Restaurant Review #2: Cafe Rustica in Richmond, VA

Guys, you'd be so proud. I left the village this past weekend for civilization. I grew up going to Richmond fairly often; it is an old, spirited city with a lot of charm. I even had the chance to live in Richmond suburbia (not ideal, but better than the alternative). In the Fan is the residential district to the west of the business district and the state capitol and to the east of the West End. The Fan is full of row houses dating from the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century. They are spotted with details like crystal doorknobs, original stained glass windows, detailed woodwork the thought of painting makes you want to hire someone, fireplaces, and 12-foot ceilings. Each house comes fully equipped with it's own set of creaks and cracks; it's like they're trying to tell you some of the history of that place. I find old houses--noisy floors and all--extremely endearing.

There's something about that city that has always appealed to me and always felt like home. I will get there eventually, but for now, I will have to settle for random visits. Luckily, I have enough excuses (college friends and family friends) that I could probably visit every weekend for two months and stay with someone different each time.

That leads me to my most recent trip...I have been wanting to introduce my oldest (read: we met at orientation) college friend who is in law school and my adopted aunt and uncle/godparents ('family friends' just doesn't do them justice), because they live on the same street a block away from each other. We were finally able to coordinate all of our schedules and had a wonderful dinner with bacon-wrapped dates, crusty bread (make this one, it's insanely easy), cheese and crackers, shrimp scampi, roasted broccoli, and of course, the SYMG tart. Dinner was great, and the company was even better! 

The daughter of the family friends works at a restaurant downtown called Cafe Rustica. On their website, they describe their food as "European comfort food."  After hearing rave reviews of the food and the prix fixe menu on Sundays, I decided I had to fit a visit to CR into my weekend schedule.

This is from the website...no that's not pot roast or lasagna,
but see how good it looks!!

In general, the food on the website sounds delicious--from the butternut ravioli with duck confit, kale and sage butter sauce to the Mediterranean short stack (a shrimp, scallop, and crab cake with a lemon dill sauce). But we were going for the Sunday prix fixe menu, which features two appetizers, two entrées, and a dessert for $15 per person. The night we went, they were featuring an artichoke and caper salad and tomato basil soup with housemade croutons and Fontina cheese. Pot roast with root vegetables and vegetarian lasagna with a Florentine sauce were the chosen entrées of the night. The dessert was bread pudding with berry compote.

When you walk into the restaurant, the first thing you notice is the decor. It is a small space that can probably only seat 50 people, there are a couple tables for two in the window, several bar seats, booths down one side made of old doors that have had the paint scraped off them, and a table in the back for larger parties. It is very warm, inviting and, for lack of a better word, rustic. I LOVE this type of feel. It's not pretentious, and it's totally comfortable. You feel like you're walking into a friend's house and are going to be served food that was made with a lot of love. And that's exactly what we got...

We were served a basket of homemade bread as soon as we sat down. There was a herbed, salty focaccia and a chewy white bread. The oil on the table was in an Orangina bottle with your typical wine pourer--such a resourceful idea! I ordered the salad and everyone else tried the soup. The salad was awesome. The artichokes were not too briny, as I often think is the case, and to my surprise, I liked the capers. It was a very light start to the meal.

The Sunday night menu seems to feature things that are easily prepared that day and served that day, so there is no customization allowed, but the chefs know exactly what they are doing. You wouldn't want to change anything about the dishes they prepared. Two people ordered the pot roast and two people (me being one of them) ordered the lasagna.

The pot roast featured potatoes, carrots, and turnips served in a bath of au jus. The server put down two empty plates for the roast eaters and brought this huge platter of roast beef and vegetables, and they were able to serve themselves family style. There was enough meat for all four of us, and we leftovers home for two meals. The meat was falling apart and was extremely juicy. No wonder this place has won several awards.

I ordered the lasagna, and it was served in an adorable, mini-casserole dish smothered in a vibrant green sauce. Between the layers of pasta and ricotta, there were toasted tomatoes, zucchini, and yellow squash. It was unbelievable; this is the type of meal you want on a cold winter night. Although it was a very mild February night, I enjoyed this dinner just as much as if there were a wind chill of -2.

For dessert, I was not all that excited about the bread pudding, but I, naturally, was not going to turn down a dessert, especially if it was coning regardless. I am typically not a fan of puddings unless it's tapioca or a milk-based pudding without chunks (read: corn, rice, or soggy bread). I tried the pudding, because it was drowned in a berry compote, and then I couldn't resist eating the rest of it! The tartness and sweetness of the berry compote was irresistible.

I almost forgot to mention that there are wine specials--$12, $14, and $16 bottles (at least the night we went those were the prices, they may vary). We decided not to have beverages, because Monday morning was coming much sooner than we wanted to admit.

We all left slightly miserably full and very, very happy campers. Moral of the story: you have to visit Cafe Rustica if you are in/near Richmond. They don't take reservations, so if you go and they are busy, wait it out. You will not regret your decision.

***All pictures are from http://caferusticarva.com/index.htm as I did not have my camera with me...I know, unacceptable!