Ed 150: The Trendspotter, Gold Medal Wine Trail, Best Breakfast Sammie in VA
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Hey there! Alicia here 👋
We’re always asking ourselves, “How can we make an annual membership to The Richmond Experience as valuable as possible?”
We started with The Weekly Insider, a weekly newsletter sent on Wednesday mornings and chock full of all the social news you need like bar and restaurant openings, upcoming happenings, and more.
Then came our growing library of 100+ City Guides, our curated calendar of local events, and our collection of Member Perks aka freebies and discounts from Richmond-area businesses.
We recently added The Weekender, an email sent on Friday afternoons to let you know the top, can’t-miss events happening each weekend.
And now, we’re here to introduce our latest offering: The Trendspotter.
This new content series will feature monthly roundups of the newest and hottest spots around RVA that you need to know about, from restaurant openings to seasonal attractions to pop-up experiences and beyond. Find the first edition here, and keep an eye out for new editions the first week of each month. We hope you love it!
Now, on to this week’s social news — including the return of one of Richmond’s favorite warm-weather event series, a new can’t-miss weekly market kicking off on Saturday morning, two highly anticipated re-openings happening this Friday (one art gallery and one live music and tiki drink venue), and more.
THE LATEST:
Image: @fridaycheersrva
Image: @elyafood
Image: @thejungleroomrva
Image: @vawine
SOCIAL NEWS
Cheers to better Fridays ahead! Friday Cheers is back, y’all, and we could not be more excited about the protocols they’ve put in place to keep us safe without totally sacrificing this rad warm weather event series.
First, if you're not familiar, Friday Cheers is Richmond's longest-running summer concert series held on the riverfront at Brown's Island.
Second, for the safety of all involved, each concert in this year's series will require advanced tickets, available for 2-, 4-, and 8-person pods only (including children) which will physically spaced from one another. Check out the lineup and snag your pod(s) here — we just got one with pals for June 4!
Welcome to the jungle. The Jungle Room, that is! This tiki-bar-slash-live-music-venue-slash-club is hosting its grand reopening this Friday, April 9 with live music from local DJ Billy Crystal Fingers and an entire menu of punch bowl cocktails like the Jungle Jam Punch (Cruzan single barrel, Plantation OFTD, Lemon Hart & Son 151, orange juice, allspice honey, lime, mulberry, pineapple, benedictine, and angostura), the Scorpion Bowl (Lemon Hart & Son 1804, New Amsterdam gin, Martell cognac, orgeat, demerara, orange juice, and lime juice), and more.
Doors open at 5 pm and close at midnight — email thejungleroomrva@gmail.com or call (804) 367-7921 for reservations.
More market options! The Diamond is really stepping up their non-baseball-related event game this year, which is amazing news since their massive space in Scott’s Addition offers ample room for social distancing during outdoor activities!
In addition to occasional yoga flows on the outfield (including this weekend!) and their new weekly food truck rallies on Thursdays, they’re now kicking off a new weekly pop-up market series.
Every Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm beginning this Saturday April 10, you can expect to shop dozens of artisan, craft, and local business vendors while also snagging snacks and sips from food trucks on site. Vendors will rotate each each week — this weekend's vendors will include Handley Watches, AR's Hot Southern Honey, The Neighborhood Harvest, The Mind + Vibe Co., RVA Happy Hours, and many more.
Is your refrigerator running? Well, Elya’s is! The folks behind this local biz pride themselves on offering local, organic, ready-to-eat meals that are available 24/7 in their contactless ElyaFridge in Manchester at 7 E 3rd St. You can find its current inventory here, including delicious and nutritious items like Red Eye Oats (rolled oats with coffee, coconut milk, maple syrup, and cocoa nibs), The Broad Street Bully (a braised pork and veggie bowl), and more.
And now they’ve opened a second ElyaFridge location in Scott’s Addition, too! Located right beside The Circuit Arcade Bar at 3121 W Leigh St, you can text (804) 581-1326 to get the real-time inventory of this new fridge. So, next time you’re in hungry in Scott’s Addition, you can rest assured that there’s a healthy grab-and-go meal waiting for you nearby.
Bringing art back to Northside. In case you missed it, former Richmond Times-Dispatch journalist, artist, and Northside resident Zachary Reid opened Richmond Art Garage as a gallery of "fine art for most people" in October 2020… then closed for the winter for the safety of all artists and patrons.
