Not all Richmond breweries are run by men. Style Weekly talked to four women brewers making local beer we love. Beer lovers know that the history of brewing goes way back — some 7,000 years ago, according to the Smithsonian. And for more than half that time, women were the primary brewers, according to The National Women’s History Museum. Even when the craft of brewing made its way to Colonial America, women were in charge. However, that all changed during the late-18th century, when for whatever reasons, the number of women brewers declined as the industry became male-dominated. Now, as the ..read more

Standing behind a table overflowing with apple butters, barbecue sauces, and spice mixes, Sydney Davis describes the amount of care she takes to prepare the homemade products she sells under her gastronomic girl brand, Squids Pantry. Long a fixture at the front of Northside’s Nomad Deli, Davis is building out her own line of easy and affordable staples for folks who want to eat well even when her family’s restaurant isn’t open. Since the summer, Davis’ family has set up a tent two Sundays a month at the recently formed RVA Black Farmers Market on a grassy lot in Jackson Ward just off of Secon ..read more

Richmond restaurants continue to put Virginia oysters on the map. Some of the city’s most prominent restaurateurs will open two new oyster bars before the end of the year. Husband-and-wife team Patrick Phelan and Megan Fitzroy Phelan’s are racing to open Lillian Oyster Hall in Scott’s Addition “before the holidays.” Lillian will offer a variety of oysters from Virginia up to Canada and down to the Gulf, plus dishes like caviar, stone crab and pickled shrimp. Grisette and Jardin owner Donnie Glass has partnered with longtime Grisette bar manager Elias Adams to open Beaucoup in the old Commerci ..read more

A quick perusal on foodie social media shows that one of the latest food trends in Richmond are supper clubs such as Social Club RVA, with diners gathering at various eateries for curated dinners. And one of the newest is proving to be one of the most ambitious. Secret Supper Society, the brainchild of Miles Gordon and James Crump-Wallace, seeks to transform the traditional notion of what a supper club can be while reaching a wider range of diners. The pair first met when Gordon needed T-shirts printed for an event and approached Crump-Wallace. Gordon, an Oakland, Calif. native who works in g ..read more

Richmond’s inaugural natural wine fair takes place Sunday, Nov. 12 at ICA. Oenophile, dough-maker and Pizza Bones owner Ashley Patino is hoping to break down the mystique of low-intervention wine. Patino hosts weekly tastings at her popular Church Hill pizza shop, and each Thanksgiving folks can forgo turkey in favor of Patino’s larger scale “Bonesgiving” natural wine tasting and celebration. This April, Patino approached local wine importers and distributors Native Selections, Second Bottle shop owner Erin Keene and Sub Rosa’s Evrim Dogu about hosting a Richmond wine fair. “It evolved quickl ..read more

The Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau (CACVB) announced today that the Charlottesville area and the Monticello American Viticultural Area (AVA) have won wine region of the year in Wine Enthusiast’s 2023 Wine Star awards. Charlottesville beat out four other wine regions from around the world and was the only nominee located in North America, according to a press release. Charlottesville beat out Lambrusco, Italy, Provence, France, Swartland, South Africa, and Victoria, Australia. Wine Enthusiast has an average circulation of just over 300,000 readers, according to a 2022 ..read more

Fall marks the beginning of cuffing season. If you’re in a relationship, or just unfamiliar with the term, Wikipedia defines it as “the time of year when single people actively search for short-term romantic partners to spend the colder months with, typically from October through March, culminating with Valentine's Day." Usually, the first step in the process is to have a meet-and-greet. To help you get started, here are five places around the river city to jump-start your snuggle sessions. Penny's Wine Shop, 405 Brook Rd., Richmond Of course, Penny’s Wine Shop checks off the initial first da ..read more

On Friday, Nov. 3, And Dim Sum, a dim sum and noodle restaurant, will open in the former Max on Broad’s location in Richmond at 305 Brook Rd. Billed as a modern Chinese cocktail house, the eatery hopes to fill a void amongst the ever growing diverse food scene in the city, however owner Liz Kincaid is careful to note that the restaurant is not fusion, but twists on traditional dim sum instead. “I wanted to remove the barriers that can happen if you’re new to dim sum while also encouraging diners to check out more authentic experiences after they feel more experienced,” she says. The pink-and ..read more

Owner and operator of Big Herm’s Kitchen “Big Herm” is known as the mayor of 2nd Street. Herman Baskerville runs Big Herm’s Kitchen, a place for homemade food which has been standing on Jackson Ward’s 2nd Street for about 11 years. Among the Southern comfort items on the menu are everything from catfish sandwiches, loaded cheese fries and burgers to Big Herm’s Wings tossed in “ooo-wee” barbecue sauce. “I’m happy to be here, and I’m happy to be on Two Street. I’m happy to mention other restaurant businesses’ names,” Baskerville says. “I always try to support everybody as much as I can.” During ..read more

Mark Lilly puts the rubber on the road and tries to make change happen with his "mobile, micro-farmers market on wheels," better known as the Farm Bus. This green machine has been offering healthy vegetables, fruits, dairy and meats to Richmonders since 2009, but today Lilly is finding that he needs to take his show on the road to survive. The Richmond native was an undergraduate at VCUarts for painting and printmaking. In the late 2000s, he attended the University of Richmond for its Disaster Sciences and Emergency Management program. This landed him in a class called Hazards and Threats to ..read more