Pastries, ice cream, and one killer Manhattan

I spy knish, upper left

FEATHER IN YOUR (RED) CAP

If you've been enjoying Red Cap Patisserie's pastries at the St. Stephen's Farmers Market, your weekday options just got more interesting. Now you can find Red Cap's European-style pastries four days a week at their brick-and-mortar location on Meadow, in the former Lucille's Bakery space. Richmond Magazine's Stephanie Breijo has more on what you can expect from the fan's newest bakery. 

WELCOME BACK, BEV'S

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported this week that Carytown Ice Cream institution Bev's is resuming business after a November 2016 fire shut down the business. Bev's will officially reopen this Saturday, April 1st, and owner Beverly Mazursky wants everyone to know this is no April Fool's Joke.

CAST ON CAST IRON

This Sunday from 2:00 to 6:00 pm, get a taste of Appalachian cooking (cornbread! sorghum! soup beans!) at an Appalachian Food Tasting and Vintage Cast Iron Sale, hosted by Katie Hoffman, Brett Tiller, Amy Gonzalez, and Tanya Cauthen.

Co-host Amy Gonzalez says, "Katie [Hoffman] is an Appalachian scholar, organizes food events called Feastivals in Southwest VA (with Travis Milton & Nathan Brand). Those events incorporate food, art, craft, music, culture, etc. She is a singer & songwriter par excellence." 

The Tiller family will be selling some of their lovingly-curated cast iron collection, culled over 20 years of flea market and antique store pickin'. You'll learn about the food of the Appalachian region and go home with one of the best tools for making some of your own.

Courtesy Alert: This event takes place at Amy Gonzalez's home, so please, if you plan to attend, RSVP on the Facebook event linked above! 

FEELING THE FILIPINO FOOD

Richmond Restaurant Group chef Mike Ledesma is launching a new pop-up series. Passport Pop-Up will take diners on a journey, one delicious stop at a time. First up: Cavite, Phillipines. For this first pop-up on April 23rd, Ledesma and Kunal Shah will serve up an 8-course meal of Filipino's finest, including lumpia, laing, and kare-kare. Fly over to Richmond Magazine for more details on this jet-setting pop-up series.

In closely-related news, Ian Merryman of The Jackdaw has a half dozen tickets left to their second ever Kamayan Feast. The first, hosted by Citizen, introduced diners to this eat-with-your-hands style; and the second will pick up where they left off in a semi-secret outdoor location. Chef Ian Merryman will again team up with Shaun Loughran of The Rogue Gentleman for drinks befitting a casual, fun dinner.

IF YOU DO NOTHING ELSE...

It's almost Swine & Brine time! Ardent Craft Ales' third annual porcine and mollusk party takes place this year on April 8th, with contributors including Rappahannock River Oysters, Northern Neck Oysters, ZZQ, The Roosevelt, Saison, Sabai, and Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches. You can expect a dozen Ardent ales on tap, plus Blue Bee Cider and Zardetto Prosecco. This is a free event, open to the public (21+), and it's very, very popular: So get there early, and stay late. This is not something you'll want to miss.

SIP: SOPHIA KIM'S UP AND DOWN MANHATTAN

Laura Lee's and Flora bartender Sophia Kim recently won the Richmond 'Manhattan Experience' competition, created by Woodford Reserve. Kim told the Times-Dispatch “A good Manhattan starts with a delicious base: bourbon, whiskey or rye...The point is to showcase the base spirit, so choose one that you like." Learn more Manhattan wisdom from Kim, including her own winning combo, at Richmond.com.

BITE: PERLY'S VEGETABLE KNISH

A flaky pastry dough loaded with potatoes and broccoli sits in a creamy cheese sauce, dotted with broccoli florets. Perly's vegetable knish is donut-shaped, not the square shape I'm used to (I realize both are acceptable; I just got to know the square variety first.), and maybe it's the improved aerodynamics, but damn Gina, this is the best knish I've ever had. 

Governor Terry McAuliffe stopped by Perly's this week to chat with Mark Halperin for the Showtime series The Circus. You can see it all for yourself this Sunday at 8:00 pm.

GRAM: @KINGOFPOPSRVA

If you're running in or towards the Monument Ave 10K this weekend, reward your efforts with one of King of Pops newest and arguably greatest creations, The Rainbow Cookie Pop, made with Ukrop's Homestyle Foods' iconic rainbow cookies and sweet, creamy goodness. You deserve it.