vol. 110 / Rooted 🌱Here’s to celebrating the artists, small business owners, and nonprofits rooted in this place we call home.
VOL. 110 / ROOTED
Here’s to celebrating the artists, small business owners, and nonprofits rooted in this place we call home. This week, we’re featuring an illustrator documenting the natural world around her, community supported radio, and an entrepreneur bringing a new brand of healthy eats to the River City. Let’s get to it.
The Wild
Wander
Rooted in Richmond, Clara Cline, a self-taught illustrator known as The Wild Wander, is known for creating field guides for every state in the country. Her hand-illustrated letterpress charts detail flora and fauna native to each state. After working a series of office jobs, Clara turned her after-hours passion into a day job that fills her abiding curiosity for forgotten history and the natural world. In addition to her popular field guides, The Wild Wander offers original artwork featuring favorite trails and regions, apparel, greeting cards, and prints. You can check out Clara’s work at Awl Snap on Broad Street or visit her site to find Clara’s latest creations as she follows in the footsteps of early American naturalists.
Encapsulating the sound of Richmond since 2005, WRIR 97.3 FM is an all-volunteer, nonprofit community public radio station known for homegrown shows that offer a diverse listening experience featuring music, news, and views. We’re talking Open Source RVA, Frequency, Bebop and Beyond with Mr. Jazz, British Breakfast, and more. On Saturday, Richmond celebrates 15 years of RVA-focused, listener-supported radio at the Renaissance Ballroom with acts like No BS! Brass Band (pictured), Big No, The Hot Seats, Saw Black, Bon Ki, She, and BangNBest. The birthday bash will also feature an all LGBTQ rap show by the Secret Bonus Level band, an RVA Comedy Showcase hosted by Francesca Lyn, cake, and raffle items. Don’t miss a chance to celebrate community radio with your favorite WRIR DJs at the biggest birthday party for the RVA-focused, nonprofit station yet.
When Jaynay Jones, proud owner of Rooted Delights, went vegan in 2016, she struggled with giving up her favorite food—CHEESE! After dialing in a signature recipe over the course of a year, she took a leap of faith, ditched her nine-to-five job, and opened a vegan cuisine business specializing in a delicious Oat Milk Creamy Mozzah Cheez Wheel (dairy free, soy free, gluten free, tree nut free). In addition, she began curating private 4-course vegan events, vending around RVA, and traveling the East Coast doing pop-ups along the way. Today, you can score cheese wheels by Rooted Delights at Ellwood Thompson's, The Market at 25th, and Outpost Richmond as well as local restaurants and food trucks like 821 cafe, Intergalactic Tacos, Nomad Deli, and Root Stock Provisions. Better yet, meet Jaynay and her team in person at Urban Hang Suite every 3rd and 4th Wednesday of the month for Get Rooted Wednesdays.
Ever since the Iranian-born and Miami-raised Roben Farzad, host of Full Disclosure on VPM NPR, moved to the River City he has kept us on our toes wondering what he'll create next. Insightful and always humorous, Roben regularly dishes up a fresh take on everything from business news to pop culture to policy to cuisine. He's known for hosting live recordings of his radio show mixed with performances by musical acts like '90s alt-rock band Nada Surf, dinner experiences with favorite Richmond chefs, and offbeat collaborations with favorite local businesses. He's even a regular on National Public Radio, C-SPAN, and PBS NewsHour, just to name a few. And in 2017, Roben authored the book Hotel Scarface: Where Cocaine Cowboys Partied and Plotted to Control Miami. We asked Roben, who always has a joke at the ready, to describe a perfect day in Richmond as this week's guest editor. Take it away, Roben!
Westwood
Fountain
Believe me when I say I'm grateful to be able to wake up to RVA in the year 2020. The perfect day for me begins at Westwood Fountain, the diner in the Westwood Pharmacy, next door to the only full-service Pizza Hut in America that hasn't been converted into a funeral home. Anyway, Westwood makes such a soulful breakfast. Like many establishments in blue-blooded, XL-SUV-lined Westhampton, I'm often the most ethnic person there—that is, unless you consider the Lebanese owner, Faissal Aridi (pictured), who is like an uncle to me. Digging into a bespoke omelet, I brood over story ideas, stopping off at nearby Libbie Market or Black Hand Coffee for a postprandial coffee where I will likely bump into someone else with a story idea. I'm exceedingly pitchable when under the influence of CBC: cold-brewed coffee.
