Our History

What happens when you say yes to everything.

The Early Years

Ten Course Hospitality founder, Will Richey, spent the late 90's studying wine and working various wine related jobs. In 2001, he started working at l'etoile restaurant and soon became the front of house manager and wine steward.

Following l'etoile, Will spent two years as a sales rep for a wine distributor, before starting a catering company with his old friend Josh Zanoff. Josh taught Will to cook while Will ran the wine service and hospitality side of the business.

2005

Ten Course Hospitality began when Will bought Revolutionary Soup in 2005. Will worked there as the cook and for the first year, Josh Zanoff helped Will develop as a cook and establish a solid menu.

2007

The second location of Revolutionary Soup opened on "The Corner", an area near the University of Virginia.

2008

Will's son Alston was born and in order to be a stay at home Dad, he and some good friends started The Wine Guild of Charlottesville, a wine buyers club that he could run from home.

2011

Will bought a farm in Esmont, VA. Until 2018, Red Row Farm grew the majority of the Summer produce for the two Rev Soups along with some pigs, rabbit, eggs and ducks.

2012

In 2012, the opportunity to open The Whiskey Jar appeared. A restaurant focused on regional, seasonal and locally sourced food. For the first two years Will worked daily as the Executive Chef.

2014

In 2014, Will was able to back off from the line at Whiskey Jar and focus on opening a more formal restaurant, The Alley Light. Will worked the front of house as wine steward and with long time friend Jose De Brito as head chef. The Alley Light was a James Beard Award - Best New Restaurant - Semifinalist.

2015

In 2015, we opened The Pie Chest as a way to feature the extraordinary baking talent of Rachel Pennington.

2016

In 2016, long time sous chef of the Whiskey Jar, Cesar Perez wanted to bring the cuisine of his native Veracruz, Mexico to Charlottesville so we opened The Bebedero.

2016 was also the year Ten Course Hospitality was formed.

2017

We began the year by opening Brasserie Saison, a Franco Belgian restaurant and brewery that was a two-year partnership with Champion Brewing Company. We sold our interest in the restaurant in 2019. It is now owned and managed by Champion Brewing Company.

Later in the year, we were asked to take over management of Commonwealth Restaurant & Skybar and Draft Taproom.

2018

Ten Course Hospitality purchased a building on E. High St. in Charlottesville to give The Pie Chest a bigger, better baking kitchen and second retail location. The new The Pie Chest opened in July of 2018.

After six short months of managing Draft Taproom, the owners were able to sell the once struggling brand for a significant profit.

2019

We opened Kama for the owners of the Violet Crown Cinema. After deciding on a Japanese concept, we designed and built the dining room and kitchen while hiring and training the new staff. Unfortunately, the owner's had to permanantly close Kama due to COVID-19 ecomonic impact.

2020

We ended the year by opening The Milkman's Bar The Milkman's Bar in the Dairy Market. Our management contract ended in September of 2022.

2021

We opened Café Frank. The restaurant was purchased by a manager in 2023.

In June, South & Central opened in the Dairy Market. 20 years ago, my father and I took a trip to Italy where we stayed in the hills of the Chianti region and dined at rustic, isolated restaurants in the Tuscan countryside. One evening I ordered a Bistecca Fiorentina, a large Porterhouse Steak cooked over wood coals. From that moment, I knew what I wanted to do.

I returned to Charlottesville and tried to open a restaurant like the one I experienced in Italy. Unfortunately, the opportunity and financing had a different timeline in mind. Since then, I have opened 10 restaurants. Every one was a chance to open my steakhouse but for one reason or another, the circumstances weren’t quite right. That never swayed me from opening other projects and have been happy to see them come to fruition. The Steakhouse has been my white whale for nearly 20 years and now I have finally caught up to it. Our management contract at South & Central ended in September of 2022.

2022

In early 2022, we bought Duner's, a Charlottesville favorite since 1983.

2023

Högwaller Brewing, is the new passion project of Mark Fulton, co-founder of the now-closed Reason Beer, and former head brewer of Maine Beer Co. In addition to great beer, Högwaller Brewing serves grass-fed burgers and barbecue.