The Roosevelt

Situated in a red, historic Church Hill building is The Roosevelt, where you can eat some of the best Southern cuisine in the city. And that’s really saying something.

Our reservation wasn’t until 8:45 pm, and by the time we got there, we were ravenous. The restaurant has a vintage vibe, with old maps of the city, antique mirrors, and warm wooden tables serving as decor.

My friends ordered cocktails like the Cherry Cherry Lady, made with vodka, blood orange, amaretto, creme de griotte (a rich cherry liquor), and novosalus (an herbal digestif). I’m trying to cut down on drinking, so I asked if it was possible to get some sort of mocktail espresso martini. The bar certainly delivered, bringing me a yummy drink made with espresso and something subtly fruity that I couldn’t identify, but added a nice complexity to the drink.

For appetizers, we started with cornbread, chicken liver mousse, and the whipped Humbolt Fog goat cheese. The cornbread was great, soft and crumbly, slightly sweet, and slathered with maple butter. Honestly, I was the only one interested in the chicken liver mousse. I’m a sucker for anything that may give a medieval king gout. It was smooth and rich, served with crunchy and savory chicken cracklins, preserves, and slices of grilled pita. Humbolt Fog is an award-winning goat cheese from the Cypress Grove creamery in California. It was more subtle than other goat cheeses I’ve tried, and had light floral and citrus undertones which I found to be quite nice. The cheese was served with grilled pita, kumquat pickles, and squash butter.

Now for the main event. I saw fried catfish on the menu and knew I had to try it. Catfish is such a Southern staple and I had a feeling this place would rock it—they did. The fish itself was perfectly cooked and the fried exterior was crunchy and flavorful. The fish was garnished with urfa, a Turkish chili pepper with smoky, stone fruit flavor notes. The sauce was the best part, a tomato-bacon gravy with bits of butter rice. Boy, do I have plans for those leftovers… The kitchen also surprised us with another entree that wasn’t even on the menu: hot honey fried chicken with butter pickles. I don’t know why they did this for us, but I am not complaining—it was delicious!

There’s always room for dessert, and we all decided to split a cake made with another quintessential Southern ingredient: Cheerwine. It was a simple rectangle of yellow cake topped with a thick squiggle of cherry frosting, cheerwine glaze, and small pieces of popcorn. The frosting kind of reminded me of really good cherry yogurt, and the popcorn was a fun touch, making the whole thing feel like a trip to a classic drive-in movie.

The Roosevelt is considered an essential Richmond restaurant. And now that I’ve tried it, I understand why ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