HEARD! #5 LEE GREGORY

I started Food Punk to create a space to celebrate food and music. Where else could I herald the magic of both Ramps and Pusha T? Cooking, like music, is an art. Both can be visceral, sensory experiences that transport, inspire and even define us. I’ve often found that those who play with knives are also into ‘deep cuts’ of another nature. It is in this spirit that I bring you this series: HEARD! highlighting the music enthusiasts behind the line, the bar, the pass and the pen.

Lee Gregory is chef and co owner of The Roosevelt here in Richmond. He is a devoted Clemson fan, loves him some Kenny Powers and is prone to starting sing-a-longs in The Roosevelt kitchen.

What was the first live music performance you attended?

First show, no joke, Vanilla Ice. I was in maybe 7th or 8th grade, township auditorium, Colombia, SC. I had 2nd row seats. It was incredible at the time, so loud, now I joke about it. My dad dropped off my friend and I, we thought we were so cool. We were really just dorks. I’m not to proud to admit it, most folks that know me well wouldn’t be surprised that was the first concert..still a dork..ha!

What was the most recent?

The most recent was the cat from Lucero, Ben Nichols. It was his solo tour I think? When I worked in Charlottesville before we opened The Roosevelt, I walked down to The Jefferson Theatre and watched a set or two. Oh, wait I take that back, I saw a band at The National here in Richmond, can’t remember the name. A girl singer was jumping around a lot and they had two guitars and a drum machine. From Austin maybe? I guess I wasn’t impressed.

What album/artist changed/defined/etc your life?
Man, growing up I listened to what everyone listens to down there. A lot of outlaw country, and jammy stuff like The Allman Bros., and The Dead. I never really got into the rest of (the jam band) genre, just the older bands. Then I went through the grunge stuff and gangster rap. Still really the only rap I listen to. Albums were still important back then. I really fell out of most of that stuff when I moved to Richmond in my early twenties. I lived with some music guys that kinda started changing how I saw things, Radiohead’s OK Computer changed a lot for me, blew me away. I’d really never heard it when it was out, it blew my mind, still does. And Bowie, Ziggy Stardust, incredible. Those two really stick out to me.

Do you have a musical equivalent to a guilty pleasure?

My guilt pleasure is Toby Keith, I love that guy. It’s so stupid, but I can’t help myself. What can I say, the guy is a beast.

What album (or band’s music) is your go to for when you wanna smash stuff and life is sticking it to you?
My smash stuff music really only happens at brunch or on the way to brunch on Sunday’s. It takes a lot to get me fired up for that shift after usually busy Friday and Saturday nights. I’ve been listening some to The Sword. They rip in an old metal kind of way. Some real magical wizardy heavy metal. Singing about wolves and dragons and shit, they are on a Game of Thrones level. Wild.

What album is your go to for fist-pumping-this-is-the-best-
ever-happiness times?

Fist pumper might be Green Day’s Dookie, they kinda helped introduce me to that kinda punk scene that we just flat out didn’t see in South Carolina growing up.

A friend’s older brother was way into Fugazi, and (Richmond’s own) Avail, and we heard them through him a good bit, and other bands in that vein, but that Green Day album helped bridge the gap for us, and it just flat out ripped.

What is on your turntable at home right now? Or the last album you listened to on computer MP3 etc?
The last album I listened to through was actually yesterday at brunch, we listened to Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle, I don’t know how but I still remember nearly every word, I think I shocked a few of my staff, it was pretty funny.

In my car I’ve got a George Jones greatest hits album that I’ve kinda been listening to since he passed. Trying to honor him some way I guess.

Thanks Lee!! Below is a picture of the wall in Lee’s kitchen at The Roosevelt, and the Explosions In The Sky song is for all of you who know what that phrase means.

Coach!!

HEARD! #4 JOHN CURRENCE

I started Food Punk to create a space to celebrate food and music. Where else could I herald the magic of both Ramps and Pusha T? Cooking, like music, is an art. Both can be visceral, sensory experiences that transport, inspire and even define us. I’ve often found that those who play with knives are also into ‘deep cuts’ of another nature. It is in this spirit that I bring you this series: HEARD! highlighting the music enthusiasts behind the line, the bar, the pass and the pen.

