Though I've eaten at Fleming's a number of times before, a few newer features have made this my new favorite place to grab a steak.
First, there are features we all love about Fleming's. It's classy and chic. The decor is stellar. The staff is professional and friendly. The seating is so much more comfortable than many restaurants in Richmond mostly because you're not sitting on your neighbor's lap the whole time. Though I've always found it to be on the noisier side, I always feel like a million bucks when I'm there.
However, most can't go too often because it's expensive. For a filet mignon, expect to pay $40 and this will not come with sides. However, Fleming's now offers small plates for about half of this. Not only is this much cheaper, but it allows you to try more than you normally would.
First, my husband and I split the Lobster Tempura, fried lobster served with a soy ginger sauce and an apple jicama salad for $22.50. While I'm not a fan of fried foods, this was delicious and the sauce paired very nicely with the meat of the lobster. We each got a nice portion of lobster and for what we had, I think it was very nicely priced. For my entree, I ordered the filet mignon skewers which were served with a gorganzola bacon fondue and a tomato and mozzarella salad all for less than $18. My husband said he didn't want to order this because "they'll just overcook the steak." He was wrong! Trust Fleming's to always cook your steak perfectly. The meat nearly melted in my mouth. The sauce was unbelievably rich and decadent. I could only take a few drops over the meat but it was fabulous. And it was just enough meat for me.
My husband had the sliced filet mignon over shiitake risotto for $18.50. It was presented beautifully - it almost looked like sushi. The cook was perfect and my husband said he loved the flavors of the dish.
There you have it: surf and turf for two for $60. Finally, Fleming's now offers 100 wines by the glass. The list is extensive and is logically organized so it's easy to quickly find what you're looking for. They also offer wine flights so that you can pair 2 oz of wine with each plate you order if you're feeling adventurous. I think this just makes for a fun date. Note that there is not a flat fee for the flight, so if you order a taste of an $18 glass of wine, you will pay 1/3 for it. But if you stick to some of the cheaper glasses you can try three for a reasonable price (and maybe go for it and try that $18 glass of bubbly you wouldn't normally order). :-) I had such a nice time at Fleming's. As I said earlier, I think we are going to have to turn this into a regular date night spot. Fleming's just knows how to treat you right in a beautiful environment and with the small plates and wines by the glass/flight, we can have a fun and affordable date a little more often.
Last week I attended a medical conference at Virginia Beach. Here is a sampling of my favorite restaurants - two tried and true ones and a new fabulous find. Catch 31
Everything about this restaurant screams trendy sophistication. I mean, come on, it's at the Hilton. It is a very busy place and is usually quite energetic. The food is gourmet and it's one of the best places to have seafood at the beach. I love to sit outside. When it's cooler, fire pits are lit to keep you warm. During the summer, there is usually a band playing right beside of the restaurant. And there is an ocean view of course. This is one of the pricier restaurants, and they don't take reservations (booo!) but I think you have to try it at least once when you're in town.
I had the crab cakes and they were perfect just as expected; large chunks of back fin meat with a yummy grain mustard sauce, an unexpected but flavorful pear-tomato chutney, and side of veggies/steamed potatoes. Aldo's Italian Ristorante
I'm not going to lie. I ate here two nights. In a row. I just couldn't imagine a different place at which I'd rather be. This is a quintessential Italian restaurant in my opinion. It's so classy and chic. On Saturday nights, a musician plays the baby grande and the lights are turned down low. The whole place just glows.
I ate classic Italian pasta dishes this time, but I'm sure anything off the menu would be great. On the first night, I ordered capellini served with the vodka tomato cream sauce which was luscious. I asked for the half size which was just right. On the next night, I ate the classic lasagna baked in the wood burning oven which was also decadent and perfect; exactly the way you imagine it should be. I should also add that the wine list is also amazing. I found a red wine that was one of the best I had EVER tasted. Aldo's is about a five to ten minute drive from the shore (on Laskin Road) but is worth leaving the strip! The Leaping Lizard Cafe
I decided to visit this cafe after seeing it featured on the Food Network's Diners, Drives, and Dives. It was about twenty minutes from the actual beach but I am so glad I made it out. The cafe is committed to using fresh produce and it shows. In fact, there is a produce stand out back where many of the ingredients are from! (Along with some chickens!) It seemed that every opportunity was taken to add as many fresh ingredients as possible to the plate - down to the cantaloupe slice that finished everything off.
