• SLIDESHOW: Photos and interview with Barrel Thief

Richmond is a foodie town.  From buzzworthy restaurants to gourmet food shops, there's plenty of tempting options all over town.  And we want to bring you the latest dish.

Welcome to our new inRich.com column and multimedia feature, Food Bytes, where we'll take a look at new restaurants and food trends in the Richmond area and beyond. 

First up: The Barrel Thief.

The details:

The Barrel Thief is a wine shop and café, open since 2007, located in the Shoppes at Westgate across the street from Short Pump Town Center. 

The concept is fairly new for Richmond: a retail wine shop and a small café where patrons can sample fine wine and savor simple yet upscale tasting items like blue cheese drizzled with honey or asparagus drizzled with grilled lemon and black truffle goat cheese.   

With plans to open a second location at 5803 Patterson Ave this August and a third location in Church Hill sometime in 2009, Barrel Thief may very well be coming to a neighorbood near you. 

Why the foodie buzz?

Working from a minimalistic kitchen that operates with two panini presses and not much else, Barrel Thief  keeps the menu simple.  It offers appetizers like gourmet cheese plates, salads with fresh seafood, grilled paninis, and decadent-sounding desserts.  But the ingredients, according to owner Ross Mattis, are what make the food stand out.

"We're not a complicated restaurant," Mattis says. "We work with the best products we can get our hands on."  That means microgreens from Manakin Town Farms, fresh seafood from Browne Trading, and freshly baked bread from the Flour Garden, just to name a few of the vendors Barrel Thief uses.

What you'll find:

The main focus, of course, is on the wine, where you'll find 350 to 400 labels priced anywhere from $8 to $500.  Barrel Thief also offers wine by the glass from a selection of 12 wines handpicked by the staff which changes monthly.

The wine-plus-cafe idea came about because Mattis and co-owner Ned Wheeler wanted to create "a more comfortable place to buy wine in."  Hence, a carefully appointed menu offering savory and sweet items that pair well with wine.

Salads stress the ultra-fresh like the arugula salad with blood orange and prosciutto di parma ($7) and the citrus and basil cold smoked salmon salad over marinated cucumbers sliced paper thin ($8).

Paninis ($8 to $9) come in a number of combinations like grilled cheese or the portobello mushroom with manchego, basil pesto and microgreens. 

"Anytime we add avocado to anything, people get excited," says Mattis.  Fittingly, the panini special on the day we visited combined marinated tomato, proscuitto and a generous helping of fresh avocado.

The price points are also in Barrel Thief's favor.  Salads and sandwiches run $5 to $9, with the most expensive items like the ahi tuna with white beans and prosciutto coming in at $14.  The result is that you can treat yourself to an upscale tasting experience without breaking the bank.  

The most chatted-about items:

The Krispy Kreme strawberry shortcake ($5) and the nutella and poundcake panini ($5) are a favorite for those with a sweet-tooth.

Also, the cheese trio ($10) should not be missed. The types of cheese varies, but when we visited the cheese trio featured black truffled goat cheese, pordomvillas with quince paste and roaring forties blue cheese drizzled with locally made honey. 

Next up on Food Bytes: Take a look at the Patrick Henry Inn, setting up shop in the spot formerly home to Acapella in Church Hill