Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse And Wine Bar

Here is a post from George, aka The Good Wine Guru, about his experience at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar.

Recently I had the opportunity to attend a media dinner at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar here in Richmond as they wanted to show off some of their new Fall menu items.  Having never been to Fleming’s I was excited to say the least.

Before the meal began, we were offered a cocktail, the Stoli Bombshell.  In support of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Fleming’s is offering this cocktail, with 100% of the sales benefiting the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade.  Whether you’re a pink cocktail drinker or not, it’s a good cause I think we can all get behind.  As for the cocktail itself – I don’t typically drink sweet drinks, and I’d be lying if I said I would order this again, but I can understand the appeal of it.

A mixture of Stoli Vanil vodka, lime juice, and sugar free raspberry preserve, the cocktail only has 99 calories, but with almost no taste of alcohol in it, it would be incredibly easy to over-indulge in these and regret it the next morning.  That being said, the sales go to a good cause, so I do encourage anybody visiting Fleming’s to order one.

The first item from the menu we tried were the Lump Crab Louis Wraps, paired with a 2007 Sanford Chardonnay from Santa Barbara County.  The wraps were comprised of butter lettuce with avocado, bacon, egg, tomato, lump crab meat, and some chives with a thousand island vinaigrette, and were, quite frankly, delicious.  These were a great way to start the meal and are definitely an appetizer I would recommend.

The wine was lightly oaked, and was a perfect compliment to the crab meat and the vinaigrette.

Next on the menu was the Salmon Nicoise Salad, paired with the 2008 Conundrum from California.  The Salmon Nicoise consisted of perfectly broiled salmon filet with roasted Yukon potatoes, French green beans, truffled deviled eggs, roasted sweet baby peppers, all with a lemon-balsamic vinaigrette.  The entire plate was delicious, but my favorite part of it was hands down the truffled deviled eggs.  I would eat an entire plate of those if you put them in front of me and while I’m sure I would regret it later, I would love every minute of it while indulging.

The Conundrum was a perfect pairing for this.  While the exact make up of the Conundrum is kept a mystery, I got floral notes that I associate with Viognier and Vidal Blanc.  This was another perfect pairing and a wine that any guest should consider if ordering seafood at Fleming’s.

The third item on our menu was a Roasted Mushroom Ravioli paired with a 2007 Shug Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast.  The ravioli was stuffed with portobello and shiitake mushrooms and topped with a porcini butter sauce.  I’m hit or miss on mushrooms, especially as the key ingredient, but this was definitely a hit.  The earthy flavors of the meal were perfectly complimented by the earthiness of the Shug Pinot.  Between the Roasted Mushroom Ravioli and the Lump Crab Louis Wraps it’d be real easy to make a meal out of appetizers, and one you wouldn’t regret having.

For our fourth course we moved into steak, something I had been looking forward to.  A peppercorn steak paired with a 2006 Faust Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, the steak was cooked to perfection with a nice crust of cracked black and white peppercorns with a side of Fleming’s proprietary “F17″ steak sauce.  I tried the steak both with and without the steak sauce and while I’ve always been a believer in steak standing on its own without sauce, there’s nothing wrong with this sauce.

Adding a bit of zing to the steak, the F17 sauce was unlike any steak sauce I’ve tried before, and one that I’d love to bottle and keep at home.  The Faust Cabernet Sauvignon was nice and full-bodied, holding up great to the bold flavors of the crusted steak.

Next we moved into a showcase of Fleming’s Fall Prix Fixe menu.  For $39.95 a person, you can enjoy a three course meal at Fleming’s this fall, and believe me, it’s definitely a great deal.

We were first offered the Veal Osso Bucco served on creamy risotto with roasted autumn vegetables.  The meat just fell off the bone and melted in the mouth.  I know people have ethical concerns about veal, and I’m not going to get into a pro or con debate on veal here, but I do know that this was some of the best veal I’ve ever had and I certainly didn’t need the knife that was provided.

We also tried Oysters Rockefeller, which had been baked with a sambucca-laced creamed spinach and topped with shaved parmesan cheese and bacon bits.  Much like mushrooms, I’m hit or miss on oysters, but this was another hit.  These are a great appetizer for the prix fixe menu and one I think I could even talk my wife into, who is very much against oysters.

Finally we had dessert.  I typically don’t make it to dessert, but when presented with a trio of creme brulee, well sometimes you just have to soldier on.  Three small creme brulees, a chocolate, a banana, and a vanilla, were presented, and I have to say, all three were spectacular.  I don’t eat a lot of chocolate, but I would have loved to have another serving of the chocolate creme brulee, and the banana one had just the right amount of sweetness to let you know you were eating dessert without being over done.

The entire dinner was nothing short of amazing, and I would be remiss if I didn’t also compliment the wait staff for doing a great job.  We were also fortunate enough to meet the Operating Partner, John Van Peppen, and the Executive Chef Partner, Jay McManus.  Both were incredibly gracious and are clearly passionate about what they do.

