Richmonders discuss Restaurant Week and much more in this latest podcast.

WARNING: This video is uncut and may contain sensitive or offensive materials. A filtered version of the audio is below.

Published on 11/18/2019

Sam:Welcome to the why Richmond is awesome podcast where we talk about what’s going on around town, our favorite things to do and the local spots you need to try. My name is Sam.

Sean:And my name is Sean.

Sam:And we run the Richmond experience, a digital company that inspires locals to explore Richmond.

Lauren:My name is Lauren.

Alex:And my name is Alex and we’re local realtors that like to live, work and play in the RVA. What’d you ask? Has anyone ever seen them before?

Sam:Yeah. Have you guys ever seen No BS live?

Lauren:Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Alex:No.

Sam:They’re Amazing.

Lauren:I haven’t. I’ve not.

Alex:I’m sad.

Sean:They are very good.

Alex:When are they playing next?

Sam:They were just at the Broadberry.

Alex:When?

Sam:Three weeks ago maybe.

Lauren:We missed them.

Sean:Didn’t we see them at Brown’s Island.

Sam:Yeah. They were-

Sean:Friday cheers right?

Sam:Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yep.

Lauren:I’m sure there’ll be back Alex.

Alex:I know.

Sam:Definitely.

Alex:They only live here.

Sean:They’re around.

Sam:Yeah.

Sean:They have a few Richmond related songs.

Alex:Well cool. Well, we’re at our house this time.

Lauren:Welcome.

Alex:Little change of scenery.

Sam:Thank you for hosting us Glaser Group.

Sean:Thank you both.

Alex:The only reason we’re here is because that house closed and we got our table back.

Sam:Yes.

Lauren:Yes.

Sam:Major success and then table is beautiful. I must say.

Lauren:Oh, thank you.

Alex:I told Lauren we just need to buy another table so we can stop lending it And one that’s not as heavy cause me and Miles end up moving at every time and it’s not light-

Sam:And it’s not fun. Okay.

Alex:It’s real wood.

Sam:Some notes to consider.

Sean:Real wood. That’s heavy.

Sam:Awesome. Well thanks guys. We’re really excited. This is officially episode three, of the Why Richmond Is Awesome Podcast. Yeah, so that’s really exciting. Today we’re going to be talking about a couple of fun things. First of all, I heard that you guys went to Top Golf. I know you talked about that, on our previous episode.

Alex:Right after the last one. I couldn’t wait.

Sam:Okay.

Alex:So we went and it was amazing, obviously. We ended up signing up for their corporate membership. I don’t know if a lot of people know that’s an option, but you pay a certain amount and then you can go most of the time and it’s like included-

Sam:Oh really?

Alex:You get discounts on food. You get to go to the top of the waiting list. So there’s like a two hour wait. You walk in corporate membership, you get the next bay. I was like, “Pfft, done.”

Sean:Done.

Lauren:And you can put six names total on the membership so you could split it with friends and-

Sam:That’s awesome.

Lauren:You can go at different time.

Alex:See I don’t know if you actually have to have a business.

Sam:Okay.

Alex:They didn’t like check my LLC papers, so I’m sure you could go in with six people.

Sean:Not that official?

Alex:But yeah, we put Joseph, James, Lauren, me. I think our lender might join it. So…

Sean:Nice.

Alex:So only one of those people need to come and then they could bring any five other people.

Sam:Okay.

Alex:At anytime.

Sam:Yeah. That’s like so baller.

Alex:Yeah. Like today I had an hour to kill and I was near Scott’s Addition, because I got this fresh hair cut from High Point and I was like, “What do I do?” I’m like, “I’m going to golf by myself. I don’t care.”

Sam:Yeah. Nice. You hit some balls, it was cool?

Alex:I set a high score.

Sam:Oh?

Alex:Personal. I don’t know…

Sam:In the entire Topgolf Richmond.

Sean:High score for my life.

Sam:After his haircut. Alex set the Richmond top score.

Alex:I wonder what that is. I wonder if they keep track.

Sam:I don’t know. That’s a good question.

Alex:It was like 155 points.

Sam:We’ll have to do some research and-

Alex:It sounds like a lot.

Lauren:That’s definitely the highest they’ve ever had.

Alex:I’m sure that someones got like 600.

Lauren:I can already tell.

Sam:Yeah. Awesome. But you enjoyed it?

Alex:I did.

Sam:Cool.

Alex:Obviously yes.

Sam:Excellent. One thing we wanted to circle back on this episode to, we talked about the flying squirrels. They were naming a new beer and so-

Alex:I remember, yeah.

Sam:We had come up with a couple of horrible-

Alex:It was like a vampire, funk pire, I don’t even remember what was there-

Sam:Funk pire-

Sean:Funk fire.

Alex:None of our guesses got-

Sam:Not so good.

Alex:On the Final four.

Sam:Yeah, but the final four ended up being Safety Squeeze, Fan Fuel, RVA Rally Cap and the Grand Shandy.

Lauren:I like the first two.

Sam:The safety squeeze and fan fuel

Alex:Say them again, safety squeeze…?

Lauren:Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Sam:Fan Fuel, RVA Rally Cap and the Grand Shandy.

