Best Seasonal Restaurants in Richmond

Delightful experience Will make high tea a habit

It had become a family tradition for my daughter, husband and me to visit Amuse on Christmas Eve. It had also been a few years since we’d been able to time it right! This year we made a plan and I am so glad we did. The food and service were both outstanding! Alex took care of us from start - with our sparkling holiday cocktails - through lunch with scallops, oysters, a strip steak, and the best beets, brussel sprouts, and parsnips - until dessert, an upside down pear and pomegranate cake. We won’t wait as long before we go back again!

We arrived on time for our 8pm reservation. It was crowded and we had to wait no more than 10 minutes to be seated. Once seated it took our sever a couple of minutes to take our drink order. The food, drinks and ambience was perfect. The Christmas decorations and Christmas cocktails were amazing. Helen’s definitely is top notch with service, food and cocktails.

I had high expectations for Stella's based on all of the positive reviews over the years and Stella's totally lived up to the expectations and, in fact, exceeded expectations. Our server Hannah knew the menu quite well and was able to make on point recommendations to us about the food and the beverages. She did a great job describing all of the specials to us. The portions here are large so come hungry. You will get your money's worth!! The first page of the menu is meze which can be shared. I saw several people get the saganaki which looked delicious and provided a fun viewing since it comes out on fire. The next page is full of traditional Greek dishes. I had the salad on special as my appetizer - spinach, toasted pita, almonds, pomegranate arils and cheese. Delicious and huge - we could have shared it. My entree was the pastichio but over pasta. Also huge and yummy. Our dessert was the chocolate ouzo moussed. SO GOOD. I can't wait to return to Stella's.

We celebrated my husband's 50th birthday/Christmas here. It was a first visit for us all. The food was exemplary, the ambiance was perfect, and the attention to details were superior. We had custom menus with Happy 50th Birthday Todd printed at the top, and dessert came out with Happy Birthday written beautifully in chocolate with a candle. I wish I could remember our server's name, but she was wonderful and patient with our party. My one critique is the garnishes were more for looks than eating, while the meat/main entree was great, but that could just be personal taste. Overall a wonderful experience and my husband had a perfect birthday.