At the moment, Kitchensurfing is based in New York City and Berlin. While we’ve got plans to go everywhere there is a cook and a kitchen, we aren’t quite there yet. However, a few people in Richmond, Virginia were adamant to convince us that RVA was a Kitchensurfing city, even if NYC (and Berlin!) are far away. So last Monday, we had a dinner, cooked by a local chef, and broke bread with cooks, foodies, bloggers, and journalists. It didn’t take long for them to win us over.
Caitlin Kilcoin, NY transplant, long-time restaurant rat, and current Coordinator of the GRCC’s YRichmond Program, was definitely the right person to be our guide around town. She was the architect behind our Kitchensurfing dinner, finding Stephanie Ganz (professional chef and one of the ladies behind RVA’s Pizza Tonight), arranging a venue (props to Richard for letting us crash his Church Hill home!), and gathering nearly all of the crowd. (She’s a big deal in town, or so we’re told). A big thanks to Caitlin for taking the initiative and flexing her guns getting everything sorted!
Stephanie’s built her menu on cuisine of Calabria (which, she admitted, was fun, given that she has no Italian heritage at all). Guests enjoyed goat cheese focaccia paired with spicy pickled eggplant and peperonata while sipping on some IPA and Ginger Honey Ale courtesy of Paul from Ardent Craft Ales. Once we all sat for dinner, Stephanie plated handmade ravioli (sausage and ricotta with fennel tomato sauce // veggie-friendly ricotta with Sicilian pesto) which everyone shared family-style. For dessert, we had almond-bergamot cake with citrus crema. Make sure to check out Stephanie’s profile, there’s a room full of people who can attest to her skills.
We’re certainly glad to have Steph among the vanguard of Richmond chefs on Kitchensurfing. We look forward to working with local cooks and getting things up and running in Virginia! If you’re looking to get Kitchensurfing rolling in your town, we just need enough talented people to be willing to make profiles and put themselves out there!
Final thanks to local celebrity and star blogger Brian for a bunch of great photos. Get some knowledge: Dirty Richmond
Dear #RVA,
We’ll be back.
