The Daily, Richmond, Virginia

The Daily opened this past July and is located in vibrant Carytown in Richmond, Virginia. One word comes to mind when I think of The Daily...hip. This restaurant is chic and is packed with a well-groomed crowd to match. Based on a friend's glowing recommendation, we decided to swing in The Daily on a Sunday and hoped to get a seat. Reservations are strongly encouraged. Fortunately we had our choice of inside or outside. The Daily's patio is comfortable even in the chilly weather as they have turbo heaters between the tables. The patio flows into the interior through two large glass garage-like doors with a feng shui orientation. There is a large bar where you can also grab a meal if seating is full or if you just prefer eating at the bar. Our server was very helpful and included 'groovy' in his description of a meal...he was professional but still had a personality.

On to the most important topic, the food. We started with the edamame which had a sweet soy reduction. This gave the appetizer a little twist...something easy to add at home as we eat edamame a few times each week. I tried a blueberry lemonade cocktail which was good but the bourbon threw me (I should have read closer, I assumed the liquor was vodka). I am just engineered for lighter-tasting spirits. All in all, The Daily has an interesting cocktail list as well as a nice beer and wine list. They even carry O'Connor's, one of our Norfolk brews.


I pondered and pondered over what to order. I was in the mood for a sandwich, and was playing mental ping pong between the vegetable Panini and the veggie burger and then the twist in that mix was the vegetable plate option you can build. I was sure The Daily would have a great veggie burger but those sides were screaming at me - so many choices. Upon asking the server, he also added the curried lentil bowl as one of his favorite vegetarian dishes. I was really in a quandary. After another few minutes of decision agony, I opted for the Panini, as the server said he would choose that over the veggie burger and that was my first inclination. Sweet potato fries were a must and I had to throw in a side of the Brussels sprouts - another suggestion from our server. My carnivorous half went with the beef stir fry and a side of whipped potatoes. Who says you cannot order potatoes when you have a rice dish...no one in this camp.


My only disappointment, we did not have time for dessert - unbelievable but true on this Sunday. The Daily's pumpkin bread pudding with salted caramel ice cream has haunted my dreams since our meal. I would really like to visit again before pumpkin season ends (and I do love this time of year for all of the pumpkin offerings!) I wonder if The Daily would ship this creation on dry ice to me...

The Daily is a must if you are in the Richmond area. If you are out, make a day of grabbing a meal there and enjoying the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (A Hollywood Costume exhibit starts soon!) and other fun activities the city has to offer.

The Daily
2934 W. Cary St, Richmond, VA 23221
(408) 714-1489
Hours: Mon - Sat 11:00am - 2:00pm, Sun 10:30am - 2:00am

Cous Cous, Richmond, VA

My friend and I had tickets to the Sleigh Bells/CSS show at The National in Richmond and decided this was a great opportunity to eat somewhere new. I pulled up a few Richmond restaurants that I had read about and we settled on Cous Cous after we saw they had a Restaurants.com coupon. It never hurts to get a deal, especially with a new place. We arrived around 8:45pm and took a seat at the bar since we were on a tight time schedule and were later than intended. The bar tender was friendly and had a good wit about him. Charlotte* ordered a Lemon Cooler beverage ($10) and I, being the driver, stuck with tea. She said her drink was refreshing with a kick. We perused the menu and decided to order a bunch of appetizers (mezze) because so many sounded delicious. Here is a rundown of what we had: the Manchego Fritters (5 fritters for $8) were probably one of my favorites. I love this Spanish cheese and having it fried was pretty amazing along with the mango coulis. The sauces at Cous Cous made the dishes. The Sweet Corn Fritters (a good size bowl for $6) with chipotle creme fraiche were also tasty and this appetizer was plentiful. Guess they have not received the memo that corn is not a deal anymore and creme fraiche always makes me think of the South Park episode about Stan’s dad and cooking shows. Next, we Fried Spinach and Mushroom Arancini ($8) which was a new food to me. Risotto, spinach, mushrooms and parmesan risotto fried and served with a roasted red pepper and tomato coulis. The coulis is all over this menu. This appetizer was less rich than the first two, probably a good thing since we were on a roll with fried food.

