In this edition of our “Nosh News” restaurant roundup, we get going with Vang Go Bistro, welcome Ray Ray back to the Belvedere, smoke things up at Redwood HQ in Suffolk and more
Go, Vang Go to this Worldly Asian Bistro
From washing dishes at 13, Evan Vang has held every foodservice job there is, at indie legends (Ocean Eddies, Frankie’s Place for Ribs, Rockafeller’s) and corporate behemoths (P.F. Chang’s, Yard House). Well, almost every job; he’s never been an owner. Until now.
In June, this animated culinary artist opened Vang Go Bistro, as tongue-in-cheekily-named as his catalytic Kung Food Kitchen Experiment pop-ups.
Occupying the former Streats in Ghent, Vang leans into his Asian-American bona fides (his father is a Hmong, his mother a Hampton Roads native), whipping up spicy Chinese noodles coated with peanut butter sauce, tangy kimchi fried rice and chicken dumplings slick with chili oil as well as a gamut of all-beef hots dogs including chili dogs.
But there’s a bigger world hug here with andouille empanadas and mojo pork tacos with jerk aioli, plus cocktails to match whatever gutsy flavors he fuses.
Vang’s magnetism draws other passionate pros like operating partner Gary Wasser (the two collaborated most recently at Wang Jiang Lou), and the entire team pulls together jollily, generating the fun-buzz of buds hanging out in the basement. And with all due respect to, ahem, Vincent, Vang Go piques taste buds more than “Still Life with Cabbage and Clogs.” vangobistro.com
Ray Ray Returns to The Belvedere, HooRay
Mulling over his next chapter after selling his eponymous Ray Ray’s at the Oceanfront last fall, Ray Labuen asked God for a sign; Suburban Capital, a locally headquartered hospitality company, reached out, wondering if he’d help at the Belvedere Coffee Shop and Diner at the firm’s Moxy Virginia Beach Oceanfront (12th and Atlantic).
The eatery is a near-clone of the one that anchored The Belvedere Motel (36th and Atlantic) for half a century, and where the talented Labuen rose to prominence as the OG griddle god, singing whilst slinging omelets, pancakes and patty melts.
Suburban demolished the Belvedere to build a Hyatt Place but reconstituted the iconic coffee shop at the two-year-old Moxy. Bringing in Labuen as chef-manager completes it.
Next to the “Eye Opener” (fried egg topped with ham or bacon, cheese and fried tomatoes with parmesan on onion roll), the paper placemat menu states: “No substitutions.” The same could be said about the inimitable Labuen. @belvederesouthvb
To Market, To Market: Mercato di Grazia
Now that Antonio Caruana, the charismatic chef-owner of Luce (Downtown Norfolk) and Luce Secondo (Summit Pointe, Chesapeake), has cornered the market on contemporary, regional Italian cuisine, he’s realizing a new dream: Mercato di Grazia, an Italian deli and market, named for his daughter, next door to his original Luce on Granby Street.
Expect fresh panini, imported cheeses, cured meats, “all the pantry staples that bring true Italian flavors into your own home,” describes the chef as famous for straddling a Harley as stirring up wild boar ragu. The market also will carry his newly introduced line of monogrammatic “AC” products including Italian sauces, vinegars and olive oils.
lucenorfolk.com
What’s Good for The Goose Is a New Home
“It was time for The Grey Goose to stop being a hidden gem and let her light shine!” declares Dana Epstein, explaining why she and husband-co-owner Phillip moved their Southern casual restaurant/bakery/caterer known for banana bread French toast, Brunswick stew, “Better than your Boyfriend Fries” and “Bad A$$ Meatloaf” to a bigger space in Phoebus. greygooserestaurant.com
So now The Goose, with a larger kitchen, dining room, private dining room and bakery/market, open daily for brunch, lunch and dinner, nests near its upscale French-influenced, equally storybook-sounding, sister The Baker’s Wife (bakerswifebistro.com). And we all ate happily ever after.
Thank You for Smoking in Suffolk, Redwood HQ
“Things look so professional that sometimes people don’t realize we’re not a franchise,” says Lindsey Roberts of Texas-BBQ-inspired Redwood Smoke Shack. She and husband Bob, owner and pitmaster-wizard, recently branched out to Suffolk for their third location (Ghent opened in 2019, Virginia Beach’s Courthouse Marketplace in 2021), purchasing the Bennett’s Creek Farm Market and rendering it Redwood HQ.
Along with seating for 54 inside/30 outside, it’s home to all six smokers. From the covered patio, you can jaw with the crew in the pit room. Heck, they’ll even give you a tour so you can see quintessential ’que produced for all three spots employing 4,000 pounds of brisket, 1,100 pounds of pork, 270 racks of ribs and more per week.
They pay homage to the old market by using the Bennett’s Creek chicken salad recipe and preserving the rooftop mascot (Betsy was a dairy cow, though, so they painted her orange to align with Redwood’s Angus orthodoxy).
