No risk it, no biscuit…
For local chef and veteran Jessica Wilkins, tomorrow’s opening of her Biscuit Batch restaurant is a nearly three-year achievement in the baking.
When the pandemic turned her personal chef business upside down, the Le Cordon Bleu-educated California native was left with no income and a family to support.
Naturally, she put all of her biscuits in one basket.
Seeking something that would stand out amongst the many offerings in the area, Wilkins took a recipe for her cathead-style biscuits, baked “fresh and flaky” and served in portions “as big as your fist,” and established the Biscuit Batch food truck in 2022. Her breakfast and brunch offerings quickly found a following frequenting the Spotsylvania and Stafford Farmers Markets.
The chef with a decade of culinary experience knows a thing or two about the heat in the kitchen. Before breaking into biscuits, she first served four years in the Navy as a turbine mechanic, or a “grease monkey” as she calls it, an experience that included a deployment to the Arabian Sea where temperatures reached as high as 135° in the engine room.
That pressure-cooker atmosphere prepared Wilkins not only for future appearances on the Food Network shows “Chopped” and “Cutthroat Kitchen,” but also for the decision as to whether to take the Biscuit Batch brand brick-and-mortar or fund another food truck.
“I prayed a lot,” Wilkins remembers.
Wilkins would finally make the jump to a physical storefront when approached by Vakos Companies in 2023 to fill a desired breakfast offering in Spotsylvania’s Courthouse Village development. The space at needed more work than anticipated, and a six month renovation slowly dragged out over a year and a half. The wait was worth it, but it wasn’t one that the business could have shouldered alone.
“It’s really a blessing how much the community has been involved and uplifted us. I wouldn’t be here them,” says Wilkins.
Like the food truck, the new Biscuit Batch restaurant will offer “fun, hangover food” with generous portions. Wilkins says everything is made from scratch with 90% of ingredients are sourced within 100 miles.
Her menu boasts both Biscuit Bliss and Biscuit-less offerings, as well as a selection of cocktails and beers and a few dishes for kids age 10 and under. For first-timers, Wilkins recommends her Hot Mess, a biscuit with pastrami, sausage, gravy, tots, and two farm eggs any style, a dish the chef describes as “gluttony on a plate.” She also points to the South Cali Benedict with poached eggs, sautéed kale, tomato, portobello mushroom and hollandaise.
Expect a bright, open floorplan with lots of restaurant and bar seating and dozens of rolling pins decorating the walls, donated by customers and fans of the food truck. Several tables will also be available for outdoor dining. A section of her restaurant is also dedicated for shop space at Lake Anna’s Old Roosting Box and their selection of farmhouse décor and specialty goods.
A soft launch last weekend gives Wilkins a good feeling about her first day opening the doors with her staff of eleven.
“I have a dream team right now, which is great for staring a business,” Wilkins says.
“Everyone seemed to enjoy their experience.”
Biscuit Batch’s grand opening is tomorrow, Thursday June 12th at 9112 Old Battlefield Boulevard at at 8:00 AM.
Its hours are Thursdays and Fridays, 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM and Saturdays and Sundays, 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM. The food truck will continue to operate at the Spotsylvania County Farmers Market on Saturdays from 8:00 AM and 1:00 PM, in addition to other locations.
The food is DELICIOUS!!!
I also live ‘on the lake’, this place is wonderfully close & a million times better than McDonald’s!!!