Levamentum

A recent experience finding Rustica closed (note- Monday evenings!) caused a detour that landed in comfort (lower case c intended). After a perfectly adequate dinner, I realized that this was one place that had been visited several times and yet never written about. The first time, a couple of years ago, we didn’t know what to make of the place with the strange wall art and the usage of mason jars as glasses, while quite liking the creaky floorboards and the basic soul food. Several fried catfish, okra, green tomatoes, collard greens, creamy sweet potatoes, macaronis et al. later, Comfort continues to serve up satisfactory, well cooked and tasty no-frills Southern food in a pleasant environment (a little noisy, noise levels typically required a raised conversation). Portion sizes were quite substantial (an entree with 2 or 3 sides was quite enough for a meal). At times, we have felt that the food at Comfort tended to be under-seasoned. However, taken in unison with the overall composition of the platter and general preparation, this was easily forgotten/rectified.

I feel that CR and Comfort both fall squarely in the wysiwyg category. Now, this is not necessarily diametrical to say, trompe l’oeil cooking but there is something to be said for places that are quite down to earth in a range of departments (attitude, service, prices et al) and most importantly the food. If only more places in RVA realized exactly where they stood in the gastronomic hierarchy and adjusted accordingly.
Dinners at CR and C. ran to around ~$75 for two, with drinks and dessert and t&t.

Comfort has a rather exhaustive bourbon and whisky list, although not being quite a connoisseur of the malted stuff, I wasn’t quite able to discern if they complemented the food. But it was an impressive listing of alcohol nonetheless. Reading the list reminded me of this poignant piece by my one of my all time favorite bloggers on the hard stuff. (I liked the Omnivore line that the good things in life taste good).
Speaking of favorites with a certain way with words, I end on a rather tangential note (another markov chain !): I was quite elated to recently stumble (hypertextually speaking of course) upon an intriguing and prolific local with a je ne sais quoi and evocative writing style.... momentarily makes a life lived vicariously rather satisfactory.
levamentum to a point…

Comfort - Richmond, VA

Edit: While on the subject of critiquing food preparation, this recent blog posting by Ron Lieber on why he got kicked out of a restaurant makes for an interesting debate.
I generally agree with this philosophy (violations on this blog are woefully noted/accepted with some caveats, primarily the nature of the establishment)
"And when I eat in a higher-end establishment like this, I try to respect the artistry of the proprietor. I ask to have the food cooked the way the chef thinks it’s best. I don’t ask for salt. I don’t ask for skim."