Dishcrawl in The Fan

2/11/14:

Stars: 4.7 out of 5.0

Pros: 4 Restaurants for 1 Price, Great Food, Fun Side Trip, New Friends

Cons: Some Venues Were Tight, Chilly Weather

     The concept behind Dishcrawl is fascinating of itself; bring together a large group of foodies at 4 local restaurants to introduce both entities to each other for an affordable price. To watch it executed is even more amazing. I was fortunate enough to once again attend a Dishcrawl in Richmond, this time in The Fan. After my wonderful experience at the first one in Carytown, I couldn't wait for the night to arrive.

     Dishcrawl (Dishcrawl), for all who don't know, is a 4 for one price outing. What I mean by that is you pay your $45 for a ticket and what you get is a meal at 4 restaurants. No planning ahead. No calling for reservations. No waiting around for a table to free up. No agonizing over menu choices. You show up at the first place and just enjoy the journey. It's an easy way to eat your face off on a Tuesday night.

    Our Dishcrawl Ambassador for our journey was a fellow food blogger that I had followed since her arrival in Richmond, Sarah Choi. According to Dishcrawl law, she did a great job of keeping all of the 4 locations a secret, slowly leaking hints and clues until the day before when she sent us all an email with our first stop revealed, Heritage. All of us arrived primed and ready to eat.

     I will say that Heritage is not built for a group of 30 people, plus the general public. It was a very tight squeeze. Elbow room was at a premium and that was the situation for a lot of the evening. The places we went to aren't huge chain restaurants with massive dining areas. They are small local joints built for small groups and couples. That's just the way it is and is no one's fault. Still, as a husky guy, it made for a slightly rough going.

     Heritage  (Heritage) led off the group with a nice plate of their offerings. They presented us with a beet & arugula salad covered in a horseradish creme, a pimento cheese croquette and a house-made pasta with a pork belly sausage. All the food was wonderful, but to me the salad was the star of this plate. I loved the spice of the horseradish creme with the bite of the arugula. It was spicy and flavorful. Definitely a great start for me.

     Next we made a quick pit stop on our brisk walk to the next restaurant. We stopped at the Visual Arts Center (Visual Arts Center). We met with Caroline Wright who is the Director of Exhibition Programming. She brought us in and gave us a short little introduction to the Visual Arts Center. It's an awesome place offering classes and free exhibits open to the public on a regular basis. The exhibit we saw was work by Tom Condon. It was pretty fantastic stuff. I'll certainly be looking into visiting the Visual Arts Center in the future.

     After seeing the exhibit, it was back out into the cold for our trip to the next restaurant, Rowland Fine Dining. It was cold as all get out outside. Not that I will deduct any stars for weather, but I still need to say how much I hate the winter. It made these walks between restaurants pure misery. But it made getting in the door at the next place even more satisfying.

     Our second restaurant was Rowland Fine Dining (Rowland Fine Dining). When we got inside, we all spread out through out the restaurant. Everyone found a spot to sit where ever there was an open table. I found a seat with 2 fellow food bloggers Dana & Shakir. They were people I had been following on Twitter for a long while and was anxious to meet. So, we sat and talked until our delicious plate arrived. When they arrived, they contained 3 fantastic little bites. There was a carnitas spring roll, a black bean cake with fried egg & pico de gallo and a house-made ravioli stuffed with chicken & topped with a cilantro/caper sauce. I give my vote for favorite bite to the ravioli. It was amazing, and possibly my favorite bite of the night. The flavors were spot on with just a hint of kick to it. The pasta was fresh and unimaginably good. It is on my list of things to get again in the future.

     After we cleaned our plates it was time to move on. We headed down the street to Lady N'awlins Cajun Cafe (Lady N'awlins), a place I've visited before. Once again, we spread out when we got inside the restaurant as it's not really set-up for a group of 30. This time I found myself seated next to another food blogger, Marcella. Again, a person that I have followed on Twitter for a long time now and I was so excited to meet. We sat and chatted foodie things while the kitchen brought us our food. The plate held the following goodness: Oyster (Rockefeller), shrimp on top of grits cooked in cream with lots of butter, a fried green tomato with blackened shrimp & mustard sauce and a wedge of corn bread. Who was the winner here you ask? Well, I vote the fried green tomato with the blackened shrimp. The crisp of the breading was pronounced. The flavor of the breading helped mild the tomato's tart-esque flavor. And the blackening on the shrimp was spot on. It was an excellent part of the dish.

     The time to get ready to end our night was approaching, but we still had one stop left so we all made our way down to Mint Gastropub (Mint Gastropub) to polish off some dessert. When we arrived, the restaurant was almost empty so we were able to all sit as one big group. By this time of the night a lot of new friends had been made among the 30 of us. I got to meet some fellow food bloggers and I'm grateful for that opportunity. It has been wonderful getting to know them since. Any who, back to the dessert course. Chef Malcolm Mitchell prepared a dish that I normally wouldn't order, bread pudding. But not just any bread pudding, but a brioche bread pudding with Don Julio dolce leche sauce & a touch of vanilla ice cream. It was an unreal combination of flavors. It wasn't overburdened with sweetness making it much simpler to enjoy. While we were eating, Malcolm Mitchell came out to chat with us. It was great hearing about what they offered at Mint and what he was trying to accomplish. I wish him luck.

     We all finished up our dessert and began to drift out, a little at a time. Just like the first time, Dishcrawl was a huge success. I left there feeling full and I know that I got to experience 4 new restaurants. And I met a few new friends that I would possibly never had had the chance of meeting. If you get a chance, go to a Dishcrawl. It is a great way to experience a piece of Richmond's dining scene in a fun exciting way.