Two days of Jewish food, plus pop-ups, late-night snacks, and...grasshoppers!?

RJFF volunteer Miriam Davidow's rugelach, pre-roll

THE CHOSEN FOOD

This weekend marks the 10th annual Richmond Jewish Food Festival. I've come to truly love this event over the past three years of writing about it and volunteering for it, and guys, this year is no different. I've got an insider's look at the 2-day festival over on the Richmond Magazine website, and you can find me serving stuffed cabbage and then stuffing myself with stuffed cabbage on Monday at the Weinstein JCC.

And, as you will certainly be inspired on Sunday and Monday, find a connection with Israeli cuisine on Thursday, January 19th at the JCC's Israeli Film Festival. The first film of the series, In Search of Israeli Cuisine, follows Zahav chef and author Mike Solomonov on his quest to discover what makes Israeli food unique. 

Side Note: I got the Zahav cookbook this year for Hanukkah, and it is killer. Check out Food52's recommendations for What to Cook from Zahav by Michael Solomonv. You really can't go wrong.

HERITAGE, UP ALL NIGHT

You: Wake up at noon, wait for your friends to wake up, start partying. You require sloppy, high-calorie foods, slick tunes, and cool cocktails to ease you back into rest mode.

Heritage: Gets it and welcomes you, starting tonight, to Heritage...After Dark. Joe Sparatta will serve whatever fires up his grub cortex, and bar manager Tim Quinn will shake dranks and spin tunes until sunrise, or 2 am or something (Thursday through Saturday, late until later). Richmond Magazine has the juicy deets.

FLORA! FLORA! FLORA!

Early March is the tentative opening set for Flora, a Mexican restaurant specializing in Oaxacan cuisine. Style Weekly and Richmond Bizsense both have follow-ups on the story, which Richmond Times-Dispatch first reported late in December. Spoiler Alert: We're all going to be eating grasshoppers and loving it. Mark. My. Words.

Curious about Oaxacan cuisine? Saveur has a mouth-watering list of Oaxaca's best street food.

noodz await a ramen fate at The Jackdaw pop-up

POPWATCH

Because RVA is #blessed with pop-ups, you've got multiple poptions this holiday weekend. For the first time ever, former Blue Goat chef Paul Kostandin will serve up a modern Greek menu at Whisk as Bubo on Sunday. Look for Morgan Botwinick's Fennel Ice Cream served with a peanut baklava for the final course.

And, back by popular demand, Monday, January 16th, The Jackdaw will again turn the kitchen at Millie's into their personal playground for a one-night-only Japanese-inspired pop up, which will feature a small selection maki rolls and...UNI NIGIRI, among other things, but of course, I had you at UNI.

Also, borderline pop-uppy: Mean Bird will be a-brunchin' at Isley this Sunday with their fried chicken, vegan and traditional, and some fun brunch foods to help you soak up your beer mimosas, ojos rojos, and plain old beers.

Is this a pop-up?!?: Bagels and Booch (meaning Nate's Bagels and Ninja Kombucha) for all to enjoy this Saturday from 10:00 am to 12:00 at Perk! 

IF YOU DO NOTHING ELSE...

Slip into...The Gin Den. Rescheduled due to last weekend's snow, you have another shot at nabbing gin-based cocktails and tastings with T. Leggett and James Kohler at Metzger this Sunday, starting at 5:00 pm. 5% of all cocktail proceeds will be donated to the Blue Sky Fund in honor of Kurt Moon.

PLAN AHEAd

Go ahead and change your status to BUSY on Sunday, February 5th. There's a cider and chocolate pairing event at Blue Bee Cider with Gearhart's Chocolates, and that seems like the kind of thing you'll need to take a day for.

SIP: PERK'S HOT CHAI

Perk! starts with Rostov's Richmond Blend, which combines black tea, cinnamon, orange peel, and cloves, to create a perfectly balanced chai concentrate, which they sweeten with maple syrup for this winter warmer/coffee alternative.

BITE: JOAN GRIFF'S FAMILY RUGELACH

Available to the public only at the Richmond Jewish Food Festival, this rugelach recipe travelled from Austria-Hungary when Joan Rothenberg Griff's mother immigrated to the states as a young girl. A simple but essential dough gets a dusting of cinnamon and sugar, a spread of strawberry jam, and a sprinkling of walnuts before baking, and the result is a complex crescent of warm, comforting sweetness.

GRAM: @TASTEOFSTREEP

There's no better time to revisit one of the most excellent Instagrams ever, Taste of Streep, combining two things that everyone loves: Meryl Streep and Foods. Never change, Taste of Streep, a hero among IG accounts!