Let them eat sweets: A little bit of indulgence goes a long way
I knew of a boy whose mother would give him cottage cheese with peaches and call it an ice cream sundae. He gobbled it down until the first time he went to a friend’s house and was given an actual ice cream sundae. Obviously, it blew his mind—not only how much more delicious ice cream […]
Third time’s a charm: “3,” a collaboration wine, turns three—and a different color
With all of the frost, fungi, and fruit flies that Virginia winemakers have to fret over, it’s easy to forget that they also have some fun along the way. And it was in the name of fun that friends and colleagues Jake Busching, Matthieu Finot, and Emily Hodson Pelton came up with the idea three […]
A star is born: Glass Haus’ Ian Boden delights diners and critics alike from his new stage
Assuming his new post as executive chef of Glass Haus Kitchen this past fall, Ian Boden had big shoes to fill—but they were all his own. The Northern Virginia native who put his New England Culinary Institute degree to use for 10 years in the kitchens of top New York restaurants, opened Staunton Grocery in […]
Standing corrected: The wines of Groote Post make pride easy to swallow
I’ve always been proud to be an equal opportunity lover of wine. Sure, I’m not wild about anything too buttery or beastly, but as long as it’s a well-made, balanced wine, there’s a happy home for it in my glass. So imagine my surprise, amidst all this open-mindedness, when years of field research revealed a […]
Sticky business: Maple syrup pours onto local menus
With days this cold and dark, a little trickle of sweetness goes a long way to cure a mean case of cabin fever. But reserving syrup for breakfast is selling the elixir short. These places around town are seeing the forest through the trees (and they’re not just maple) by treating us to syrup in […]
Will the tyranny of Robert Parker’s 100-point system prevail?
In December, Robert Parker, the 65-year-old lawyer-cum-wine-scoring demigod, sold a substantial portion of his bi-weekly newsletter, The Wine Advocate, to a group of investors in Singapore. And, a mere month after telling the Wall Street Journal that he would never give up editorial control, he bequeathed his editor-in-chief title to Singapore-based, former Australian wine correspondent […]
A French jewel in the Virginia mountains: Nellysford’s Basic Necessities
You can’t fake charm. It’s got to come naturally, and it does for Nellysford, the little town nuzzled in the bosom of Wintergreen’s mountains. It’s not trying to be anything that it isn’t, yet manages to enchant everyone who passes through, some so much so that they stay forever. Few places are more illustrative of […]
Brunello di Montalcino’s under the Tuscan shadow
Americans have a love affair with Tuscany and few grapes are as quintessentially Italian as the cherished region’s workhorse, Sangiovese. Chianti Classico may be where it’s best known, but it’s in Brunello di Montalcino (where the grape’s grosso clone accounts for 100 percent of the wine) that it’s the most revered. That’s not saying a […]
Forgive me, organs, for I have sinned: The inner workings of a cleanse
If the holiday season’s been a gluttonous rampage that began with leftover Halloween candy and ended with the roof off your kid’s gingerbread house, then you’re not alone. The new year offers a chance to make amends, and the weight loss market, that $60 billion (give or take) cash cow, has promised its fair share […]
Pick your poison carefully: All hangovers are not created equal
If you are reading this on New Year’s Day, then chances are that even your own inner reading voice is hurting your head. My husband was born on the first of the year and never got to have birthday parties on his actual birthday, because, oddly, every single one of his friends’ parents (and his […]
Ladies’ night out at the Downtown Grille
Steakhouses, one of the few truly American culinary genres, maintain their appeal by being, in large part, the same the nation over. They typically sport dark wood and leather, a suited host, a wine list heavy on Napa Cabs, iconic starters and sides, melt-in-your-mouth steaks, and frightful prices. Testosterone-dripping man caves, the Scotch flows neat […]
Doomsday drinks to die for
This is it. On Friday, December 21, we’re all going to die. Our Christmas gifts, 401(k)s, and unexpressed love will go unclaimed. It’d be highly irresponsible for me to advise liquidating your bank accounts, but I can suggest liquidating a pearl or two from your wine cellar (or sock drawer) to enjoy with loved ones—and […]
The lost art of the dinner party: Let’s bring it back!
