A renowned Washington-area chef, Armstrong and his team are venturing into the casual dining market with a modern pub grub-styled restaurant that opened Friday in Old Town Alexandria. Dubbed “a grown-up’s playground with good food,” Virtue Feed & Grain — named for the historic granary building it’s in — also features a game room, lots of TVs and even Nintendo Wii stations. What came first? The building or the concept?
Walking through the building started our brains going about what kind of rustic feel a granary would give you. [My wife] Meshelle and I had talked about doing a very casual restaurant like this for years. … It was important to preserve some of the history so throughout the decor of the restaurant you’re going to see some reminders of hay, grain, flour, and feed; [the words will] be stenciled on some of the backs of chairs and cushions. … We also did a lot to recycle and reuse a lot of the materials found within the building.”
