Find me here...

If you were wondering where I went...I am still in Richmond, but haven't been living very thrifty lately. Although I do still very much appreciate a bargain, I have been spending time and all of my money exploring Richmond's dining scene. You can follow my adventures on my new site:

I hope to see you out!

$20 Beer Tasting at The Empress

Tomorrow will by my first time at The Empress (2043 W Broad St) although I hear great things about this place from people I trust in the Richmond food scene.  Lately, I have been on an exploration of craft brews and am excited for another reasonably priced beer event. Starting at 7pm, you can sample 5 different brews paired with Chef Carly’s most creative snack food. You can call RSVP on their facebook event, here. Below is their list of the beers. I can’t wait to see what the snacks are!

• Schneider Aventinus Wheat Dopplebock
• Ommegang Hennepin Farmhouse Saison
• Nectar India Pale Ale
• Breckenridge Avalanche Amber Ale
• Crispin' Velvet with Crispin' Cider and O'Haras Irish Stout

Weekend Plans - Beer, BBQ, Brass and Burgers

I am so excited for this weekend! The summer is in full swing and there is so much going on that I had to start putting things on a calendar to keep it all straight. Most of my plans are for thrifty events with one little expense thrown in for what is absolutely going to be an amazing Richmond experience. Here is my social calendar!

Friday – Beer Theatre at Wine and Beer Westpark (FREE)

This is my first Beer Theatre and I am excited to finally see what it is all about. Head Brewer, Chris Wilson will be streaming live to the shop to talk through a tasting and discuss the brews of Weyerbacher. Starts at 6pm and should be a great start to my Friday night.

Saturday Early Afternoon – Richmond BBQ Crawl ($50)

Matt Sadler of the Richmond food blog, themarinara.com, has put together what is sure to be a great event. For $50 we will ride a bus through the city and hit multiple BBQ restaurants to taste and marvel. On the bus will be Jeff Pullen, local BBQ judge discussing the art of rating BBQ. We start at Grandpa Eddies at 1pm and ride and dine through the early afternoon. This is my big spend event, but in my opinion totally worth it.

Saturday Late Afternoon – No BS Brass Band Fundraiser for the bus ($2)

Starting at 4pm, the No BS Brass Band will be playing in the bus lot at 4401 East Main Street for a fundraising event in support of the 2BNB bus. Entrance is only $2 and there will be beer, wine and more BBQ for purchase (although I doubt I will need more BBQ).

Sunday - Bargain Burgers @ The Tobacco Company ($2)

I am looking forward to hitting the Slip on Sunday for the newly established $2 Burger night at The Tobacco Company Restaurant. 8 oz. burgers for $2 will go perfectly with a bucket of 5 beers for $10.

I am very much looking forward to a weekend full of food and fun! Happy Summer! Photo credit: Patrick Hannan.

$25 Beer Dinner at Whole Foods

Beer Dinners are becoming very popular in the Richmond beer scene. Restaurants like TJs at the Jefferson Hotel and Mekong are experts at bringing beer lovers together to enjoy great cuisine paired with not wine, but beer! To enjoy a Beer Dinner, you will pay anywhere from $40 to $60, enjoy four to five courses, each paired with a different style beer usually from the same brewer. If you are lucky, the brewer himself or someone representing the brewery will be in attendance to talk more about each beer so that you get an education while eating and drinking.

Tomorrow, you will get to experience the delight of a four course dinner paired with beer from Trӧegs Brewery, with a representative from Trӧegs on hand to host, for just $25 per person at Whole Foods in Short Pump.  The four beers on the menu are the Dreamweaver Wheat Ale, HopBack Amber Ale, Trӧgenator Double Bock and (the only keg available in VA of) Flying Mouflan.

Thursday, July 7^th, 6:00pm

$25 per person

Reserve your seats at the Whole Foods in Short Pump right now!

Cheap Date Night – Moshi Moshi

I know that I have recently shared some recipes on this blog, but when it comes down to it…I am not a cook. That is why I love restaurants so much and also why I am always on the lookout for a thrifty dinner out. I was so excited when I got my bill from Moshi Moshi to realize that we had just had a dinner for two under $35!

Moshi Moshi (3321 West Cary Street) is in Carytown, which is the perfect bike riding distance from my house on a nice day. We didn’t bike it on this trip for the same reason we didn’t sit on the patio. We sat at the bar in air conditioning! We were really looking for something quick since we were on our way to another event. Sushi seemed perfect. I ordered the Tempura Avocado to start and was absolutely in love. The cilantro cream sauce was a perfect accompaniment and the avocado was fresh out of the fryer, melt-in-your-mouth good. For sushi we didn’t get adventurous, just a plain roll for me and my date had the Roll Platter that came with one California Roll, one Spicy Tuna Roll and one Salmon Roll. An appetizer and 4 rolls between the two of us, was almost more than we could eat.

Breakdown:

Tempura Avocado - $8.00

Roll - $5.00

Roll Platter - $12.00

Tax - $2.75

Gratuity - $6.00

Total - $33.75

If we were feeling more experimental, we might have tried some of the Specialty Rolls like the Baking Salmon: crab, avocado and cucumber rolled in tempura crunchies and topped with baked salmon, spicy mayo, eel sauce and green onion or the Samurai: spicy salmon, cream cheese and cucumber tempura fried and baked with mango and eel sauces topped with green onion. Those are a little more pricy, but seem well worth it. Photo credit.