Chef Malcolm Mitchell’s Lower 48 now open for dinner and brunch at Cold Storage

Chef Malcolm Mitchell’s Lower 48 opened quietly last month in the restaurant space at the Cold Storage complex on 18th Street.

Lower 48 offers dinner every night except Monday, and brunch on Sunday. Mitchell describes the food as “Rustic Regional American Cooking”, giving him latitude to run the gamut from brussels sprouts and pork belly to lobster bites. With prices ranging from $4-20, Lower 48 seems to be positioned as a casual neighborhood spot where you’ll get next level food for the cost.

The bar offers American and regional beers, American wine, and craft cocktails, with a happy hour from 4-7PM.

Chef Mitchell and partners Erik Christy and Joel Christy are aiming to offer an experience both handcrafted and readily accessible. Mitchell makes the point that Lower 48 is a scratch kitchen with everything made in house – the breads are made in the wood-fired oven, they make their own jellies, mustard, butter. Erik Christy leans heavy on the fact that there are 11 parking spaces out front, an amenity unheard of in Shockoe.

Chef Malcolm Mitchell was last seen in Richmond opening Mint Gastropub with Amy Ayers (of Julep’s New Southern Cuisine). He’s been on the TV chef circuit for some years, having been a finalist on Food Network Star Season 8 and with an appearance on Beat Bobby Flay. Mitchell partnered with NBA Hall of Famer James Worthy to open Legendary Eats Sandwich House in Los Angeles. Mitchell was named Best New Chef in Baltimore in 2017 by the Baltimore Sun.

The restaurant space at Cold Storage had previously been home to pizza spots Flames 231 and Shockoe Valley Pizza and Bar.

Lower 48
423 North 18th Street
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