Photo by Pableaux Johnson

John Currence AKA Big Bad Chef is chef/owner of the City Grocery Restaurant Group in Oxford, MS. He tells it like it is and his passion extends far beyond the plate, as you will see in his musings on music below.

What was the first live music performance you attended?

From a very technical standpoint, my mother likes to tell the story that it was the Beatles in 1964 at Tad Gormley stadium in City Park in New Orleans. She took a pile of her JR. high and high school students to the concert while she was about 9 months pregnant with me.

I had the opportunity to see loads of live music and I am not exactly sure of the chronology. In 1974-76 my family lived in Scotland, while I was there I had a number of musical surprises. Walking to catch the bus home from school, I stumbled into an impromptu performance by the Sex Pistols in Princess Street Gardens. They were playing the song Bodies. There were lots of cops.
I went to see Crosby Stills and Nash and also Elton John on different occasions with my mom and dad. All I really remember is getting in trouble with my brother at CSN for pretending like we were falling asleep. I remember EJ totally crushing versions of “Rocket Man” and “The Bitch Is Back.”

In New Orleans, we used to go to the Blue Room in the Roosevelt Hotel and see folks like Cab Calloway, Andrews Sisters, Four Freshmen and the Mills Brothers, but the first thing I bought a ticket ($12.50) to go see was the first “Day Of Rock N Roll” in the Superdome.
New Orleans was a big stop on the indie music circuit at that time and so in the year after that we saw the Police and U2 about two weeks apart on their first tours of the states and Elvis Costello was coming through regularly.

We used to sneak down to Bourbon Street to stand outside of the Famous Door and listen to whoever was playing Dixieland that night/afternoon and also to Preservation Hall to hear the PHJB play. New Orleans was a weird town to grow up in, from a musical standpoint. The scene was totally goofy, but the opportunities, in retrospect were cool.

What was the most recent?
Saw Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears a few nights before our baby was born. It was a moment of sanity in the midst of my bride’s hormone-driven insanity…

What album/artist changed or defined your life?

My hair was totally blown back the first time I listened to The Clash. The Clash were angry but eloquent. They were brutes with restraint. They had a message and it was clear. Having lived in the UK in the 1970′s, I was entirely familiar with their frustrations. I loved the almost-anarchic call to arms they broadcast, but loved that it stopped short of “kill the rich/lynch the Queen,” but was laced with “don’t fuck with us because we have an army and they are ready to burn this mother down.”

Joe Strummer was the voice of a generation and he was a poet. He distilled the feeling of that moment and put it to music. It made you aware that standing up and doing the right thing was an imperative, injustice would not be tolerated and one voice could make a difference.

Do you have a musical equivalent to a guilty pleasure?

I am not sure there is such a thing for me. I admit, freely to anything that I like. These days I get up in the morning and put on Baroque classical while I give our baby her first feeding of the day and start work from home, I work to Guns n Roses, Van Halen, Motley Crue, Minor Threat, Ministry, etc. I have moments when you will find me listening to the BeeGees, Fleetwood Mac, ELO or Elton John.

You will not find me listening EVER, to any bullshit jam band Grateful Widespread Phish Cheese non-music shit. It goes in the same category and contemporary “country” and whatever new pop fucking garbage is being produced these days. The Alabama Shakes can save the world. Unfortunately, I don’t think there are enough folks out there who care enough to make a difference and Strummer is dead…

What album is your go to for when you wanna smash stuff and life is sticking it to you?
Back In Black, Van Halen 1, Appetite For Destruction, Dr. Feelgood, Nevermind

What album is your go to for fist-pumping-this-is-the-best-ever-happiness times?

See above

What is on your turntable at home right now?

Right now, in my car is
1) Return Of The Grievous Angel maybe the greatest tribute album ever recorded. I understand Gram Parsons was a complete asshole, but goddamn he wrote some beautiful music.

