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A slew of food competition wins has shown the world that there’s something about Richmond, and the chefs of the River City are ready to shine.

There are just some things you need to see for yourself, and it wasn’t until late August 2022 that I understood the hype about Richmond, Virginia. I had coordinated my arrival with a food-loving associate who was holding our spots in line — not for a club, but for the Young Mother pop-up in Richmond by Daniel Harthausen.

The first come, first serve seatings are well known in Richmond for lines that wrap around the block and food that’s so delicious you almost forget to snap a pic before diving in. This time, the intimate pop-up was at The Jasper, arguably the most well-known cocktail bar in the city’s Carytown neighborhood.

When the doors opened at 5 p.m., hungry guests flooded in for the kare (Japanese curry gravy over home fries with mozzarella and kimchi) and slurp-worthy dumplings that more than justified the hour wait.

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One thing Richmonders will do is support local. That sure-I’ll-give-it-a-try and commitment to community has spawned a lively restaurant scene with chefs who have the freedom to find their footing.

With a slew of food competition wins and appearances, from Top Chef to Spring Baking Championship and most recently, HBO’s The Big Brunch, Richmond chefs are making the world take notice of the state’s capital.

"We lack nothing,” says pastry chef Keya Wingfield, winner of 2021’s Spring Baking Championship. But it wasn’t always like that. When Wingfield moved to Richmond from Mumbai 16 years ago, she experienced a culinary culture shock.

“There weren't that many food choices and given where I grew up, it felt lacking,” she says. “But I can't say that any longer, Richmond has created space for itself in the food scene and has earned a name, and rightly so.”

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Richmond native and fellow Spring Baking Championship contestant Justin Ross of JC Desserts also noticed that change.

Ross, who’s also worked at restaurants in North Carolina, West Virginia, and Florida, always knew he wanted to bring his talents back to Richmond, which he describes as a food town that sparked out of nowhere.

“Even within the past 10 years, so many notable food establishments have popped up and grown roots here,” he says. “It's pretty remarkable. Chefs definitely see Richmond as a blank canvas where they feel comfortable shelling out new ideas and concepts and seeing what works with what they love doing.”

That “spark” was no doubt supported by a community that’s open to trying something new and giving chefs room to experiment, whether it's via a pop-up or new brick and mortar.

That freedom to explore is what helped Wingfield keep her business afloat during the pandemic. The pastry chef shifted to offering savory bites like naan pizzas, masala macaroni and cheese, and chana masala bowls.

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“This was the very first time I was letting my Indian ‘side’ show,” says Wingfield. “I still remember feeling extremely worried that not a single order [would] come through. But to my utter surprise, orders rolled in and for three months we made this custom menu and it helped to get to the other side and I didn't need to lay off any employees.” Her Bombay Chips, masala-spiced potato chips, were such a hit that they’re currently sold in a few local shops, and Wingfield is making plans for national expansion.

The support from the community, but also local chefs, is something Wingfield loves about the city. That experience, however, hasn’t been universal: Harthausen says, “We've never really had a huge pool of mentors to shape the next generation of chefs.”

He continues, “But I think that gave me a lot of individualism when it came to my food and I didn't become an echo of some former chefs' success. This can be a huge positive for the city as we start to see new people come up and find their voice with food.” Harthausen, who’s lived in Virginia since 2011 after moving from Korea, recently won HBO’s eight-episode The Big Brunch series.

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As Harthausen works to build a brick-and-mortar for his Young Mother concept (after hosting close to 30 pop-ups, which he describes as “the most confusing mixture of comfort and stress”), Virginia native Kelli Lemon sees the city and its resources as a natural home not just for new restaurants and chefs, but also entrepreneurs in general.

Lemon, owner of the Urban Hang Suite and one of the founders of the Richmond Black Restaurant Experience, a marketing and promotion resource for Black-owned culinary brands, says, “Richmond has figured out a way to be this interesting hub for entrepreneurship. That’s our thing. We breed very small ideas into big things.”

Those big things include Richmond Black Restaurant Experience helping the 40 participating businesses generate $1 million in sales during 2022’s restaurant week, the growth of innovative spots like JewFro (Jewish and African eats), a pop-up turned brick-and-mortar like Sprezza that brings a taste of Puglia to the River City, and even a growing non-alcoholic beverage scene from a city that’s known for its more than 30 breweries.

“We’ve evolved as this dope place that has bred some great culinary concepts.” says Lemon.

