821 Cafe Changes and Stays the Same

Back when 821 Cafe first opened (back in, what '95, '96?) I convinced a friend to join me for lunch at what was then a most unlikely location.

That was back in the days when it was 821 Bakery and Cafe and we enjoyed a couple of excellent sandwiches and cookies while we perused their offbeat magazine collection.

All in all, he had good memories of the place and it's still a frequent destination for me.

That friend moved away from RVA in '98, but he's back this week visiting, here, and wanted to have breakfast together today before he flew back to Minneapolis.

It occurred to me that with the recent relocation of 821 to 825, there could be no better person to experience the new and improved space with.

So at the ungodly early hour of 9:30 on a Sunday morning, we met up.

Much the way Garnett's is the anti-Ipanema, the new 821 couldn't be more of a contrast; it's wide where it was narrow, bright where it was dark and open where it was tight.

Fortunately, enough of the old remains to be reassuring.

The Formica tables and unmatched chairs moved, as did the magazine rack.

Sitting at the bar, you still have a great view of the kitchen and the menus are still plastic-coated.

Whew! It's different, but it's the same.

Breakfast was my friend's last chance to enjoy east coast crabmeat, so he had scrambled eggs with crab, which made him very happy.

He could have just gotten the crab, spinach, tomato and Swiss cheese omelet, but he worried that the other ingredients would drown out the crab meat.

Somehow he didn't worry about his sausage patties overwhelming the delicate crab meat (although I ate half his sausage, so there wasn't all that much to overwhelm, I guess).

I was plenty happy with The Works, an everything bagel with cream cheese, tomato, capers and red onion.

Because it's Richmond, I knew the couple at the next table and my friend enlisted her to take pictures of us and our food.

He's been documenting his escapades in rva all week and posting them to Facebook, but we'd neglected to take any pictures when he'd dined at Bonvenu the other night and he was determined to correct that.

As he was leaving, he assured me that he'd post them the minute he got to the airport.

No hurry, I assured him, sad to see him go but not needing pictures to remember his visit.

No question, 821 feels very different than the original location but in the best possible way.

I'm not going to rhapsodize about the old because as long as the food stays good and cheap, the art continues to change and intrigue (I've bought several pieces off their walls) and the staff still remember me, I'll be a regular until 821 is no more.

And given their following, I have no doubt they'll outlast me.

The only thing missing at the new place is my regular stool.

Looks like I'll just have to establish a new one as mine.

Not a problem.