I find few things more exciting than being invited to someone’s home for a dinner party. Not a potluck or cocktail party, but a sit-down soirée with mixed company and food cooked and served by someone other than me. It’s a generous act of yore that seems now to be endangered if not entirely extinct. […]
An inside the box solution to selling Virginia wine for less
When I told a wine-loving francophile that I’ve been drinking wine from a box, he looked at me with such horror that I quickly followed up with, “I pour it into a glass first, of course!” His disgust had nothing to do with the image of me holding my mouth below the spigot in my […]
Good eaters: How to raise an omnivorous child
According to karma, I should have a picky child. (I once threw a fit when my parents stopped at Wendy’s because the hamburgers there are square instead of round.) But not only has Maisie never even eaten a fast food hamburger in her nearly five years of life, but she’s a better, more adventurous eater […]
Orzo’s secret ingredient: A new chef’s steering the kitchen in a different direction
As tightly knit as Charlottesville is, newcomers are likely to feel intimidated—especially so in our food world, which is as inextricably linked an industry as any. Evermore daunting would be taking the helm of a restaurant that’s collected a massive following in the five years it’s been open. But more now than ever, the connections […]
Choosing wines for Thanksgiving is easier than you think
Nothing makes a wine columnist feel the freakishly swift passage of days more than the realization that it’s Thanksgiving wine recommendation time yet again. Every year, I consider taking a different approach—or even skipping it entirely, hoping that no one will notice the omission of what’s become an annual expectation. (Especially tempting after our beer […]
The locavore chef’s dilemma: What it takes to cook local through the off-season
Nowadays, restaurant menus are more likely to tell you where the chicken was raised than how it’s prepared. Four years running, the National Restaurant Association has voted locally sourced foods the top trend. But here in Virginia, where our soil takes a long winter’s nap, what’s a locavore chef to do when the growing season […]
Cider-palooza: First annual Virginia Cider Week is coming to a restaurant near you
Cider may be indelibly written into American history, but no matter how many pints John Adams drank with breakfast, it’s a beverage that confuses us. Cider, to everyone but Americans, implies the presence of alcohol; here, unless we preface it with “hard,” we picture the hot, spiced variety that warms us up after a romp […]
Who will save Merlot? The fate of a much-maligned grape
Merlot is making a comeback. Or so the prediction has gone for the past three years. According to retailers though, sales haven’t even begun to rebound, yet we keep reading that they have. So, has this grape that went from golden child to outcast in the span of 20 years really risen from the depths […]
Savor the season with squash
With its hard skin, seed-filled cavities, and often unruly size, winter squash can intimidate even the savviest cooks. It’s absolutely worth tackling though—not only is squash inexpensive and packed with vitamins, but it’s also one of the only relics from the garden that can feed you through the winter. Fortunately, even if you don’t get […]
Bottoms up: His and hers cocktails that suit your taste and mood
Artisanally made cocktails are the new post-work entertainment. They lubricate conversation on a blind date and have the power to rouse even the most worn-in relationships. Here’s a pair of his/hers cocktails from the bar at Zinc that will get your lashes batting and your tootsies footsie-ing in no time. Of course, in this modern […]
The Judgment of Staunton: Making Thomas Jefferson proud
Every cork dork loves a wine battle, especially when it involves rubbing France’s les nez in how good our wine’s gotten in the past five years. At the third annual Thomas Jefferson Wine Event in Staunton on October 13, Virginia wine won over French in four out of seven blind pairings. But save one man […]
Bitter and beautiful: Eat yer greens
You can almost feel yourself getting healthier with every bite of the dark, leafy greens that flourish come fall. Nevermind if they’re braised with ham hocks, drenched in cream, or studded with bacon. From collards to bok choy and all the shades in between, these restaurant dishes make it a downright pleasure to eat your […]
Southside brews: James River Brewing opens in Scottsville
Nelson County’s not the only place to go for local beer. Champion Brewing Company, a nanobrewery off Avon Street, will be on Downtown Charlottesville’s map by Thanksgiving weekend, and Scottsville, our neighbor to the south, just got its own place for suds. James River Brewing Company, owned by a team of four beer-loving friends (three […]
Say “ahh” not “eww” to these bizarre foods
There’s no such word as “eww” in an omnivore’s vocabulary. While these dishes are far from the beetles and brains that TV personalities get paid to eat, they require a more adventurous palate than your typical restaurant offering. Of course, those brave enough to consume them will be most deliciously rewarded. Nothing cures a hangover […]
Membership has its privileges: What will joining area wine clubs get you?
When Groucho Marx said, “I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member,” he must not have had wine in mind. The variety of wine club memberships offered by our retailers, wineries, and co-ops assumes nothing more about its members than a shared love of wine. And who doesn’t […]