In a blind taste test by a panel of experts last fall, Virginia wines squared off against those from leading regions of the world. The results stunned many. Virginia won. In case it had not been clear already, there was now no doubt: Virginia wine is on the rise. With the popularity of Virginia wine [...]
Three days into my trip to Puerto Vallarta, I had an ephiphany. I’d traveled there with the Tequila Interchange Project, a nonprofit group working to preserve sustainable, traditional, and quality practices in the tequila industry, and we would spend seven days drinking the Mexican juice and learning about the process of making it. But my [...]
On Fridays, we feature five food finds selected by local chefs and personalities. Today’s picks come from Pei Chang, chef of TEN Sushi. And, on Mother’s Day weekend, the mother of his three young children made the list! Chang’s picks: 1) Meatloaf Sandwich at Stonefire Kitchen. “Artisanal sandwiches and salads engineered by Jeremy Butterfield, a [...]
05/19/2013 2:30 pm The Taming of the Shrew Four County Players, Barboursville VA
If rain is Oregon’s best-known cliché, then Pinot Noir is the runner-up. With May celebrating Oregon Wine Month, and the Willamette Valley being one of my favorite wine regions in the world, what better time than now to delve into this sustainable wine mecca? Viticulturally, Oregon is a big [...]
Longer days and rising mercury mean big leaps forward for your backyard row crops—but the path to fresh veggies doesn’t always run smooth. Read on for some timely gardening tips. Tender vegetables Recent cool nights are a good reminder that we’re not out of the woods yet when it comes to cold [...]
Chef Harrison Keevil of Brookville Restaurant will create a farm-fresh meal at Bellair Farm Sunday, May 26. Blenheim Vineyards will handle the wine. Tickets are $65 ($10 for children under 9). Call The Happy Cook at 977-2665 to secure yours. You’ll get a second chance to try that meal (though [...]
Seems like more food trucks are rolling into Charlottesville every month—and the city is playing catch-up with its regulations as a result. C-VILLE writer Darren Sweeney has a rundown of some of the newest purveyors of meals on wheels, along with details on where to find them on the street and [...]
To the untrained eye, the quiche is a seemingly simple dish that requires very little skill and few ingredients. It consists, after all, of only two elements: crust and filling. But think again. This French-inspired staple of American cuisine is subtle and sophisticated, varied and complex. If [...]
Humulus lupus, the species best known to us as hops, produces effects in beer that we traditionally associate with bitterness. Hops also produce aromas and flavors that are usually associated with earthiness, grassiness, floral characteristics, and a bit of weedy dankness. In the past couple of [...]
How interesting! Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with Mellow Mushroom’s “Most Interesting Man in the World” sweepstakes and win the Ultimate Mellow Mushroom Mexican vacation. Through May 5, stop in to the University Avenue location and take the “most interesting” photo with the Dos Equis Most [...]
I had never known an independent organic farmer before I went to meet Michael Clark, who owns and works Planet Earth Diversified (PED) farm outside of Stanardsville. Therefore, I had nothing on which to base any expectations. But what I did not expect was to meet an organic farmer who would go [...]
Two for one Mark your calendar for Friday, May 3, as two acclaimed Virginia chefs, both nominated for the James Beard Award of Excellence, come together to create a dinner to remember. Lee Gregory is the chef and owner of The Roosevelt restaurant in Richmond’s historic Church Hill neighborhood [...]
On Fridays, we feature five food finds selected by local chefs and personalities. Today’s picks come from Mike Ketola, who cooks at not one but two restaurants that have been inducted into The Charlottesville 29. Ketola is the longtime sous chef of Mas, and also cooks at Barbecue Exchange. [...]
We’ve been eating genetically modified foods for more than 20 years, but they’re still controversial, and continue to spark national debate about food safety and ethics. On Tuesday, April 23, the UVA Food Collaborative and Department of Environmental Sciences will host a panel discussion on the [...]
Spring has finally sprung, and with the change in the weather comes a change in many folks’ drinking habits. In particular, the increased orders of the king of all drinks—the martini. This time of year, we bartenders see a rise in sales in the clear spirits categories like vodka and gin. Now [...]
Is it possible to be irreverent and reverent at the same time? Tempo, the modern French-American restaurant that opened in 2011, proves that it is, mixing good, irreverent fun with food that reveres French culinary tradition, prepared by one of Charlottesville’s most talented chefs. On the one [...]
A Graceful entrance Mount Juliet Vineyards has grown some of the finest grapes in the state for the past 14 years, with veteran winemaker Jake Busching at the helm since 2011. The Crozet vineyard will soon include a tasting room and winery, called Grace Estate, to (hopefully) open sometime this [...]
Now that it’s warmer outside, they will come. They’ll come from the field and the hollow and the valley and even the next state over. I saw one last summer just after he had gotten off the bus. He looked as lost as Gomer Pyle at a love-in. He was warily wandering around the west [...]
Like Italian food, Italian wine has an innate, comforting presence that draws you in and keeps you coming back for more. Regardless of where in Italy it comes from, good Italian wine (and food) speaks to the soul. Once simply cheap jug wine and basket-wrapped bottles of Chianti, Italian wine [...]
Yolk lore Speaking of local food, Fardowners chef Mark Cosgrove is a die-hard locavore who has ramped up the restaurant’s locally sourced menu items to feature Timbercreek Organics beef sliders, freshly baked bread from Goodwin Creek Bakery, pork from The Rock Barn, beef hot dogs by the Best of [...]
Most wine drinkers are aware of the 100-point scale, whether they are familiar with Robert Parker and his recently sold Wine Advocate, or simply with the numbers on gold medallions adorning shelves of bottles. Although these numerical shelf-talkers are helpful to a lot of customers when it [...]
It’s still a mystery why fish is not as popular as meat nowadays. A filet of Alaskan halibut is much leaner than a juicy steak; its fats, those precious omega-3 fatty acids, can help reduce heart disease and help cope with depression. It is even rumored that salmon clears and smoothes the skin. [...]