(An impress dinner at Mi Vida. Photo by Rey Lopez.)
By Marisa Marsey
A raft of restaurants at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront’s Atlantic Park, the Pharrell Williams-backed mix use development anchored by North America’s first Wavegarden Cove surf lagoon, is sure to sate a slate of appetites. The first four to open are stunning, charismatic chains with big-city siblings. While not directly enriching our region’s unique culinary identity (as our best local indies do), they emphatically boost our profile (New York-Philadelphia-Washington, D.C.-…Virginia Beach, if you catch the drift). Here’s to a rising tide lifting all boats.
The Grill
The Grill bills itself as a contemporary steakhouse but, more to the point, it’s a modern American, upmarket establishment encapsulating today’s splurge meets healthy-adjacent zeitgeist amidst a Miami Beach vibe. While ribeye and filet mignon and bone-in tomahawk for two take pride of place on the menu, it’s inclusive enough for a veggie burger, smoked vegetables entrée and half chicken as well as a lobster roll, Chilean sea bass and pan-roasted red snapper ($25-79). Build-your-own martinis summon our inner-James Bond, commencing with a head-spinning choice of over 40 gins and 34 vodkas. A three-course $31.00 “Express Lunch” (11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays) and a three-course $39.00 “Sunset Dinner” (4 p.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays) will hearten those not on an expense account. Let’s hear it for Grrrill power! thegrilldc.com
Mi Vida
The sultry mystique of a Frida Kahlo portrait and the dusky fantasy of Álvaro Enrigue’s “You Dreamed of Empires” suffuse the maze of rooms in this bilevel Mexican restaurant under the culinary baton of Roberto Santibañez, the Mexico City native, restaurateur and cookbook author who oversees all Mi Vida locations (Martha Stewart called him “an undeniable authority on traditional and contemporary Mexican cuisine”). Proud that traditional Mexican cuisine was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, he’s out to broaden Americans’ palates beyond searing platters clutched by oversized oven mitts at Mexican-American mainstays via botanas (snacks) including naranjas enchiladas with chile-rubbed oranges; platillos (shareable plates) such as queso fundido, aka broiled Chihuahua cheese with pork chorizo, salsa verde and corn tortillas; and platos principales (mains) like enchiladas de mole negro, braised brisket, sesame seeds, cotija, crema and a peanut-punctuated mole, and pollo chilango, half roasted chicken, pickled vegetables, crushed tomato salsa and street corn salad ($17-41). Margaritas and a staggering array of tequilas dominate the bebidas section. For all the assiduous authenticity, tucked within weekday Happy Hours is something very American: Taco Tuesday! mividamexico.com
Milk & Honey
If you’re into chicken and waffles, shrimp and grits and mimosa towers, this installment of the open-all-day “Southern Inspired Kitchen” founded by “Chopped” victor Sammy Davis, Jr. (and since acquired by Thompson Hospitality) could well be your promised land. Graced with pulsating depictions of musical greats à la Adele, Timbaland, Dolly Parton and patron saint Pharrell, it offers a brunch menu and another for dinner, though many faves cross over like butter glazed biscuits, deviled eggs, fried green tomatoes, Cajun pasta, Carolina Low Country gumbo and sandwiches like blackened salmon BLT ($15-35). Even the most trad-sounding dishes get a clever twist (Biscoff cookies mosey their way into the waffle batter, Caesar salad is maple-accented), and sweet potato bread pudding and peach cobbler hand pie are the kind of endings that make you feel truly blessed. themilkandhoney.com/atlantic-park
Nami Nori
The inaugural Nami Nori – casual, elegant, casually elegant – in New York City’s West Village, was designed to evoke a beach house, so it feels right at home here, perched on a wave park, just a shell’s toss from the coastline. Its three founders met while working at Masa and took what they learned at one of the country’s priciest restaurants (a meal crests around a thousand dollars per person) and wrapped it into a fiscally-friendly package. The headliner is temaki, open-style sushi hand rolls. “Temaki was always the second-to-last course during Masa’s omakase and to me, it was always the climax,” the Michelin Guide quotes Lisa Limb, operations director. While many people’s first take on temaki is the kind where nori is fashioned to resemble an ice cream cone, Nami Nori’s assumes a U-shape (a smile if you will) cradling such as salmon serrano, yellowtail + scallion and tofu chimichurri. Order any five or pick a pre-designed grouping including one that’s vegan ($24-32). If you’re feeling flush, upgrade with the addition of ikura (salmon roe), truffles or caviar. Snackables such as crispy rice chips and dips and furikake fries emerge from the kitchen, ready to be washed down with sake, beer, zero-proofers and premium sodas. As if its sleek, open, airy mien didn’t suit this setting perfectly enough already, there’s the name. In Japanese, nami nori means “surfing.” naminori.us/atlantic-park
More Atlantic Park restaurants on the horizon: Only at Renee’s, Playa Bowls, Press Club Cocktail Bar, The Hampton Social, The Sweet Spot, Wiseguy Pizza.