for a superb combination.

My personal favorite of the night was delivered to our table after the ribs. Chili-lime mussels with coconut curry, red peppers, and basil. I could have eaten this all night. The broth was delicious and the bread they served with the mussels was great for sopping up all the leftover broth once we’d finished the mussels. The mussels were tender and the red pepper sweetness paired with the velvety, spicy curry broth and the mildness of the basil made for a myriad of flavors dancing around on my tongue. A stellar dish and one not to miss if you go to Kabana.

After the mussels, we were brought a colorful, eye-catching tuna poke bowl. The ahi tuna was the star obviously, fresh and tender, but the crunchy sesame seeds, seaweed and chili aioli held their own turning this into not just a delicious one, but a fun one to eat with so many textures and flavors. I don’t like avocado, so I let it be, but my fiance thought it was a nice refreshing touch to the dish. And I could put chili aioli on anything, so that really made this dish for me.

Normally, I don’t order lamb when I go out, but right away, when the tandoori lamb was brought to our table, I was curious. The spices on the lamb were wonderful and the meat was tender and juicy. It came with a house-made tzatziki sauce that cooled off the palette and made me want to keep going back for more. The lamb came with a side of green tomato mint chutney and I don’t like mint, which I know is standard with lamb, but the chutney paired nicely. The accompanying glazed carrots were crunchy and I don’t know that they necessarily fit this dish, but they were good. All in all, a good dish!

The next plate came, and it was just as interesting and flavorful as the last. Hush puppy fried oysters with a cornmeal crust were paired with a bright, summery succotash and chili vinaigrette. The succotash was super yummy and the vinaigrette seemed like a great pairing, not too heavy, but still tasty and brought flavor to the oysters. There was a splendid marriage of salty and spicy. Good little appetizer to start off your night.

We received Mango Jalapeno Ceviche for our next dish, which I think came out earlier before we got there as a small plate. As you can see from the photo, a lot going on here and very eye-catching. However, I wasn’t as crazy about this dish as much as the other ones, the fish tasted a little off to me, but the spicy jalapeno and bright and citrusy mango came through strong and made up for the fish so dipping the chips into that was very good.

 

For Kabana Rooftop’s final dish, we were brought beet tartare which was a delight for the eyes and my taste buds. It was so cute the way it was presented I didn’t even want to eat it, but of course I had to dig in. With the lemon, creamy, but light goat cheese topping paired with the mild beets it was a tasty dish and a great palette cleanser after all the food. Not sweet at all, but the dish offered a variety of flavors and textures between the soft goat cheese, and “lovosh”, a small, crunhcy, flatbread served on the side that paired nicely with the beets.

Oh, we were also treated to a delicious charcuterie and cheese board as well, but unfortunately I ate that so fast we didn’t get a good picture. But make sure to try that out.

This new chef and new menu coupled with the amazing views of downtown Richmond, really take Kabana Rooftop to the next level. If you haven’t already, head to the restaurant/lounge to check out what this new chef is serving up!

 

  • ⟨
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • ⟩

sidebar

sidebar-alt

Copyright © 2021 · RVA Magazine on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Close

    Event Details

    Please fill out the form below to suggest an event to us. We will get back to you with further information.


    OR Free Event

    CONTACT: [email protected]