You should know that seating is pretty limited and I actually never made it inside because most of the seats seem to be outside. It was 100 degrees when I was there and I was a little annoyed at first. However, I think it was worth it and a glass of cold white wine really makes you forget how hot it really is :-)
I ate one of the daily specials (of which there are many). It was a little crab cake with a summer salad (including zucchini and squash), and the summer corn with basil. (See my last post for my attempt at recreating this). Delicious! The serving sizes were a little small, but the food itself was excellent. For dessert, I ordered the peach shortbread which really knocked my socks off. The shortbread was just the right consistency and had just the right amount of sweetness. The peaches were so amazingly ripe and flavorful. I really do not know what the cooks did to render so much flavor from the peaches but it was on the best desserts I've ever had!
After lunch (yes I had all of that for lunch), I bought a ton of produce from the back. I was just beaming after the whole experience. I loved Leaping Lizard and will definitely be coming back!
Last night we treated ourselves to a "wine dinner" with our friends. At Arcadia, a special room and menu were devoted to pairing a four course meal (plus dessert) with glasses of wine from Barboursville, a great local winery. The makers of the wines were even in attendance. Everything was excellent and it was such a great way to spend a random Wednesday....because sometimes you just need to drink four glasses on a work night :-)
And I didn't even have to do any picture taking; there was a photographer who handled everything - even taking our picture! These pictures are from Arcadia's Facebook page.
It was time to check out the new place in Shockoe Bottom, so Matt and I headed out for date night on Saturday. Located in the former Cafe Gutenburg, Arcadia is a surprising new fine dining spot. Once there, we were greeted with valet parking and very friendly hosts. Lucky for us, we were seated in a corner in the front and discovered that we at famous table number 15! This is the exact same spot where Daniel Day Lewis sat while he was filming his new Abe Lincoln movie in Richmond! As he is one of Matt's favorite actors, we had big smiles on our faces from the beginning! 
Okay, back to Arcadia. The restaurant did a good job preserving the original feel of the historic building, while giving it a fresh make over. The beautiful engravings on the vaulted ceilings remain, while the walls have been updated with a pale, happy yellow color. I was also pleased to see that the tables are more generously spaced apart than other spots in town. All in all, it has a classy and elegant, yet friendly feel.
One the aspects I appreciated the most are the wine listings. Here, you may select a wide range of lovely bottles from a $20 or a $30 list. What a steal! We helped ourselves to a bottle of earthy Malbec.
On the other hand, Arcadia's dinner menu is a little on the pricier side. As an upscale steak house, it offers all of its sides a la cart. For us, this meant we skipped the appetizer and small plates, though I really wanted to try the ceviche and and carrot soup, the latter of which our server told us was featured on a list of foods that must be tried in Richmond. Maybe next time.
For my entree, I chose the crab cakes which were served with "vegetable sticks" of potato and carrot, finished with a grain mustard mayo. I thought the cakes were well done with high quality back fin meat. There was very little filling and the taste was good, though it was overly salted. Matt ordered the New York Strip, medium rare. Arcadia is most renowned for its steaks. They use only Angus beef which is prepared in a special broiler used to quickly cook steaks at 1600 degrees to caramelize the meat. Matt's steak was a bit under cooked, even for him, but he said it was very flavorful and he enjoyed it overall. For our one, shared side, we chose the shrimp macaroni and cheese featuring aged gouda. It was decadent; very rich and meant to be shared. However, I also thought it too was too salty and it was priced at over $11. Finally, for desert we chose a pear tart which consisted of beautifully arranged pear slices baked into a puff pastry. It was light, airy, and delicious. We really enjoyed our date at Arcadia. It is close to home and the service is wonderful. I think the food is gourmet, albeit on the more expensive side. For a twenty dollar bottle of wine, two entrees, one side, and one dessert, our final bill came to $100 before gratuity. For this reason, we will save Arcadia for special occasions, but I think we will be back ;-)
Acacia is an unassuming jewel of restaurant tucked away in the center of Carytown. We went there yesterday for date night and we loved it!