Sean:I got to go Fan Fuel.

Alex:I like Fan Fuel.

Lauren:We voted Fan Fuel.

Alex:I feel like I have to drink more of it.

Sam:Yeah!

Alex:To be a fan.

Sam:Yeah.

Sean:That’s a great name.

Lauren:But the squeeze, the Safety Squeeze, isn’t a grapefruit-ish beer. So the squeeze kind of makes sense, and also it’s a baseball term?

Sam:Yes. We know that because we did Google it.

Lauren:Yeah.

Sam:Kind of like “What the heck is a safety squeeze?” If you don’t know what that is, look it up. It is a thing. It’s kind of like when you bunt and you’re like going to be an automatic out, like a sacrificial bunt kind of thing. I think?

Sean:Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Sam:If I’m not mistaken. So it appears that the voting for it has closed. So we voted fan fuel the voting’s closed, but I don’t think they’ve made an official announcement yet. So they must be still counting the votes or waiting for a certain point to release the official name. So we’ll circle back again.

Sean:Hoping for Fan Fuel.

Alex:So was it just random that they’re like “We’re going to change it up. It’s been 10 years.”

Sam:It’s been 10 years. Yeah.

Alex:But has COTU (Center of the universe) had the beer for 10 years or… ?

Sam:No I don’t think so. It was like a collaboration. They made it specially for Flying Squirrels, and then same thing that they did with Chin Music, like the fans named Chin Music. Right.

Alex:I didn’t know that.

Sean:Huh, I didn’t know that either.

Sam:So similarly, they’re going to-

Alex:But I feel like Chin Music’s been like five or six years.

Sam:It’s been out there a while.

Sean:That’s been there a while. Yeah.

Sam:Yeah. We said 10 but I’m not sure if that’s accurate.

Alex:And I think, what was the type of beer? I think we were kind of guessing wrong on that too. I don’t know if you remember.

Sam:A Berliner Weisse? I think-

Alex:It wasn’t a Berliner Weisse, it’s a Shandy. Isn’t that why it’s like a Safety Squeeze Shandy or whatever the first one was?

Sam:The Grand Shandy.

Lauren:Yeah, we won’t know until next season.

Sean:That’s true.

Sam:Yeah. You’ll have to go to opening day and find out.

Alex:You’ll just have to taste it.

Sam:Yeah, you’ll just have to go drink it.

Sean:Get that Fan Fuel.

Alex:It’s going to be Fan Fuel.

Sam:All right, cool. So we’ll keep you guys updated on that. So Alex, you had sent us a message the other day that you found this really cool business and Lauren, I think you’ve been like looking it up a little bit. It’s called The Shed? What is that?

Lauren:Yeah, it looks really awesome and I could utilize it multiple ways. So it’s this company, it’s in Goochland and what they do is if you have a bunch of items at your house that you’re not using, like any power tools or ladders or canoes or whatever, they will store it for you. And set up a website that other people can rent it. So all these unused things that you have in your house, they’ll hold for you and let other people utilize them. So you get to make money off of them and they’re not taking up space in your garage-

Sam:Dude I love the idea that they actually store it-

Lauren:So they store it, they’ll transport it to the people-

Alex:Like from your house or?

Lauren:From your house to the warehouse and then from the warehouse to the people and back and they have a website. It’s ished.com where people can go on there and see everything that’s listed and rent it out. You can rent a unicycle.

Alex:Do they know? Oh, well.

Sam:What?!

Alex:Enough said. Thats so Richmond

Lauren:Yes.

Sam:Okay. Did you like look up the prices? Is it like a by day or by hour? Like I only need this power and I need the unicycle for 30 minutes.

Lauren:Yeah.

Sam:Like how much does-

Alex:Just like a quick Instagram video.

Sean:What are you? A Clown?

Lauren:Yeah.

Alex:All right, who here has ridden on a unicycle?

Sam:No.

Sean:Not me!

Sam:I like my face.

Alex:It seems really hard.

Sean:Yes.

Lauren:Items are rented at a daily rate of one 14th to one 20th of the retail price.

Sam:One 14th to one 20th.

Alex:That’s a lot of math.

Sam:Of the retail price. Okay. Interesting. I love the idea particularly that they store it, because the idea of having a kayak is awesome, but it’s like, you might not use it constantly and then it takes up a lot of space and so the fact that they store it and maintain it for you is so nice. Then presumably when you want to use it, you just contact them-

Lauren:I’m sure you can block the dates out. I’m not sure, but they have a 10,000 square foot warehouse just to store all of the stuff and some kind of elaborate system to keep track of what’s yours and what’s other people’s and rent it in and out.

Alex:Probably some barcodes and stuff.

Lauren:Yeah.

Alex:Can we give them everything in the shed since it’s full?

Lauren:I will give them [crosstalk 00:08:06] everything in this house except for the cloud couch.

Sam:And the pellet ice maker.

Lauren:And the ice maker.

Sean:Yeah.

Sam:Something we have in necessity. That’s amazing. Yeah, so we had some hold across a similar company called Llama that was launched in Richmond probably a year or two ago now. And it was a very similar concept. Like they had an online store, you can browse, they had outdoor projectors and popcorn machines. All these like really cool things that you’re like, dude I would love to use this but like I probably only need it once or twice or I don’t need it constantly. And I loved that idea.

