Hey all! It’s Liz, the blog-obsessed girl behind Virginia Bloggers! I thought it would be fun to do a guest post of my own, on a new restaurant that opened in Richmond!
A few months ago, I was offered a chance to attend the soft opening of Kitchen on Cary. Full disclosure: I was offered this dinner free of charge, but was not obligated to post about it, and all opinions are my own. Since I love trying new places, I excitedly accepting the invite!
Walking in, the atmosphere was clean and inviting. After being seated, we were greeted by one of the chefs, who explained the concept behind the restaurant. Kitchen on Cary will be a sort of training ground for students at the culinary school, giving them the chance to test out their skills in the real word, and allowing patrons to enjoy their handiwork. Sounds like a win-win, right? The menu was slightly limited, since this was just a soft opening, but there were plenty of vegetarian options for me to choose from. I’ll apologize in advance for the pictures, since restaurant lighting isn’t very forgiving.
We chose our courses, and settled in.
Course #1- Tempura Vegetables/Chipotle Marinated Grilled Shrimp
Fresh vegetables, coated and fried. I don’t normally like my veggies fried, but these were pretty good. I especially liked the dipping sauce, which was spicy. Alex chose the shrimp dish, which looked good, but I didn’t try it. He liked his as well.
Course #2- Greens & Fresh Mozzarella/Beets & Feta
Alex was brave and chose the beet salad, but I stuck with greens & fresh mozzarella which was served with a light dressing that hit the spot. It was salty (I love salty) but didn’t weigh me down like some salad dressings do.
Course #3- Mushroom Risotto/Grilled Rockfish
Now I’m normally not the biggest mushroom fan, but this risotto was delicious. It was creamy and savory, and the mushrooms added a nice texture. I saved some of the mushrooms for Alex, but I did enjoy the strips of portabello on top. The flavor was excellent and it was nice to eat something that would be easy to prepare at home. Alex had the rockfish, served on a mango salsa, which he didn’t expect to go so well with the fish, but he said tasted great. I didn’t quite finish my risotto which was good, because we had cake on the way!
Dessert
Alex and I split a slice of carrot cake (vegetables… right?) which was so crumbly it was a bit difficult to eat, but the taste was great and I loved the frosting. I don’t normally love frosting, so that surprised me! We couldn’t quite finish it, but it was excellent. Kitchen on Cary is officially open, and I’d highly recommend you check this place out if you’re in Richmond. For more Richmond Restaurant Reviews, check out my RVA Restaurants Page here.
That carrot cake looks amazingly delish!
I avoided beets my whole life but I recently gave in and had some pickled beets at a Lebanese restaurant and I loved them. The bright color and the cute matchstick shapes they were cut in were what got me to try them. 🙂