Before leaving Sì, I followed the jazz music up the green stucco staircase to the second-story lounge, where a mellow late-night scene was quietly brewing—a cluster of friends in curvy leather armchairs shared a bottle of wine and a few desserts. If I hadn’t been alone and 70 miles from home, you can bet I’d have ordered a glass of Pedro Ximenez sherry along with a dessert of caramelized bread pudding and roasted banana ice cream. But I’m comforted by the fact that Mo Roman is planning to open a second Sì Tapas in my own home town before this year is out. I’ll be the first at the door—and possibly one of the last to leave.
Lunch with the Locals: Chez Foushee
My final Richmond nod is not new in the least—in fact, it’s been in operation on a quiet corner of Foushee and Grace streets for nearly 19 years. But this very special place, open only for weekday lunches and dinner on “first Fridays,” is one local secret that I had to share. Distracted by all of the new eateries on East Broad Street, I somehow missed it on my last dining tour of the Monroe Ward neighborhood.
When I specifically sought it out on this trip, I realized why it had escaped my radar. Located just a few blocks from the five-star Jefferson Hotel and a few doors from a trophy shop on a deserted block of Foushee Street, Chez Foushee is in an inconspicuous place. It has the look of an old Hollywood celebrity, hiding from her fans. The exquisitely out-of-place 1920s Spanish revival-style building has a three-arched entryway flanked by sculpted columns, elaborate wrought ironwork and a terra-cotta tile roof.
Once inside, it’s a completely different picture: bright white walls and painted columns, high ceilings whirring with vintage fans, soft jazz music. Waiters glide from table to table pouring iced tea and serving lunch to a full cast of characters: doctors in scrubs, ladies in dresses and heels, and more than a few men in ties and—something I never see in Charlottesville—seersucker suits. “The interior has a sort of formal look, but people always find it comfortable here,” says co-owner Andrew Hardie, who was born in Trinidad and went to a hotel management school in Scotland before leaping into the restaurant business.
My lunch, ordered from the daily specials, was served lightning-fast, but it had the look and taste of slow, careful preparation. A cup of roasted, perfectly spiced red pepper soup came topped with the prize of a golden-fried mini crab cake. Chez Foushee’s tomato tarragon quiche—wearing a crown of grilled shrimp, a chignon of sautéed zucchini slivers and a brandied-grapefruit sauce—puts the lie to the notion that quiche for lunch is passé. Add a cup of strong coffee, a seasonal dessert of moist lemon-blueberry cake doused with lemoncello cream and the option of takeout, and you, too, will see why Chez Foushee is the enduring star of Richmond’s local lunch scene.
WHERE TO GO
Verbena
2526 Floyd Ave.
(804) 359-3122
Sì Tapas
214 N. Lombardy St.
(804) 257-7940
Chez Foushee
203 N. Foushee St.
(804) 648-3225
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