Eat It, Virginia!

Robey Martin and Scott Wise are joined by James Beard-nominated chef Travis Milton. Milton discussed the cultural significance of Appalachian cuisine and its role as an economic driver in Bristol, Virginia, where his restaurant Hickory, at Nicewonder Farm & Vineyards, is located.  He emphasized the importance of investing in local talent and building a strong team with diverse skills and experiences to create a unique and elevated dining experience for customers. Milton also discussed his mentors, his time cooking in Richmond restaurants, and mental health struggles in the hospitality industry. (Jump straight to interview 18:15) Before the interview, Scott and Robey talked about new restaurants opening in Richmond (2:07), Scott shared details of his epic Spring Break trip to Buc-ee's and Graceland in Memphis (4:32), Robey has issues with some restaurants near her home (10:21), and Scott and Robey made new friends while having a night out on the town (16:05). This episode is sponsored by the Virginia Museu

Cou Cou Rachou bakery owner Rachel De Jong grew up in a large family in Charlottesville, Virginia. She credited her family with helping her discover her passion in the kitchen. "I'm one of five children, so food was around a lot. When you're feeding seven people in the house, I was always in the kitchen, I was always watching my mom. But I had a huge sweet tooth," she said. "And of course, all my brothers always wanted cookies around. My mom preferred to do the cooking, baking not quite, so I just assumed the role and started baking all the time." Her love of baking eventually landed her in school at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France.  Stints at Baker's Palette and Gearharts Fine Chocolates in Charlottesville came next followed by the opportunity to work with Chef Patrick O'Connell at The Inn at Little Washington. Over her four years at the Inn, De Jong's kitchen experience grew. "The pastry department was baking for the gift shop, it was baking the cookie boxes for favor, the little cute Inn boxes, doing thing

When 14-year-old Bertrand Chemel walked into the bakery near his grandmother's home in France, his life changed forever. Summers at the bakery turned into a more formal kitchen education at culinary school in France. With a degree in hand and military service behind him, Chemel landed at one the finest restaurants in France — Michel Gaudin's restaurant in the Alps. What followed was a culinary adventure that eventually led Chemel to the United States and his current restaurant 2941 in Falls Church, Virginia. Chef Chemel's restaurant was recently nominated as the most Outstanding Restaurant in the United States by the James Beard Foundation. 2941 is the only restaurant in Virginia to make the semi-final round in that category. What makes the experience at 2941 special enough to earn such a prestigious nomination? Chef Chemel discusses his food, his family, and his leadership style in the kitchen with Scott Wise and Robey Martin on the latest episode of Eat It, Virginia!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i

Maria Martin and her family recently opened a Richmond outpost of Juan More Taco on Robinson Street in The Fan. The family also owns and operates a Juan More Taco in Fredericksburg. Virginia. But the story of Juan More Taco begins in Honduras, where Maria was born and raised. "Honduras has a lot of Mediterranean Middle Eastern influence. And we use a lot of spices and I'm not saying spices in the sense of spicy hot food, just flavorful," Maria Martin said when asked to describe Honduran food. "I go to some places [taco restaurants in the U.S.] and I have to see what I'm eating because everything tastes the same. There is no difference. For us and our places, every meat has distinct flavors. So that's the beauty of the Honduran flavors that we have put into our food. You can really, really taste the flavors." Love eventually brought Martin to Virginia where she and her husband raised their children. Once the children were grown and out of the house, Maria sought another job. She went from feeding her family an

Brennan Griffith is not from Thailand, nor is he of Thai descent. But Griffith's Thai-inspired pop-up Nam Prik Pao has been turning heads and causing spicy sweats in the Richmond dining community. "[Thai food] is what I'm most obsessed with," Griffith said when asked why he chose that cuisine to base his business. "I love other cuisines. But I haven't had that connection with anything else to the degree that I have with Thai food." Started in 2019 and reborn after the COVID-19 pandemic, Griffith typically pops up at Sub Rosa Bakery in Church Hill. "The first pop-up, my mom bought some extra tickets specifically so I could invite other restaurant people. So some of the people I invited were Evrim and Evin from Sub Rosa," Griffith said. "Four courses into a seven-course meal, Evin's like, 'Brennan, when are you doing this at Sub Rosa?' So that was another validating moment of just having successful restaurant people say like, 'this is delicious.'" Listen to the entire podcast to hear why Robey thinks Brennan an

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