Aziza's

I finally ate at Aziza's on Main. It seems everyone I know has eaten there, and for one reason or another I've never made it there until this week. After months of listening to people go on about how good it is I couldn't take it anymore! Matt and I went early on Thursday night, but even though it was just after 6pm there were multiple tables seated in this cozy spot. I didn't really want to be writing a review, so I'll skip my petty complaints. The service was fabulous, being relaxed, pleasant and timely. I went with the white speciality pizza topped with Hedgehog mushrooms, Chanterelle mushrooms, truffle oil, and garlic, and it was delicious. For my appetizer I ordered the one vegetarian option that was not bread based. A Manakintowne Farm Greens Salad with pickled turnips and black olives was set before me and the amount of green towering upon my plate actually made me gasp a bit. It lasted through the entire meal as Matt and I ate bites of greens between pizza. My husband really like his pizza as well, and he loved his salad a.k.a. 'The Perfect Egg." This is also one's of Erin's favorite dishes just about anywhere I think. During the course of my meal I tried four things new to me, which is always fun, including pickled turnips. Surprisingly these were also good despite being well, turnips. Apparently pickling really can work magic.
Perhaps best of all for me was the cream puff. I know their famous for this house made extravagance so I ordered one even though I have never in my life liked a cream puff. The few times I've tried one the strait cold sugariness of it had me taking one small bit and discreetly disposing of the rest. I have therefore been avoiding them for a good while now, until Thursday. The Azizas cream puff is so rich and creamy without being too sugary. It's also so big that my husband and I had to split one. This was monumental for me. Obviously I had been damaged by poor cream puffs in the past, but clearly there are good ones out there to be sought out.
Amazingly we have heard from a couple of friends that Azizas has a lemon butter cake they felt was even better than the cream puff. Of course I tried to order that as well, but alas they were sold out. Our waitress talked me into a slice of chocolate cake that she said was made by the former White House pastry chef now in Fairfax. Okay, impressive and that was good too. We will definitely be returning, to sample from their deli case for takeout, or perhaps for small plates on a Tuesday.

Local Produce Farms

Need to find out more about farms in Richmond and the surrounding area? Here are some links to get you started. Many of these farmers sell at markets all over Richmond!

Is your farm missing? Let us know!

Frog Bottom Farm

HaaShrooms

Eli's Greens

Manakintowne Specialty Growers

Victory Farms

Amy's Garden

Dave and Dee's Mushrooms
Epic Gardens
Tricycle Gardens' Urban Farm -Farm Stand
Trails End Farm: produce and eggs plus.  (Provides products to  Ellwood Thompsons, Acacia Midtown and Six Burner restaurants.)
Kruize Family Farm
Root Force Collective
Bill's Produce

Apropos Roasters

Last Month I got the chance to try coffee from this tiny Richmond Roaster. I was gifted a small bag of the "Costa Rican Honey Process Micro-lot." A loyalist to Blanchard's Dark as Dark, this Apropos coffee was the first in a long time to really peek my interest. It was delicious. They will blend and roast batches to your taste. They support small , fair trade producers, and they offer home delivery to most in the Richmond area at a total cost that's not much above the pure coffee price of other quality coffees in our area. Check out their website for information, or to order. There you can also find a list of various Richmond area restaurants and events where their coffee is served and sold.

Broadview Ranch Offers A Sale On Pork

I did a post about Broadview Ranch a good while back after having met Lee at a small gathering of Slow Food Richmond members. I have to say that I have not yet purchased their products, but Lee left a good impression. If you would like to check them out and learn more about them now might be a good time. Here is a portion from their latest e-mail.

"Place Your Order for January 15th-16th Delivery
Its good to know you are wanted and quite a few of you have sent emails prodding us for a sale. They say the customers is always right so lets have a sale! You need to be quick about it because we will take orders until midnight on Thursday, January 13th for deliver on next Saturday and Sunday - that's next week. (Sorry DC we can't make it up there this time).

Pork 15% off!!
This month we are having a sale on all pork products. We have a lot of hogs that we are carrying into the winter following a fantastic acorn crop and we need to see some return on our efforts. Show us your appreciation with a big order. "

Indoor Market Today!!

A reminder that the Huguenot and Robious Market at the Great Big Greenhouse has started up indoors! From their own posting....

"All Virginia products; antibiotic/hormone-free meat , poultry, and eggs; fresh-baked goods; fresh winter greens; crafts from Virginia artisans. EVERY Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. THROUGH FEBRUARY 24th. "

The RFC on Richmond.com!

How fun is this? Each week, Richmond.com has a feature called '5 questions for a Foodie'- and this week, the RFC was featured! Check out the article here. My favorite part? That I admit to having five meals a day- two of which are mostly drinks...

Fertile Crescent Summer CSA Discount-Act Fast!

This Just in from one of our all time favorite local farms. All organic, always high quality produce.

Just check out these carrots we bought from them in November! This picture doesn't do them justice. Let's just say that has to be some amazing carrot for my husband and I to stop in the middle of making dinner to take a picture. They were so big, they looked more like parsnips, but they turned out to be delicious.
Okay, I digress. Here is what they sent us about this year's CSA....

"This year we are offering a 15 week CSA. It will run for 16 weeks with a built in “skip” day that can be used if it is necessary to miss a pick up. The 16 weeks will begin early to mid May and then conclude at the end of August. We will be offering one size share this year (for more information visit our website, www.fertilecrescentfarm.com )
The cost of a 15 week share is $310, with the sales tax is included in the price.
We will provide a 20% discount to our CSA members on additional produce purchased from Fertile Crescent Farm at the farmers’ markets and at the farm throughout the season.
Our pick up locations are The Byrd House Farmer's, South of the James and on the farm. We are also offering delivery in the Richmond and Farmville areas.

If you sign up and pay in full by January 31, 2011 you will receive a $25 early bird discount!!!

We are available to answer any questions you may have, please email us at fertilecrescentfarm@gmail.com or give us a call at 434-392-6997. "