One of the unlikeliest pairs to share the same kitchen is about to do it — Jimmy Sneed, famously salty serial opener, and sweet, serious Jannequin Bennett, the vegetarian chef-author with a reverent following. Their spot is an open-kitchen cafAc, Fresca on Addison, where much of the action surrounds the Nabil Attie-designed pizza oven. (“Todd English just ordered 4 from him,” Sneed says.) They're experimenting with pizza doughs and crusts to launch this 32-seat thing by the end of the month, bringing an all-veg menu to a promising corner.
Mediating and managing will be Jenna Sneed, the chef's daughter, now divested of Carena's Jamaican Grille in south Richmond and putting her dietary ideals on the table. “I've had Jannequin's cookbook for eight years,” she says, and helped recruit Bennett for the 3-month consulting gig at Fresca. Self-described happy vegan Sean Everett (Ellwood's) also works the kitchen, where stews, grains, salads, desserts and Illy coffee are menu mainstays.
Sneed's skill at drumming up interest is visible even in drive-by: quotes and come-ons and a (presumably vegetarian) mannequin have opened a dialogue with the neighborhood, which seems to be gaining critical mass among eaters. 22 S. Addison St. frescaonaddison.com
