Eat It, Virginia!

Trey Owens' life is a beautiful circle. After growing up in Richmond, Owens' life took him around the world working on cruise ships and later military vessels. He eventually landed back in Richmond where he became part of the team that opened both Soul Taco and JewFro, the latter a restaurant that combines African and Jewish cuisine.  "The focus [of JewFro] is to bring people together and to start, or/and continue the conversation about these two culinary pathways, these two cultures, and what is so similar about them," Owens said. Owens was selected this year to travel to Israel to learn more about the people and the food.  "We got to meet Palestinians. We got to meet Israelis. We got to meet Ethiopian-Israeli Jews. We got to meet Muslims. Just so many different people that we got to meet and talk to," he said. "What I really learned and saw was that the people themselves all got along. It was only that when I got into formal places, I'm not gonna say where, but you could kind of see the divide. And it's jus

When the people who run Massachuttes-based Burtons Grill & Bar asked John Haggai to be the company's new CEO, he pulled what can only be described as a baller move.  "[I said] I'm not moving to Boston, as beautiful as it is, plus I have kids, I'm not moving, there's no way. So I thought that was a deal breaker," but it wasn't Haggai said. So he added another stipulation. "And I said I'm building a restaurant in Richmond. Richmond is awesome but it's not quite big enough of a city typically that we're in. We're in Charlotte. We're going to Atlanta. We're in some bigger markets. And I'm like, I think one could do really well here. That was the really ballsy move was to build a restaurant, right when I took over in my town." Haggai moved to Virginia 20 years ago to manage Outback restaurants. He stayed in Richmond and eventually left Outback to be part of the team that founded both Cafe Caturra and Tazza Kitchen. "I had brunch at Tazza two days ago," he said. "It's like my second favorite restaurant now." So

Three years after she first appeared on Eat It, Virginia (Episode 43, Sept. 2020), Keya Wingfield returns to the podcast. In this episode, she discusses the ups and downs of life after winning her Food Network baking championship, the incredible community she's fostered in Richmond, and the launch of her new product -- Bombay Chips.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shawn Eubank and Michael Smith of Native Selections join the podcast to discuss the world of natural wine. Smith previously appeared in Episode 26,See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leah Branch, the executive chef at The Roosevelt in Richmond, exudes quiet confidence in the kitchen and the podcast studio. She prefers to let her plates do the talking. Fortunately, the Chesterfield native was willing to sit down with Scott and Robey to share her story on this episode of Eat It, Virginia! This episode is presented by Duke's Mayo and SUPPER | SUMMER | SOMM.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A lot has happened to Rabia Kamara since she first appeared on Eat It, Virginia in August 2020. In fact, that first interview took place before Kamara even opened her now Northside neighborhood-defining ice cream shop Ruby Scoops. "We are now at a place where when houses are listed in Northside, we are in there as a perk, 'you can walk to Ruby Scoops,'" Kamara said about her ice cream shop's success. While sweet, the journey has not always been easy. Kamara opens up about the challenges that come with running her small businesses, the sometimes harsh reality of everyone's favorite reality cooking shows. and the planning of her upcoming wedding. Of course she also breaks down the science behind her crowd-pleasing Duke's Mayo ice cream treats. This epsisode of Eat It, Virginia is presented by Duke's Mayo Hot Tomato Summer July 24-30, 2023.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bobby Kruger has managed or owned multiple Richmond-area restaurants and venues, but he got his start as a teenager at the Appplebee's in Chester. "One of the bartenders that I worked with there, ended up coming up and getting a job in Richmond at a place called Surfish Station, which was where Bandito's is now," Kruger said as he retraced his steps in the Richmond restaurant industry. "When I was 18, I left Applebee's and got a job there as a server. And that was my first Richmond restaurant job." From there Kruger followed mentor Holly Green to Julep's where he learned about upscaling dining and bartending. "It was a high-standard environment, but they really took care of me and taught me a lot of stuff," he said.  Then came a short-lived stint running the Fan House.  "I looked at it for a long time as a failure, that my first restaurant ownership didn't last that long. But I feel like I learned as much there in less than a year than I learned anywhere else for as long as I've been, he said. That newfound k

