Virginia ham with thick slices of tomato, seasoned with salt and pepper. Creamy sausage gravy. Thick stacks of fluffy pancakes.
And biscuits.
It’s the kind of food you’ll find at Jessica Wilkins’ Biscuit Batch in the Spotsylvania Courthouse area, but it’s not what she was raised on in Southern California.
Wilkins jokes that her restaurant should be called ‘The Pancake Batch,’ and, with stacks like these, it’s not hard to see why. (Photos by Jeff Kearney)
The daughter of two Los Angeles Police Department officers, Wilkins’ love of Southern foods came from summer trips to her grandmother’s home in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.
Wilkins’ path to running what is now a brick-and-mortar restaurant was anything but straightforward.
She joined the military and became a gas turbine engineer. Curious about cooking, she trained under a pastry chef while in the service to see if she’d like it but quickly realized she didn’t enjoy the intricacies of chocolate work and confections.
“I absolutely hated it,” Wilkins said with a laugh. “So I decided to try out the culinary side and loved it.”
After leaving service, she used her GI Bill to attend Le Cordon Bleu, a culinary school in Paris. She then worked in food trucks, catering and private chef work before carving her own path.
The idea for biscuits came after years of experimentation. The COVID-19 pandemic had slowed her personal chef business, giving her time to dream of creating a food truck.
”Everybody loves a biscuit,” Wilkins said.
The Biscuit Batch food truck was born, serving smothered biscuits from what Wilkins described as a “little café on wheels” complete with siding and a live-edge wood tray that clipped to the window for service.
Biscuit Batch was a one-woman show, with Wilkins doing all the prep, all the cooking and all the service — all while balancing life with two children, one of them still a baby.
A fresh stack of pancakes from Biscuit Batch.
The move from food truck to a standalone restaurant wasn’t easy.
When the Vakos Companies approached her about the possibility of moving into the Spotsylvania Courthouse area, Wilkins thought it would take just a few quick updates to get going. Instead, it turned into a year-long renovation. Her staff pitched in wherever they could. Even the chefs helped assemble chairs and hung rolling pins on the walls.
Biscuit Batch finally opened its doors on Father’s Day weekend in June.
What sets Biscuit Batch apart isn’t just the biscuits themselves, but Wilkins’ belief that quality starts with doing things right from the beginning.
“Everything I have is made from scratch. Nothing’s out of a bag. Nothing’s pre-made,” Wilkins said.
And she’s not kidding. When asked about seasonal offerings, she mentioned the selection of jams, all of which are made from scratch.
Her commitment to local foods is no less impressive. Everything is locally or regionally sourced.
From the ham from Blue Ridge Mountain Farms to microgreens and pickles from the local farmer’s market, nearly every ingredient comes from nearby producers. Even the eggs come from local farms.
The thoughtfully curated menu at Biscuit Batch blends Southern comfort with a chef’s creativity. Biscuits and gravy —her grandmother’s recipe — are a favorite. To Wilkins’ surprise, pancakes have become just as popular.
“We joke we should be called Pancake Batch,” she said.
Biscuit Batch restaurant is at 9112 Old Battlefield Blvd. in Spotsylvania Courthouse.
The cocktail list adds another layer of fun, with a crowd-favorite cold brew martini alongside playful brunch options that change with the season.
Wilkins’ vision for Biscuit Batch has always been about bringing people together.
“The kitchen is always the heart of the home,” she said. “As chefs, we put in 14 hours of work for those two seconds when somebody says, ‘Mmm. That’s delicious.’”
And what does her grandmother think of her endeavors? She’s proud of her granddaughter’s success, but when she visits the restaurant, she can’t help voicing one concern.
“She said, ‘The portions are so big! How are you going to make money?’” Wilkins recalled with a smile.
For the chef, the answer is simple: good food and generous hospitality are worth it.
Can’t Miss Dish
When you go to a restaurant with “biscuit” in the name, you can’t skip the main attraction. Biscuit Batch’s signature biscuits are outstanding – hearty, risen tall and served with a rich honey butter. The gravy, too, was exceptional. And to my surprise, vegetarians aren’t left out: the menu includes a deeply flavorful mushroom gravy, blended smooth (no chunks of mushrooms in sight) and seasoned with cumin, curry, and nutmeg. Even the microgreens scattered over the top added a fresh, vibrant touch.
Like Wilkins’ grandmother, I found the portions to be generous indeed. After asking for just a small pancake to sample, I received the standard plate of three enormous buttermilk pancakes. As a bit of a pancake connoisseur myself, I found them heavenly — fluffy, not overly sweet, and topped with high-quality butter. The attentive staff assured me they made great leftovers. I was skeptical, but they reheated surprisingly well, and my younger son was in pancake bliss when he enjoyed his after-school pancake snack.
A fresh bowl of “Biscuits & Gravy” being prepared at the Biscuit Batch restaurant in Spotsylvania.
What I’m Ordering Next
My family is a bit jealous that I enjoyed Biscuit Batch without them (even with the leftovers) so I’m certain we’ll be making the trek there soon.
And, when we do, I’ll be hard-pressed to order anything other than biscuits and eggs smothered in that mushroom gravy. Still, the Chicken and Biscuit, with fried chicken breast, a citrus-rosemary syrup, and a side salad, has my attention. And maybe, if I’m feeling fancy, a mimosa.
