Richmond's first Elby Awards

All right, y'all!  The first ever Elby awards were held Sunday night at the Virginia Historical Society.  These restaurant awards, sponsored by Richmond Magazine (among others) honored up- and- coming chefs and restauranteurs with an award named after Chef Paul Elbing, formerly of La Petite France- one of the most formative restaurants for Richmond.  There was quite a turnout for these restaurant awards, and the subsequent party was fun, if not just to see hardworking restaurant folks you never get in the same room together!  I loved talking with Todd Johnson from Mezzanine, Gary York from Enoteca Sogno (go northside!) and of course, Chef Paul who was so sweet and gracious (I got big kisses on each cheek!)  I know you probably want to see photos of them, but I only felt comfortable taking photos of my friends.  Here you go:

My crowd- folks from Slow Food, Tricycle Gardens and Shalom Farms. 

Me and my buddy Dominic from Shalom Farms (P.S. love the dress Casey lent me!)

Me and Amanda from Slow FoodRVA 

The awards went to the following:

Fine Dining Restaurant: Lemaire

Neighborhood Restaurant: The Black Sheep

New Restaurant: The Roosevelt

Wine Program: Secco Wine Bar

Beverage Program: Balliceaux

Restaurant Visionaries: Ren Mefford and Christ Tsui of EAT Restaurant partners (The Blue Goat, Wild Ginger, Osaka and Sushi-O)

Pastry Chef: Josh Gaulin of Acacia Midtown

Rising Culinary Star: Caleb Shriver of Aziza's

Chef of the Year: Dale Reitzer of Acacia Midtown

Congrats to all of the fine restaurants who were nominated this year, and thank you for making our lives so much tastier!