Devin Rose was born and raised in a restaurant family in the town of White Stone, Virginia. So it makes perfect sense that Devin and his wife Kati now own and operate one of the most acclaimed restaurants in that town -- Adrift. In fact, Robey Martin called Adrift the best, little-known, restaurant in Virginia.   "There's just an incredible care and detail to the food," Martin said of Adrift, four years after that article was written, on this week's Eat It Virginia podcast. "I'm always utterly impressed." Rose said owning a restaurant and raising his son in his hometown has been a dream. But the road back home wasn't straight and included stops at The Inn at Little Washington and the Central Coast of California. We hope you enjoy learning more about the Roses and their restaurant Adrift. On the podcast, Scott and Rodey also talked about Anthem LemonAid and the Restaurant Challenge sponsored by CBS. Restaurants are invited to create a lemon-inspired dish or drink to sell anytime now through July 23, 2023. Afte

After 100+ episodes, "Eat It, Virginia" finally put the focus on condiments. And what better condiment to feature than Richmond, Virginia-based Duke's Mayo? Founded more than 100 years ago in South Carolina, the Richmond, Virginia-based C.F. Sauer Company bought the brand in 1929. Over the generations, Duke's Mayo has become synonymous with Southern cooking. These days, Duke's is the fastest-growing mayo brand in the country, brand manager Rebecca Lupesco said. "Our team is based in Richmond. We work with a creative agency here in Richmond. We are all over the South and actually, we're national because Kroger has just taken the brand on a national level," Lupesco said. "But we advertise and market the brand all over the Southeast." The job of marketing the mayo, Lupesco said, is making it relevant to current culture. "We have [Duke's] diehards who literally get Duke's tattoos on their bodies. And so it's really just celebrating our fans, celebrating the product, celebrating the chefs that use us and telling s

Is it possible that the best pizza in Richmond is served out of a truck? Eat It, Virginia podcast co-host and Virginia food critic Robey Martin said yes, it's 100 percent possible. The pizza Joe Lajoie creates in a truck for River City Wood Fire Pizza consistently ranks among the best slices in town. But don't ask Joe if he thinks his pizza is the best in Richmond. "Often people say, 'Do you want to be the best pizza in Richmond?' I go, 'Never,' River City Wood River Pizza boss Joe Lajoie said. "When they ask why not, I say I want to be one of the best pizzas in Richmond because I love Richmond. I've lived here all my life. It's collective. I want it to be a big borough or a big neighborhood, right? And you can't have that if you start off with the chest pounding." For the last 10 years, the construction worker turned sheriff's deputy turned pizza chef has been baking pizza pies out of his food truck at weddings, concerts, and other events around Virginia. He said pizza is much more than toppings, sauce, and

A veteran of New York City's fine dining world, the pandemic forced Erin Keene to take a step back and reset her life. That reset landed the Pennsylvania native in Richmond, Virginia, where she opened Second Bottle Wine Shop in Richmond's Church Hill neighborhood. "I was in a place where I was ready for a big jump. Life as I knew it had really just shut off [in New York City]. In that time, I started formulating the plans for this wine shop," Keene said. "While I was on the journey to find where the best place or where the best fit would be for it, I had a camping trip planned down here to visit a good friend of mine. We're sitting around the campfire and she's like, 'What about Richmond?' It was like huge fireworks. I had never thought about it as a place that I wanted to live. But all of a sudden, I was like, it makes so much sense in so many ways." Keene made the move to Richmond in 2020 and opened Second Bottle on N. 27th Street in Church Hill in 2021. "I was very struck by Church Hill," Keene said about

It did not take long for Jesse Wykle and his restaurant Aloha Snacks to make an impact in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Months after he opened Aloha Snacks in 2018, Food Network Star Bobby Flay's producers called and invited Wykle onto the hit show "Beat Bobby Flay." Wykle defeated the Iron Chef by challenging Bobby Flay in a battle over the Filipino favorite lumpia. Back home in Virginia Beach, Wykle's food at Aloha Snacks is heavily influenced by Asian and Hawaiian cuisine and his own Southern roots.  "You can put anything in a sushi roll. We've got some poke bowls with fried green tomatoes, which we call the farmer's poke, a little coconut aoli, some pressed mango, and some salmon," Wykle said about one of the dishes he serves at Aloha Snacks in Virginia Beach. Wykle sits on boards working to improve the Virginia Beach business community and hopes to see many new customers when the Something in the Water festival returns to Virginia Beach April 28 thru April 30. Aloha Snacks is located at 501 Laskin Road in Vi

