Coffee and a Conversation
As Told Over Brunch is a home for intelligent discourse from the twenty-something perspective - so the stuff you gossip about over mimosas on Sunday morning or over takeout on your friend's couch when happy hour ends too early. We love chatting about our lives, whether it be the relationships we’re building (or destroying), lessons we've learned at work, struggles at school, growing pains we've felt, or even the food we’re talking over.
I first heard about Salt & Forge from an old coworker, who's review was that it was, "Stupidly delicious!"
Caz and I both hit the gym separately, and then met up to undo all the good work we did at the gym at Salt & Forge.
Read MoreTwo weekends ago my two friends visited Richmond for the Watermelon Festival. We had to brunch before the festival, so I decided to take them to Starlite. I had never been to Starlite for brunch, but I had heard good things - and they weren't lies.
Starlite is on the corner of Main and Robinson, one of the handful of restaurants on that corner, and generally has open windows onto the sidewalk. On this day, it was already high eighties by 11 am, so the windows were shut. We crowded into the AC'd front part where a hostess asked us how many. We said we had three, and she said it would be fifteen minutes, but then a table opened up and we were about to pounce - until a larger party said they needed three tables, not two.
I considered throwing a mimosa on that group, then reconsidered seeing how we were outnumbered.
Read MoreThere is almost nothing more exciting than getting an email about a new brunch spot, so when we got word that Castanea had brunch, it took us almost no time to head down there to try it out. I had never been to Castanea, so my first impression was the big font on the front of the building, a huge mural on the side of the building and a large patio with colorful umbrellas.
When you walk into Castanea, it looks exactly what you'd imagine for a Greek cafe, complete with a dessert counter and golden chairs. We opted to sit on the patio. As it was a sweltering mid-August day in Richmond, what could go wrong? Oh, that's right, rain. It rained on us. And you guessed it, right when we got our food was when it was hardest. But I digress.
I went to dollar drinks at Tobacco Company the night prior, so the last thing I wanted was more alcohol. But then one of our waiters said their Bloody Mary's were the best, so I caved and got one. With a lamb shank, because why not at this point, right?
Read MoreIn the weeks leading up to this year’s Richmond Brunch Weekend, I found myself brunching twice a week, which doesn’t sound like much of a toil until you look at my bank statement. Also, brunch is fun and all, but when you’re dragging yourself out of bed repeatedly for it…well, there is not enough iced coffee in a day.
And the saddest part of all this is (I know, such first world problems, brunching and all), I never got to all of the participating restaurants. (There were 24, so please bear with me.) Notably, the Betty on Davis and Nota Bene (formerly Pizza Tonight) both evaded my stomach.
Thankfully, I got to right one of my wrongs when I ventured to the Betty on Davis a couple of weekends ago. The Betty was top of my brunch list (along with Nota Bene; I’m coming for you next), and on a Friday night at the VMFA, I found my friends talking about it. I promptly asked if they wanted to go on Sunday.
Read MoreDo you really need a reason to brunch? We mean, maybe you need a bit of coffee to get out of bed, but once you're at brunch, do you really have any regrets?
But okay. We'll give you some reasons.
It's spring.
You don't have to do anything. (At least until after brunch.)
Read MoreBefore I dive into another swooning-brunch-review, I have to give a shoutout to my super-cool-super-great Mom.
My Mom is the baddest (Mom, that means “the best”- proof here at UrbanDictionary.com), and she was happy to let me use her Mother's Day as an opportunity to review another restaurant on the Richmond Brunch Weekend list. Thanks, Mom, you really are the best and I love youuuuu.
So, this past Sunday Mom, Dad, and I hit one of my old favorite nightspots to see what it looks like during daytime, which we've never done...unless you count Shamrock festivities (That's right; Mom, Dad, and I have Shamrocked together...), which I don't really because it's essentially a night party with the sun out.
I don't even know where to begin talking about Southern Railway Taphouse...
Read MoreWhen Continental Divide joined Richmond Brunch Weekend’s lineup, I had yet to be there, though I only live a mile away. I quickly looked up their menu, and besides craving brunch, their dinner menu looked like da bomb. Southwest Caesar salad? Thai chicken burrito? Yes, yes, yes.
So before I even went for brunch, I stopped by for dinner with a friend. Except my friend and I pushed back our meeting time by an hour because of some crazy thunderstorm, but I was starved, so I ate half a jar of peanuts by the time dinner actually arrived. So then I’m at Continental Divide, and the waiter asks what I want to order, and secretly I’m in my first trimester from those peanuts.
I asked for something lighter, even though I really wanted that Southwest Caesar salad, but I was imagining a plate of romaine sapped in heavy dressing, and the peanuts within me curdled. But my friend did get the Caesar salad. When the waiter put it down on the table, I wanted to crawl across the table and hold him back with a butter knife while I devoured it.
Read MoreTwo Saturdays ago, my friend and I set out to brunch at a certain place only to find Google was totally wrong and they only serve brunch on Sundays. Uh. That seemed very day-ist to us.
Thankfully, the next stop on our bucket list of restaurants to “conquer” for Richmond Brunch Weekend was The Savory Grain, and they brunch both days of the weekend as everyone should. My friend and I even called to double check this fact.
I wanted to sit outside when we arrived, but my friend pointed at the sky. Sure enough, as soon as we were seated, we looked outside to see horizontal rain. It doesn’t sideways rain often, and it would have been unfortunate if we had been sipping mimosas in that.
Read MoreLast Sunday afternoon my friend and I headed downtown to Casa Del Barco for brunch. Casa Del Barco was one of the first restaurants to jump onboard for Richmond Brunch Weekend, and I had been looking forward to checking them out.
I had been to Casa Del Barco once before for a birthday dinner and enjoyed my meal then. I was pretty confident they wouldn’t lead me astray for brunch. If you can’t tell from the name, Casa Del Barco offers generally Mexican cuisine. While writing this review, I decided to Google what “barco” means. It means “boat.” (Obviously Spanish III did freshman year of high school did not deliver necessary life skills.) So Casa Del Barco translates to “Boathouse.” This makes all the more sense since Casa is owned by the same people as all three Boathouse locations (who are also participating in Richmond Brunch Weekend, don’t you know?).
Casa Del Barco is a bit hard to find once you get to the general location. It faces onto Richmond’s Canal Walk, and parking is situated on the backside of the building. Their website is probably the best at navigating where to park and how to get there.
Read MoreThe first Saturday of March, I suddenly realized Richmond Brunch Weekend is a lot closer than I thought, and ATOB needed to start reviewing all these participating restaurants. I called up two friends and we headed to Southerly Restaurant & Patio, which is the dine-in portion of Southern Season. Now Sara and I have been to Southerly one other time, but not for brunch. I’ve been meaning to go back, and it only took nine months, no biggie.
We arrived around 12:30 with no reservation, but were seated promptly. The first thing my friends remarked upon was how fancy Southerly is. Now it’s not fancy in the “you need to dress up” way, but it’s the sort of place “you go to after church,” my friend explained. “Or you take your grandmother for her birthday.”
I definitely agree with this. There were rosebuds in water on the tables. Southerly’s target demographic is not the hungover millennial demographic, but it doesn’t need to be. We have the Fan bruncheries for that. The Southerly is, like its name implies, a taste of the South – a brunch place to take your parents (or rather, they take you) and then have them buy you stuff next door in the Southern Season.
Read More