2) A Solomon Burke collection…holy shit, what an arguably overlooked talent.

The man is unbelievable.

3)The Pixies Bossanova, what else is there to say about these guys?

4) The Hives Veni Vidi Vicious just because it helps distract me from the voices.

5) Miles Davis, Sketches Of Spain. I want my little girl to be a musical smarty pants and hopefully a dreadful snob.

6) Springsteen, Darkness On The Edge Of Town. “Racing In The Streets” I love on the way home from work over and over and over….

Music is a huge part of my life. I played in bands for most of my adolescence and young adulthood and unfortunately ruined myself on live music. We lived, for a decade, a six-seven night a week schedule in Richmond, Raleigh, DC, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, and Atlanta driving to and going out to see different bands.I have a tough time these days dragging myself out to see music.

I’m old and jaded these days and have a tough time talking to musicians who have never slept on an apartment floor or under a pool table on the road, who never had to figure out how to stretch $5 into food and cigarettes for an entire day or know the in’s and out’s of fixing their van when it breaks down in the pouring rain in the middle of the night in Alabama somewhere.

Lots of young acts lack a soul that that sort of struggle brings to the fret board. Grit is missing. Anger is missing. The anger these days is over hard drive crashes, overnight Amazon deliveries not making it and malfunctioning hair gel, not asshole, war-mongering presidents, societal issues or class upheaval.

I want to be moved again.

I want to see another time when music is a vehicle of expression for change and…shit, I just want it to express anything other than the anemic, bubblegum, snot-nosed, entitled, lazy, stupid, insipid, bullshit that seems to be the record company norm these days. If nothing else, at least ‘The Dead’ wanna-be’s seem to have been hunted down and killed by dogs in the forest of my bliss…

ONE DAY IN RVA #8 IT DON’T GET BETTA THAN GRETA

One Day in RVA is a series on the fabulous folks who enrich our city on the daily. Greta Brinkman is someone I never get to spend time with and whom I admire deeply.

Photo by Scott Elmquist

Who are you really?

I am Greta Brinkman. I have earned a living as a potwasher, baker, personal assistant, carpenter, seamstress, haircutter, and bass player, among other things. I used to play bass for Debbie Harry and Moby, but currently I’m only in one band, a Doom Metal outfit called DRUGLORD. I’m currently office manager at a local T-shirt printer, but in a fit of midlife crisis, I just gave notice so that I can spend more time playing music and making, or at least looking at, art! It’s exhilarating!

How was your day in RVA?

Here is my day, a Saturday:
6:45 AM: Boy, would I like to sleep in, but the cat alarm has no snooze button. This is Foofy Mopkins.

She has a really whiny voice so even though she’s just making conversation she always sounds like she’s being boiled alive. Oh well, at least she’s lazy and a terrible hunter; she’s no danger to my two pet rats, Ratalie Portman and Duchess Ratiana. 
I get the rats out of the Winter Palace where they spend their nights and give them a shoulder-ride to the kitchen for the essential start of morning: strong black tea made with an electric kettle.

Ratalie Portman and Duchess Ratiana

I have 40 minutes to spare, so I think I’ll throw together some gluten-free SKILLET CORNBREAD. I’m not actually ALLERGIC to wheat/gluten, but I am trying to minimize it and I do think I feel better. This is the simplest, most foolproof recipe ever:

Got a cast-iron skillet?
Put 3 or 4 TBSP of BUTTER in there and put it in your oven. Turn the oven on to 425.
Get 2 bowls, a big one and a smaller one. In the big one, mix together:
1 1/2 cups of cornmeal
 1/2 cup rice flour (or quinoa flour, or almond flour, or garbanzo flour)

2 TSP baking powder

1 TSP salt

a little sugar, if you want
In the smaller bowl, whisk together:
2 eggs

1 1/2 cups soymilk OR ricemilk OR coconutmilk OR
EVEN WATER I SUPPOSE IF YOU ARE REALLY THAT GODDAMNED DESPERATE
Open up the oven, pull the pan out and dump the now melted butter in the smaller bowl too, and then quick-like-a-bunny stir the wet stuff into the dry stuff in the bigger bowl, and pour that whole mess into the still-hot pan (this gives it a nice crust).
Stick the pan BACK in the oven for 30 minutes.
BAM!DONE!

