Bye Bye Lulu's

Hub and I eagerly anticipated a rare, quiet date night out together to celebrate his birthday, only to find that our destination restaurant was CLOSED.  I mean, after lining up a baby sitter, getting ourselves dressed, downtown and parked only to be greeted by a little sign sending us the other direction for all hours other than brunch was a big, fat whomp whomp whomp. 

I'll clarify that we'd never let this - or anything for that matter - spoil a jewel of a night together, so we zipped to Zeus Gallery, another cozy food establishment on our go-to list, without skipping a beat.

Retrospectively, the thought of no more Lulu's dinners has been depressing me.  We've had some tasty dinners there, which I (of course, nerdily) had pictures of, so I'm sharing them in a goodbye tribute.




This is a grilled Caesar salad that didn't photograph well (slimy anchovies, anyone?) but tasted afreakinmazing.  The charred lettuce was the perfect backdrop to the rich egg, briny anchovies, nutty Parmesan, and crunchy house made croutons, all blanketed in Caesar dressing screaming of garlic and lemon.  (I just reread that.  If you're a Caesar person, you might be salivating.  If you're not, this may actually sound heinous and for that, I apologize.)  This was the dish I actually hoped to order the fateful night we found it closed!  RIP grilled Caesar salad.




Grilled mahi mahi over pancetta and sweet potato garnished kale resting in a blanket of celery root and apple puree.  Every bite was heaven, but I think my favorite part was the kale.  Have I mentioned my kale obsession?  I've got about a dozen recipes featuring on top of my pile, and I can't WAIT to try one or five.



Ahhh, classic shrimp and grits.  (I'm not sure who I think I am attempting to identify a classic southern anything with my Pennsyltucky roots.  I'd like to think I have a teeny bit of street cred after experiencing a few divine versions in Charleston, being a Richmonder for a whopping 3 years now, and my general inclination to stuff my face.  But I'd clearly be an impostor if I claimed to be an aficionado of southern cuisine.)  I'll just tell you the facts; this grits were buttery and rich, the shrimp were cooked to tender perfection, and the spicy, chorizo-speckled sauce was to die for.  Big fan.

With dinner out of the equation, I'd love to try the brunch here (who wouldn't find herself beckoned by a red velvet waffle with pecan cream cheese?!).  The typical weekend chaos doesn't often afford the luxury of brunch, but I'll put it on the Some Day list.


Photo courtesy of lulusrichmond.com