Article: The Local: Bringing Irish classics to a Richmond tradition

This article is a part of our Richmond Restaurant Week series of articles. Spring Restaurant Week deals run from April 22-28. VisitRestaurant Week’s siteto find all participating restaurants.

Words and Photo by Shannon Minor

The Local will be participating in this year’s Restaurant Week, serving Richmonders and VCU students genuine, family Irish recipes in the Fan.

During Restaurant Week, which lasts until Sunday April 28, The Local will have a special menu of fourappetizers, five entrées, and three desserts that one can mix and match from at a fixed price of $25.12 per person.

The appetizers consist of a scotch egg, wasabi guacamole, pork morsels, and spinach salad. The five entrées offered are roasted chicken, fish and chips, pork tenderloin or Irish classics like shepherd’s pie and bangers and mash.

For those unfamiliar, shepherd’s pie is ground beef, onions, carrots and sweet peas mixed together in gravy and covered in mashed potatoes which is then baked. Bangers & Mash, a British dish, is made up of Irish sausages with champ, mashed potatoes with butter, milk and spring onions. Desserts to sweeten your palette at the end of the meal include apple bread pudding with Power’s whiskey sauce, New York style cheesecake and butterscotch swirl cheesecake.

General manager and chef Jason Thrasher explained how everything on both the Irish and American comfort food side of the menu is 100 percent authentic, using family recipes from his and the owners family. The menu’s plan originated with the owner Kyle Sinclair’s desire to fill a gap he felt was missing in the Fan; good quality food made from scratch that was fun and distinguishable. Two popular dishes, Thrasher said, were the wasabi guacamole and portobello burgers, which were the first menu items that came to his mind.

Each recipe on the menu is traditional and original. Thrasher said he recalls how the foods are meals he grew up with. Some Irish classics include Irish stew, shepherd’s pie and stroganoff.

The owner, an Irish native, saw the restaurant’s location, parking availability and seating for smoker and non-smokers as good reasons to open the restaurant.

According to Thrasher, owner Sinclair directly gets many of the main cooking ingredients from Ireland, which contributes to the meal’s authenticity. Sticking to tradition, The Local’s values blend good, comforting Irish and American classics with a family history behind them.

The Local is located at 1106 W. Main St. and open 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m. daily.