While that’s cooking I make some gluten-free organic rice pasta (this stuff is not half bad, actually) 
add a little pesto, and put a fried egg on it for breakfast.

Put an egg on it.

Honestly, I’m not really much of a foodie; I get intimidated if a dish has more then 3 ingredients. However, learning to cook is an excellent idea and I save probably thousands of dollars a year by making giant pots of food on Sundays and then eating leftovers at work instead of eating out every day!

Yum, breakfast! That bottle on the left? Freeze-dried cow thyroid from New Zealand. Why? Well, if you are over 30, have no health insurance, and your thyroid decides to shit the bed: you go get an ultrasound, and they say, yeah, it looks terrible but it’s not cancer. We can cut it out if you want. That’ll be $1000.00 dollars, please.
So I went on the internet and got this stuff. One pill a day and I feel like a human being again!
Here’s my cupboard.

Full of really expensive organic everything. Why? Because I hate Monsanto with the burning fire of a thousand suns. My hatred of Monsanto eclipses even my hate for PayPal, it’s THAT extreme. I already had cancer once and it was pretty scary, so I decided to do everything I can to avoid GMOs in the hope that maybe it’ll help keep me healthy.

After breakfast, time to clean the house a little and then get down with the laptop to sort out some new music.
It’s part of my job as WRIR the Loud/Metal Director to listen to the new releases and decide what gets to be on the server and what is just too terrible to subject anyone to (VICTORY RECORDS releases, the Lou Reed/ Metallica album, any solo release by that singer from System of a Down). Appreciate the irony of the fact that today is RECORD STORE DAY, a day dedicated to physical copies of vinyl records, and I’m busily downloading and shuffling around hundreds of thousands of bytes of digital material. My entire record collection fits on here:

The new OMD: pretty good. New GHOST: damned catchy but I’ll probably listen to it every day for 6 weeks and then never play it again.
Time to do the CMJ report! This is another part of my job, signing into the website to report what has been added to our server, and what has actually been PLAYED. I’ll get to it in a second, but my eyes are kinda tired and itchy from all the pollen, let me just rest them for a minute….
Oh shit, what happened? It’s 12:45! Ooh, it got nice out! Maybe I’ll see what’s going on at VINYL CONFLICT !

What do you know? There’s a bunch of my friends! There’s a block yard sale going on with all kinds of interesting finds!

And inside VINYL CONFLICT, live in-store by Dorthia Cottrell!

She has such an amazing voice. I envy her being confident enough to get up in front of people and sing with just an acoustic guitar… I would have loved to be a singer but the idea of having no rock band to hide behind freaks me the hell out.

Speaking of rock bands, there’s my band’s album in the racks! That’s a cool feeling!

Back at home, I have a little time to kill before meeting the guys at the space to load out for our BIG ROCK SHOW tonight in Raleigh. Maybe I’ll try this locally made hard cider from BLUE BEE Cider.

Blue Bee Cider

HOLY BALLS IS THIS DELICIOUS!!! Quite dry, only a little bubbly, you can really taste the apples.
5:25: I’m supposed to be at the space in 5 minutes! Luckily everything in RVA is less than 15 minutes from everything else, so I hop on my little Honda putt-putt and zoom on over there. Tonight’s other band, HORSESKULL, are letting us use some of their gear, so we are able to pack everything into one vehicle… barely. We’re trying to come up with the name and art for our new record and we think it’s going to be called “Enter Venus”.
Of course that means the back cover will have to say “Exit Ur-anus”, hyuk hyuk.
In Raleigh, we bring the rock to a decent crowd, sell some merch and EVEN get paid, and decamp to my old friend Roger Gupton’s place for the night.

In the morning we go to the local Whole Foods breakfast bar to stock up on eats and coffee before heading home.

