I sometimes feel a bit funny telling people I have a blog because it’s much akin to most people with their gym memberships — I have a blog but don’t actually use it. I save up all my writing explicitly for Richmond Brunch Weekend these days. Now that we’re only a month out from the event, which will be September 9 & 10, 2023, it’s time to hop back into blogging because I want to tell you what I’m excited for this year.

What’s New this year with rVA Brunch weekend

Sometimes when I tell people we’re in our sixth year, their jaws drop and their eyes bug out of their head. I mean, I get it. It honestly feels wild that we’ve made it past the pandemic and Cazey moving to a different continent. When I restarted the event last year, I was truthfully a little scared. What if no restaurants sign on? What if I’m not the half of the cofounding duo that makes it work?

Being able to not only get the event rolling again last year, but to bring forward some new elements this year is exactly the reason I too balk at it being six years — it still feels so fun and new!

1. My Dog Inspired the T-Shirt

I listed our t-shirts first because it’s a fun way to support us even if you’re not in Richmond (they even ship internationally, Cazey!).

We have two designs this year, which is a first. One is the white RVA Brunch Weekend logo on a myriad of products, Make sure to click around a bit — there are nine different products you can get the logo on with typically five color options for each design. That’s 40 options, so buy a few so you can rock our logo year round.

Some may scream nepo-baby, but I scream, “There’s gotta be some dog on the shirt, so mine as well be mine, ESPECIALLY since she’s a rescue dog!” We lovingly call this design Brunch BFF, and it features a glorious tabby cat and waffle-headed mutt that yes, is a graphical rendering of Bellatrix. Same rules as above apply, scroll around a bit and buy a few! You can get the design on t-shirts, baseball shirts and more.

A portion of every sales goes to the Richmond SPCA, so don’t feel guilty for building your entire wardrobe between the two campaigns.

2. We’ve got A Brunch of peaches to go around

For the first time ever, we’ve got a produce sponsor!

• Who is it: Keany Produce & Gourmet, which is a family-operated company since 1978. They deliver a robust variety of fruits, vegetables, dairy products, specialty items, and fresh processed produce across the mid-Atlantic region.

• What does this entail? Along with making a donation to the Richmond SPCA, Keany Produce is also offering free peaches to any participating restaurant that wants them for RVA Brunch Weekend.

• What does that mean? That means special peach dishes at twenty different participating restaurants available only for Richmond Brunch Weekend Sept. 9 & 10. Think peach bellini’s, peach salsa and waffles topped with fresh peaches. YUM! Scroll through our participating restaurants and look for the peach emoji to see who will have peach specials.

The peaches are from Crown Orchards, which was started in 1912 by the Chiles family. Now their operations, run by Henry and Huff Chiles, span across over 1,000 mountaintop acres in Virginia with beautiful panoramic views of Charlottesville. They have been one of Central Virginia’s most prolific fruit growers for four generations. They now boast seven major orchard within a 15-mile radius with acres of peaches, nectarines, and apples. Keany has been partnered with Crown Orchards since 1998!

3. Our Kickoff Event is Back (Not New) and has a raffle (new)

It’s been a few years since we had a Richmond Brunch Weekend Kickoff event, but we’ve brought it back this year. The entire point of the kickoff is to add more fun to the weekend, so please join us Friday night to help get the weekend started off strong!

Date: Friday, September 8, 2023
Time: 5 — 8 p.m.
Where: River City Roll
Cost: Free
RSVP: Not required

RVA Brunch Weekend Kickoff will feature a live band (we’ll announce who it is in mid-August, so stay tuned), a special brunch-for-dinner menu, specialty Tito’s cocktails, a dog-friendly patio and free swag bags for the first one hundred attendees.

We’ll also have two big raffle prize packages. You’ll be able to make a donation to the Richmond SPCA to get tickets for a chance to win either of the prize packages:

• Brunch at Home: Imagine yourself curling up on your sofa with a few friends (or solo, whatever makes you happy) with a Bloody Mary, takeout food from your favorite Richmond restaurant and some brunch-scented candles. This relaxingly delicious morning and more can be yours if you win our Brunch at Home raffle prize package.

• A Weekend in Charlottesville: That’s right, we’re going destination brunch. We’ve got a fun-filled weekend just down the road in Charlottesville featuring a one-night stay at Quirk, beers at Three Notch’d, hot yoga for two and more!

It’s our first time having raffle prizes, so please invite your friends, enjoy a cocktail and buy lots of tickets to make it a success!

What’s the same about richmond brunch weekend

It’s really fun to talk about what’s new, but you know what they say — if it’s not broke, don’t fix it! There’s a lot of things that have happened before that’s worth mentioning even though it’s not new. Here’s a list of those key notes:

• Beloved Print Sponsor PostNet is back again (that makes them six for six on supporting us). You’ll start to see posters, table tents and handbills popping up in our forty plus participating restaurants mid-August. Be on the lookout for them, and think of PostNet when you need a print shop!

• This event makes me happy cry because of the how much support this community gives us, and this year is no different. ChefSuite RVA and Toast are both on board to help us raise money for pets in need. Thank you both for your support!

• Lots of our restaurants will also be doing special Dog Days of Summer Tito’s Cocktails again during RVA Brunch Weekend and leading up to the event weekend. The best way to know where these drink specials are is to follow us on Instagram where we’ll post drink specials.

• We already did one Instagram Giveaway of over $200 worth of gift cards, so if you’re having FOMO, it’s really time to join us there! We’ll be doing one more giveaway on Instagram in August, and then saving a whole lot of gift carts for the weekend of the event. We’ll be doing our #RVAdoublebrunch giveaway again to encourage y’all to go out and brunch during RVA Brunch Weekend.

  1. I’ll do my best to blog again before the event to really highlight the weekend giveaway, but really all you need to know is:

1. Brunch at any participating restaurant September 9 or 10 and take a picture.

2. Post it on Instagram (can be a story, post, reel or live), tag us (@RichmondBrunch) and use the hashtags #rvabrunchweekend and #rvadoublebrunch.

3. Head to a second participating restaurant (can be two in one day or one each day of the weekend) and take another picture.

4. Post that second picture on Instagram, tag us (@RichmondBrunch) and use the hashtags #rvabrunchweekend and #rvadoublebrunch.

5. That’s it! You’re entered to win one of two of our big weekend giveaway packages!

If you go to more than two restaurants, keep posting pictures! We call it ‘Double Brunch’ but that’s really the bare minimum. Each picture you post past two counts as another entry. And if you come to the kickoff, that can count for your first post as long as you share a picture!

Anyways, as you can tell by this incredibly long blog post, there’s not just three things I’m excited about for Richmond Brunch Weekend. I’m entirely obsessed with the whole dang thing. See y’all there!