rappahannock

Photo by Phil Riggan for Richmond.com

If you want to find out if you are allergic to scallops, you can go to Rappahannock (320 E Grace St) and order them with oxtail. I guess you could also go see a doctor and get some kind of crazy needle test, but if you are 80% sure that you are NOT allergic, the “eat and see what happens” test should suffice. It is an officially unofficial test. Please, keep in mind that I am not a physician or in any way qualified to give advice on anything other than happy hours. For happy hours, I am absolutely qualified and would even go so far as to say a “reputable” source. I had to put that in quotations though, just to be safe.

Rappahannock is the new oyster bar downtown Richmond. It has been there maybe a month and somehow has already made it on Richmond.com’s list of “Richmond’s Hotspots to See and Be Seen”. But let me clarify the meaning of this article in case you don’t feel like clicking on the link. You will not be hobnobbing with celebrities or chased by the paparazzi at Rappahannock, but you could very well run in to a food writer or someone who tweets about food or just someone you know. I think this is the case with just about any place you go in Richmond. As much as we pride ourselves on being a mid-sized city at the end of the day it is a pretty small town.

Call me amateur, but I am not crazy about oysters. I get it. They are salty and oceany and a little controversial because some people think they are gross, but foodie people think that the people that think they are gross are just unenlightened. I have finally come to the conclusion that they just are not worth the money to me. For $2 a shell, I would rather eat a really good piece of candy.

Lucky for me and anyone else who is not an oyster lover, Rappahannock has a selection of (primarily seafood) entrees.  So, on my visit, I ordered the scallops.

They came with braised oxtail, roasted cauliflower and curry and they were delicious. I thought that there was about a 20% chance that I could maybe be allergic to scallops, but I figured if I was going to go out with a plate of food, braised oxtail and scallops would not be too bad.

Lucky for everyone, I am NOT allergic! I survived the dinner and even made it to the Buttermilk Panna Cotta. I love when my little experiments go right.