Sticky Icky

On a recommendation from a recent presenter (and fellow sushi lover), I'm posting about an awesome-looking sushi stop with locations in both Richmond, VA and Washington, D.C. I've not yet been to either city to experience this small, but independently-owned, chain, but from the looks of their web presence, they must be awesome!

Geek out: They've got at least two different websites with great design/coding, social media interaction all over the place (on-location photos, Twitter, blog, etc...), and even a list of their go-to websites (must be a work in progress with only two links right now)! Any place this "hip" to the latest web and marketing trends (and that does it well!) gets a huge thumbs up from me; way to go, Sticky Rice.

Looks like these locations are all pretty happenin', with live DJs, alcohol sales, and all sorts of other cool things, but some reviews online average out to 3/5 stars. Looks like there's good sushi, but it may not be a great idea to go during a rush or later in the evenings when the bar gets crowded with college students.

[ Website #1 ]
[ Website #2 ]
[ Google Map ]
[ Yelp ]

P.S. Did I mention one of their specialties is tater tots? Craziness.

Ethiopian South of the Mason-Dixon Line

Here's a good option if you find yourself in Richmond with a same city and some adventurous presenters: Nile Ethiopian will provide you with a platter of what looks like dog food, but which tastes like heaven. I convinced a crew of six of us to head there one evening when there was a massive pileup of seminars in the city, and we were not disappointed. If you're there to share, I'd recommend getting an order or two of something meaty and then splitting the vegetable dish medley. It's perfect to get you out of an all-cracker-barrel-all-the-time rut.

The Place: Nile Ethiopian

The Price: most dishes are under $15, and designed to share. You could do a large feast for two for around $20-25 each.

The World of Virginia Drive-By Cuisine

Anyone who has been assigned to Richmond 7 times in the course of one BER year gets to know the Virginia landscape pretty well. It's a beautiful state, full of green farm fields and great historical places, along with tasty eats. In this post, I want to discuss the options for the horrible 3 hour Roanoke to Richmond drive, since I've done it twice this year.

You have two options for driving:

Option 1 is what your Garmin will suggest automatically--driving the diagonal, more direct route through Lynchburg (worst named city in the country imho) and Appomattox. On a three hour drive, you will most likely want to stop and eat somewhere. DO NOT assume that Appomattox, with the reconstructed courthouse where the civil war ended and it's sign advertising "Restaurants and Antique Shops" is a good place to stop. Unless you want Dairy Queen, the only currently open restaurant is Grannie Bee's. This is a place where the over 60 set gather to share "Sahl-oh-mahn" cakes and "the extra vegetable of the evening... mac'n'cheese" while waiting for karaoke night to start. I am not joking. This place is a living, breathing southern Twilight Zone episode. You can get sweet tea, but from the look of it, you can also get food poisoning, or at least a loss of appetite. Beware, and get dinner in Farmville or Lynchburg instead.

Option 2, in which you pass through Charlottesburg, is the longer route, but has WAY better options as far as dinner is concerned. Charlottesburg has in fact completely won me over--thank your lucky stars if you get a seminar in this adorable college town near Jefferson and Madison's homes. The first time, I passed through as a drive by dinner stop, where I had fabulous chicken catchatorie at the South Street Brewery in the historic downtown area (South street and 2nd). They also had an amazing-sounding porter that had "chocolate" in it's name, if you're not a lightweight, don't pass out after a beer, or if you can get your sober presenter to drive the rest of the way... There's also a great pedestrian walking area not far from the brewery, where you can find a ton of good options. If your presenter has hinted at taking you out for a nice dinner, or has expressed a craving for crab, look no further than Hamilton's on the Pedestrian walk way near 2nd street. Their crab cakes (pictured at left) were their specialty for good reason. It's not quite as good as dungeness, but full of huge lumps of crab. I shared them with my presenter, along with a salmon dish which was very nicely done as well, and then the "chocolate many ways" dessert, which was to die for. We caught a glimpse of the key lime and coconut cake as we were walking out, completely stuffed, and wished we had just another inch of space in our stomachs. There are non-seafood dishes on the menu, all looked very well done.

The Drive: Richmond to Roanoke, or visa versa, via Charlottesburg. (or Appomattox if you're brave)

The Place: Charlottesburg Historic Downtown district, with the South Street Brewery and Hamilton's

The Food: The brewery has decent pub food, including some lighter options like chicken catchatorie. Hamilton's has good seafood as well as other gourmet dishes. They also have a decent appetizer menu that could serve as a multiple-items shared meal, lowering the cost a bit.

The Price: South Street Brewery is under $20. Hamiltons is mostly under $30.

Eating at the Marriott, Richmond

Sometimes you don't want to go very far once you've gotten to your hotel. You've valet parked your car and just want a quick bite at the restaurant in the hotel, but cringe at the prices and the lack of taste. Lucky for you, the Marriott at the Richmond Convention Center actually has a decent restaurant, The Bluefire Grill. I ordered their Bluefire salad and asked if they could put some grilled steak on it. For under $25 I had an amazingly well cooked medium rare steak of decent size over a delicious salad with a glass of red wine. It pays to be creative since that exact dish wasn't exactly on their dinner menu.

Watch out on this place at lunchtime though, I went there with two other PMs during a same city and it was a slow-and-painful hell hole. The kitchen cannot support feeding the local government types along with a seminar crowd, so if you want lunch there order early. Also, don't push it from the pulpit during the announcement, you'll get lots of angry participants who got their lunch at the last second.

The Place: The Bluefire Grill at the Marriott in Downtown Richmond, VA

The Food: They cook a decent steak. Also, they have many "gourmet" options that actually come out well... the portobello burger is tasty and their salads avoid iceberg (well, except for their tasty-looking wedge salad)

The Price: Lunch under $20, some under $10, Dinner under $30