🧋Drunk on milkshakes

🎉 TGIF.

🌤️ Today's weather: Partly sunny, with a high near 78.

🎧 Sounds like: "Milkshake" by Kelis.

🎂 Happy early birthday to our Axios Richmond member Larry Tarr!

Today's newsletter is 818 words — a 3-minute read.

Yero Rudzinskas is weird about bagels.

Why it matters: The chef who trained in Michelin-star kitchens is opening Baltiks Bagel in South Richmond on Monday.

• He's also giving away his hand-crafted and kettle-boiled bagels for free all next week.

The big picture: Rudzinskas came to bagels, and Richmond, the long way.

• He grew up in Sonoma, California, went to Harvard, worked in Silicon Valley, burned out, went to The Culinary Institute of America and trained in Michelin-star restaurants.
• He moved to Taiwan, opened a panini restaurant, got homesick, got an MBA at UNC, worked in finance in NYC, and finally landed in Richmond two-ish years ago.
• Along the way, the 43-year-old met his wife (a UR grad), welcomed a daughter and a small herd of Katahdin sheep, and turned his well-educated attention to opening a restaurant and making the perfect bagel in his adopted town.

Zoom in: Kettle-boiling, as opposed to steaming, is the most critical part of a good bagel, Rudzinskas tells Axios.

• But size, the right thickness vs. circumference, density, the proof time, plus the right amount of blistering and oil, are equally important.
• Rudzinskas is confident he's perfected these for his signature in-house bagels, as well as an exact, thrice-daily cooking schedule to ensure every customer has the freshest possible bagel — and a "softie" version for sandwiches.

He brought the same level of thoughtfulness to the rest of the menu, which includes hand-crafted sodas, iced coffees, and signature sandwiches, like a hot honey and bacon sandwich; bacon, egg and cheese; avocado toast; and the classic bagel and lox.

• His goal is to have everything in the hands of customers within three minutes of ordering.

What's next: You can test the quality yourself, no-strings, during their limited-hours soft opening next week when every customer will get one free bagel or sandwich (plus a side and drink).

• Freebie hours are: Monday, 7-8:30am; Tuesday, 7-9:30am; Wednesday, 7-10:30am; Thursday, 6:30-10:30am; Friday, Oct. 11, 6:30-11:30am and Saturday, Oct. 12, 6:30am- 12:30pm.

Tell a bagel snob

Here's a new Virginia law you may have missed: If you sign up for a 30-day free trial, companies have to remind you about cancellation options before they charge you.

Why it matters: It's a game changer for Virginians who've lost money over forgetting to cancel subscriptions.

Virginia added that requirement this year, effective July 1. But here are other guardrails tacked on in recent years:

• Companies need to get your consent before charging you for automatic renewals.
• They have to share how to cancel a subscription.
• And if they're offering subscriptions via a website, there needs to be an easy-to-find online cancellation option.

What's next: Nationwide, lawmakers are cracking down on what they call the "predatory" side of a growing subscription economy, reports the Virginia Mercury.

• And with nearly everything — from streaming services and news to car washes and food delivery — requiring us to subscribe nowadays, we've likely all experienced it.

Keep reading for how the Federal Trade Commission wants to make canceling subscriptions easier

😮 Just over 400 guns have been stolen from (mostly unlocked) cars in Richmond this year with more than a quarter pilfered from cars in Shockoe, according to RPD. (The Richmonder)

🚢 The union for striking dockworkers last night said they'll return to work at U.S. ports, including the Port of Virginia, after an agreement was reached to extend their contract through Jan. 15. (Axios)

🎰 The skill games operator Pace-O-Matic said it'll pay the legal fees or penalties of any Virginia store owners who carry their newest model of machines after the state AG deemed them illegal. (Times-Dispatch)

💸 A judge ordered former Live Well Financial CEO Michael Hild to pay $45 million in restitution to four lenders that were defrauded in the bond pricing scheme for which Hild was found guilty in 2021. (BizSense)

Venture Richmond has a free drone-based virtual tour of downtown Richmond on its website.

What's in it for you: The platform serves as a virtual gateway, allowing users to explore downtown through a comprehensive overview of each neighborhood, residential projects and commercial ventures.

One week after Hurricane Helene tore through the Southeast, nearly 17,000 people in Southwest Virginia still didn't have power as of Thursday night.

• On Wednesday, it was 44,850.

Yes, but: Power is only one of the worries for Helene survivors in Appalachia towns and other hard-hit areas.

Full story

Coco + Hazel, Richmonders' favorite destination for massive, celebratory milkshakes, now has some grownup options: cocktails and boozy shakes.

Why it matters: A spiked dessert just hits different.

The big picture: Coco + Hazel co-owners Laura Hinkle and Carrie Walker took over the Bon Air dessert and coffee cafe last year and set about refining the concept and expanding the menu.

Zoom in: Longtime fans will still find the big shakes, plus new savory options like chicken salad, pimento cheese and wraps ($4-$8), on the menu that rolled out about a month ago.

• But the star is the boozy milkshakes: a newly conceived Bourbon Carmel option, or any of Coco's usual milkshakes ($15.99), with a shot added for $4.50.

If you go: Coco + Hazel is open daily.

Tell your bestie

Whether you're a resident or considering living in Richmond, now's your chance to get a comprehensive overview of downtown's economic development.

What to expect: Explore mixed-use ventures, hundreds of residential projects across local neighborhoods and more.

Start the tour.

😞 Karri really needs to remember to start painting her nails if she's going to keep taking cool Gen Z hold-a-food shots.

📺 Sabrina is binge-watching D.C.'s season of "Love is Blind" and ready for the messiness.

This newsletter was edited by Fadel Allassan.