In addition to benefiting residents, Harthausen also sees this culinary boom for tourists visiting the city, which is just 90 miles from the nation’s capital.

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“I've heard before that Richmond feels like a subsection of a large city. Everything you could get from a neighborhood in New York kind of scattered across a whole city,” says Harthausen.

“For people to be able to experience all that in a weekend trip, while staying in Richmond, is pretty special.”

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Virginia is seeing a record number of residents riding the rails amid increased investment in Amtrak and other passenger services.

The state operates four state-supported routes that connect Roanoke, Richmond, Norfolk and Newport News to DC and points North. Over the past two years, the state has expanded those routes, adding new trains to increase capacity, as well as renovating stations along the routes.

The Virginia Passenger Rail authority’s new report, compares ridership in January 2023 to data from last January and January 2020, before COVID shut down most of Amtrak’s services. The report shows strong growth in all four routes compared to last year. Ridership on all four lines more than doubled.

But growth compared to pre-pandemic levels was more measured, reflecting a long recovery in services bolstered by a $3.7 billion investment under former Governor Ralph Northam.

The report also found that in 2022, Virginia broke the previous record for annual ridership with 1,021,452 trips. While the Roanoke route exclusively serves the Shenandoah Valley, the Newport News and Norfolk routes both currently serve Richmond’s Staples Mill Station, with the Newport News route also stopping at the historic Main Street Station in Shockoe Bottom.

“The strength of these January ridership numbers – during what is usually a slow travel month – shows that demand for rail service across the Commonwealth continues to grow,” said DJ Stadtler, Executive Director of VPRA.

That’s part of the reason Richmond’s dedicated route departing from Main Street sees lower ridership than the commonwealth’s other rail lines.

The VPRA has also announced plans to expand passenger service by opening a rail line South to North Carolina and an East-West line that would connect the capital city to Charlottesville and Clifton Forge.

Let us say that the Virginia High School League created a tournament for all the state champions.

If John Marshall’s boys basketball team had the chance to take on the winners of Classes 4, 5 and 6 in this fictitious tournament (perhaps called the Cardinal Cup? Or the Dogwood Trophy?), could the Justices run with those championships as well?

“Absolutely,” senior forward Jason Rivera said, with the netting from a basket draped around his neck. “We put in a lot of work. We’re not scared of anybody. We’re the number one team in the country and we’d go up against anybody.”

The Justices may just get their chance to play in a post-championship tournament, but not against fellow VHSL champions. John Marshall coach Ty White said the team was invited to play in a tournament called The Throne National Championship, a high school tournament put on, in part, by the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). The first-year event will take place at Morehouse College in Atlanta at the end of March and will feature schools from around the country.

White said that they were still working through logistics and rules to make sure they can attend the tournament.

“We’ll see how that opportunity shakes out,” he said. “We just have to see the logistics and how it works out in terms of abiding by the rules so we can play.”

While The Throne tournament may wait for the Justices’ acceptance, there was no doubt who was on the Class 2 throne on Saturday at VCU’s Siegel Center.

John Marshall completed its perfect 28-0 season with a 91-34 win over Radford to secure back-to-back VHSL Class 2 crowns and a fifth state title in the last 10 years.

Dennis Parker, who is headed to N.C. State next season, had 17 points, as did freshman Latrell Allmond, who also recorded 14 rebounds. Rivera added 15 points and seven boards, Redd Thompson had 12 points and five assists and Dominique Bailey had 10 points.

“Just extremely excited to coach this group of young men and to lead these coaches and players,” White said. “Today is a testament of a lot of hard work and the amount of sacrifice these guys make daily to keep improving at the game of basketball. I’m just honored to be a part of what these guys displayed.”

White, who was recently named the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Boys Coach of the Year, was effusive in his praise for his players and his 11 assistant coaches.

“My staff is unbelievable,” he said. “They’ve made coaching easy. To be honest, I’ve managed more than I coach because they bought into their role and identified what the problems were and fixed them.

“[The award] is a reflection of the work my assistant coaches have done to make that moment possible for all of us. It’s a great honor to be even mentioned with the likes of the other honorees and the other winners. It’s just a huge blessing.”

While the game’s outcome was never in doubt, as John Marshall led by double-digits before Radford had scored any points and led 25-4 after the first quarter, the environment was still a raucous one as the Justices’ fans filled VCU’s Siegel Center to the brim.

