Birmingham, AL
$8-$12 Entrees
$8-$12 Entrees
V. Richards, a lovely, diminutive grocery store and cafe in Birmingham, AL, must secretly install homing devices in the back of the neck of each of its customers, because I keep coming back ... over and over again. However, each time I return, the menu is different from the last. The decidedly gourmet cafe, located in the back of the market (where one can purchase everything from quail eggs to British digestives) is a haven for us homing pigeons.
Each day, the cafe serves breakfast, which may include Eggs Benedict with Creole Hollandaise and cinnamon-drenched French Toast. After 11:00 a.m., the cafe offers a pasta special, fish special, lunch special, and daily special, as well as three soups du jour. There are no less than (and usually more than) 23 types of salad available on a daily basis. Augment this with an assortment of toothsome, made-from-scratch pastries and desserts, to be consumed with imported espresso, and you have yourself a European form of Nirvana unique to Alabama. If that makes sense...
At V. Richards, it does. The staff are consistently gracious and complaisant. Seating may be found indoors or outdoors. Outside, there are patios filled with the soothing sound of the fountain overlaid with soft jazz. Red awnings provide shade for the stone tables where wine tastings are held on Friday evenings. The chefs are creative and add personal touches to ingenious recipes. Ingredients are clearly fresh and often organic.
Today, I opted for the fish special: seared diver scallops, rapini, jumbo asparagus, and roasted potatoes. The tender rapini and asparagus were flavorful and robust. The red potatoes savoured of garlic and red pepper. But the scallops. I believe people close their eyes in ecstasy when they taste something especially delicious, because they want no outside stimuli to distract from the experience. The seared scallops had a seaside sweetness all their own, with the merest suggestion of lemon. They were poetry. My eyes closed.
In addition to being helpful, the staff are knowledgeable about the dishes created at the cafe and the items sold in the market. Almost any employee can pair a cheese with a complimentary wine and will even offer to chill the bottle prior to purchase. The butcher will proffer only the best cuts of meat, and the seafood is often sashimi quality. Much of the produce sold is local, and most dairy items are organic. It was raining as I left, but the woman at the checkout made sure I had a golfer's umbrella to shelter the path to my car. Now that's TLC.
4.5 Kudzu
Each day, the cafe serves breakfast, which may include Eggs Benedict with Creole Hollandaise and cinnamon-drenched French Toast. After 11:00 a.m., the cafe offers a pasta special, fish special, lunch special, and daily special, as well as three soups du jour. There are no less than (and usually more than) 23 types of salad available on a daily basis. Augment this with an assortment of toothsome, made-from-scratch pastries and desserts, to be consumed with imported espresso, and you have yourself a European form of Nirvana unique to Alabama. If that makes sense...
At V. Richards, it does. The staff are consistently gracious and complaisant. Seating may be found indoors or outdoors. Outside, there are patios filled with the soothing sound of the fountain overlaid with soft jazz. Red awnings provide shade for the stone tables where wine tastings are held on Friday evenings. The chefs are creative and add personal touches to ingenious recipes. Ingredients are clearly fresh and often organic.
Today, I opted for the fish special: seared diver scallops, rapini, jumbo asparagus, and roasted potatoes. The tender rapini and asparagus were flavorful and robust. The red potatoes savoured of garlic and red pepper. But the scallops. I believe people close their eyes in ecstasy when they taste something especially delicious, because they want no outside stimuli to distract from the experience. The seared scallops had a seaside sweetness all their own, with the merest suggestion of lemon. They were poetry. My eyes closed.
In addition to being helpful, the staff are knowledgeable about the dishes created at the cafe and the items sold in the market. Almost any employee can pair a cheese with a complimentary wine and will even offer to chill the bottle prior to purchase. The butcher will proffer only the best cuts of meat, and the seafood is often sashimi quality. Much of the produce sold is local, and most dairy items are organic. It was raining as I left, but the woman at the checkout made sure I had a golfer's umbrella to shelter the path to my car. Now that's TLC.
4.5 Kudzu
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