Defazio?s Catering Service in Richmond, Virginia

What’s for dinner? The question is simple enough, except during the holidays. We are either over run with leftovers from the office party or relegated to reheat what remnants are left from our holiday family soiree.  Even worse, what do we do when the cupboard is bare, the frig is empty and everyone is looking to you for the magic meal that they have become accustom to.
No one realizes how many nights you are compelled to leave work and proceed with a checklist of errands that would qualify you for a UPS position? It’s easy for the family to forget that you’re in charge of, well, everything  from the tree to  all of the decorations, untold commitments to your church, boosters, book club and heaven knows what other obligations we may have forgotten especially after the 2nd glass of wine.

The holidays are not supposed to be stressful and dinner should be the answer- not the problem. Without sounding like Dr. Phil,  there is never a better time to get everyone to the table and enjoy what I call  “easy food”, not fast food, not delivery food, not frozen food (unless you cooked it and froze it for just the occasion; which I strongly recommend).

Pasta, virgin oil, a tomato, some garlic and preferably some fresh parsley and/or basil is all you need. Dinner can be on the table as fast as someone can get the plates out. Now this does not mean that a salad wouldn’t be a nice addition, however a good dish of pasta is fast and easy and it can be found in almost every house anytime, anywhere, you just have to look for it!

Thanks for stopping by… Joe.

For more information on DeFazio’s Catering, please visit our website or fan us on facebook.

Plantations, The James, more plantations, Herring Creek, Edge Water B & B, Christ Church and the Richmond skyline in your rear view mirror.  In just moments you can transcend time. In less time than it take to go through Car Pool, one can cruise out of the Bottom and into some of the most beautiful and historic farmland in the country.  Corn, wheat, barley, soybeans and never to be forgotten, cotton, are all grown on soil that so many before us, painstakingly cleared, toiled and died for in the name of freedom and a chance to make decisions for themselves.

The Charles City Tavern, formerly and fondly known as Indian Fields Tavern is a drive worth taking. The new owners Michael and Katie have managed to do what most of their predecessors could not.  They have become part of the community and are neighbors and friends with locals whom they care about and are cared for. One is certain to find a myriad of license plates in the parking lot. By design tourists make up a necessary portion of their business. But the locals count and it shows.  The food is hands down appropriate, prepared with care and skill and priced as it should be. The wine list, although a bit brief, offers a good quality affordable selection. The old farm house is full of charm and the staff is friendly and efficient.  If you go let me know what you think.

Thanks for stopping by… Joe.

For more information on DeFazio’s Catering, please visit our website or fan us on facebook.

Yesterday I had the occasion to join yet more friends, for more food and more wine and more cigars and more conversation laden with topics centering around more food and more wine and more cigars. With the occasional, mention of a horse, a hound, a fox (it was after all, Boxing Day, at least for us). It has been an eating, drinking, puffing marathon that I thought would end with the stroke of midnight.  And certainly I would wake up exactly the same weight I was on November 20th.      WRONG!

It’s as if the holidays will never end, it’s like Groundhog Day of self indulgence. It’s as if I haven’t already eaten everything from the  obligatory dry ham biscuits to succulent , mouth watering, char-grilled, rosemary rubbed, garlic flavored, Madeira glazed VEAL CHOP nearly the size of my lap-top. This Flintstone portion so spectacularly served with paper thin slices of gold potatoes layered in heavy, worth repeating, not light, but heavy cream with the slightest hint of shallots, nutmeg, white pepper and powdery mystifying sprinkle of Granna Padana, so, so, good.

But I digress.

For the majority of foodies and those who are forced to live with them/us I would suspect most were holed up at home watching one of the thousands of bowl games contemplating lypo or plastic. Many, I would argue had already begun that 1st of the year rite of passage when their resolve, guilt and self promises beckons them to open the frig and throw out everything that was not titled “light” or “low fat” or “free from something or other”.   Keeping and weeping only the celery and lettuce were to be salvaged.  But not my friends, not this group who will stop drop and roll out a dinner party, a tailgate, a BBQ, a lamb roast, a full  blown proper picnic, even a glamorous formal ball with the speed and grace of a stallion.  A hearty bunch that believe in the here and now. That all times should be good times, and yesterday and tomorrow are no different. It was “The Good Stuff.” And it all happened at the Charles City Tavern. Next time: the menu, the chef, the wine, the plantations, the reason to go and who to know.

Thanks for stopping by… Joe.

For more information on DeFazio’s Catering, please visit our website or fan us on facebook.