Onto something different, we next had the Ricotta and Basil Gnocchi ($9) which Charlotte said was cooked a little too much and I agreed. This is a very rich dish Gorgonzola cream sauce so the pasta needed to remain more firm. The Curried Cauliflower ($7) with pine nuts and currents was a nice change from our rich choices. This was big with Charlotte, but she is not a huge curry fan, so do not let that deter you. I enjoyed it and had had something similar at Balliceaux not that long ago. It was also probably our healthiest choice! We liked the idea of the Crispy Eggplant ($7) with apricot marmalade & toasted almonds, but the marmalade was very, very sweet and we left a lot of that behind. A third of that would have been suffice for the dish. Our last selection was the Acorn Squash ($10) which was roasted and stuffed with cranberry and granny smith apple risotto. We like this a lot but had reached our breaking point and could not finish it. It was very different and I love how they mixed the risotto so many ways.

Cous Cous has a few larger plates, some of which can also be upgraded to entrees for an additional $8. would treat this restaurant as a a tapas spot. There are lots of very different things to try (it was pretty hard to narrow it down) and it is fun to share sometimes. Having the Restaurants.com coupon lessened the blow of the bill, which still was not bad with all that we had - grand total before tip was $67. We did not make it to dessert because of time and being full but there are a few that sound pretty tasty, such as the Warm Chocolate Bread Pudding and the Panna Cotta. Next time!

I recommend a reservation if you want a table as the place was packed with a mostly hipster crowd even at 8:45pm. Dim, in red hues and stylish, Cous Cous is a restaurant which I will definitely visit again. Besides a good atmosphere and friendly staff, Cous Cous’ menu is so unique and we left a lot on the menu to sample. Cous Cous offers lunch and dinner Monday - Friday 11:30am-2am and dinner Saturday 5pm-2am. This would be a good locale for a late night snack after a show.

Cous Cous
900 W. Franklin Street
Richmond, VA 23220
(804) 358-0868
http://www.couscous900.com/
*Watch the online directions, Franklin is one of those streets that stops and starts again at least twice.

Balliceaux - Downtown Richmond

We garnered quite an appetite working our way through the Picasso exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art and were more than ready for a great dinner. After perusing a list of critics’ picks and consulting a trusted local, we settled on Balliceaux in the Fan, hip, bustling with activity and one of my favorite districts in Richmond. As with any popular area, parking is never easy. Luckily, we were able to find a spot a few blocks away, though I dinged my mom’s car on the license plate of the vehicle behind us. Sorry! It was a tight fit and options were limited. Post-crisis, we walked down a cobblestone alley to our destination. Upon entering, I was even more excited about our choice. The music was a little louder than usual (a good thing!) and selections were Talking Heads, Chromeo, Broken Bells and other great artists. I felt at home immediately. Quite a few hipsters hung out at the bar with their cell phones and the booths were packed with more stylish young folks. Reservations are only taken for parties of six or more, but we knew this going in, put our name on the list, ordered drinks and relaxed. With a few minutes to kill, I was able to take in the scenery and people watch. Balliceaux has an eclectic feel - blues, greens and grays decorate the walls as interesting pieces, such as glass antlers hang from the ceiling. Near the bar, a set of stairs leads up to the dark wooden waiter station and then down to a live music area. Time passed quickly and we were seated in about fifteen minutes. Our table near the front sat next to a cute tiled table with a Fu Manchu lamp. A huge mirror hung on the opposite wall from where we sat. A pale distressed turquoise wooden frame encompassed this piece that had to be four or five feet high by four of five feet wide. It was truly an amazing sight. We were greeted by our waitress, dressed in a fun, ho-down type of skirt of black and white and black motorcycle boots. All of the wait staff were dressed very hip and in their own styles, all different but which seemingly went together. No uniforms here!.

