Liquid inspiration The written word can be better appreciated with a glass of wine in hand. On Sunday, October 14 from 2-5pm, WriterHouse hosts its third annual Words and Wine fundraiser at Glass House Winery. Tickets, purchased in advance at writerhouse.org or at the door, cost $30 and include a tasting of Jeff and Michelle [...]
Now that our nights are dipping down to cellar temperatures, we can turn our attention back to red wines. No need to jump the gun though. There’s a whole category of transitional reds equivalent to fashion’s blazers that’ll warm you up and keep you going in style—unlike the Gigondas and Snuggie reserved for wintertime. Freisa, [...]
Potatoes don’t get much starring glory in the culinary world. Mashed, roasted, hashed, caked, or baked, the humble spud is usually the sideshow of the plate. Versatility’s a virtue, though, and these dishes raise the lowly tuber to holy heights. At Brookville Restaurant, the loaded baked potato goes gourmet: crinkly, roasted fingerlings get topped with [...]
05/23/2013 7:30 pm - 10:30 pm Maggie Edwards Durty Nelly’s, Charlottesville VA
Western pies move East You can never have too many pizza places in a university town, so a branch of the beloved Crozet Pizza opening at the Corner is a stroke of brilliance. Expect the same great pies in the old Backyard space on Elliewood by the end of October. Or, in restaurant speak, by [...]
The third annual Top of the Hops Beer Festival took place last Saturday, September 22, and a record crowd descended on the Downtown Mall, packing the walkways and breaking a new record by selling out the Ntelos Wireless Pavilion. Lines wrapped around the mall, heading east and west trying to [...]
We’re fifth in the nation for wine production and are one of the Travel Channel’s Top 7 beer destinations in North America, so it only makes sense that Virginia’s jumping on the craft distillery bandwagon. And it’s moving at a pretty good clip considering that America went from having 14,000 [...]
Summer’s on its way out and with it go the breezy drinks that require little more thought than “what time is it anyway?” Let’s brush up a bit on the beverage that makes adulthood and the return to routine much more bearable. 1. What are the by-products of wine’s fermentation process? a) Sugar [...]
For those of you out there who don’t like beets, you’re missing out. Since many a beet-hater’s distaste comes from having first tried them in a can (instead of raw or roasted), it’s time to try again, but this time, without holding your nose closed. Beets’ hues range from ruby red to gold to [...]
This Saturday, September 22, the 3rd annual Top of the Hops Festival descends upon the Ntelos Wireless Pavilion, and beer lovers like yours truly rejoice! Dozens of fantastic craft beers from all over the world will be available for tasting, and forecasts show temps in the mid-70s and clear [...]
Mangia l’etoile L’etoile might be Virginia cuisine with a French influence, but on Tuesday, September 25, gourmet fineries from Foods of All Nations and wine from The Country Vintner will help it go Italian at its 6pm Italian Wine Dinner. For $80 per person (plus tax and gratuity) expect six [...]
Last year’s bitch of a vintage, sullied by that four-letter ‘r’ word, left hardworking Virginia winemakers bruised, battered, and bitter. They deserved a break. From all predictions, 2012 was shaping up to be a dependable and promising vintage. Even after an early bud break, most vines escaped [...]
There will always be restaurants that change hands so often that it’s hard to keep track. While the little cheese wedge of a restaurant next to the Vinegar Hill Theater has stood as its current incarnation—Camino—for nearly three years now, it was Il Cane Pazzo for three years before that, and [...]
Party like it’s harvest time Monticello, the home of our own “first foodie,” serves as the pastoral background for the sixth annual Heritage Harvest Festival on Friday, September 14 and Saturday, September 15. You and your family will learn—with all your senses—about the gifts of our local [...]
Afton Mountain Afton Mountain After Hours Saturday, September 22: Dallas Wesley and Band (6-9pm) (540) 456-8667 www.aftonmountainvineyards.com Barboursville Vineyard Italian Harvest Feast Saturday, September 22 at 1pm: Enjoy a traditional five course feast paired with Barboursville wines, [...]
Behind every good man is a good woman—and behind every good red wine is a good white one. From the precipitous slopes of Côte-Rôtie to the stone-stacked soils of Châteauneuf-du-Pape (and many of the 150 miles in between), southeastern France’s Rhône Valley produces red wines deserving of [...]
Ah, Fall: crunching leaves, jeans and hoodies, the melody of Auld Lang Syne playing after a touchdown, and the warming smell of spices in the season’s savory food and drinks. Contrast that with the sweltering, soggy, drawn-out dog days of summer and you’ve got two pretty different [...]
Fresh figs, worshipped by cultures worldwide since 4000BC, are proof that there’s a higher being. Looks deceive, until rough skin the color of a bruise gives way to a shiny geode-like interior. Figs’ texture is anything but structural though—they quiver when you cut them and their delicate [...]
Restaurant people know that the best way to avoid passing your spouse like a ship in the night is to marry another restaurant person—double points if she works in the same restaurant. Rapture’s Executive Chef Chris Humphrey and longtime waitress, Sarah, tied the knot last fall and now see one [...]
Most of what Americans know about Sicily—mafia, garlic-laden red sauce, and the ba-da-bing wines that go with both—we learned from Godfathers I through III. Which is to say that we know nothing at all. This island, which stood as the Mediterranean port of call for wine as unfathomably early as [...]
The BLT, that divine triumvirate that defines the taste of summer, makes good use of the late season tomato whose flesh isn’t quite as taut as it used to be and whose juices need little coaxing before they’re dripping down your arms. These eight places have their own takes on this glorious [...]
Colonial locavores If you think our country’s founding foodies are the only ones with their own shows on the Food Network, think again. Tuesday, August 28, from 6-8:30pm, head to Monticello’s West Lawn for a conversation with Dave DeWitt, author of The Founding Foodies: How Washington, [...]
No story on the C&O would be complete without mention of its wine cellar. We’ve crowned the calligraphied list Best of C-VILLE seven-plus years running and it’s won Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence every year since 1996. But regulars will notice a gaping hole in the list next time they [...]