See you all out at the art museum, Eric Schindler Gallery (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eric-Schindler-Gallery/119667029464?fref=ts), or a house show!

HEARD! #3 BROOKE MOSLEY

I started Food Punk to create a space to celebrate food and music. Where else could I herald the magic of both Ramps and Pusha T? Cooking like music, is an art. Both can be visceral, sensory experiences that transport, inspire and even define us. I’ve often found that those who play with knives are also into ‘deep cuts’ of another nature. It is in this spirit that I bring you this series: HEARD! highlighting the music enthusiasts behind the line, the bar, the pass and the pen.

Brooke Mosley is my chef crush!!
She is a pastry chef recently relocated to San Francisco and working at Outerlands. “I’m consistently in awe, but seldom surprised. I’m from San Diego and other than four years in NYC, have always lived in SoCal. Never planned to chef. Always wanted to be on a stage. My desserts are seldom sweet enough”.

What was the first live music performance you attended?

I’ll give you five! Huey Lewis and The News (Sports tour) was número uno, Simon and Garfunkel (and holy SHIT Princess Leia, I mean, Carrie Fisher was there. But I’m totally team Edie Brickell), Three Dog Night, The Doobie Brothers and wait for it…Captain and Tenille.

What was the most recent?

Jack White. (Obsessed. Seen White Stripes, Raconteurs and Dead Weather )

What album/artist changed/defined/etc your life?

Wow. My uncle was in a band way back called Moby Grape (editor’s note: !!!!!!!!!!) and my dad was always very into rock and roll/singer-songwriter stuff, so I grew up feeling like I KNEW Linda Ronstadt and Jennifer Warnes, Warren Zevon and Neil Young.

photo from ronstadt-linda.com

Like I fully expected to see them at our house one day. As I got a little older, it was Steely Dan and Toto and Tull. Huge.
If I had to name one? Just one? Jeez. Probably Simon and Garfunkel. High School. Everyone else was all about OPP and I just wasn’t. I needed them. I connected to almost nothing that should have been relevant to someone my age.

photo from LastFM

Do you have a musical equivalent to a guilty pleasure?

Awesome question. Hahaha. Shit. I totally own the Yentl soundtrack, dude. And I know every. single. word. But, like music someone would be surprised that I like? Tyga? Or soundtracks to musicals. Total ex-theatre nerd.

What album is your go to for when you wanna smash stuff and life is sticking it to you?

That is tough. Because that happens a lot! Rage Against The Machine or Nine Inch Nails. Helmet, Metallica.

What album is your go to for fist-pumping-this-is-the-best-ever-happiness times?

BI double G IE Smalls, man.
Notorious Thugs Nothing makes me happier.

What is on your turntable at home right now? Or the last album you listened to?

Chromeo Fancy Footwork

Is there anything about your love of music that you’d like to add?
Like when or how you listen, favorite genres, desert island top jams, whatever…

Hm. I associate my connections to the people I care most about in life to music. Any album I love, there’s a human I also love attached to it and sometimes that person is simply myself.

Top jams?

Close to me by The Cure
Superstition by Stevie Wonder
The Boxer by S&G
Hey 19 by Steely Dan
just about anyfuckingthing by The Talking Heads
and The River by Joni Mitchell

HEARD! #2 SEAN BROCK

I started Food Punk to create a space to celebrate food and music. Where else could I herald the magic of both Ramps and Pusha T? Cooking like music, is an art. Both can be visceral, sensory experiences that transport, inspire and even define us. I’ve often found that those who play with knives are also into ‘deep cuts’ of another nature. It is in this spirit that I bring you this series: HEARD! highlighting the music enthusiasts behind the line, the bar, the pass and the pen.

Mr. Brock needs no introduction, but here are a few facts: He has a crazy laugh. He has wrestled an alligator. He is a music fanatic and collects records.

What was the first live music performance you attended?

I saw Willie Nelson at the West Virginia State Fair with my Mom and Grandma. They cried their eyes out when he sang Blue Eyes Cryin in the Rain.

What was the most recent?

