Here it comes again! For the fourth time, the annual “smorgasbord in the street” will feature small plates of signature dishes from area restaurants for $3 each on Sunday June 5! Broad Appetit also features music, chef’s demonstrations, farmers’ market, art, and activities to keep you busy all afternoon. It starts at 11 AM and runs until 5 PM on West Broad Street between Adams Street and Monroe Street.  Admission is FREE, but samples will cost $3 each.  Hosted by the Downtown Neighborhood Association, proceeds benefit the Central Virginia Food Bank and Meals on Wheels.

4th Anual Broad Appetit Info. This great street fair enables you to sample Richmond’s best cuisine, all in one place.  Bring your appetite and graze down Broad Street; this opportunity only comes once a year! Bring your re-usable shopping bag and fill it up with produce from local farmers and producers for the next week’s meals. There will be plenty of beverages available for sale!

It’s traditionally been a great day so wear a hat and sunscreen, as well as comfortable walking shoes so you can take it all in. You won’t want to miss a single vendor!

Success! Broad Appetit, a culinary event in its third year, raised $8,000 for FeedMore, the umbrella organization for the Central Virginia Foodbank and Meals on Wheels.  This year’s event, on June 6th, attracted over 25,000 people and some of the best restaurants and caterers in the Richmond area. Next year’s Broad Appetit will return to Broad Street near Belvidere a few blocks from our Richmond inn on June 5, 2011.  2010 Award winners included Fan restaurants: Acacia mid-town (for their signature soft-shell sandwich with goat cheese-stuffed squash blossoms) and Avenue 805 (for their profiteroles with sweet cream cheese and raspberry filling topped with chocolate ganache).

The first weekend in June always has a lot to offer: First Friday Artwalk, Broad Appetit, and this year in 2010 A 10K Stride Through Time. Broad Appetit brings together Richmond’s restaurants to a few blocks of Broad Street so that attendees can sample their dishes for a nominal fee.  Plenty of cold beverages can be found as well. It is a great way to get a taste of Richmond’s culinary experts and make a list of restaurants to visit at a later date.  It’s over for 2010 but the 2011 date has been announced (June 5th).  Make your plans now to partake in one of Richmond’s best new events, next year will be only the fourth, and already attracting huge crowds. So make a reservation now for a culinary gourmet weekend next year with a stay at Richmond’s gourmet bed and breakfast in the historic Fan District, near Virginia Commonwealth University.

Free museum entry and a healthy 10K walk through Richmond’s history centers is on the schedule for June 5 2010. The Stride Through Time begins and ends at Tredegar on the banks of the James River. Accompanied by live music at various intervals, you’ll travel the 6.2-mile course through nine historic districts in downtown Richmond, past numerous museums, historic sites and monuments, over cobblestone and brick.

Join these striders through time on June 5 2010. The Poe Museum is one of the sites along the way!

Antique cars, historical figures and authentic architecture will bring 400 years of history to life, all while you enjoy a fantastic workout. Many museums along the route will be open for free during the walk. You must sign up before the  event.   SIGN UP.  And, the fee entitles you to a bib with number, a goodie bag, water stops along the course, a finisher t-shirt, food and festivities at the finish line at the American Civil War Center, free admission to many of the museums along the route, live entertainment, and living history performances. You’ll have to pick up your packet beginning at 7 AM on Saturday June 5.  Walk begins at 8:30 AM with a wave starting every 15 minutes. There is a course limit of 4 hours!

If you’ve selected a Richmond bed and breakfast for this fun-filled weekend, beginning with First Friday Art Walk, then spending Saturday striding through time, and Sunday at Broad Appetit, let us know you’ll need an early breakfast to make the start line in time to set off with your wave.  At the William Miller House Bed and Breakfast, your hearty gourmet breakfast will stick to your ribs for the duration of your walk. This promises to be a weekend to appeal to the art lover, the history lover, and the food lover in everyone!

What Richmond event features a bug chef cook-off, molecular gastronomy, to-die-for dish awards, kids cooking demos, cooking for your dog, and a whodunnit art exhibition? Of course, the answer is Broad Appetit, the unique taste of Richmond’s best, is scheduled for Sunday, June 6, 2010.

Food and Fun on Broad Street June 6 2010

A local food festival, Broad Appetit promotes the amazing food, art, and music that call Richmond home, and is hosted by the Downtown Neighborhood Association, benefitting the Central Virginia Food Bank and Meals on Wheels.  The event closes the 100-200 and 300 blocks of West Broad Street, where 50+ of Richmond’s local restaurants offer  tastes of their signature dishes for just $3 a sample (admission, however, is free!)

Last year, guests at our urban inn, took in the First Friday Art Walk and finished off their weekend with Broad Appetit!  Broad Appetit is only three years young; it began in 2008 with a crowd of 7,500 folks.  The 2009 crowd swelled to 18,000 food lovers.  Expectations for 2010 are that the crowd may exceed 25,000.  There is no better way to sample signature dishes from Richmond’s restaurants – all in one place – and some of the region’s best fresh produce, cheese, herbs, breads and confections.

Get more details here and even a schedule!

The second annual food fest known as Broad Appetit took place just a few blocks from us here at the William Miller House , a bed and breakfast inn located in Richmond Virginia’s historic Fan District. After preparing our hearty breakfast of fresh fruit, Grand Marnier French Toast, sauteed fresh peaches from the farm, and our own sausage from Keenbell Farms, and making sure our guests had enough to eat and drink, then cleaning up the kitchen — I ran out the door to check out Broad Appetit. The smells were fabulous! So much to see and hopefully taste! Here is my view of the festivities! I took the camera from my people and took a photo so you would understand the world from my point of view…

They had closed 3 blocks of Broad Street and filled the streets with tents where the vendors were. THe sidewalks were filled with tables and chairs so folks could sit and eat. The restauranteurs and caterers made $3 entrees to sell to anyone who wished to buy them.

There were ribs of all kinds, gazpacho, shrimp, burritos, Greek food, vegetarian/VEGAN food, Indian Food, fish, even something called sugar toads. Several of our neighborhood restaurants were represented: Six Burner, Kuba Kuba, Sticky Rice, Acacia even Gibson’s Grill, Kitchen 64, Comfort, and a bunch more that I lost track of. But the tent that had the biggest crowd was the tent where they were cooking bugs. I was worried when I hear that because, since you probably don’t know, my people often call me “bug.” I was worried that I might end up being the main course. The reason they call me “Bug” is that I used to eat bugs that came up onto my porch: flies, etc. When I saw they were cooking bugs, I thought that had to better than how I eat bugs. But, not many humans were really interested in joining in the bug-eating. We caught up with our guests who were staying with us, they said they had a great time trying out all the food. I had to hurry home to get there before them so I could greet them when they arrived. Here are some other photos of Broad Appetit – by the way, the proceeds went to the Central Virginia Foodbank – where Mike volunteers every Tuesday afternoon, cooking for Meals on Wheels.