Alex:Do they store it?

Sam:No. So I think the idea with Lama was more like I have a popcorn machine so I’m going to list it on Llama.

Lauren:So they like connect the two people instead of-

Sam:If I’m not mistaken, yeah, I don’t think that like Llama took possession of the item and stored it or, yeah. So it was really interesting. But-

Alex:I like the convenience of The Shed.

Sean:Yeah. So they deliver it to your house?

Sam:Yeah.

Lauren:Yeah.

Sean:As well?

Lauren:Yeah.

Alex:Maybe we make more on Llama cause you got to do more work, but-

Sam:Maybe.

Alex:I’d rather the convenience.

Sam:I wonder where The Shed gets the money. Like how do they make money in this process?

Alex:Well I imagine if it’s like $20 to rent it out, they probably take at least 10 and give 10 to the person who owns it? I don’t know.

Sam:Okay. So it’s probably-

Alex:The ratios might not be 50/50 but it has to be how it works.

Lauren:What if nobody wants to rent your unicycle and then it’s just there. Do you still owe them?

Alex:Well I don’t think so-

Sam:That’s a good question.

Alex:But that’s my guess.

Sean:That’s just free storage for them, free storage.

Alex:Maybe if you’re like, “Hey will you take this box of broken stuff?” And they’re like, “No.” So they probably want something that’s going to be rentable.

Sam:Yeah.

Sean:Yeah.

Sam:It’s such a good idea. You know the other… Like over the summer we had a couple that visited us and they had a six month old and we were like scrambling to find a pack and play because they were come flying in, like they didn’t want to have to bring it and they were like, “Do you have a pack and play?” I’m like, “No, we don’t have a pack and play.” So we were like asking a bunch of friends and family in the area and like ultimately I ended up finding one. But it’s like stuff like that, that you’re just like, “I just need it for the weekend.”

Lauren:We had to do that. We had to go to Walmart at midnight and buy a, I don’t know like, $150 pack and play to be used once and then it was under our guest bed forever.

Alex:And then we gave it to a friend or something.

Lauren:Yeah, I completely understand that’s brilliant. Yeah.

Alex:It was like Walmart, like 12 or 1:00 AM on like a Friday or Saturday. I’ve never been there at that time. It was entertaining.

Lauren:It seems like they’re taking like just a wide variety of everything. Like camping grills wheelbarrows-

Alex:Podcast gear when we’re not using it.

Sean:Yeah.

Lauren:Oh, you could… A badminton net and croquet set?

Sam:Okay, that’s nice. So like if you’re going to go on the-

Lauren:They’re just lawn games-

Sam:Yeah, I don’t know.

Lauren:I don’t know feeling a little boujee-

Sam:You’re having a client appreciation event?

Lauren:Right.

Alex:Do they have a bounce house and a kind of candy machine?

Sean:They might have a bounce house. That seems like something that would be-

Lauren:That does.

Sean:Rentable.

Lauren:Well we haven’t had too many people utilize it, but as part of the Glaser Group, we have something called the fan club where we have a lot of these items, power washers, ladders, this and that, and we’ll rent them out to our clients if they-

Alex:Well not rent, we let them have them. For free.

Lauren:We’ll loan them for free. Right, right. If they need to get their house ready to sell or-

Alex:I’d say the power washer has been the most used item that we have.

Sam:That’s such a nice perk, because again, it’s like you’re not like, “Oh, I’m going to go out and spend a couple hundred dollars on a power washer, I’m only going to use it”

Alex:And we offer free delivery and pickup.

Sam:Oh.

Alex:And It’s free, you can’t get more convenient.

Sam:No I love that you guys do the moving boxes, that’s so clutch-

Alex:And the moving truck.

Sam:Yes. Like the whole thing is just awesome.

Alex:Yeah.

Sean:Nailing it.

Alex:Thank you.

Sam:Awesome. Cool. So check out the shed. It’s open now.

Lauren:Ished.com.

Sam:Ished.com.

Sean:Ished.com.

Alex:I thought I read when I saw it like a week or two ago that they’re in intake mode, I don’t know if they’re like actually giving stuff out of yet, but I think the article did come out like a few weeks ago. Things could have changed.

Sam:Okay.

Sean:Cool.

Sam:Well we’ll link that in the show notes then. I love I shed.com right?

Lauren:Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Sam:Okay. Cool.

Sean:I love sheds.

Sam:I love sheds. Yeah.

Lauren:I love sheds. I love unicycles.

Sam:Yes, I love unicycles.com cool. Very cool. Well, another thing that had come up recently, we had saw, well kind of backstory before I launch into this, our neighbor had a golf cart that she was driving around like a personal one.

Lauren:I want that so bad.

Sean:Me too.

Sam:Evidently if you get a street legal golf cart, you can drive it on 25 mile an hour roads and you can cross over 30 mile an hour roads. So as long as you’re on-

Sean:35!

Sam:As long as it’s like has the street level requirements-

Alex:I didn’t know that was a thing.

Sam:Yeah, you can drive it-

Alex:Street legal golf carts

Sam:Yes!

