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The folks behind the Fuzzy Cactus, a new restaurant in Richmond’s North Side, didn’t grow up together; they didn’t grow up in Richmond and none of them set out in the beginning to open a restaurant.

Music — the love for playing it live and being in bands — is what brought them together. It’s what brought them to Richmond and led them to the Fuzzy Cactus, which opened Aug. 16 at 221 Brookland Park Blvd.

The restaurant is owned by married couple Michael Cipollone and Patty Conway, along with co-owner Andrew Schlegel. Cipollone and Conway met at a gig in Cleveland and Conway eventually lured Cipollone to Richmond, where she was living to be in close proximity to her D.C.-based band, which she joined after leaving New York.

In Richmond, Cipollone was working at Hardywood, managing the taproom and booking music, which is how he met Schlegel, a fellow musician, who was working at the Henrico County restaurant Lily Pad once he made his way here from Austin, Texas.