But now spring has arrived, and the delightfully unpretentious gallery will be opening its doors once again this Friday, April 9! Rumor has it that the reopening will also feature drinks from neighboring water hole Fuzzy Cactus (which is my way of saying that my husband Andrew and I will 100% be there). Richmond Art Garage plans to be open on Fridays from 1 - 9 pm and Saturdays from 12 - 5 pm moving forward, so be sure to swing by to check it out. Because #culture.
And the award for best breakfast goes to… Moore Street Cafe! To absolutely no one’s surprise (because duh, it’s Moore Street Cafe, the food is amazing), this staple spot in Scott’s Addition was recently recognized on MSN’s list of the “Breakfast Sandwich Legends in Every State” for their Breakfast Club. This legendary sammie boasts two eggs, bacon,s ausage, ham, and cheese with lettuce, tomato, and mayo on three slices of Texas toast for just $8.95 — so please consider this a sign from the universe that you need to go try it out for yourself. Order some of the best pancakes in Virginia and a Mooremosa, while you’re at it.
Oh, and PSA: River City Food Tours is now Discover Richmond Tours. Check ‘em out and schedule a tour ASAP before they’re all booked up.
HAPPENINGS
New wine trail alert! Each year, the Virginia Governor’s Cup competition highlights the best wines, ciders, and meads being produced in Virginia. And this year, for the first time, Virginia Wine* is bringing these gold medal-winning wines right to your fingertips!
After sampling a record-breaking 544 entries in 2021, expert judges awarded 47 (!) wineries across the Commonwealth with 96 (!!!) gold medals.
You can now taste these extraordinary wines now with the Gold Medal Wine Trail, a mobile pass that rewards you for visiting the winning wineries and tasting the best of Virginia. From free Virginia Wine swag to winery deals (like tastings of gold medal-winning wines and discounts on bottle purchases), this trail is every wine lover’s dream. Learn more here.
*Just a quick heads up that Virginia Wine is one of our local business partners! We think they’re pretty great, which is why we work with them — but just a heads up.
Weekly Giveaway
76th Annual Book & Author Event (Plus A Pre-Event Virtual Wine Tasting!)
Did you know? The Junior League of Richmond's 76th Annual Book & Author Event (the longest-running event of its kind in the country!) is coming up on April 29, 2021, featuring a panel of six acclaimed female authors.
New this year, there will also be a pre-event virtual wine tasting with RichWine, a Richmond-based boutique online wine retailer with a focus on low-intervention wines. This tasting will include a personal RichWine tasting kit with four samples from women-owned wineries that can be delivered (in Richmond, Hanover, & Henrico only) or picked up from the Junior League of Richmond headquarters. You’ll get the chance to learn about these fabulous wines straight from the RichWine founders, who will take you through each selection.
We’re giving away two comobo tickets to both the Book & Author Event and the pre-event Virtual Wine Tasting (valued at $75 each).
To enter to win: Tell me your favorite type of wine! Mine varies by season, but I’m always a sucker for a Rioja.
Last week: Congratulations to Isaiah D. for winning our Lewis Ginter “A Million Blooms” giveaway!
Member Perks
WhimsicalWoman Design
Looking to upgrade your Zoom call look? How about some new earrings!
WhimsicalWoman Designs is a a small handmade jewelry business located here in Richmond, VA. Owned by Richmonder Hannah Luther, all earrings and jewelry sold are handmade from polymer clay.
WhimsicalWoman sells both wholesale to small boutiques across the country (for example, fabrik in Carytown) as well as straight to consumer online at whimsicalwomandesign.com.
Members can use code WHIMSICALRVA to save 20% on their order!
new + trending from RVAx
SAVE THE DATE
👋
Hey, new members!
We'd like to welcome 33 new members this week: Harry K., Lauren Y., Christiane P., Jennie D., Meg T., Amanda P., D M., Richard M., Anna B., Margaret L., Daniel R., Brandon Y., Maddie C., Liz E., Matthew T., Amanda C., Hogan B., Maya E., Corinne F., Victoria A., Natalie P., Julianne R., Melanie M., Riley T., Courtney Z., Christine T., Shannon T., Felecia D., Amanda H., Lindsay M., Kelsey P., and Victoria M., we're so glad you're here!
It takes a village, so let us know if you have any questions, thoughts, feedback, tips, or recs! Thanks for reading edition 150 of The Weekly Insider.
Stay well friends,
Alicia @ The Richmond Experience
Thank you to Rhythm of Love for powering this edition of The Weekly Insider!
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