amuse

By the luck of the Irish, I managed to get myself a table on the patio at Amuse for Richmond Restaurant Week. Ok, so I’m not Irish, but that is not really the point. Restaurant Week reservations are tough, especially when you wait until the last minute and even charming tweets to @AmuseVMFA will not get you a guaranteed spot. Patio seating is all first come first served. Trust me, I tried.

For the remainder of this post, I am going to pretty much just rave about how much I adore this place, so prepare for some shameless gushing. I give you four impossible to argue reasons why I love Amuse as of this moment today. I am sure this list will get longer the next time I go back.

1. The Patio
The patio at Amuse is THE most gorgeous patio in the city of Richmond, Virginia. Yes, I said it. I challenge anyone to prove me wrong and don’t even think about saying Legend or I will delete your comment. I am not joking around here. Overlooking the Virginia Museum of Fine Art's green courtyard of art installations is now one of my new favorite spaces in the city.

2. Jalapeno Pineapple Popper

After watching this video on Richmond.com I had to have it. It has pink Pop Rocks on the rim. Hello! Where do they come up with this stuff? The popper was not as sweet as you would think given the pineapple juice situation. The tequila, jalapeno, and St. Germain balanced everything and the strawberry Pop Rocks were a blast. (Did you see what I did there?)

3. Scallops
My love affair with scallops is a recent development. Since I am trying to avoid eating things with faces, they have become a new guilty pleasure. The scallops I ate at Amuse were THE best scallops I have ever eaten. (There is a lot of capital punctuation going on here, I realize, but trust me that I am being absolutely sincere about it.) The sear on the top of these babies made it feel like I was cracking into a crème brulee and the accompaniments, cous cous, mushrooms, and Meyer lemon aioli, were light and delightful.

4. Staff
The people working at Amuse are cool. I don’t mean in a laid back, everyone is nice, and they don’t mind bringing you extra butter, kind of way. I mean literally, they are cooler than you (and me and most people I know). From the adorable bartender, Molly, with bun perched on top of her head, to Michael, the jovial bar manager, who checks in with every guest with a sincere smile on his face. Even though the staff looks “artsy” they keep the vibe super classy. I swear they adjusted the patio awning and window shades at least three times when we were there depending on how the sun was setting behind the clouds. It is obvious that they spend a lot of effort to keep things effortlessly swanky.

I will be back to Amuse very very soon to add to this list and to sample their happy hour. Word on the street is that it starts at 2:30pm and includes $6 Champagne cocktails. Ok, so I actually read that on the internet. I don’t really get a whole lot of reliable information “on the street” regarding who is serving Champagne drinks, but maybe that is just because I have been spending too much time on Broad Street.

And seriously, watch the video, it is adorable.