Alex:Can you drag race them?

Sean:Yes.

Lauren:Can you make any golf cart street legal or it has to be like [crosstalk 00:12:36] that they make street legal?

Alex:Probably blinkers.

Sam:No I think you can make, yeah, the blinker’s, rear view mirrors-

Alex:IS there a license plate?

Sean:I don’t think there’s a license plate.

Sam:I don’t know if there’s a license plate, but I know there has to be brake lights and all of that stuff.

Lauren:Right.

Sam:You know a lot of golf carts you see on the course don’t have that.

Sean:I don’t think it requires the license plate and stuff because it can only go a certain speed. So I think they have regulations for-

Sam:Anyway, that’s like super cool, but that leads me into this new company that just launched in Richmond called Tuk Tuk.

Alex:I heard about them.

Lauren:I heard about them too.

Sam:Right? What do you guys know about it?

Alex:Fun name, I just want to say.

Lauren:So I know… I think I read that you could pay like $5 and they will drive you. It’s kind of like a shuttle that will go around, a golf cart shuttle that will go around to all the breweries in Scott’s Additions. You pay $5 and ride all night and you can just hop on and off.

Sam:No it goes like all the way from Shockoe Bottom to near West End.

Lauren:Really?

Sam:Yeah [crosstalk 00:13:23].

Sean:For five dollars?

Sam:For five bucks.

Alex:That’s a good deal.

Sean:How are they making money?

Sam:So if you get out in Shockoe slip and you need to get all the way up to museum district, it’s five bucks.

Lauren:Wow.

Sam:It looks like they have these window things that drop so that it like blocks the elements.

Lauren:Like a wedding tent they have the canvas things that come down the top the side. Yeah.

Sean:That’s pretty cool.

Lauren:Do they have a fleet of these or-

Sean:There are four of them.

Sam:You just wave them down.

Alex:Like hailing a taxi-

Sam:It’s not like an Uber or anything where you would like call it and it would, come to you. There’s no number to call and you can’t find it on an app. It’s just literally like I happened to be walking down the street-

Lauren:So they just kind of make the rounds.

Sam:Yeah.

Lauren:Then you catch it when you catch it?

Sam:Kind of like a taxi cab in New York or where you’re just walking around the streets and you’re like, “Hey”-

Alex:Interesting.

Sam:Pull over, give me a ride.

Lauren:I’m sure I’m trying to get friendly with the tuck truck drivers and be like, “Hey, here’s my number. Call me when you’re coming back this way.”

Sam:Yeah.

Alex:Speaking of that, so I don’t know how many years ago was it? We were at electric forest, it’s probably almost 10 at this point.

Lauren:A lot.

Alex:So we went to this music festival up in Michigan I think? We stayed at their top tier VIP place and it’d be in this condo where a lot of the artists were staying.

Sean:Oh okay.

Alex:So even though we weren’t artists, there was constantly golf cards picking up artists and we just started chatting with this dude got his number and he ended up just driving us everywhere. We would just tip him. He would bring us in the back and because they don’t let you bring in beer, we could bring like a backpack of beer in.

Sean:That’s awesome.

Alex:It was the best thing ever.

Lauren:It was amazing.

Sam:Golf carts are a legitimate way to travel. Like they’re way more fun than vehicles. They’re a little safer than scooters, which we talked about last time we were on the podcast, like I’m here for it. If I can secure a golf cart to like drive around the neighborhood, sign me up.

Sean:Yeah.

Sam:Right?

Sean:That’s a great idea.

Lauren:Absolutely. I like-

Sean:Doesn’t that sound so fun?

Lauren:Partially want a beach house just because you get to have a golf cart.

Sean:That’s the only way to travel at a beach, right? You got to have a golf cart.

Sam:I guess that’s really popular in beach towns because you see it more in like outer banks. A lot of people have golf carts and everything, but it’s like when our neighbor had it, we’re like, “Duh that’s so genius.” Why wouldn’t you have it? It’s legal. You certainly can do it. I mean obviously in Richmond the weather kind of gets wonky. Do you guys hear there might be snow on Monday?

Lauren:Yes. I’m so excited.

Alex:How much did they say?

Sam:They say wintery mix. So which probably means it’s just going to rain and like we’re not going to anything. But I was like, “Dang!”

Alex:I heard it’s going to be a bad winter. Which means good winter to me because I like snow. But I feel like they say that every year.

Lauren:Yeah. I think that the ground is going to be too warm and then nothing will stick. So it’ll all melt instantly.

Alex:Oh on Monday. Not all winter.

Lauren:Correct, correct.

Sean:Yeah.

Lauren:Yeah.

Sam:All right, so who votes that it’s going to snow?

Alex:Go get your milk bread sandwiches now.

Sean:Not happening.

Sam:Not happening?

Sean:Nope. Sleet maybe?

Lauren:Yeah, I kind of feel that.

Sean:I’m with you on that.

Lauren:Like maybe like a flurry or two and they’ll have to send the city into a tizzy

Alex:It will still make me feel happy just to see it.

Sam:Really?

Alex:White flakes, yeah.

