Weekend Highlights

Happy 4th of July!

I wanted to pop in and share a few of my favorite moments from the weekend so far!

On Friday night, Alex had a little date night around downtown & Church Hill. There are a lot of really interesting restaurants that aren’t super vegetarian-friendly (most have a small plate option but not always an entree option) so we decided to just try something little at each spot. It was fun, since we got to try a lot of different places!

We started out at Belle & James, a new-ish restaurant downtown. I had a glass of Prosecco, Alex had a beer, and we shared the goat cheese crostini.

It had some sort of jam/preserves on top which was really sweet but it went nicely with the goat cheese! Since we went pretty early, they had a whole bunch of food & drink specials. I’d definitely recommend it for an after work happy hour!

After that, we headed to Church Hill to try Dutch & Co. Neither of us had been before and I was excited that they actually had a couple of vegetarian options for their small plates. It’s a small spot with a really great vibe. We settled on the burrata.

The burrata was serviced with ricotta, radishes, sugar snap peas, mint, and buckwheat crisps. This was probably my favorite of all the dishes we tried. The cheese had such a great texture and I couldn’t believe how delicious the vegetables were.  Honestly, I could have just eaten a huge bowl of those vegetables and been happy. Also, props to the service at Dutch & Co. A fly took a nose dive right into my half-full rose and they promptly gave me a new, full glass!

Our last stop was The Roosevelt. I’d only been here once before, a few years ago. We managed to grab a spot at the bar and we shared a plate of french fries (yum!) and these shishito peppers.

Shisito peppers are totally having a moment right now. It’s actually kind of funny how they’ve sort of popped up everywhere. But it’s for good reason! They’re so delicious! These were served with an avocado cream, queso fresco and maybe pumpkin seeds? The menu said pumpkin seeds but the crumble on top tasted a little nuttier to me. I’m not sure, but either way they were great! If you’ve never had Shishito peppers, they’re fun because most of them are mild but every once in awhile you get a spicy one. We only had one spicy one and luckily it wasn’t too hot.

We actually attempted to get dessert at WPA Bakery but they were about to close. Still, we had such a fun time tasting dishes from a different part of town! Richmond really does have an amazing restaurant scene. Sometimes the vegetarian options are a little limited but I think this is proof that every place has something for us!

Saturday morning, we kept the Richmond theme going and hit up the South of the James farmer’s market.

Alex picked up a donut from Mrs. Yoder’s (aka the best donuts ever) and we also picked up a baguette, some goat cheese, and a few veggies.

We ended up snacking on our recent purchases for lunch. It’s hard to beat summer produce!

The weather was oddly perfect so it was a nice way to start the day! I even went for a run this weekend. I’m still working on the whole “enjoying running” thing but as the miles get easier, it’s starting to be a little more fun! If you’re just starting your running journey, check out these 4 tips for new runners from Hollie!

What did you do this weekend?