Buttermilk & Molasses

Buttermilk Break

The baby arrived unexpectedly last Friday, so updates here will be a bit less frequent. Plug Buttermilk & Molasses' address into your RSS feed or loiter at RVA Blogs so you don't miss out on the latest posts (which will appear just below this one for a while).

River City Class I Rapids

Ever since Jon Baliles threw on a tie and started schlepping down to City Hall for his new day job as a member of Mayor Wilder's PR team, the flow of feisty posts on his River City Rapids website has dwindled to a spare trickle. While I appreciate John's passion for the city (and the fact that he is genuinely loving his new job), I sure hope he gets fired soon so the Richmond community can once again enjoy his shoe-leather reporting on city affairs.

Style Throws the Sounds Out Next Week

Next week's Style Weekly (hitting the streets on April 22) is the free weekly's annual music issue, and will be featuring a non-free companion CD. The compilation of music by 14 Richmond bands will be available at Style's CD release party at Capital Ale House next Thursday, April 24, from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. The throw-down will feature Fight the Big Bull, Richmond Afrobeat Movement and others; cost is $5.

Updated 4/15/08: Jason Roop at Style has provided some more information about Style's first Richmond music CD, including the fact that it is free! Here are the details:

One correction though: The CD is indeed FREE, thanks in part to our sponsors, Capital Ale House, Key Signatures and Plan 9 Music, not to mention the 12 bands and two singer-songwriters who donated their tracks – some of them unreleased – to the CD mix, “Sounds of Richmond No. 1.” We are thrilled to have produced an initial 5,000 copies of the CDs to be given out until they are gone. People will be able to pick them up at Plan 9 as well as at the concert and our downtown offices.

They Will Pave Broad Street with Leftovers

The Downtown Neighborhood Association is getting into the festival business -- launching Richmond's Broad Appétit food festival on Sunday, May 18. For those of us old enough to remember the International Food Festival, this is exciting news -- primarily because during the IFF's hey-day, Italian food was considered exotic in Richmond. We've come a long way, baby.

The new Broad Appétit event will boast about 30 chefs from the creme de creme of Richmond's restaurant community -- think Cous Cous, Mise en Place, Comfort, Zed Cafe, La Grotta, Croaker's Spot -- who will each be asked to prepare, sell and serve three dishes for the public to enjoy. Each item will cost $3, which means that you can consume approximately 5,400 calories [assume 90 dishes at an average of 600 calories each] for a mere $270. Or go to Applebee's and do the same thing for $29.99.

In addition to the opportunity to consume many small quantities of local fare, Broad Appétit will feature Joel Salatin of the Shenandoah Valley's "beyond organic" Polyface Farms. [The Washington Post recently ran an excellent article on how Chipotle and Polyface have partnered to provide local pork in some of Chipotle's Virginia stores -- and the incredible challenges they overcame to do it.] There will also be a local market with Virginia farmers, growers and bakers selling fresh food, fresh produce and spring flowers. The Bug Chef Cook-Off will delight insect lovers who miss the Farmer's Market event launched by former market manager Kathy Emerson.

A companion art show, curated by Quirk Gallery, looks to be as exciting as the festival itself:

Whodunnit? is an invitational exhibition of work by 75 artists. All exhibited works will be originals in a 6" x 9" format and will sell for the fixed price of $50.00 (all work will to be signed on the back; anonymity is the key). The name of the artist for each work is kept secret during the exhibition, only to be revealed at the completion of the sale. The work will be on view, during a private reception, at Quirk Gallery on Saturday, May 17 from 6pm to 9pm. On Sunday, May 18, the work will be sold at Quirk Gallery (noon - 5pm) during Broad Appétit. Whether the piece is by a well known or emerging artist is anyone's guess.