I could probably ramble on for several more pages about how much I enjoyed Fleming’s, but what it really comes down to is whether you should go and try their new menu.  The answer is a resounding yes.  If you have a Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar in your area, you should absolutely go and try their new fall menu, the Prix Fixe menu, and even give the Stoli Bombshell a try during October to help raise money for a good cause.

I want to thank John Van Peppen, Jay McManus, and the entire Fleming’s Richmond staff for an amazing meal and I do hope you’ll go and visit them very soon.  I know I plan to.

Related articles

• Which is better beer or wine? (frommyexperience.com)
• Top 10 Menu Blunders (toptenz.net)
• Raw Fish with Rice (eatinginrichmond.com)

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An Interview with Reggie Pace of NO BS! Brass and More

I recently had the opportunity to meet up with local musician Reginald Pace, co-founder of NO BS! Brass and a fellow who is involved in a staggering number of creative projects.  He was kind enough to meet me at Kuba Kuba, a favorite that I was SURE I’d reviewed before, but guess I haven’t.  It’s awesome.  You should go there.

Back to Reggie.  I first got the idea to interview Reggie when I saw NO BS! Brass play at Gallery 5‘s Halloween bash last year.   They absolutely rocked my face off.  I mean, I was so impressed I couldn’t stand it.  I talked about them for days.  I told my mom about them.  I was like a little geek fan girl all over again.  It was great.  It had been a long time since I’d gotten jazzed over a local band.

So I contacted the band, and Reggie wrote back.  Right away.  That was back in NOVEMBER, but we finally met up and he told me all about the band, his projects, and more, so here you go, Richmond – the sweetest guy in Richmond showbiz:

From the time Reggie was a small child, he has loved music.  He wasn’t like most kids, who jump on a musical bandwagon and later discover what their taste is really all about.  He started off seeing the beauty and complexity in movie themes, and Merry Melodies songs.  He discovered Hip Hop when he was in middle school, and his own style became a wonderful, crazy combination of Hip Hop, Funk, Prog Rock, Jazz, Metal, and movie soundtracks.  This style carries over into NO BS! Brass, a band he started with co-founder Lance Koehler in 2006.

NO BS! Brass is a 10-piece band made up of a group of friends who have a love for music.  Many of the members have conservatory experience, and the entire group practices one time per week.  That’s dedication.   The members knew each other through school – Reggie graduated from VCU in 2005 and went on to teach trombone, tuba, and trumpet at Richmond Music Center.  He still does that, in addition to directing the University of Richmond’s Pep Band, all the while keeping up with his independent musical endeavours.

In addition to NO BS! Brass, Reggie is involved in at least 5 other bands.  Glows in the Dark specializes in jazzy, experimental movie music.  The guitar player, Scott Burton, writes whole suites of music for movies he likes.  That’s Reggie’s kind of collaborator.  They play once per month at Commercial Taphouse – the next show is on September 19th.  Fight the Big Bull is an indie-ish Jazz/Southern Rock 8-piece that has a wild sound.  Fight The Big Bull will be playing September 17, 18 and 19 at Hayti Heritage Center in Durham, NC.

That’s not all.  The Big Payback is a James Brown tribute band that plays all over the East Coast.  The Trio of Justice is a roots experimental band that, to my chagrin, played just days before this post will go live.  Finally, ETAKA is an electronic/drum/trombone duo Reggie’s in as well.  There might be more.  There probably ARE more.

But what about NO BS! Brass?  Many of the other 9 members of the band have multiple projects going on at one time.  Lance runs Minimum Wage Studios, Taylor is a doctoral candidate, and Bryan is a professor at VCU.  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  There is only so much information you can squeeze out of an hour long conversation, even when the interviewee is as easygoing and forthcoming as Reggie.

Despite the crazy schedules, the multiple projects, the crappy economy, the hot hot weather, NO BS! Brass practices every week.  They manage to bring a lively, honest party attitude to every show and they are, to quote Harry Kollatz, “sheer musical joy.”  Reggie says that they have fun playing together – that they are a bunch of nerdy music school people – and that they take that nerdy music school stuff and make it danceable – and therefore accessible.  Their music is about 95% original, and the covers they do choose to play are an absolute delight to the audience.  Put it this way, I didn’t expect to hear Led Zeppelin, but I was sure glad when I did.

A new, self-titled album will be released at a two-day event at The Camel, one of the band’s favorite places to play. It’s their third studio album, and the CD Release Party promises to be an amazing time.  It’s October 1st and 2nd, at The Camel.  Tell your friends.

If you want to see the band play before that, you can head on over to Balliceaux this Thursday, August 26th.  That’s another favorite venue of the band’s.  They also love playing outdoors (you might have seen them at Best Friend’s Day this past weekend) and they like playing Gallery 5, which is where I first saw them.  They are super good about posting their news on the NO BS! Brass blog, so bookmark that thing and get ready to rock out.

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That’s a Wrap

A food stand selling mainly wraps downtown near to the VCU campus.

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