Oct. 10 Newsletter: White sauce

Weather: Rain moves in starting late Saturday, highs in the upper 60s.

On this date in 1800, Governor James Monroe orders the execution of Gabriel, an enslaved blacksmith from Henrico County who plotted an unsuccessful slave revolt in the Richmond area. (Memorial event tonight)

Today's newsletter sponsored by the 2025 Virginia Kidney Walk: Taking place on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 9:30 a.m. at Byrd Park, the walk has a goal of raising $52,000 to support research, patient programs and education about kidney disease. Find more info here.

At Richmond’s Mexican restaurants, ‘White sauce’ joins salsa as a tableside staple

Mexican restaurants are ubiquitous across the country, but only in Virginia will your chips and salsa be joined by "white sauce," a sweet, spicy and creamy dip.

Six years ago, an article in the Virginian-Pilot tried to claim it as a Norfolk original.

• It's not. It's ours.

One key difference: In the Norfolk area, one of the main ingredients is Miracle Whip, while many Richmond-area restaurants use sour cream. Learn more about its origins here.

The Richmond Folk Festival enters its amphitheater era

The festival is a three-day celebration of music, dance, and arts and crafts that sets up camp on the slopes overlooking the James River, as well as Brown's Island.

It's Richmond's largest festival, with more than 200,000 reported attendees, and a $1.9 million budget, though admission is free.

This year the Allianz Amphitheater will be a venue for the first time, but it won't be the main stage, because festival organizers will not receive food and drink revenues from the site, and attendees will not be allowed to bring in non-clear bags. Read more here.

Planning Commission backs nightclub permit for LGBTQ+ bar Papi’s, despite loss of ABC license

The Papi's case drew an impassioned crowd of patrons, former workers and drag performers to City Hall to advocate for the Shockoe Bottom restaurant and bar, which has been closed since January for permit and occupancy issues.

Pending City Council approval, Papi's is now allowed to reopen its doors as a nightclub, however, the state has taken away its ABC liquor license.

Papi's reported 83.9% of its revenue as coming from mixed beverages, and an inspection revealed that some alcohol sales had been coded into the register as food purchases. Read more on the situation here.

Richmond police chief touts ‘historically low’ number of non-fatal shootings after Operation Safe Summer

The number of murders in Richmond so far in 2025 is on par with past years, Police Chief Rick Edwards said Wednesday, but the city saw an “impressive” drop in non-fatal shootings this summer.

• Commercial robberies are up, however, driven in large part by violence in and around vape shops.

Police say a little more than a third of all commercial robberies over the summer took place at vape shops. Read more here.

In other news

• Danny Avula requests $80M in state funding for Richmond’s water system
  • The city said the request is a "first step" towards implementing a $1.4 billion improvement plan over the next 10 years.
• After complaints, city expands zoning advisory group from 17 to 21 members
  • The group has been criticized for having too many members who work in development.
• Richmond Sheriff withholding records connected to pepper spray incident at Turnstile concert (CBS 6)
  • Antoinette Irving responded to a FOIA request for her emails by writing "NONE," even though a reporter emailed her on the day in question.

The editor's desk

As festivalgoers flock to the James this weekend, I think back to an answer during our panel discussion on the river's park system last week. The question was about the possible return of the Pipeline Trail, which would have to be updated to meet ADA requirements.

"The reason we love it, or the reason I love it, and I think a lot of you too, is because it's a back-of-house, secret, sketchy place," one panelist said. "This is, like, the paradox of park management, right?

"You want to make everything accessible. You want to make everything shiny and well-lit and safe. But that's not necessarily what we like about a lot of our park spaces. ... It's an interesting thing I think about quite often: How do we preserve these spaces to the extent that we can, without taking away what is interesting about them?"

Michael Phillips, founding editor
mphillips@richmonder.org

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