Last show that I saw was…….Holly Williams in Charleston, but always get to see lots of great Honky Tonk on Broadway in Nashville.

What album/artist changed/defined/etc your life?

I really connect with The Drive By Truckers. They write songs about things that I can relate with having grown up in the South. I am a pretty die hard fan. You should see my t shirt collection.

Do you have a musical equivalent to a guilty pleasure?

Hmmmmm…..I’ll sneak a listen to 311 sometimes. When I’m alone.

What band is your go to for when you wanna smash stuff and life is sticking it to you?

Lamb of God

What band is your go to for fist-pumping-this-is-the-best-ever-happiness times?

Wild Cub

What is on your turntable at home right now? Or the last album you listened to?

Earnest Tubb, Let’s Turn Back the Years

Can you tell me a bit about how you feel about music?

Music makes you forget about everything. When you are listening to music that you enjoy, nothing else matters. I am always listening to music and when I am not, there is always music stuck in my head. I love music as much as I love food. There is nothing better than discovering a new band that you now always listen to. I also love introducing people to new music. I am always searching for new stuff to listen to. Right now I’m listening to a lot of heavy stuff. Just discovered Bison BC and can’t stop listening to them. And sometimes I go through phases where all I want to listen to is Rick Ross. I’m a total weirdo when it comes to musical taste. Well, I guess I’m just a weirdo all the way around.

Do you have a desert island jam?

Stuck on a desert island and only had one album?!…….

I listen to a shit load of Elvis… and I also really like Lionel Richie

ONE DAY IN RVA #7 ANDREW BLOSSOM: KING OF CLERKS

One Day in RVA is a series on the fabulous folks who enrich our city on the daily.

Andrew Blossom, bookseller and video clerk.

Andrew at Video Fan

Who are you, really?
I work at Chop Suey Books, an independent bookstore, and at the Video Fan, an independent video store, one of the nation’s few remaining.

I’m also co-editor of the short story collection Richmond Noir, from Akashic Books, and a founding editor of the literary magazine Makeout Creek. We released our latest issue – number five! – last month. And last year we began the move into book production with Jammer Slammer, written and illustrated by former Richmonder R Nicholas Kuszyk. Both are available online and at Chop Suey.

What did you do today in RVA?
Most days, I aim to wake up at 8 am, but April and I have these two wonderful cats who might decide they need to be fed anywhere from 5 am onward. On this day, a Monday, they got started early. I was in and out of sleep for a few hours, and finally up for sure by 8:30.

As I was getting ready, I managed to get on the internet long enough to learn the sad news of Les Blank’s death. Before leaving, I posted a tribute on the Video Fan’s Facebook page. Not that it amounted to much, but as you might imagine, we’re all Burden of Dreams fans over there.

Like previous contributors to this series, I’m fond of Lamplighter in the mornings, but I also very much like Can Can Brasserie. A full-service French restaurant for most of the day, Can Can opens mornings to serve bread, pastries and coffee, which is strong and good. On this day, I stopped in and ordered an iced coffee and a demi-baguette – which at Can Can means one half of a long, thin loaf of bread, served with butter.

At 10 am, I opened Chop Suey with my co-worker Ward, who is the founder and owner of the store. Chop Suey has been in Richmond for almost eleven years. We’re primarily a used bookstore, but we also carry a handpicked selection of 1200 or so new titles. Monday mornings are more focused than most on the new stuff.

Won Ton is Richmond Famous

So as usual we fed the cat — Won Ton, who is Richmond Famous and also a minor internet celebrity — set up the dollar books, and hunted down the day’s internet orders to pack and ship. Then Ward and I went over sales for the weekend and ordered new stock, and I prepared our weekly report to the New York Times. All the while there was the usual traffic of shoppers and folks looking to sell books. Chop Suey has an open door policy – anyone can bring in books at anytime – and for some reason, Monday mornings can get as crazy as a Saturday afternoon. Thankfully, this one was a little more peaceful.