As a freshman, it was Allmond’s first time experiencing the state tournament atmosphere that was created in the arena, one he described as “amazing.”

“I was just soaking it up and taking it all in,” he said.

While it was Allmond’s first taste of the state title atmosphere, it was Parker and Rivera’s last time on the Siegel Center court in John Marshall colors.

“Knowing this was my last game, I knew I wanted to go out with a bang,” Parker said.

While Parker’s time at John Marshall will come to a close, the game provided a glimpse into the Justices’ future as well. White emptied the bench and some young players got a taste of the state tournament floor.

Desmon Rose and Damontique Hodge each scored 7 points, with Hodge nailing all three free throw attempts as well. MaKeyon Hill was 2-for-2 from the floor, including a dunk that drew a roar from the crowd.

With those brief glimpses from the next generation of John Marshall basketball players, it would be no surprise if the Justices are lifting the trophy again next season as well.

JOHN MARSHALL 91, RADFORD 34

RADFORD 4 9 8 13 34

J. MARSHALL 25 26 18 22 91

RADFORD: Prioleau 2, Cormany 0, Kelly 15, Woodard 11, Kanipe 0, Eaves 1, Taylor 0, Martin 3, DeHart-Lewis 0, Young 0, Ferguson 0, Grant 2. TOTALS 13 6-14 34

J. MARSHALL Thompson 12, Bailey 10, Parker 17, Rivera 15, Allmond 17, Sookins 0, West 2, McCall 0, Thomas 0, M. Hill 4, A. Hill 0, Mickie 0, Johnson 0, Rose 7, Hodge 7. TOTALS: 39 6-9 91

3-point goals: R: Woodard 2; JM: Parker 3, Thompson 2, Rivera, Rose

NEW YORK – As a basketball junkie, it is nothing for VCU coach Mike Rhoades to be up at 11 p.m. watching a West Coast college basketball game.

So of course he has seen fifth-seeded Saint Mary’s (26-7), the team the 12th-seeded Rams (27-7) will take on Friday at 2 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA tournament West Regional in Albany, New York.

The Gaels, out of Moraga, California, are ranked 16th in The Associated Press poll. They tied with Gonzaga for the top spot in the West Coast Conference before losing to Gonzaga 77-51 in the tournament championship game.

“Definitely a very talented team that is super well-coached,” said Rhoades as the Rams celebrated during the selection show at their hotel Sunday in Brooklyn after winning the Atlantic 10 championship.

“Randy Bennett is a heck of a coach. They’re a very efficient offensive team that guards as well. They have some really good guards.”

Fifth-year guard Logan Johnson is a finalist for the Lou Henson Award, which is presented to the top mid-major player in Division I. He leads the Gaels in points per game (14.7), assists (3.7), free throws made (99-146) and steals (51 total). He was named the WCC’s defensive player of the year.

Guard Aidan Mahaney is a finalist for the Kyle Macy Freshman of the Year Award. He is the second-leading scorer at 14.5 points and shoots 41.2% on 3-pointers.

Alex Ducas, a 6-foot-7 senior forward, averages 12.5 points and shoots 41.8% on treys. Mitchell Saxen, a 6-10, 242-pound junior center, averages 11.6 points and 7.8 rebounds.

VCU and Saint Mary’s met in the NCAA tournament in 2017, with the Gaels taking an 85-77 victory in the first round in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Rams were coached then by Will Wade. Rhoades took over the following year.

VCU will be making its 19th NCAA tournament appearance, 12th in the past 17 years (since 2006-07) and third in six seasons under Rhoades.

The Rams have gotten out of the first round once in their previous six appearances.

VCU last qualified in 2021, but in a cruel twist, it never played. The Rams were not allowed to compete because of multiple positive COVID-19 tests within the program. The No. 10 seed in the West, the Rams were supposed to play No. 7 Oregon in Indianapolis. The game was called off about 3 1/2 hours before tipoff

“One year we didn’t get out of the hotel,” Rhoades said, referring to 2021.

“Everybody’s good in the NCAA tournament. For us to find a way to beat a very good NCAA tournament team like Saint Mary’s, you’ve got to go take it.

“They’re super skilled. They have big guys. They have guys who can shoot it. They have some guards who can make plays. And they really guard too. They’re just a very fundamentally sound team, well-coached with some really good players.”

VCU goes in playing some of its best basketball of the season defensively and offensively. The Rams have won nine straight games and 22 of their past 25.

