Chesterfield's new restaurant 1870 opens in historic building

The former Quirk Hotel chef's latest venture is 1870, a French steakhouse located at 13310 Midlothian Turnpike in downtown Midlothian.

The restaurant's name comes from the 19th century building it currently calls home. Jewett Bath Hall, built in 1870 by the Jewett Brothers, is the oldest commercial building still standing in Chesterfield, according to the history website.

“We used to drive by it, and we lived right down the street, and we said, 'How cool would it be if we could open a restaurant there,'” Dunlap said. “It has a Charleston feel with two front doors. But I've never seen it for sale.”

Dunlap and his wife, Brittany, moved to Richmond in 2015 from Northern Virginia, where Dunlap worked as a chef at Alain Ducasse's restaurant Adour.

In 2021, Dunlap opened Midlothian Chef's Kitchen. RTD dining critic Justin Roe called the kitchen “a fine dining restaurant producing some of the most sublime and moving food I've ever seen this side of Pawwhite Parkway.”

Jewett Bass Hall was until recently the home of the real estate company Jenny & Company. Before that, I belonged to the church. When the real estate deal fell through, Dunlap and his wife swooped in and acquired the property in October.

Dunlap, who was traditionally trained as a French chef, said he had been thinking about opening a steakhouse for years.

1870 is an a la carte steakhouse, with five types of steak on the menu and a choice of sauces and butters ranging from au poivre to horseradish butter. You can also choose from side dishes such as potato gratin, asparagus with truffle crumbs, and classic creamed spinach.

Steaks are $32 on the hanger, and $76 for a 20-ounce seared ribeye. Each main dish comes with one side and one sauce.

The menu includes bone-in pork chops, organic chicken breast and rack of lamb, as well as seafood options such as rockfish, salmon and vanilla butter-poached lobster.

1870 aims to combine French cuisine with an old Virginia feel.

“We really tried to stick to the historic part of Virginia,” Brittany said of the restaurant and menu design.

Over the past few months, the couple has been busy renovating the space themselves.

“It was a blank slate and a very large room,” Dunlap said.

David built the bar himself, one downstairs and one upstairs, while Brittany focused on interior design.

The first floor is the main dining room with a long L-shaped banquette with cowhide print, tables with white tablecloths, white brick walls, and classic Virginia walls. Decorated with style paintings.

There is a bar upstairs that offers a more casual atmosphere and is open during business hours. There are also his two private dining rooms called the Jewett Room and the Bass Room.

“We live here in Midlothian, and if we wanted something a little more unique than a chain restaurant, we knew we had to go into town,” Dunlap said. “There are a lot of people here. We felt it was our duty to ourselves and to them to fill that void.”

Currently, 1870 is in soft opening mode. It officially opens on Tuesday and will be open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday.