Eat It, Virginia!

For Shola Walker, cooking and baking are about community.  On this week's "Eat It, Virginia!" podcast, Walker shared her story with Scott and Robey. Learn why she left a career in theater for the kitchen and how this Richmond native rose through the ranks to eventually open her own health-conscious bakery, Mahogany Sweets. Walker now works at Shalom Farms where she teaches others about living off the land and how that connects to her culture. "I spend a lot of time and energy being dedicated to the history, particularly of Black women, Black chefs, Black pastry chef, Black cooks who have come up in the South. And so the work that I do, the recipes that I get to look up, the history that I get to study is relevant to the struggle, particularly because African Americans have always used food as a form of protest," Walker said. "If you don't have to depend on someone else for your livelihood and your sustenance, that is a form of protest. It's not necessarily an aggressive form of protest, but it is still a

Michele Wilson did not grow up in Virginia, but she has roots in the Commonwealth. Wilson, who owns Ma Michele's Cafe in Midlothian, shared her life story on the "Eat It, Virginia!" podcast. Learn about Wilson's upbringing, her food, her commitment to her community, and her restaurant staff. "They're the best investment I've ever made," she said. "It may sound cliche, but if you're smart and you want to be successful, then you need to take care of the people that are taking care of you. And that's not necessarily always the customer first. It's your employees first. And with my being a small, minority business, I can't compete with larger businesses and what they can offer their employees. So you know, you damn well better be nicer." Ma Michele's Cafe is located at 10811 Hull Street Road in Midlothian. Call 804-912-1644 to order lunch or dinner. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we process these historic protests Richmond and the rest of the country are experiencing, Chauncey Jenkins shared stories from his life about what is like being a Black man in America. Jenkins most recently worked as general manager of Lemaire restaurant inside the Jefferson Hotel. He is now in the process of opening Common House, a social club in downtown Richmond, where he will serve as general manager. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In these uncertain times, people can take comfort in advice and guidance from others. That includes ideas on where to eat. In the months since COVID-19 shutdown dining rooms around Virginia, more than 15,000 people have joined the RVA Dine - Take Out & Delivery Options Facebook group to share stories, restaurant reviews, and food photos. Kevin Clay, one of the group's moderators, joined Scott and Robey this week to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of managing such a large social group.  Additionally, Robey spoke with six RVADine fans and got their insight into the restaurants they've visited again and again based on quality food and to-go service. Send questions, comments, and restaurant reviews to the Eat It, Virginia! Instagram page. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Beloved CBS 6 meteorologist Nikki-Dee Ray left Richmond last month for a new job in Nashville. But, in her final interview before leaving town, Scott and Robey spoke with Nikki-Dee about the food (and wine) she'll miss the most. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Virginia dining rooms remain closed to help slow the spread of COVID-19, Scott and Robey continue to highlight those restaurants staying open to safely serve their customers. Featured on this week's podcast: Ronnie's BBQ Saucy's Bar.B.Q Gelati Celesti Amanda Sanders FAT RABBIT — Ellyn Hopper Send show feedback here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From James Beard Award nominations to laudatory write-ups in national media like Southern Living and Bon Appetit, Lee Gregory has established himself on the Mount Rushmore of Richmond's decade-long restaurant renaissance. Right now, Gregory is in the fight of his professional life as he works to keep his two Richmond restaurants, Alewife and Southbound, open for take-out while the COVID-19 pandemic has closed dining rooms across the country. Weeks before coronavirus wreaked havoc on the restaurant industry, Gregory sat down with Scott and Robey to discuss his rise in Richmond restaurants, his philosophy as a chef/restaurateur, and why it's so dang hard to run a restaurant -- even on the good days. We hope this slice of life before the virus closed many Richmond restaurants provides a brief respite from current events. His interview begins around the 22:00 mark. Of course, we cannot ignore what's happening in our community right now. That's why we invited Jack Berry, President at Richmond Region Tourism, t

Robey and Scott continue to focus on the people keeping their restaurants open amid COVID-19 uncertainty. This week's guests include: Beth Dixon - Perch Trey Owens - Soul Taco Andrew Broocker - Reginald's Homemade Saadia Yasim - Saadia's Juicebox If you would like to be featured in featured We're Open themed podcast, please reach out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since the last time we saw you, the world turned upside down with the arrival of COVID-19. As Virginia restaurants either close or adapt to social distancing, Robey and Scott focused this week's podcast on the people who continued to run their restaurants with the hope of providing for both their restaurant families and the communities in which they serve. This week's guests include: Lee Gregory - Alewife Jessica Bufford - Toast Donnie Glass - Grisette Michael Smith - Laura Lee's If you would like to be featured in featured We're Open themed podcast, please reach out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brittanny Anderson runs some of Richmond's most successful restaurants. On this week's "Eat It, Virginia!" Anderson told Scott and Robey about her start in the restaurant industry and the decisions that led her to open Metzger Bar and Butchery in Church Hill and Brenner Pass in Scott's Addition. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It is a question often asked every night around Richmond. "Where should we eat tonight?" Now imagine trying to choose 20 places to eat. Such is the tough [read: fabulous] life of David Hagedorn. Hagedorn, a chef and restaurant owner turned food critic and writer for publications like the Washington Post, Bethesda Magazine, and Arlington Magazine, visited Richmond last fall for a piece he wrote titled Where to Eat and Drink in Richmond. Before writing the piece, Hagedorn visited nearly two dozen Richmond restaurants and ate, and ate, and ate. Hear all about which restaurants he loved and why he thinks they make Richmond such a special place to dine. Did you enjoy Robey's conversation with Kelli Lemon about the Richmond Black Restaurant Experience? Learn more about it here. At the end of the podcast, Robey also talked about the Autumn Olive Farms “On The Fly” Dodgeball Tournament. Click here for additional information about the tournament and The Holli Fund. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in

Shane Roberts-Thomas is a Tasmanian devil. At least that's what she told a worldwide television audience when her Richmond restaurant Southern Kitchen was featured in "Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back." The show, which travels the country helping restaurants improve their business, was filmed in October 2019 and debuted on television in February 2020. Roberts-Thomas sat down with Eat It, Virginia! co-hosts Scott Wise and Robey Martin to break down Gordon Ramsay's surprise visit to Richmond and discussed the life decisions she made that led her to open a restaurant. The Gordon Ramsay experience started with a phone call. "[The producers called] and they didn't say was Gordon Ramsay. They said it was [a show called 'Famous Kitchens,'" Roberts-Thomas recalled. "[They said] they were just calling because they had heard about me. And they do a lot of analytics and they wanted to feature me on a new show and that 'the expert' is looking at you. I said, 'Who is the expert?' They said, 'We can't tell y

When you walk into a Richmond restaurant, Michael Smith is the kind of person you want to encounter. "You'll see me most nights at the front door greeting guests," Smith, the general manager of  Laura Lee's Semmes Avenue in south Richmond, told Eat It, Virginia! co-hosts Scott Wise and Robey Martin. "I'm not this satellite manager that sits in an office and comes out when it's time to do the money at the end of the night. I'm very hands on." For Smith, hands on means making sure his guests are kept comfortable from the moment they arrive. "What I try to bring to the table, from a hospitality standpoint, is just warmth all around. We want people to feel like they're wanted there. Oftentimes the place is packed, but because we're a large restaurant, we can find you a spot. If it's in the lounge or if it's at the bar, if it's in the patio outside, there's a space for you, until there's a better space for you." Smith described Laura Lee's as a female-centeric fern bar, opposite the vibe of his previous job at

Nikki Gregory and Paul Polk are in love. Need proof? Eat their food. The chef/owners of  Charlotte's Southern Deli and Tapas drew from their Virginia roots to develop the menu at their new downtown Richmond restaurant.  "A lot of our menu items are influenced by stuff we grew up on," Gregory, a Newport News native said. Polk, a native of Kilmarnock, Virginia, shared the story of how he and Gregory met at culinary school in Charlotte, North Carolina and how that relationship has heated up in the kitchen. "I don't think [Charlotte's ] would exist without both of us," he said. "We were really good at doing things separately and then coming back together and making a really good product." One of the products the couple brought to Richmond is their traditional Tidewater yock a mein dish, aka Yock. "Our version has ketchup in it," Gregory said. "Green onions, red onions, garlic, and we reduce it and let it get that flavor. And then we put smoked chicken in it, collard greens, shaved onion, green onions, a pick

It was not so long ago that River City Roll owner and Richmond native Rob Long was an investment banker who hated his job. So, he got out of the office and did something about it. "Corporate America wasn't really for me," Long told Scott and Robey on the CBS 6 food podcast Eat It, Virginia! "I lived in three other cities across the country and they all had concepts similar to River City Roll. I saw them and spent a lot of money at them when I lived there. So when I moved back to Richmond, I actually moved into the Cookie Factory Lofts. And the acreage that [River City Roll] is on now was kind of a dilapidated old parking lot. And I was like, somebody is going to do this in Richmond. I don't particularly care for corporate America or my current job. So I'm going to take the leap of faith." And it was quite a leap. With neither restaurant experience nor an impressive bowling average, Long opened River City Roll on Myers Street, off Arthur Ashe Boulevard, in 2018. The concept combines an upscale bowling envir

Thank you, so very much, for listening to Eat It, Virginia! We're ending 2019 with a look back at some of our favorite Season One moments. Season Two begins in January and we're looking forward to sharing all new stories from the people who make Virginia dining so dang great. In the meantime, catch up on past episodes and shoot us a note to tell us who you'd like to hear from in 2020. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michelle Williams has been a leader in Richmond restaurants for more than 30 years. From student, to chef, to restaurant owner, it's safe to say Williams has seen it all during her culinary career. But it has not been easy. Williams shared a deeply personal story with Robey and Scott about the day her professional and personal life changed in an instant. "While [working] at the Butlery, I met what became my fiancé, his name was Robbie Robert. He and I met a gentleman named Bob Talcottt," Williams said. "Bob wanted to open a restaurant called the Island Grill. Robbie and I joined on with Bob to open his restaurant, Robbie was also a chef. And so we thought, we'll do this, we'll run this for him, we kind of let him know will be there for a couple years, but that our intention was to open our own. And about a year and a half into that scenario, Robbie was killed in a car accident. So still hard now. But it's, it's part of my story. So it got me here." Williams credited business partner Jared Golden for help

Paige Healy has a lot on her mind and she is not keeping it inside. As Chief Creative Officer at Richmond, Virginia-based HOUSEpitality, it falls on Healy to set the vibe at her family's collection of restaurants: The Boathouse, Casa Del Barco, and the recently-opened Island Shrimp Co. "The atmosphere, the food, the plating, the way you're greeted, the way the voice message sounds, all of that stuff," Healy said about her impact on the properties which dot Central Virginia. "I like to have my hand in that, and with the big team we're able to shape and steer and create concepts that I feel like have full personalities versus you know, personalities that are one dimensional." On this week's episode of Eat It, Virginia!, Healy told Scott and Robey how previous life experiences now help her tell specific stories through her family's restaurants. "I started guiding tours in the Grand Canyon, so I learned in that experience how to tell stories," she said. "So when you bring somebody out to the Grand Canyon, they

For thousands of people in Virginia, Belle Isle is a historic location turned gathering place to run, hike, bike, or just relax on the James River rocks. But if Vince Riggi and Brian Marks have their way, Belle Isle will be known around the country for much, much more. Riggi and Marks are brothers-in-law who created Belle Isle Moonshine, a Richmond-based spirit. In this week's episode of "Eat It, Virginia!" the founders of Belle Isle Moonshine tell Robey and Scott how a dream shared over drinks as friends became a full-on family affair. They also discussed the decision behind launching Belle Isle's new brand of canned cocktails and answered their most frequently asked questions: 1) What is moonshine? 2) Does it taste good? 3) What the hell do I do with it? Plus, Robey goes old school -- literally -- bringing up high school experiences she shared with Brian. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"There's no easy path in barbecue," ZZQ pit mistress Alex Graf told Scott Wise and Robey Martin on the "Eat It, Virginia!" podcast. But Graf and her husband, pitmaster Chris Fultz, sure make it look easy. A lot of hard work -- and mouth-watering food -- helped make their Richmond restaurant ZZQ a smash hit from the moment it opened its doors in 2018. Graf and Fultz shared the story of why and how they brought Texas barbecue to Virginia, discussed their many in-restaurant celebrity sightings, and spilled a secret about the absolute best day and time to order your ZZQ meal. Pull up a seat at the table, download the podcast, and hear the story behind one of Virginia's most honored new restaurants. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.