Belmont Food Shop - The Fan's Not-So-Secret Little Secret

On Saturday, January 5^th, I started out the New Year by trying a new restaurant that I wasn’t even aware existed in 2012.  After a long, complicated process for chef and owner Mike Yavorsky, Belmont Food Shop, located at 27 N. Belmont Ave. near the intersection of Belmont and Floyd Ave., opened its doors on Friday September 7^th, 2012.  It was already listed as #1 in RVA New’s "10 of 2012's best new restaurants" (out of 44 or 46 new restaurants, depending which publication you check). 

 

This establishment is following a trend I’ve been noticing recently in Richmond of good food being crammed into tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurants.  Very NYC of them :) (which is probably no coincidence since Yavorsky worked in NYC for five years).  There were 12 of us in my group and we were only able to get a reservation at 9:00 p.m. and basically shut the place down early.  Only one 2-top table remained after our group was seated, and even though there were still about 8 or 9 spots at the bar, our chair basically backed up into those chairs.  

On their official website, they talk about how “in a former life, Belmont Food Shop was a small grocery store” and how they intend to pay homage to that with their new restaurant.  Their menu changes based on their ingredients and how long they keep said ingredients in stock.  The whole menu doesn’t necessarily change every week…but sure, new menu every week, whatever.  Therefore they’re following another trend in Richmond restaurants by having their appetizers and entrees written on a chalkboard versus handing out individual menus.  Our server went over all the desserts with us…several times…because my friends don’t listen lol.

I started with the lobster salad.  It was alright…or rather I should say, it was what I expected.  I’m sure compared to other lobster salads it was exceptional!  But cold pieces of lobster over a small bed of lettuce with a light dressing isn’t my usual choice.  There were other appetizers that looked much more appetizing, but I was trying to make a healthy choice.  A couple of my friends got the butternut ravioli and loved it, so I tried some and, yeah, it was DELISH. 

For the main course, I had the roasted chicken with gnocchi, mushrooms and greens.  It was perfect; perfectly seasoned, perfectly cooked, perfectly moist, and perfectly portioned.  

For dessert I had the silk pie, which is the first dessert I will describe as heavenly.  It was a chocolate crumb crust with a filling that wasn’t too chalky and wasn’t too creamy.  And in between all the food, I had way too much sauvignon blanc :).  Their wine selection is limited (no pinot grigio?!) but what’s there is of good quality.

What I really liked about the meal was the portion sizes.  So many restaurants in the United States serve you these huge plates of food that you feel obligated to finish so that you’re not wasting food or money, but you don’t really need all that food (especially if it’s a 3-course meal).  So I call it “European portions” – just enough for you to enjoy the taste and feel full.  And each plate was just the right size for me to feel full by the end of the night without feeling stuffed and heavy (although the silk pie was pushing it lol IT WAS WORTH IT).

For those three courses, the total came to just over $30…but add in my wine, tax and tip and I was pushing $80.  So it’s an affordable restaurant for a nice date, or you can break the bank – it’s up to you and the occasion.  

And by the way, shout out to our waiter Daniel!!  Even with our small group taking over their entire restaurant (which I think the staff kind of liked because it pretty much meant that our group were the last customers that would come in that night and ensured they were going to close early), spilling wine and breaking a glass, needing to hear the menu and desserts about 3 times each, and being overall dorky and rowdy (as we always are), he was always super nice with a good sense of humor and a whole lot of patience.  I might be a bigger fan of Daniel than I am of the restaurant! Lol jk…or am I?