In this week’s issue, Style Magazine has declared Oregon Hill restaurant L’Opossum their ‘2016 Restaurant of the Year’.

“Shannon’s sense of humor can’t undermine his profoundly serious approach to food. A graduate of the New England Culinary Institute, former Inn at Little Washington sous chef, the man who brought the grilled Caesar salad to Richmond in the early 2000s at his old restaurant, Dogwood Grille & Spirits, Shannon recently was named a semifinalist as 2016 Best Chef Mid-Atlantic by the James Beard Foundation.

It’s a good time to mention that exactly a decade ago, Style’s team of food writers and restaurant reviewers named Shannon’s Dogwood Grill & Spirits as our first Restaurant of the Year. They cited it as the city’s ideal dining experience, with warm service and charm, a restaurant that took risks that were balanced with a very-Richmond tone and restraint.

Shannon’s success is clearly no one-hit wonder. And the rest of the country has noticed. “L’Opossum has garnered the national spotlight as well, with recommendations from Condé Nast Traveler and Southern Living magazines,” reviewer Matthew Freeman notes. “Altogether the creativity and quality contribute to the growing prominence of the food scene in our city.”

From Mojo’s FaceBook event page:

This Thursday is our next Tap Takeover here at Mojo’s. We will be featuring Pale Fire Brewing out of Harrisonburg. Tap Takeover starts at 8pm after Happy Hour. Free pint glasses while supplies last.

Draft Selection:

Salad Days- dry hopped saison 4.8%
Red Molly Irish Red Ale-5.6%
Deadly Rythm Pale Ale-4.8%
Village Green DIPA (12oz)-8%
Loop & Lil Belgian Tripel (12oz)-8.5%

From Richmond Magazine:

Shannon was selected by The James Beard Foundation out of more than 20,000 entries for this year’s restaurant and chef awards, and is one of 20 semifinalists in the Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic category. Over the course of the next month, the foundation’s Awards Committee will determine the category’s five finalists, and announce them on March 15 in San Francisco.Last year, Richmond semifinalists included chefs Lee Gregory (of The Roosevelt and Southbound), Peter Chang (of Peter Chang China Café) and Dale Reitzer (of Acacia Mid-town). Shannon is the only designated Richmond-area chef to garner a nomination this year; Peter Chang is nominated this year, but is listed as an Arlington, Virginia chef.

This is the chef’s first James Beard Award nomination, and it follows a big year of accolades for him, his staff and his Oregon Hill restaurant. Southern Living recently named L’Opossum one of the best restaurants in the South, and closer to home, L’Opossum — which opened in August of 2014 — took home the 2015 Elby Award for Best New Restaurant; L’Opossum’s Susan Worsham is currently nominated for the Elby’s Server of the Year award.

From FaceBook event page:

Thursday January 28th will be our next Tap Takeover here at Mojo’s. This month we have South Street Brewery from Charlottesville taking over our taps starting at 8pm after Happy Hour. This will be a steal the glass event. Check back for draft selection.

From FaceBook event page:

Tap Takeover time again folks! This month we are pushing it up a week so David and rock out with his band at the end of the month. Breckenridge Brewery will be taking over our taps Thursday October 22nd starting at 8pm after Happy Hour! This will be a steal the glass event.

Draft Selection:
Nitro Vanilla Porter 4.7%
Agave Wheat 4.2%
Breck IPA 6.3%
471 Small Batch IPA 9.2%
Autumn Ale 6.7%

I have already mentioned twice the Dinamo/Ardent Craft Ales/Rapha UCI bike race party event, but Ardent Craft Ales is also taking over the beer taps tonight at Mojo’s. Will Pine Street neighbor and Ardent partner Michael DeLano be making an appearance?

From the FaceBook event page:

Starting at 8pm after Happy Hour. Come hang out and drink some great beer for a great price one of which you won’t find anywhere else so don’t miss it.

Draft Selection:

IPA 6.8%
Robust Porter 6%
Sweet Potato and Sage Ale 6.4%
Saison 6.7%
Custom Pin created especially for Mojo’s