What you’ll find at all their locations: a line. “Sure you can order Redwood online or do Door Dash,” says Lindsey. “But take the time to stand in line when you can. It’s part of the experience. Make a friend…”
redwoodsmokeshack.com
Hohl Is Greater than the Sum of its Parts
Hohl, the charming café conceived in the historic Travers House in Toano, now has a presence in Colonial Williamsburg, too. A phonetic spelling of the word whole, these picturesque breakfast-luncheries aim to provide not only provisions but also soul-sustenance via hospitality and community.
While the second location also occupies an early 1900s restored home, its seasonal, scratch menu is distinct. There are crossovers, though, including coffees (love the butterscotch lattes!), pastries, muesli bowls and lamb sandwiches. hohlco.com
Big Names, Bold Flavors
Several hotly anticipated national and international brands make their presence known in Coastal Virginia
Like Mae West purring, “Too much of a good thing can be wonderful,” big-name restaurant brands are expanding throughout Coastal Virginia at a dizzying rate. Here are a few favorites.
Get your gaucho on…
Virginia Beach’s Pembroke Squarerecently welcomed the mucho handsome, white-tablecloth Brazilian Steakhouse Fogo de Chão, a concept originated nearly half a century ago in the Porto Alegre countryside. Meats dry-aged in-house are roasted over an open churrasco grill then carved tableside to dramatic effect.
Seafood rounds out the entrées while the self-serve Carrara-marble “Market Table” overflows with salads and trimmings. Wines in a stunning rectilinear display and dazzling cocktails suit the relaxed elegance. fogodechao.com
Watch out K-pop…
Here come K-popovers at Hilltop’s Paris Baguette, the number one ranking bakery in Entrepreneur’s 2025 Franchise 500. Grab a tray and tongs then face the staggering selection of chiffon cakes and sweet and savory pastries—some French (chocolate croissants, fruit tarts), some Asian (sticky milk buns, mochi donuts), all eye-poppingly-gorgeous and perpetually replenished—paired with Lavazza coffee and specialty drinks.
PB looks Parisian with café tables and black-and-white penny tiles, but it began as a small Korean bakery eight decades ago and is now one of Korea’s top two global bakery businesses (the other, Tous les Jours, landed in Newport News last year). parisbaguette.com
Yes’m, Atlantic Park…
Brunch and dinner should be as languorous as a Delta drawl. Milk & Honey’s upscale down-home Southern fare evokes a time-stopping repast with Carolina Low Country gumbo, chicken & waffles, shrimp and grits, deviled eggs, fried green tomatoes and peach cobbler hand pies in a setting straight from an HGTV makeover.
In the first wave of restaurants at Atlantic Park, the Pharrell Williams-backed entertainment district transforming the old Dome site, this is M&H’s 16th installment. Another is slated for Hampton. themilkandhoney.com
Get a TASTE of Sherwood Lakes
Excitement is building for foodies in the Red Mill/Pungo area of Virginia Beach as Traditions at Sherwood Lakes inches closer to completion. The new shopping center, near Shorebreak Pizza & Taphouse’s already-opened second location, will be anchored by TASTE (the ninth for Hampton Roads), offering its signature specialty food café and market, famed for distinctive sandwiches, salads, soups and Virginia-made (and other) gourmet products, curated wines and more.
With a coastal farmhouse aesthetic and plans for outdoor seating, a farmers market and other events, Traditions will include still more exceptional dining options like Blue Cow Ice Cream Co., Taqueria La Patrona, and Sedona Taphouse. Openings to start this fall.
Final Farewell to 456
On a sad note for foodie fans, after 22 years at the forefront of Downtown Norfolk’s fine dining scene, 456 Fish has been 86’d. Its siblings—219 Bistro, Byrd & Baldwin Bros. Steakhouse, Leone’s and Norfolk Seafood Co.—carry on.
Forty Years on The Half Shell
Iconic local seafood cookbook has been a staple in coastal kitchens for 40 years
The Junior League of Norfolk-Virginia Beach’s Tidewater on the Half Shell was the first cookbook I acquired when I moved to Virginia Beach, newly wed, in the 1980s. My collection has mushroomed since then, compendia coming and going on my kitchen shelves, but TOTHS still stands. Its thick, black spiral spine is as sturdy as ever though the pale peach pages are paler, and splotched.
I’m in good company.
Through nine printings since debuting 40 years ago, award-winning TOTHS has sold over 150,000 copies, raising more than a million dollars, the most successful fundraiser for this organization dedicated to women’s leadership training and community projects.
It even taught this Jersey girl how to make pimento cheese.
Reflecting on TOTHS’s impact upon reaching its ruby anniversary, Junor League President Jillian Goodwin shares, “Junior League cookbooks are more than just collections of recipes, they’re living pieces of local history, love letters to regional cuisine and proof that when women get together in a kitchen, or a committee room, magic happens.”
In all, members contributed 2,000 recipes for everything from “Apple-Banana Bread” to “Zesty Scalloped Oysters” and “Azalea Punch” to “Zucchini Fritters.” They triple-tested each with an eye towards elegant ease and pared them to 600.
Nowadays, TOTHS and “Toast to Tidewater,” a culinary companion released in 2003, are available only from secondhand sellers like Amazon and eBay, though Goodwin says they’re contemplating reprinting or digitizing them as JLNVB celebrates its centennial this year. norfolk-virginiabeach.jl.org
