Archive for January 17th, 2008

Last week I finally had the opportunity to visit Kitchen 64, located off I-64 in Richmond, VA, at the Boulevard.

This place has gotten a lot of press and friends recommended it. They seem to have priced things for a good value on the amount of food you get; the cocktail list wasn’t cheap.

On a Saturday night, there was a 30 minute wait, arriving at 5:30 PM, an unusual time for me to arrive for dinner. Nonetheless, despite the cold, we could eat in their make-shift dining room extension, a patio enclosed with a temporary “tent,” complete with a centerpiece made from an upside-down feather Christmas tree. That decoration sums-up the idea, I think of the restaurant… something familiar, but different; not trendy, but it has 10% retro flavor, 80% noisy clients, and 10% too little space.

I ultimately ordered their prime rib sandwich, served french dip style. This was not what I wanted, but they were out of the avocado sandwich. Other items ordered included the hummus appetizer, a fish entrée, the prime rib entrée, fish tacos, and a tossed salad.

We left quite full, but no one was crazy about their meal.

My sandwich was okay, but there was nothing especially endearing about it. The fries, however, were the real star: crispy with a coating (I am guessing cornstarch). Good fries.

The prime rib was huge, but I am not sure my friend liked it. It was cooked to the correct temperature, etc., but the other accoutrements on the plate looked plain: lots of squash/zucchini.

The tossed salad: “Horrible.” The fish tacos: drippy. “Not terribly appetizing.”

The fish “dry.”

The most disappointing thing was the cocktail I ordered, their take on the Manhattan. This was my first time trying this drink, and so I accept some fault on my own. But it was the worst drink I’d ever had, and I could only stomach half of it. Despite it sitting on the table, no one else dared try it.

But the entertainment of watching my face curl from each attempted sip was rather entertaining.

Kitchen 64 has potential, but nothing was over the top for us. The black bean hummus platter was likely the best thing ordered, but there was nothing especially interesting about it: you got a big lump of mashed beans in the center, sliced onion, feta, olives, and cherry tomatoes with some pita bread. It works, but that was about it.

Despite our disappointment, there were plenty of folks there, obviously having a good time. I am willing to try them again for breakfast some day. We’ll see.