Around 2 pm, I had lunch, homemade green salad and leftover pasta from Kuba Kuba, a Richmond institution, serving Cuban and Cuban-inspired food in the Fan neighborhood. They have a crazy delicious penne pasta dish that they serve in a bowl as big as your head, made with roasted tomatoes and peppers, portobello mushrooms, manchego cheese and fat cloves of garlic. It’s almost too much to eat in one sitting, but if you play it conservatively, you can feast for days.

After lunch, I walked over to Plan 9 Music, a block away from the bookstore. They have a great selection of used DVDs, which can be a treasure trove for restocking the Video Fan. I was looking for Fargo – our copy was recently stolen — but had no luck. While there, I purposefully avoided looking in the direction of the used horror section. It’s almost always great, and I was trying to hold onto my money.

The afternoon at Chop Suey was spent at the register and/or pricing newly-acquired used titles to go out in the store. At 6, I was through, but on Mondays and Tuesdays I work these crazy doubles where I go straight from Chop Suey to the Video Fan. I can’t remember anymore how it ended up that way, but I’ve been doing it long enough now that it seems pretty normal. So, after saying goodbye to Won Ton (which I always do), it was off to the second shift.

The Video Fan is located on Strawberry Street in the Fan neighborhood, on a block that mixes businesses and residences. It’s been there renting movies on Strawberry since 1986, and remains viable even in today’s climate due to the incredible support it receives from its neighbors and all those Richmonders who continue to value video store culture.

Next door to the Video Fan is 8 ½, an ah-mazing Italian take-out place that belongs to the same family of incredible restaurants as Mamma’zu, Edo’s Squid and the newly-opened Dinamo. We are unbelievably spoiled to eat this well all the time. You have no idea. It’s like we’ve reached some other level of being by doing hardly anything at all.

On Monday, headed to Video Fan, I stopped at 8 ½ and picked up an order of the lentil salad, made with lentils (naturally), celery, potatoes, red onions, olive oil and some kind of unholy ambrosia that turns it into just the most phenomenal thing you could ever imagine lentils being.

Sometimes, a Video Fan customer will say, “Hey, all you guys have to do is watch movies and talk about them!”
And we do work at a video store. So, you know, you got us.
But as with every retail job, there’s a lot of busywork. On Monday night, my co-worker Liz and I prepared the new releases, which go out on Tuesday mornings – not the most taxing job, but one that has a lot of little steps and takes some time, particularly if the store is busy, which luckily it was. That said, we do totally get to watch and talk about a lot of amazing things. When Liz and I work together, we tend to think of store viewing in terms of projects. We recently made our way over twelve weeks through the films of Andy Sidaris (lots of guns and bikinis), and we’ve now embarked on a new project of watching the Star Trek movies in order. On this night, it was Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and in my opinion it doesn’t get better than that.

Around 9, I went back over at 8 ½. There are many, many highlights to the menu, and among them is the best pizza in Richmond, done in red or white style with a thin crust and fresh, flavorful ingredients. (Here’s a definite tip: if you find yourself at any restaurant in the mamma’zu family, ask after the pizza. If it’s available, order one immediately.) While I truly love the cheesy varieties, I also really dig their vegan pizza, made with white beans and broccoletti.

Joseph, who was cooking that night, added chopped onions and a bit of lemon juice. It was great, totally delicious, and way too much to finish in one video store sitting.

We closed the store at 11 pm, and on my way home, I stopped at Joe’s Inn, another distinctly Richmond eatery, to have a beer and try to make a bit of headway in the book I’ve been reading. Joe’s is a fun, friendly spot, one of my favorite places to spend some time. On weekdays they close at midnight, so it’s also a good option for having a drink without accidentally staying out all night. But after a long day I found myself losing steam pretty quickly. So I gave up on the book and headed home, where everyone was already asleep, in hopes of catching a few hours myself before those cats of ours start, “Hey dude, feed us, feed us”.

What do you have in your fridge, usually?

Most reliably? Sriracha, San Pellegrino and PBR.

What was the last album/song you listened to?

April and I recently made our way through the whole of Twin Peaks again, and since that time we’ve been listening to the soundtracks for the series and Fire Walk With Me pretty consistently.