Sam:I feel like I’d panic if it was this early. Yeah I feel like, Oh my God, it’s so early for the snow to be coming-

Alex:Anytime I see snow, I get happy.

Sam:Okay.

Alex:It’s just, I don’t know. I do.

Sam:Fair enough.

Alex:We love it.

Sam:They just paved our roads though, not to sound nerdy, but the ice melt, damages roads newly paved so bad.

Lauren:Yeah.

Sean:It does, yeah.

Sam:So I’m kind of hoping that we have at least a couple of months of let this stuff [crosstalk 00:16:40] all the back-

Sean:Like the side streets. Yeah.

Sam:Behind Grove.

Alex:They’ll have potholes anyways forever. It’s just the way it is.

Sam:Very true. Very true.

Alex:I feel like the plows here like set too and there’s just, it’s always potholes.

Sean:Plenty of them.

Sam:All the more reason to drive the golf cart.

Sean:Another reason.

Sam:It would be a good time.

Sean:We should make a list for that.

Sam:So Tuck Tuck we’ll be looking out for you.

Alex:Especially in the winter.

Sam:I don’t know if they were going to go, be out if it’s snowing. I’m not sure. Like what their policies are?

Sean:I don’t know if they’re four wheel drive.

Sam:Yeah.

Alex:Some chains on those tires. We’ll take you anywhere.

Sam:There was one a year I was living, Sean and I were living in Scott’s Addition. It had snowed. A lot of the places had closed down and it was like a pretty significant snow, remember?

Sean:Yeah.

Sam:And some of the breweries stayed open in Scott’s Addition. So we like put on our snow gear and like are snowboarding pants and jackets and boots and we tracked with this group, around Scott’s Addition-

Lauren:That sounds fun.

Sam:It was one of the best times. Only a couple of people were out. Everybody was in a happy mood-

Sean:Yep,

Sam:Just like hanging out. It was really pretty. It was a good time. So I could be down for another snow day like that.

Sean:Yes.

Alex:This reminds me, it’s like the absolute opposite. Wasn’t it like Christmas Eve or Christmas day? We went to Strawberry Street Cafe and I was like 74 degrees. Do you remember that?

Lauren:I do not remember.

Alex:I do, because-

Sean:Way to warm of a Christmas.

Alex:I know. What the heck?

Sean:Like Halloween this year.

Sam:Yeah. So random. All right, cool. Well, speaking of trekking around and trying new things or trying things in general and Richmond, I’m sure you guys caught that Guy Fieri was here, right?

Alex:Oh yeah. It was all over Reddit.

Sean:The dude is awesome.

Alex:I’m a big Redditor

Sam:Are you?

Alex:Yeah.

Sam:Do you follow the Hashtag RVA Reddit?

Alex:Well, the forward slash RVA, yes, yes.

Sam:I’m sorry. Yes. You know my Instagram-

Sean:It’s scrambling, which

Alex:I would say I check it daily a lot just because, you know, as a realtor I want to know what’s going on, and now for this something like just know what’s going on to talk about it.

Sam:Yeah.

Alex:But yeah, I saw tons of people just kind of guessing and like, “Oh, this was closed. I think he was here. I think it was there.”

Sam:Cool.

Alex:And then-

Sam:What’s the list, do you know where he was?

Alex:So I have the list of supposed places. The article I saw recently is, one of his episodes are actually coming out soon. I don’t remember who I printed this from. One of the ABC, NBC foxes-

Sean:Okay.

Sam:I think it’s November 22nd at 9:00 PM.

Alex:Hell yeah, you saw it too. So cruising capital cities, an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, triple D nation, very long name-

Sean:Triple D nation.

Alex:November 22nd at 9:00 PM on the food network is coming out. But it didn’t really say… I don’t think it’s going to be all Richmond. I think it might be like one or two. They weren’t really, you know, just…

Sam:If I’m not mistaken, the description, if you like jump on the triple D website. It gives you like a preview of what the episode is about and it seems like they’re hinting at a Jewish deli. So I’m feeling like they’re going to go for-.

Lauren:Perly’s Yeah.

Alex:But all the places that were rumored or people saw him, because even on Reddit there was like pictures of him in restaurants, like through the front window, ZZQ Love that place. I tried to go there today and they were closed. I was sad.

Lauren:On Tuesday’s? Yeah.

Sean:Oh?

Sam:That’s interesting.

Alex:It broke my heart. I was in there, again, getting this fresh haircut. Shyndigz, Perly’s, Soul Taco, Pops on Grace, Dots Back Inn , Fancy Biscuit, and Carena’s Jamaican grill.

Sam:Yeah.

Alex:I’ve seen some printed by actual like news publications and the rest are rumored. We’ll just have to wait and see which ones they actually are.

Sam:How many spots is that?

Alex:Well this whole list?

Sam:Yeah.

Alex:One, two, three, eight.

Sam:That’s a lot.

Lauren:That is a lot.

Alex:I think he was here for like multiple days.

Sam:Yeah.

Sean:Yeah.

Sam:I wonder if all eight will eventually be featured in some of the shows or like he was just like, “Dude, while I’m here I’m going to eat some really baller food.”

Alex:But I think they went off certain restaurants that were closed on days, they shouldn’t have been. They have some kind of like,

Sam:Ywah.