First, we were delighted to see that we wouldn't have to fight for a parking spot; they valet park for free! Yay! The decor was beautiful! I love the colors of brown and sage. There was a stunning mural across one of the back walls that was several feet long, and there was even a row of bubble ornaments floating directly in front of us. The weather was warm, so they opened their front windows and we spent the evening watching the rain fall. A wonderful feature I highly recommend taking advantage of is their pre-fixe menu which is a three course meal for $24 per person! This is served from 5:30-6:30 (you just have to be seated by 6:30). What a steal!
One disappointment I had that was that we were seated directly beside of one of the only two couples in the restaurant, and we were only about 12 inches away from them. This was especially disappointing because I called and asked about their seating policy and the person taking our reservation said she would make a note that we'd like "elbow room." I don't understand why restaurants don't spread their seating out. It would seriouly force the waiter to take about two extra steps and would give guests more privacy and intimacy, especially when the restaurant is empty!! I just don't get it!
On to the food. We started with a "small plate" of hushpuppies with scallions and crab. This was the only other feature I did not like. For $5 you get three tiny hushpuppies with specks of crab and a tiny amount of scallions. Sorry, but I could easily have gotten these from Long John Silver's and for the same price, I've could have gotten 20. They were yummy, don't get me wrong, but come on. Next we both had simple salads featuring apples, golden raisins, blue cheese, and a homemade vinaigrette. These were delicious and had great flavors. We especially loved the candied pecans! For our entrees, I had the trout with a basil sauce. It was excellently prepared and I LOVED the sauce. It was very creative and paired well with everything on the plate. Matt had trout with cheddar cheese grits and local greens with pine nuts which he thought was great as well. Finally, for dessert I had the raspberry pana cotta. It was light and flavorful; just what I wanted after eating several courses.
We will definitely be going back to Acacia! I loved the atmosphere and the service was excellent. The food was amazing and at the pre-fix price was very affordable. I hope we'll get a better spot next time, but all of its other features almost make up for the way they seat folks.
I had to work this weekend so we went out last night for a little R&R between shifts.
Stronghill is located just off of broad, north of Carytown. I love the decor inside and out. This is the awesome mural on the inside which was just above our booth. Speaking of which, we had a great table by the window tucked away in the back, away from the door. I started off with a bowl of the soup du jour: creamy roasted tomato with Parmesan cheese. I liked it a lot; it was spicy but the cheese kept it mellow. For my entree, I also had one of the specials: rockfish with crispy potatoes and green beans. I loved the meat - a thick, luscious white fish. The flavors were okay; definitely good overall, but not spectacular. Matt had the flank steak, ordered medium rare. It's texture was on the tougher side. However, he said that the flavor was excellent and made up for it. It was served with creamy mashed potatoes and green beans. For dessert, we ordered the boston cream "cheese cake" but were served the wrong dessert after waiting about half an hour. (I think the crowd must have picked up suddenly around 8:00 pm). They took it off our bill and sent the one we ordered in a to-go box on the house, which I thought was very nice. The dessert wasn't creamy, though - it was on the firmer side, like it needed to warmed up for about an hour. I decided it wasn't worth the calories and skipped it after a few bites. I liked Stronghill. It's a very cute restaurant with a good atmosphere. The staff was very friendly and went out of their way to fix a mistake anyone could make on a busy Saturday night, which we really appreciated. The food was good, but not outstanding. Overall, another nice place to dine in Richmond.
