Start of semester O3.14159NIONS

I have to say that one of my favorite places in RVA is the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for a plethora of reasons. One of them is the fabulous space of the restaurant Amuse next to the South Asian collection. With the latest additions to the sculpture garden below and having the entire room fill with the light of the setting sun, this has to be one of the nicest views around. While the BEST café on the ground level has the perpetual aroma of a grilled cheese sandwich, the comfortable lounging chairs and hushed ambiance of Amuse makes it a great place to enjoy the selections of regionally sourced food (theres that word again!).
A dish that intrigued me on a recent visit was the pork belly with kimchee.(*) This was the third current instance I’ve seen at a non-Korean place (the Boka truck and Balliceaux being the others)….A welcome departure from the norm…But of course, being a fan of Korean food, I’ll play! While it ended up not being strictly kimchee (more like pickled cabbage sans the heat), the pork belly was excellent – nicely caramelized and a pleasant texture. From my limited sampling of the menu, I have to be back for more full fledged dinners that look quite well put together (served on square plates which must mean they're good :)). And they’re on Open Table which to me is a big plus ! It is a pity they have such limited hours.

A couple of quick notes around campus before all the craziness starts anew: My summer favorite Sprout has continued to rule my roost. It will be interesting to see how they survive the onslaught of all the traffic (goodbye to leisurely lunches). At last visit, I liked how they placed their dinner menu in LP album covers.
Another restaurant closure around was in the form of Ruchee Express, a place that did its best to add to the shoddy reputation of Indian food in RVA. No big loss here obviously, but given student demographics, I remain quite perplexed at the lack of a decent restaurant anywhere from the Asian continent in the vicinity of VCU. A Taste of Far East on Grace is possibly an exception.
Speaking of Indian food, one could do very nicely by visiting Laxmi Palace which has to be one of the best Indian grocery stores for quite a radius around. They not only have a whole host of little desi things (spices, savory snacks, Indian pickles, rice, bread (naans/parathas etc), and a lot of frozen foods that are better than the fare at most Indian restaurants in RVA) but also a very good selection of vegetables including ones not found in regular grocery stores (or even Tan A). When in doubt about something, look for the ever friendly owner!
Laxmi Palace - 3423 Old Parham Road Richmond, VA 23294, map

Epilogue: “Words like “sustainability” and “food-miles” are thrown around without any clear understanding of the larger picture of energy and land use.” Bravo! This excellent (combining two of my passions :)… ) op-ed piece in today’s NYT is worth a read: Math Lessons for Locavores
I particularly like this sentiment – “Eating locally grown produce is a fine thing in many ways. But it is not an end in itself, nor is it a virtue in itself.”
On the topic of “food miles”, I noticed Whole Foods has begun (not sure how long they’ve been at it) to put the mileage on (some of) their produce. A nice gesture, but one must remember not just to look at the ׀number׀.

* - Edit update - did my eyes deceive me? on a recent visit I noticed that it was labeled as the korean pork belly w/ slaw, the adjective having moved around !!