Tickets to the annual Richmond food festival Fire, Flour & Fork go on sale today.
Chef Bonnie Moore of Willowsford Farm in Loudoun County joins the team at L’Opossum in Richmond.
Photo by Kate Thompson
Want to hang out with rock star chefs while also benefiting a good cause? Richmond’s annual celebration of all things delicious has got you covered. Tickets go on sale today for Fire, Flour & Fork, a food-and-drink festival taking place all over the Richmond area Nov. 17-20. The days are packed with farm tours, book-signings, chef dinners and behind-the-scenes kitchen tours, so the toughest part will be picking which outings to attend. Events are ticketed individually.
So about that “rock star chef” part. This year’s programming includes dinners, tours and meet-and-greets with some of the most renowned chefs in the south. Vivian Howard, host of reality series A Chef’s Life, who runs The Chef & the Farmer restaurant in Kinston, North Carolina, will join Richmond chef Walter Bundy for a luncheon and book-signing at Bundy’s new restaurant Shagbark. A few Top Chef alumni will also make appearances: Edward Lee, who runs four restaurants in Washington, D.C and Louisville, Kentucky; Fredericksburg’s FOODĒ chef-owner Joy Crump; and Mike Isabella, who owns Graffiato, a restaurant with locations in D.C. and Richmond.
Virginia standouts include David Shannon of Richmond’s L’Opossum, Ian Boden of Staunton’s The Shack, Joe Sparatta of Richmond’s Heritage and Southbound, and renowned Szechuan chef Peter Chang, who has restaurants all over the state.
And as far as that “good cause” part, proceeds will go to several local nonprofits—last year’s event raised more than $12,000 for organizations like Slow Food RVA, Tricycle Gardens and FeedMore.
Pro tip: Sign up quick for this year’s film-and-food tribute for the 100th birthday of great Virginia-born chef Edna Lewis. The multifaceted Lewis, who died in 2006, was the grandchild of emancipated slaves and the power behind her husband’s New York City restaurant Cafe Nicholson, open from 1949 to 2000. Lewis spent her career documenting and showcasing the Virginia food of her childhood, writing several cookbooks and helping launch the Southern Foodways Alliance. She was the first recipient of the James Beard Living Legend Award.
Tickets go on sale today at 10 a.m. Better hurry. They sell out fast. FireFlourAndFork.com
