Sunday, February 12, 2012

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!

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the run down and that is a sweet new logo for RFC!

    E.A.T.

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  2. Caleb Shriver is going to be the next great chef in Richmond.

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  3. I've got a set of photos from the Elby's here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/murden/sets/72157629295726217/with/6867254919/

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  4. Great photos! Thanks for sharing- 'twas a good time!

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