Bill Cavender makes award-winning mead at Black Heath Meadery in Richmond, Virginia. His business in Scott's Addition recently celebrated its eighth birthday. Cavender discussed the beginnings of Black Heath Meadery on a recent episode of the Eat It, Virginia podcast with Scott Wise and Robey Martin. Black Heath Meadery 1313 Altamont Ave. Richmond, VA 23230See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Get to know new Richmond restaurant Penny's Wine ShopSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ben Watters and Rachel Best. the couple behind Blue Atlas Restaurant and Market in Richmond, Virginia, started their business and their family during the pandemic. For Watters, Blue Atlas was born out of his passion for food and learning how other cultures eat. "I love being a food dork," Watters told Scott Wise and Robey Martin during his Eat It, Virginia podcast interview. "If I find something on Instagram that I've never heard of before, like the Georgian flatbread we now serve, we both do the deep dive on why they make it the way they do, why they're using this certain type of yeast, why they do this with the cheese, and all these cool components. So that we're learning along." It's that curiosity which has shaped Blue Atlas into its current mission. "We're a shared, small plate experience of global cuisine," Watters said when asked to describe Blue Atlas. "We have the menu broken up into the four regions of the world and we try and represent them to the best of our ability." Learn about the couple's jour

Joye B. Moore's smile is infectious. But behind the sixth-generation baker's big grin and loud laugh, there is pain. Before moving to Virginia, Moore grew up in North Carolina and Texas where she lived with an abusive stepparent and a mother with severe mental health challenges. "My mother was undiagnosed with mental illness, that the family, just due to cultural reasons was not aware of," she said. "So at some point, we ended up living with my second great-grandmother." It was there, in her grandparents' gardens and kitchens, where Moore learned about the importance of good food and family. "I know they are proud of us. We are walking talking manifestations of all of their prayers heard," she said. Moore is talking about what she and her family have been able to do with Joyebells.  Moore and her family started making pies after she lost her job at a nonprofit in 2019. Moore started by selling just five pies a week at the Dairy Bar in Scott’s Addition, to making 10 pies a week for that restaurant. She then ju

Torchy's Tacos will open its second Richmond-area restaurant in February. The new location, in the recently-built Carytown Exchange shopping center, is not far from where the Austin, Texas-based taco chain's CEO and founder came into this world. "I was born at Richmond Memorial Hospital," Torchy's Tacos boss Mike Rypka told Scott and Robey on the Eat It, Virginia podcast. "We lived off of Monument Avenue. My mom and dad used to work for the Richmond newspaper. They were both journalists. My dad was a photographer. My mom was a journalist." While the family moved to Northern Virginia about five years later, Rypka said he had "crazy memories" of his time in Richmond. Fortunately for Torchy's fans, Rypka found his way into the kitchen where a variety of experiences led him to start a taco truck in Texas. After a few years, Rypka's idea grew from a truck to a single restaurant to now more than 100 Torchy's Tacos across the U.S. The Short Pump location opened in January and a Midlothian location will join the Cary

Cocodrilo opened to much fanfare on Richmond's Grove Avenue in March 2022. The restaurant had a Latin America-inspired menu created by Lemaire alum Chef Brad Slemaker, Shagbark alum Chef Brandon MacConnell, and River City Roll owner Rob Long and a huge open-flame grill Less than a year later, the chefs remain, the grill remains, but Cocodrilo is no more. In its place, the restaurant owners will open Bar West. "We were proud of the food we were putting out and I think that the reviews for the cuisine at Cocodrilo speak for themselves and none of that changes. The culinary staff is not changing at all," Long said on the most recent Eat It, Virginia podcast. So why the drastic change less than a year after opening? The team behind Bar West (the restaurant space formerly known as Cocodrilo) shares their story with Scott and Robey on this week's Eat It, Virginia!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We made it to the end of another year! Thank you for listening and being a part of our podcast community. We wish you Happy Holidays and much health and happiness in the new year. See you in 2023. love, Scott and RobeySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elle Correll's life sounds a bit like a country song. Born and raised in Franklin, Virginia, she moved away from the small town when the paper mill closed down. Her friend Will also had to move. But apples would bring the friends back together. "I was living in DC. It was a lot of fun, but its time had played out. He was living in Richmond opening the cidery," Elle Correll said. "So when I met him, the cidery was under construction here in Scott's Addition. I was like, okay, you're really good at like the founder, CEO thing. But you could use some help on the PR, marketing, and the telling people about it side. Enter Elle." The friends were dating when they launched the cidery in 2016. They got married about a year later. "It is super fun and it is also very stressful. We work all the time," she said about working with her husband. "But it is fun because you get to learn about your partner so much more than you would if you just saw them in the evenings because you see how they are at work and their strengths