Alex:“Closed for private event” yeah.

Sam:And you’re like, “Hmm? Seems suspicious.”

Sean:Very suspicious.

Sam:They have this big red car and this big guy with flaming hair walks around.

Lauren:His glasses are on backwards.

Sam:It seems suspicious.

Sean:Oh my gosh.

Alex:But I think everyone, just the internet was a buzz-

Sam:Yeah.

Alex:Just him being in town. I know he’s been here before, but you know this is recent, so everyone’s excited.

Sam:I heard that he went back to The Mill on MacArthur.

Lauren:Did he?

Alex:Wait, recently?

Sam:Yeah, I thought, wasn’t that on your list?

Alex:Was that like a follow up? Not on my list, but-

Sam:Oh okay. I thought I heard that he had gone. Yeah. Yeah. I thought he had returned to that.

Alex:It’s a good restaurant.

Sam:To maybe doing that.

Sean:In the past he went to Buz and Ned’s right.

Sam:Yeah. I think-

Alex:I’m sure someone has right?

Sean:Was that Man vs Food? One of those.

Alex:I don’t know.

Sean:That’s a good barbecue as well.

Sam:I want to say the Village Cafe was also featured, their calzones.

Alex:Is that their Patterson and three child?

Sam:No Village cafe is down by VCU. Corner of Harrison and-

Alex:what am I thinking of Lauren? We met your mom there?

Sam:Grace maybe>.

Lauren:Where?

Alex:Village… Three Chop Patterson. There’s that Corks and Kegs

Sean:Toast?

Alex:At the other end?

Lauren:The forest.

Alex:The forest. Okay.

Sean:The Forest.

Sam:Oh, I don’t know if we’ve ever been there.

Alex:Random West End restaurant.

Lauren:Just kind of a, yeah, just a restaurant.

Alex:I don’t think Guy Fieri would be going there, maybe Gordon Ramsay.

Sam:Okay.

Alex:It wasn’t that bad.

Lauren:No, it was not that bad.

Sam:Well speaking of Gordon Ramsey, he was also here.

Alex:This week.

Lauren:Wait, what?

Sam:Yeah, this weekend.

Alex:So I first saw rumors on Reddit that he was in Tappahannock, and then like three, four days later they were like he’s in Richmond but no one really knew where. Apparently he was like out and about and Tappahannock and then it was very hush hush here in Richmond. Yeah. But-

Lauren:You know who I wish you would come here. John Taffer.

Alex:For which bar?

Lauren:Bar rescue.

Alex:You don’t care.

Sam:I don’t care. I just want him to be here. It would be so fun.

Lauren:I just want to smash glasses.

Alex:Lauren’s obsessed. I think we’ve seen every episode of Bar Rescue.

Sam:Really, I don’t know if we’ve seen a single episode.

Alex:And I’m not going to lie. I haven’t hated it.

Sean:You haven’t hated it?

Alex:No!

Sean:Okay.

Alex:I don’t know why but-

Sam:Okay.

Alex:But it makes me mad because there’s so many like followup stories you can read online where they just like go right back, change the name and then it closes and I’m like, “Idiot.”

Lauren:But at least you get to read an update. At least you get to know the destiny of these restaurants.

Alex:True.

Lauren:Are there any rumors as to, back to Gordon Ramsey, any rumors as to where he was at?

Alex:I only have this written down because Sam told me like an hour ago, Southern Kitchen.

Lauren:Where’s that?

Sam:That was a restaurant that was downtown. It recently moved to Jackson ward. It’s over there on second street and believe CBS 6 had gotten in touch with some neighbors in the area who said that the Hell On Wheels truck was parked in front of Southern Kitchen and Southern Kitchen had been closed and so they were maybe thinking Gordon Ramsey’s show 24 Hours To Hell and Back was doing a special at Southern kitchen. So unconfirmed for now. But it sounds like, and sounds like-

Alex:Much more hush hush than Guy Fieri.

Sam:Yeah.

Sean:Yeah, but Guy’s out there.

Sam:Yeah Gordon Ramsey was like in and out.

Alex:Well isn’t the show like 24 hours They’re supposed to rescue it in 24 hours. So that is very in and out.

Sam:He was staying at the Jefferson while he was filming in Tappahannock so he was going back and forth, which is kind of cool. I know.

Alex:There wasn’t anything in Tappahannock good enough for him?

Sean:I guess not. It does sound-

Sam:Yeah. That’s fine.

Lauren:He’s not the one driving.

Sean:No.

Alex:True.

Sam:Yeah, that’s-

Alex:They’re saying this big van was just like cooking in the back, like just-

Sam:Probably.

Alex:IS that all that he does?

Lauren:He just cooks constantly. I think he like wakes up and just shakes the pan and rolls over.

Sam:Have you guys seen the commercial, the AT&T commercial with the couple that’s at what looks like a Costco. A big box store where he’s like handing out cooking samples? God that makes me laugh every time.

Sean:What’s the line with that? Use the cocktail stick.

Sam:Yeah, use a cocktail stick. So funny.

Alex:I will have to look that up-

Sean:You can’t unhear it. You going to-

Sam:It’s really good.