On Feb 14 we headed out to beautiful Rockett's Landing for our four course meal at M Bistro. I love Rockett's Landing - it's a little area at the edge of the city overlooking the James River and is just a few minutes from our house. It's easy to get to, there's no traffic, and parking is easy.
The restaurant has a great atmosphere and big comfy chairs. Seating is tight, so be prepared for that. We came early and they placed us about 12 inches from another couple and all of the other tables were empty. We asked for a booth but those were "reserved." However, I think the restaurant's other features made up for that. That night we were even treated to live jazz musicians being there as well!
The special menu was set for the occasion with about five choices for each course. I love going to special restaurant events like this because I think it gives you an opportunity to try a little bit of everything.
First, we were offered an hors d'oeuvre; a fast bite of an artichoke cake with a pomegranate sauce. Next up, an appetizer: Southern Spoon Bread and Bruschetta that had a sweet cornbread taste. After that, Bistro Crab Bisque with Grilled Lobster; it was sooo creamy with perfectly tender bites of seafood. For my entree, I chose the Bistro Crab Cake and Bacon Wrapper Sturgeon. I loved the fish - it had a texture like rockfish and was perfectly cooked. The crabcake somehow tasted like bacon, however. I couldn't really figure out why since the bacon was on the other side of the plate. But overall I liked the entree which was finished off with mashed Kennebec Potatoes, Broccoli Rabe, all topped with a foamy Lemon Emulsion. Everything was finished off with a poached pear armagnac in puff pastry with cream and strawberries. I devoured every bite. I loved M Bistro and Wine Bar. Though small, it is modern and has a romantic candle lit ambiance. M's wine list is adequate with a nice variety of selections by the glass and bottle, all reasonably priced. The service was fantastic - our waitress did a a great job on a night I can imagine was stressful for the staff. Finally, the food was creative, presented well, and was delicious. I can't wait to go back!
Armed with a Living Social voucher, we headed out to Rowland Fine Dining in the Fan last weekend.
I think when you go to restaurants in the Fan you have to keep in mind that space is limited for restaurants just as is it for houses, parking, etc in the area. Prepare to snuggle up with your neighbors. It's just part of being in the Fan.
We were served by the owner who also somehow ran the bar. The folks here work very, very hard but I think they need at least one more server, especially on the weekends. My suggestion for going here would be to visit on a weekday because it just gets too crowded and busy on Saturday night. You really don't get the attention you need. Also, apparently you can reserve certain tables....I've never heard of restaurants doing this. I would certainly be sure to reserve "a bigger table" or something along those lines or you may be disappointed by your spot.
The food, however, was perfect!
We started with a bottle of La Quercia Italian wine made from Montepulciano grapes. It was full-bodied but smooth with nice tannins. This went great with the homemade bread that is served - crusty on the outside with a warm, soft center. Yum!
Next, Matt had the duck for his entree. It is served with pumpkin risotto with a maple bourbon glaze. He said this was the best duck he had ever had; it was moist and tender and the pumpkin flavor was outstanding.
I had the pecan crusted pork chop which was also delicious. It was a huge portion (part of which was donated to Matt). The pecans gave it a crunchy texture and a nice sweet taste. It was served with white cheddar macaroni cheese (so creamy and rich) and a granny smith apple sauce. I loved it! We finished everything off by splitting dessert - bananas foster! I was reeeeally hoping it would be flambed table side but I am wondering if restaurants even do that anymore because of the fire hazard. And come to think of it, this place is so small, it would probably light the sleeve of your neighbor on fire, so this is probably for the best. But no matter, this was also quite nice and was served in a crunchy caramel shell. Overall Rowland Fine Dining gets a 10 for its food but again, it's just too busy for me and the servers are stretched too thin. Definitely go and enjoy a great a meal, but do so as a weekday treat.
