Hey, y’all. It’s Amie.

Chef harvesting fresh vegetables for a farm-to-table restaurant. (Jacob Lund/Shutterstock)

By Aila Boyd

Here’s what you need to know: Virginia has innovative farm-to-table restaurants, from eco-friendly cafes to fine dining establishments, all celebrating local ingredients and sustainability.

Our top picks:

• The Savory Grain Restaurant and Draft House, located in Richmond, offers a dynamic dining experience featuring New American cuisine made with the best local ingredients. With a seasonal menu that caters to both foodies and comfort-food lovers, the restaurant strikes the perfect balance between innovative dishes and classic favorites.

• Nestled in Loudoun County, The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm offers an immersive dining experience. As one of the first farm restaurants in the US, the eatery transforms its fields into a chef’s pantry, creating seasonal dishes that “nourish the soul and excite the palate” while highlighting local ingredients and the farm’s fresh harvest.
• Esoteric in Virginia Beach blends rare craft beer, eclectic foods, and a commitment to sustainability. Housed in a 1920s-era building on the Virginia Beach Historical Registry, the space encourages conversation with its preserved architectural charm. The restaurant grows much of its food on-site and partners with local businesses in the Arts and Culture District.

Hungry for more? We’ve got more tasty places to try at the link below.

Amie Knowles holds her copy of “LOGOS: The World of Final Fantasy XVI.” (Amie Knowles/Dogwood)

Want to know a secret? I get completely enthralled by story-driven video games. Yep, it’s true—while I might be the least “gamer girl” of all gamer girls, I once felt so wrecked over the way a game ended that all I ate for a whole day was four chicken nuggets. 

That game? Final Fantasy XVI (16). The storyline follows Clive Rosfield, a highly protective protagonist who seeks to save the world from a bleak fate. In it, the player fully immerses themselves in the fictional world of Valisthea—so when the game ends, it’s a bit like leaving a group of friends behind.

Enter: “LOGOS,” a book I preordered almost a year in advance, which finally arrived a couple of weeks ago. The pages are filled with the “what ifs” and the details too in-the-weeds to include in the actual gameplay. The coolest part is that some of the game’s voice actors, including Ben Starr, who played Clive, wrote excerpts for the book.

There are even “recipes” inside that the characters might’ve enjoyed, but I think I’ll stick to restaurant food until our microwave replacement arrives. For some reason, “a pigeon from the rear deck” doesn’t sound that appetizing in today’s world. 

US Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) posted a heartbreaking announcement on social media the morning of April 20. (Senator Mark Warner/Facebook screenshot) 

There’s no easy way to transition to or from news like this. US Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) announced on Monday that his daughter, Madison Warner, passed away following decades of health struggles.

The senior senator serving Virginia asked for privacy as his family navigates what he called a “profound loss.” 

As a team at Dogwood, our deepest sympathies are with the family. 

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