ONE DAY IN RVA #6 THE GLAM LIFE OF OWEN & TIFFANY OF THE MAGPIE

One Day in RVA is a series on the fabulous folks who enrich our city on the daily.

Who are you, really?

Owen Lane, Chef/Owner The Magpie,
Tiffany Gellner Manager/Owner The Magpie

What did you do today in RVA?
Our day begins around 8am when our 9 month old Greater Swiss Mountain dog Jax, scratches at the bedroom door to be let out. Owen and I then argue about whose turn it is to take him downstairs to pee. Today it was my turn (yippe!). Potty training has been difficult and this morning is no different. I’m jolted out of my grogginess by a stream of warm urine filling my crocs. Jax then scream-barks in my face until I feed him.

Jax

I slosh into the kitchen to prepare his food and play a bit of Candy Crush while he eats. Then its back upstairs to rinse off my pee pedicure and take a shower.
Usually we would debate who has first rights to the shower and the only clean dry towel, but Owen stayed up late last night finishing up the spring menu so he sleeps in while I wash up, uncontested.

Owen is up soon after and while I do my make up, he takes Jax for a walk and a serious “chuck-it” ball fest. Getting out of the house usually takes about 15 min. We kennel Jax, feed and let out the littles, (our 2 chihuahuas, Joji and Pickle) and tend to Fat Pudds, our very large calico.

Fat Pudds!

We leave the house, usually returning about 3 separate times for forgotten items.
We stop by the restaurant for cash and coffee, check the messages and then head to Tan-A.

I stay in the car and make phone calls while Owen runs in for Napa cabbage, red miso, and strainers. On our way home we take a detour so Owen can pick up some tactical pants. Recently, he’s taken to wearing them in the kitchen, he says for “comfort”, but I’m not convinced…he’s seen Red Dawn (the original) one too many times.
Owen starts his prep for the day. The spring menu is almost finished so he will be trying out a couple of his ideas this week for specials: a crispy duck breast with miso honey butter.

The duck breast

Prep tunes consist of Built to Spill, The Bronx, and Shovels and Rope.

I jump back in the truck to run errands for the better part of my day. The bank, Staples, dropping Jax off to get groomed and then lunch at Einstein Bros. bagels. I love bagel sandwiches! I love them so much I consistently got Saturday detention when I was in school for cutting just to pick one up.

Then I’m back to the restaurant for a wine tasting. In the time I’ve been gone Owen has prepped the menu and some great specials including a braised rabbit with fennel, fava beans, ramps and an orange garlic broth.

Rabbit, fava beans, ramps, fennel

I’m on call this night, so after my tasting I pick up Jax and head home to take care of the house, which is horribly neglected. My high hopes of cleaning the bathrooms and finally getting to the laundry are dashed by a law and order SVU marathon.

While relaxing, I saturate all social media outlets with our food specials and do some other restaurant related research to make myself feel better about being off. I’m suppose to go to a friends cook out, but bail because I’m afraid work might need me. I debate on cooking my self dinner then realize we have no food-just condiments-and the thought of having to shop at the Lombardy Kroger makes me cringe.
Delivery it is, again! I order a caprese and pasta, from Belmont Pizzaria. Then call Beth at work to make sure they don’t need me. They do… So I call Belmont back and have my food re-routed to The Magpie’s back door.

I know what you are thinking, having food delivered at your restaurant sounds silly but honestly the irony of owning a restaurant means you’ll consume nothing but fast food and delivery. I hang out for a little while but they don’t need me, so its back to the house to finally do laundry.

I return later to pick up Owen around 11 and stay for a glass of wine. Owen and I discuss the day, some future business plans, and talk with Beth about cocktail ideas. About an hour and a half later we head home and on to bed. Sleep comes quick, until of course 3 am when Jax needs to pee….and we once again debate whose turn it is to let him out.

What’s in your fridge?
There is literally nothing but condiments and beer in our fridge.

What was the last album/song you listened to?
Owen: Shovles and Ropes, O be joyful
Tiffany: The Smiths and The Drive by Truckers