A few Saturday nights ago, Matt and I, armed with a Groupon, tried Iron Fish by Pescado's. Pescado's owns a few seafood restaurants around the greater Richmond area, (Pescado means "fish" in Spanish). Ironfish is sort of a spin-off, I suppose, and is brand new located near Glen Allen. Anyway, Pescado's is rumored to be great, so I decided we needed to give Ironfish a try.
Be forewarned, this place does not take reservations. I don't know about you, but my idea of a night out on the town does not include sitting on a bench in the cold, starving, waiting for food. I loathe it. Ninety-nine percent of the time, we always make reservations. What's even more annoying is that when I called a week ahead to make reservations, I was told they accepted call ahead seating, but when we "called ahead" they told us they stopped doing that...as of that night. Bummer. So we went early and avoided what would have been a heinous wait judging from the line that formed later on.
Now on to the restaurant. It was very cute. I loved the decorations which were chic and sophisticated. The lighting was nice and I also liked the booths and chalk boards that lined the restaurant. We started off with a bottle of red wine and some bread with olive oil.
I ordered the "Mundi from Down Undi" which is barramundi, an Australian sea bass. It came with curried roasted corn and kiwi salad, corn bechamel cream puree, tarragon roasted eggplant, and chili/basil mashed yukon gold potato. Overall I thought it was tasty and I liked the texture of the fish. I was especially interested in the basil mashed potatoes, which I thought would be ruined by the basil but were actually delicious. Matt had the New York strip. Yes, he got a steak at the seafood restaurant. However, I didn't blame him because honestly, there really wasn't too much of a selection to choose from, even when you took the specials into account. But no matter, he enjoyed it although he said they overcooked it (he ordered it medium rare). It was served with the same mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, and a grape tomato salad. Finally, we decided to split a dessert. Again, there were only about three items to choose from, and what do you know, they had Kahlua tiramisu. It was great - nice coffee and liqueur flavors with a rich, creamy texture.
Overall, I think it was a nice restaurant but they are still ironing out some kinks. I'd like to see a bigger menu selection and any decent place really has to take reservations in my mind. If you do decide to go, maybe opt for a week night or plan on being there before 6:30pm. Bottom line: with so many other restaurants we haven't tried closer to home, we'll probably pass on going back.
On Friday night, Matt and I decided to have a date night so we headed out to Carytown to Mezzanine. The restaurant was small with only a few tables downstairs. However, we didn't head upstairs because there was a function going on so I didn't get a full tour. We decided to sit out on the patio which was enclosed for the winter. I sat directly under a heater which was actually pretty toasty. They also had blankets set out for you to wrap up with. If you've met me, you know I got over using a public blanket and threw it over my legs.
Surprisingly, they had one of Matt's favorite wines: Barboursville's Cabernet Franc. Barboursville is one of our favorite local wineries and this is one of their best wines. It is a full bodied red with spicy overtones and has less of a tannin taste. We were using a gift certificate (thanks, Lauren!) so we decided to spring for the bottle. It was actually a pretty fair price as well.
Mezzanine does not keep it's menu online because, according to the maitre d', the menu changes almost daily. For an appetizer, we had a flat bread pizza with sliced sausage. It was great and we ate every bite. It was perfectly sized for 2 very hungry people or could be split between four.
We both had a special for our entrees: winter vegetable gratin topped with three cheeses paired with grilled ciabatta bread. For the most part, I liked it but it didn't blow me away. I probably wouldn't order it again. I did love the butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and bread, but I think there was an herb included that gave it taste I didn't quite care for. Matt loved it, though, especially the cheese blend baked on top.
We shared a dessert - a custard with bananna slices and a vanilla wafer. It was light, sweet, and delicious. Definitely hit the spot. Overall, we really enjoyed our meal at Mezzanine and would definitely go back. The service was on par, and the ambiance was great. It's also interesting that the menu changes so frequently. I love eating seasonal foods so I am sure they utilize the freshest produce they can find - another plus for me! Finally, there is just something about being in Carytown on a cold, winter night wrapped up outside under blankets. So beautiful. So romantic. So Richmond.
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