“I really just to want to do as much as we can,” said graduate forward Brandon Johns Jr., who played in an Elite Eight and two Sweet 16s at Michigan before transferring to VCU this season.

“This win today [in the A-10 tournament] was like a big goal for us since the summer. To make it to the tournament again … we talk about making it back to Houston, making it back to the Final Four,” which VCU did with a magical run in 2011.

“We just really want to go out with bang. I really want to go out with the bang. I’m doing whatever it takes to win.”

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - A Richmond nonprofit is working to ensure millions of dollars in medical debt will be eliminated for people in more than a dozen counties.

“Our motto is that we are all connected,” said Executive Director of the Neighborhood Resource Center Breanne Armbrust. “We don’t believe that individuals should have to go into debt to get medical care. It is a system in the country that is broken. So we cannot fix that piece here at Neighborhood Resource Center. (NRC) can’t address it on a large scale, the systemic problems with health care. What we can do is help individuals with harm mitigation or harm reduction.”

The Neighborhood Resource Center on Williamsburg Road is an arts and cultural education center. It provides support in the areas of nutrition, education and community organizing.

Armbrust says it has the oldest financial opportunity center in the state of Virginia.

> Learn more about the Neighborhood Resource Center

“We provide financial coaching, income support coaching and employment coaching to 100 members of that program and that includes one on one coaching and workshops,” Armbrust explained. “Of the 100 participants in our Financial Opportunity Center in the NRC Works Program, 98 of those individuals have medical debt.”

Medical debt is an issue that experts say can lead to emotional and financial distress for those dealing with it.

According to the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization, as of June 2022, the median medical debt in collections in the United States is $703.

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NRC is working to fundraise to help the efforts of the non profit RIP Medical Debt. The goal of NRC’s fundraiser is $19,000. RIP Medical Debt has eliminated more than 8 billion dollars of medical debt for more than 5 million families, but says it has a long way to go.

“Kudos to the staff at Neighborhood Resource Center we love working with partners on the ground in the communities most effected,” said Scott Patton, VP of Development of RIP Medical Debt. “We are working primarily on behalf of patients. RIP Medical Debt acknowledges widely we are not the solution to a systemic problem--a systemic problem will require a systemic adjustment.”

NRC says through RIP Medical Debt, $3.4 million in debt has been identified throughout Central and Eastern Virginia.

“What I think everyone can acknowledge is medical debt is a debt of necessity. People don’t irresponsibly choose to go into debt for medical debt, it is something they have to face. The other option is unacceptable. Live in extreme pain or die,” explained Patton. “This can happen to anyone at almost any income level because of the you know the trend of the insurance industry to share more and more the burden of paying for any kind of treatment--it has frankly shifted more of the responsibility of paying on to the patient.”

> ONLINE FUNDRASIER: Help Abolish Medical Debt in Virginia

NRC statement about the partnership:

“The Neighborhood Resource Center (NRC) is partnering with RIP Medical Debt to abolish medical debt. NRC will need to raise over $19,000 by March to cancel the $3.4 million in debt that RIP Medical Debt has identified in the Richmond-Petersburg Designated Media Market Area that covers the City of Richmond, City of Petersburg, the entire counties of Amelia, Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Henrico, Hanover, King William, New Kent, Nottoway, Powhatan, Prince George, and Sussex, and part of the counties of Brunswick, Buckingham, Caroline, Cumberland, Essex, Fluvanna, Greensville, Isle of Wight, James-City, King and Queen, Louisa, Lunenburg, Prince Edward, Southampton, Surry, and York.”

According to RIP Medical Debt, every day, 1 in 2 Americans choose between paying medical bills and covering basic needs.

> Learn more about RIP Medical Debt

“I think it’s important because we’re dealing with unprecedented economic situations for so many Virginians and people around the country, especially with the price of housing, with real estate taxes and prices of homes jumping over the course of the last year. We can look at inflation related to the price of groceries,” Armbrust explained. “All of those things really are bearing down on community members in a way that they just can’t get level footing.”

RIP Medical Debt says it works in three ways:

NRC’s campaign is one of dozens happening across the country. NRC will not be notified if the debt of someone in Virginia is canceled, but Armbrust says the work of RIP Medical Debt aligns with the mission of their organization.

“This is a thing that would just make me feel really proud of the work that we do here at Neighborhood Resource Center. We’re doing it because it’s the right thing, which is really how I try to live my life,” Armbrust explained.

If you want to donate to NRC’s efforts, you can click here.

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