What’s cookin’?
As everyone in our area who’s grown excited about the idea of self-sustainability knows, the time is ripe for an Eat & Drink Annual issue that focuses not only on local fare, but locally produced fare. Click through the features below and get the economic lowdown on some local farms, discover which local coffee shop brews the best with the results of our blind taste test, and much more. We even bite the bullet and explain why certain foods just don’t come from here.
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“How often should I bathe my cat?” I’m asked with surprising frequency. It’s a perfectly valid question, but anybody who’s ever bathed a cat will understand that it usually answers itself the moment you dare to try. I remember my first job at a veterinary hospital in high school. My inaugural
It looks a lot like a spa or massage parlor upon first glance. Relaxing is something I’m not especially skilled at unless a beach-side bar is involved, but when I entered the AquaFloat lobby with its soft, aquamarine-and-sand-colored decor, sounds of nature playing in the background and
Caturra’s meow What started out as a Richmond coffee shop in 2006 has since evolved into a full-service restaurant with a new location on the Corner. Café Caturra, a coffee shop-restaurant-bar combo that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner is officially open for business in the old Toro’s Tacos
Thousands of visitors come to Virginia every year to tour the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive. As they soak in the natural beauty where the two meet off Interstate 64 at Rockfish Gap, with views stretching out across the Shenandoah Valley, they soak in something else less appealing,
It’s been a big year for Keswick Hall, and it’s only February. Within weeks, the inn announced its five-star rating from Forbes Travel Guide, and also welcomed a new executive chef to Fossett’s Restaurant. “The hard work really starts now, in keeping it,” marketing director Janet Kurtz said of
Feast mode Feast! on West Main had its most profitable year ever in 2014, and the specialty foods market and cafe is looking to keep its momentum in 2015, recently announcing a high-profile hire and new weekly sandwich concept. Co-owner Eric Gertner said Feast! has grown every year since
Sultan Kebab isn’t new. Deniz Dikmen and Serhat Peker, both natives of Turkey, opened the restaurant tucked away in a small shopping center at the corner of Route 29 and Rio Road in 2012. But if you’re like me and don’t often schlep up to that side of town, it’s easy to miss. But partially […]
Valentine’s day’s a real bitch. Whether you’re coupled or single, the holiday is an annual emotional landmine that can send you to the dog house or into a shame spiral so deep that even a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Salted Caramel Core ice cream can’t pull you from it. Fortunately for you, we’ve
Opah! What’s the difference between cooking for royalty and cooking for the masses? According to Paul Boukourakis, not much. In addition to opening restaurants on three different continents, the 77-year-old native of Greece cooked for the royal family before arriving in Charlottesville and
In Charlottesville, a meal at Petit Pois is as close as it gets to eating in France. My dinner companion told me so. And, he should know. Jose de Brito, acclaimed chef at The Alley Light, was raised in France and his passion for French cuisine can produce strong views on the subject. What is
‘Wild ideas’ Faced with a terminal illness, most people might hunker down for months of treatment and forgo future plans. Not Mark Weber. Last summer, in the middle of an intensive treatment regimen for a malignant brain tumor, Weber bought Woolly Mammoth, the two-story restaurant at the corner
As you age, maintaining your health becomes more and more like a game of Whac-A-Mole: Exit the footloose and fancy-free 20s and suddenly you’re worried about your reproductive health and abnormal sleep patterns. Get past menopause and then it’s time to concentrate on the threat of high blood
Chef Ben Thompson fires up his favorite wintertime dishes with Rock Barn and Devils Backbone Brewing Company. Learn how to pair smoked sausage and pork with craft beer and try select brews. Friday 1/23. Free, 5pm. Ivy Provisions, 2206 Ivy Rd. 202-1308.
Life was so simple when there was only one beer festival. Top of the Hops descended on the Pavilion in the fall, you put on your pretzel necklace and tried a bunch of good craft beer you’d never had before. Your liver had 364 days to recover. Then came Know Good Beer (KGB), first held […]
Sweet and savory We’re about to get a new pie shop on the Downtown Mall. And in true Charlottesville fashion, for the academic-turned-pastry-chef behind The Pie Chest, it was a circuitous path that led her here. The ever-changing food scene in this island-of-misfit-toys of a town seems to bring
Got a new store It hasn’t been a good stretch for frozen yogurt joints. First Cups in the Barracks Road shopping center went tits up, now Berry Berry on the Corner is getting a makeover. Fortunately the demise of Berry Berry comes with very very good news. The place turns out to be owned by
Ryan Hubbard and Mark Marshall aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel. The two guys behind Red Hub Food Co., a catering service that recently opened a lunch counter at its 202 10th Street NW location, are serving up classic North Carolina-style barbecue, plain and simple. For them it’s not about
Hello, Lampo For a pizza place that turns out pies in a matter of minutes, we sure had to wait a long time for Lampo, the real deal Neapolitan joint that opened on Monticello Road last month. Loren Mendosa, Ian Redshaw, Mitchell Beerens and Andrew Cole promised a fall opening, and the fellas
Sure, we’ve got Coke versus Pepsi, Yankees versus Red Sox, and Apple versus Android. But do any of these really hold a candle to the age-old rivalry between cats and dogs? If their depiction in pop culture is any indication, they’ve been squaring off since the dawn of time. I’m always a bit
Look, we get it. Cracking open that 2015 calendar gives rise to all manner of inspiration—get fit for bathing suit season! Read more books to shine in idle party chit-chat! Bone up on your ballroom skills before your cousin’s autumn wedding! Then suddenly it’s February and, not only have your