Balliceaux offers a variety of dishes with their own twists. Soups, an artisan cheese plate, lamb meatballs and sausage and clams are some of the starters. Duck breast, filet mignon and quail are included in the entree list. Kim chee, sweet potato fries and mashed potatoes are offered as additional sides and then there are a few sandwiches, such as a falafel flat bread, burgers and a pastrami sandwich. Balliceaux also had three non-meat choices. The selections this night were porcini risotto and southern fried twin oaks tofu. They were out of the third choice, vegetarian lasagna. I noticed on another version of the menu they offer panko crusted twin oaks tofu, roasted eggplant biyaldi and ricotta and fig pie. Those all sound delicious. We started with the tandoori fried cauliflower, which came in papad with the signature chick pea salad surrounded by sweet pickles. There were a number of flavors in this dish, but it was amazing and I have had nothing like it previously. Everyone was very impressed by this appetizer, especially the chick pea salad. Two at the table ordered soup. I went with the roasted pumpkin-mushroom and another the coastal blue crab. My soup was good, but I was expecting more of a pumpkin punch, rather than a vegetable soup. Not bad, just not what I had presumed. The coastal blue crab received a mixed review - one liked it and the other thought it was just so-so. For dinner I selected the porcini risotto which combined arborio rice, sun dried tomato, sweet onion, asparagus and asiago cheese for $17. This was outstanding. Topped with a few mixed greens, the dish melted the various flavors together perfectly. It was a large portion as well and to make sure I was able to try dessert, I took home leftovers. The other entrees at our table were pan fried rainbow trout with smoked scallop-cranberry-cornbread stuffing, spaghetti squash and beurre noisette for $23, sesame-potato crusted catfish with spicy grilled sweet potatoes and honey glazed broccoli rabe for $21 and then shrimp and grits for $13. A side of collard greens and some truffle fries were also thrown in for good measure and were both excellent. Everyone was delighted with their entrees and even the shrimp and grits, which was designated a ‘small plate’ was larger than expected.

Along with a few mixed drinks, the table shared J.K.Carriere Provocateur 08 Pinot Noir. Reasonably priced, the drinks were mixed well and the wine went nicely with the meal.

We had discussed dessert earlier in the day and jumped at the menu when the waitress offered it. At first, I thought we would order two since only two of us had been jockeying for dessert all day, but then my mom suggested we get three and there were no protests. We settled on the four layer amaretto genoise with chocolate icing and a raspberry coulis of sorts, the chocolate creme de caramel and finally, the apple crisp. The genoise was the winner. This was the lightest cake I have ever had and the amaretto and raspberry touches made the dish. The creme de caramel had a layer of caramel and brandy at the bottom, topped by a chocolate cake which was closer to a brownie’s consistency, followed by chocolate mousse, then whipped cream and a few berries. Great dish, but RICH. While small, this dish should be shared. Even I, who never turn away an extravagant dessert, could only eat a few bites. The waitress threw a scoop of the vanilla bean gelato (flavors change daily) on top of the apple crisp, which was made with granola instead of a brown sugar and nut topping which is common. It was good , but we decided this was the least exciting of the desserts. Of course, if you like something a little less over the top, the crisp is a good choice. Other desserts included chai chocolate pate,
warm churros & coffee sauce and a selection of cheese and preserves. I was surprised the dessert prices were $6 each - generous portions and such unique combinations would have made me assume a higher price tag - a pleasant surprise.

Service at Balliceaux was excellent as well. Our waitress was friendly, but not overly in our faces. She checked on us, but not too much. I felt our bill was very reasonable for all that we ordered. I thoroughly enjoyed myself at Balliceaux and was lucky to have great dinner company for the visit.

We were pretty tired and therefore, did not stay for the live music, but from the looks of things, the fashionable crowd was picking up and I have a feeling Balliceaux is a great night life spot in the Fan. I hope to go again and find out for certain.

~Alex

Balliceaux serves dinner daily, lunch Tuesday-Friday and brunch on Sunday.

http://www.balliceauxrva.com/
203 N. Lombardy Street
Richmond, VA 23220