Sean:It’s hilarious.

Alex:All I’d, and I don’t want to yell into the mics, but like, “This chicken is raw!” Just all the shows. Yeah that’s all that ego. Just him yelling that this is raw.

Sam:Yeah.

Alex:Because it was. Cook it, Come on. It’s not that hard.

Sean:Just cook it.

Sam:Do you guys go out for restaurant Richmond restaurant week?

Alex:Yes! I was so excited. Lunch and Supper.

Lauren:Ah, yeah.

Sean:That’s a staple.

Lauren:It was really good.

Alex:I’ve never had so much trouble. We went like right. Was it?

Lauren:Five.

Alex:Was that Friday night?

Lauren:Yeah.

Alex:Right at five.

Sam:Okay.

Alex:I’ve never had so much trouble picking what to eat. Every single thing. Well on the whole regular menu, they have the special menu, but I wanted to order everything.

Lauren:Yeah this was cool.

Sean:Everything sounds good.

Alex:It was debilitating.

Sam:Wait, so did you order the Richmond restaurant menu or you just ordered the regular menu?

Alex:No, We didn’t.

Lauren:I think a lot of what was on their pre-fixed menu was on their regular menu. But it was cool that they gave you the option to order from both. I know a lot of places during restaurant week, they only let you order from that menu, but they had the full menu, which was really cool.

Sam:So what did you guys get?

Alex:Halloween cocktails. It was like the week before. I don’t remember the names, but they were very themed.

Sam:I like it.

Lauren:One of mine was called, do you want to play a game?

Sam:Oh.

Lauren:Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Alex:Witch’s Brew.

Lauren:Hocus Pocus or something? Yeah, I got the chicken sandwich.

Alex:Like the fried chicken sandwich.

Lauren:With… What’s that sauce? Come back sauce and homemade pickles.

Sam:I’m Familiar.

Alex:With the deviled eggs to start. I got the short rib, mac and cheese sandwich.

Sean:Oh, the mac and cheese there.

Alex:It was as good as it sounded, yes I don’t need to go further. It was amazing.

Sam:We used to live in Scott’s Addition and back when there was literally nothing there, and when we went to Richmond animal care and control-

Alex:Just some warehouses.

Sean:Basically yeah.

Sam:To rescue the dog, we were hungry and we stopped at Lunch and Supper on the way back. It was the first time we had ever gone in there and like-

Sean:It was a Sunday afternoon.

Sam:Yeah, yeah, there was like five people in there it was like back when it was not busy at all, but it was such a cozy experience. Like the fireplace-

Sean:It was.

Sam:They had the fireplace going and we shared an appetizer, probably the crab dip and the chicken with the pulled pork, which was like our favorite when we were meat eating, and their mac and cheese, which is just the bomb.com and then a brownie for dessert. It was just perfect.

Lauren:Oh, they had a-

Sam:Now it get’s crazy in there.

Lauren:Crispy cream donut bread pudding.

Alex:We were too full to eat it.

Sean:Oh my gosh.

Lauren:But we asked her, I was like, “Is this going to come back?” She’s like, “We have that all the time.”

Sam:Yeah, it’s really good.

Lauren:I was like, “Okay, we’re going to come back and eat dessert first.”

Sean:Dessert first, that’s the way to do it.

Alex:I’ve had some life changing bread pudding. So then when I saw that, I was like, I want it so bad, but after everything we explained that had already eaten. I was like-

Sam:Yeah, feel like we can’t, we can’t get it.

Lauren:It looked like they had a really cool like… Well one outdoor space, but like I want to say party venue. That’s not really the word.

Sam:Yeah, the urban roost!

Alex:It was like a shack, there was like a whole little compound there.

Sam:There was an event venue.

Lauren:Yes. Event venue. There we go.

Sam:Yeah. They host a brunch market, there once monthly, a brunch market and then they do private events like showers and rehearsal dinners. They’ve even done wedding receptions there.

Alex:Future Glaser Group client parties. [crosstalk 00:27:54].

Sam:Yeah.

Lauren:If you can find parking.

Sam:Yeah.

Sean:Everyone Uber or grab a tuk tuk.

Sam:A Tuk Tuk. We could rent a tuk tuk for the whole…

Lauren:Yeah.

Sam:The whole night.

Alex:But the reason we were down there. It was a day before client appreciation party last week and we were picking up some boozy cupcakes from Lush.

Lauren:Oh shout out Lush.

Alex:And she was like, “You’re my last order.” And we’re like, “Great, it’s Friday night. Go home, have fun.” And she’s like, “No, like ever.” And we’re like, “Wait, what?”

Sam:What?!

Alex:She was working out of King of Pops, and she’s like, “We’re just growing too fast.” So they’re going to go find a new space. And I think they’re rebranding, you looked it up right?

Lauren:Yeah, they’re calling themselves The dessertery, and then she’s still going to have the boozy cupcakes, regular cupcakes, but she’s also partnering with tons of other companies, so they’re going to sell Nightingale sandwiches. They’re going to sell. There’s someplace that does these delicious cheese cakes.

Sam:Yum, The Dessertery? Sign me for that.

Lauren:Yeah. Pretty much like every type of dessert they’re going to have and she’s not making it. Somebody else is that’s well known.

