Picks by Fitz with input by Contributors and Staff | Photography by Fitz
Lead photo of “Singing River” Sunday brunch plate at Streats
For this edition of Southern Grit magazine, dubbed “Scratching to the Top”, we made it a point to seek out some of the best made-from-scratch dishes in Hampton Roads. On this list, featuring scratch made plates from each of the seven cities, you will not find bottled sauces and gussied up heated frozen foods. No, here we are highlighting in house made breads, sauces, rubs, all made by hand and with care. We’ll start part one of this series with signature offerings from Eat An American Bistro in Virginia Beach where Sous Chef Paul Benton is killing the bread game and then move to Streats, in Norfolk, to highlight a family inspired fish offering from new Executive Chef Jamie McGuffey
1) Mushroom & Brie Pizza App | Eat An American Bistro in Virginia Beach
Above: Eat’s mushroom pizza app and Sous Chef Paul Benton
Many praises as of late have been given to the new guys at the beach, Esoteric, Stock Pot, and Commune. While the excitement is warranted, serious eaters in Virginia Beach will be quick to remind you that Eat, for around a decade now, has been helping to set the standard for scratch cooking at the beach. From Executive Chef Erick Hellig’s delectable dessert creations which draw from his mom’s cooking, to Paul Benton’s house-made bread, at Eat you can get inventive and fresh seafood apps followed by one of the best burgers to be had locally. Here, we highlight one seriously tasty bite from Eat, their oyster mushroom and Brie pizza app. It’s a rustic bite at the beach made with care you can taste.
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For more on The Bakehouse at Chelsea’s classic wood-fired pastries visit HERE or click the flier above!
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2) “Singing River”- Coffee Battered Catfish Smothered In Alabama White Sauce | Streats in Norfolk
Above: New Streats Executive Chef Jamie McGuffey making the “Singing River” Brunch Plate
McGuffey’s at the helm now at Streats. The new Executive Chef is drawing from family history with his saucy “Singing River” dish, part of Streats current Alabama inspired brunch menu. Literally cooking it out of a skillet his grandma gave him, this coffee salt battered Catfish sits atop black eyed peas and hash covered in house made Alabama white sauce! For a seriously memorable plate during Sunday Brunch in Norfolk, look no further.
For more on Streats visit them HERE
For more on Eat- An American Bistro visit them HERE
2 Comments
Just wondering…why do the dishes on your “signature” list of region have a decidedly “American” flare. Last I checked, the region is a melting pot of different ethnic tastes and flavors.
…and BBQ everything is a definite oversimplification.
Hello Eugene, first, thanks for reading. Of the four scratch choices listed thus far (there is still a part three of this series in production) we came to those decisions via Staff/Contributor input for our favorite scratch dishes currently. Off the top of my head, there is great “ethnic” scratch cooking taking place at Judy’s in VB, Jessy’s in OV, Glory’s in VB, Jade Villa in VB, Island Krave in Ghent, I mean the list in my head could go on and on. All of those we have covered quite a bit in our print and online. We also did a Filipino food crawl which we covered extensively in our online edition. As a serious eater, I am constantly on the look out for diversity in the food that I eat and as an extension of that desire, our content reflects such. -Fitz