I take that buzz downtown. There are very elevated stretches of both Cary and Broad Streets just west of Shockoe that topographically feel like a discount San Francisco. I work out of AudioImage Recording, by the Jefferson Hotel. The place is gorgeously frozen in times (plural), what with its eight-track tapes and 1920s fixtures. When I want to have a live band in studio -- we had Silversun Pickups in December -- I book them at RainMaker in Shockoe. It's always nice to pop in at nearby Fountain Bookstore -- one of best indies in the country that opened in 1978.
When I need to treat myself after a long day of recording, I journey to Carena's Jamaican Grille. The South Side of Richmond can be so exotic and intimidating; you need to cross the river, enter a different time zone, and survive both deer ticks and tailgating from guys in extended F-150 trucks. Sometimes, I get decompression sickness and have to pull over. But that never keeps me away from Carena's legendary eatery, which was just featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Carena Ives (pictured), you see, is my RVA big sister. She let me write chapters of my book at her restaurant. She gives me tough love about show ideas. And her jerk sauce is just so exceptional — it brings you to ecstatic tears — that I would eat a softball glove dipped in the stuff.
As you're out and about exploring Roben's tips, make a stop at WPA Southside at 3414 Semmes Avenue. Here you'll find two Here Rep t-shirts like this one hidden behind the counter. The first two readers to swing by, order a free cup of coffee on us, and tell them Here sent you will score this comfy cotton t-shirt emblazoned with a hand-drawn design with Richmond's airport code.
vol. 108 / ComfortHere's to creating comfort and joy in this place we call home in the year ahead.
VOL. 108 / COMFORT
Here's to not only finding, but creating, comfort and joy in this place we call home in the year ahead. We've rounded up a few sources of inspiration, including the duo behind delicious southern-inspired meals made from scratch; a Richmond artist creating sculptures made from found objects; and a cozy neighborhoodshop that offers coffee and house plants! Read on ...
Comfort
Let's start by raising a glass to Jason Alley and Michele Jones, owners of Comfort, for sharing their love of food and community with Richmond and beyond. Over the past 17 years, Jason and Michele have racked up an impressive collection of culinary awards and are celebrated for turning Southern-inspired classics into modern hits. Beyond the accolades, their real claim to fame is the warmth and hospitality they bring to everything they touch. In recent years, the duo shifted their business model to focus on ending hunger in our area by donating net profits to Feedmore. Do yourself a favor and make a reservation now, as Jason and Michele announced earlier this week that they will be closing the doors to Comfort at the end of the month. But there's still time to stop in, dine with them, laugh with them, and to thank them!
From his Southside work space, artist Keith Ramsey creates practical art for everyday use. A creative force in the Richmond art scene for 20 years, Keith's art ranges widely—including sculptures made from found objects, cityscapes with towering buildings and an occasional peek at the sky painted with oil and acrylic on canvas, vibrant paintings that cast the viewer's eye skyward without the obstructions of the modern world, bikes that have been redesigned into conceptual art pieces, furniture that serves as functional art, and more. As one of the most inviting artists around, Keith can often be found painting on the patio at Crossroads Coffee & Ice Cream or inspiring other artists to pursue their passions. Seek him out, ask him about his latest creations, and dream up a collaborative piece with him.
Nestled in the perfect corner shop in Union Hill is Pomona Plants and Coffee. It's a place to linger while soaking in the plant vibes and enjoying a cup of coffee with friends and strangers alike. Thoughtfully curated by Frayser and Melissa Micou, Pomona is a two-in-one offering that has a little something for everyone. On the food and beverage side you'll find coffee by Blanchard's, housemade herbal sodas, nut-based milks, shrubs, grilled bread baked by nearby Sub Rosa, seasonal and housemade spreads, fruit chutneys, local cheese, and more. And on the retail side, Richmonders are treated to houseplants, pots, plant care tools, herbal based aroma therapy, greeting cards, and goods by local artisans. Whatever brings you to Pomona, you'll quickly settle in and feel right at home in this community gathering spot for all things comforting and connective.
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