Sam:That’s awesome.

Lauren:Yeah.

Sam:Oh we’re really excited for that.

Alex:Speaking of Nightingale, we were at Galley To Go right there at the edge of our neighborhood and bought a bunch one night, it had been so long and I ate one. I was like, “Oh my God”-

Sean:This is the greatest thing I’ve ever had.

Alex:I was like, “It’s just another ice cream sandwich.” No, like it was the cookie monster one.

Sam:Yeah.

Alex:Yeah.

Sam:Nightingale levels up. They don’t mess around.

Sean:I like the fat Elvis.

Lauren:Was that that peanut butter?

Sean:Yeah, banana and peanut butter.

Sam:Chocolate. Yeah. Yeah. It’s good. We did the hard shell for Richmond restaurant week, which is been in Richmond for years and years and years and we’ve never been and we are kicking ourselves because we had such a nice experience.

Sean:It was great.

Sam:Yeah we went to the one downtown, I think there’s one over in-

Lauren:The south side one.

Alex:Yeah, like Bellgrade.

Sam:Which apparently just got a renovation and it’s super nice and they do-

Lauren:What?

Alex:It was before.

Lauren:I was going to say I don’t know what they would have renovated.

Sam:Yeah, well they have to compete with Ruth’s Chris right there. So they probably had to up their game.

Alex:But Ruth’s Chris is like ancient building, and it’s haunted. Speaking about it last week. So my cousin worked there. This is completely off topic in terms of ghosts, but apparently… I didn’t know steak was a very commonly choked upon item.

Lauren:It is. He said somebody would choke like at least once a week.

Sean:Really?

Alex:So he must’ve been like really good at the Heimlich.

Lauren:Yeah.

Sam:Geez.

Lauren:No wonder it’s haunted.

Sam:Oh no…

Alex:Every time we go we always ask the waiters if they’ve seen the ghost, and they’d like some story but no one’s seen it.

Sam:So food network just voted Helen’s as the most haunted restaurant in Virginia.

Lauren:What?

Alex:Where is it?

Sam:Yeah. Helen’s. It’s in [the pan 00:30:36] across-

Lauren:I’ve been there.

Sean:Near Three Monkeys and Brunch.

Sam:Yeah. Used to be a pharmacy back in like the forties yeah, it’s got a really cool store.

Alex:But it probably only haunts after closing while you’re cleaning, like while you’re like-

Sam:Is open late night. They-

Sean:I wonder what that rating scale is?

Sam:Go from dinner.

Alex:In like how haunted it is?

Sean:Yeah like how scared were you when you were there by yourself?

Lauren:That’s a really good question.

Sean:Yeah, how do you figure that part out?

Alex:I don’t know.

Sean:Like on a scale of 1-10.

Sam:I don’t know. I don’t think I want to, yeah.

Sean:How haunted is this restaurant?

Sam:No, apparently employees have just sighted like really weird things happening and like seeing ghosts.

Alex:Well Lauren broke a glass yesterday and we blamed it on the ghost of lady, so…

Sam:Okay.

Alex:Yeah. Anything that weird happens here. We’re like “Oh ghost” instantly.

Sam:Yes. Okay. Well, fair enough.

Sean:I like it.

Lauren:It’s meant to happen.

Sam:All right, cool. So we covered a lot in this episode. It sounds like Top Golf was a hit. We want to try to jump on a tuck tuck sometime soon.

Sean:Oh yeah.

Sam:Everybody’s marking their calendars for November 22nd because we want to catch Guy Fieri in Richmond.

Sean:All about the Fan Fuel.

Lauren:Are we going to have a viewing party?

Sam:We should.

Lauren:We should.

Sam:It’s a Friday night at 09:00 Pm.

Lauren:I don’t have cable so [crosstalk 00:31:50]. We can always replay it at another time. Stream it somehow.

Alex:Well is that it?

Lauren:That went very fast.

Alex:How long has it been? I have no clue. Well that’s how long it’s going to be. So I’ll see you guys-

Sam:At 06:43 we were talking about like our second topic so it’s at least been 20 minutes.

Alex:All right, well…

Sam:Yeah, 31 according to Miles our production manager. So..

Sean:Yeah miles.

Alex:Perfect amount of time for our podcast. So…

Lauren:Maybe has finished her bully stick So it’s been at least 20 minutes.

Alex:I think she eats them in like five or that’s David.

Sam:Yeah, see. We know, we know our kids. All right.

Alex:All right, good seeing you guys, I want to cheers it but you don’t have anything in cups-

Sean:Group glass.

Sam:Cheers. Cling, cling, cling.

Alex:Talk to you next week. Bye.

Lauren:Bye.

Alex:Thank you so much for listening. Why Richmond is awesome. Podcast is hosted by Sean and Sam Kanipe of the Richmond Experience and Lauren and Alex Glaser of the Glaser Group Realtors. It’s produced and edited by Miles Agee Productions. Our theme song is RVA All Day by No BS Brass band. Please rate us and leave us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts. Listen to more episodes at whyrichmondisawesome.com and follow us on Instagram @therichmondexperience and @whyrichmondisawesome.