“It will be two years in July since I had this meal, and it was great not only because of what I ate, but also because of the beautiful setting. I was traveling with seven friends, two from Palermo, Italy, and the rest from the Charlottesville area. I remember it was very hot, about two […]
Making charcuterie is an art, and the best meat artists in town can be found at J.M. Stock Provisions. “You have to receive the animal, break it down, use just the right balance of fat and lean, get the perfect matrix of textures, and chop, grind, and cook for hours,” says Alex Import, general manager. […]
I first encountered an ovoid concrete fermentation vessel at Austria’s innovative biodynamic winery Meinklang in 2004. Actually, there were a few of them, all lined up and looking like 1950s science-fiction rocket ships, held upright by fin-shaped buttresses. A startling departure from the oak barrels and stainless-steel vats I was accustomed to seeing, the eggs, […]
The restaurant business, like any industry, goes in cycles. Grow, contract, repeat. Here in Charlottesville, our last boom came in 2014, a year that brought Lampo, The Alley Light, Oakhart Social, Parallel 38, Public Fish & Oyster, MarieBette, Rock Salt, Red Pump Kitchen, and Al Carbon, among others. Now, after a slight lull, the area’s […]
About 10 years ago, concurrent with the onset of the artisanal cocktail movement, small-batch European vermouths began showing up in the U.S. market. Winemakers took notice, and some started experimenting with producing their own. Today, vermouth is enjoying a moment, with some of the very best being made in our own backyard, by Afton’s Flying […]
Earl Swift is the author of seven books, including the urgent and poignant Chesapeake Requiem: A Year with the Watermen of Vanishing Tangier Island. It was named a best book of 2018 by NPR, The Washington Post, Outside, Bloomberg, and Smithsonian, among others, and recently won a Reed Environmental Writing Award from the Southern Environmental […]
After retiring from the construction business, Clay Greneveld couldn’t sit still, so he launched a second career as a custom craftsman. For a short while he made pen sets, using acrylic and wood, but he found the work too fussy and the profits marginal. Now, three years into his new venture, Greneveld has discovered his […]
Monticello was a busy place in Thomas Jefferson’s time, just as it is now. And just as Jefferson’s second home, Poplar Forest, provided him with a much-needed retreat, the meticulously restored property today offers visitors a peaceful haven to gain a different view of the third president’s life and times. Located near Lynchburg and first […]
Natural Virginia, by Ben Greenberg “The pictures and layout are spectacular. I love being able to share the beauty of the wonderful state of Virginia with out-of-town company when they’re visiting.”—Kori Messenger, Foxchase Design Chasing Bocuse, by Philip Tessier “It’s a dream for designers and foodies—a well-told story of the journey of America’s first chef […]
Starting plants from seed may not be the easiest, or even the most economical, way to supply your garden. It requires investing not only a lot of time, but also money for seeds, potting soil, flats, cell packs, thermometers, those cute little markers, and perhaps heat mats, a cold frame, or small greenhouse. Regardless, the […]
A garage is often a dank, dusty place, cluttered and cobwebby, smelling of gasoline and grass clippings. It’s the last place most homeowners would choose to create a bright, inviting space that could host, say, a wedding party—but a Farmington couple did that and more, with a contemporary renovation of their three-car garage, an addition […]
Centuries before Google Earth and Google Maps, taking the measure of a piece of property was grueling work. A surveyor produced rudimentary descriptions, such as: “Beginning at the white oak, head true north 30 degrees, then east 500 poles to a red oak, then south to the muddy creek.” Lovingston cartographer Mike Crabill, 75, relied […]
For the interior redesign of a large house in a leafy Charlottesville neighborhood, architect Bethany Puopolo reassigned many of its spaces—a family room became the master suite, and the living and dining rooms switched places—in order to make them work better for her clients, a couple with three young children. But the father, the family’s […]
The style of central Virginia’s wine-tasting rooms generally reflects their rural, agrarian roots. Some have a rustic, barn-like feel, because vineyards are essentially farms. Others exude the refinement and grandeur of a country estate, where one might relax with a glass of viognier after a morning on horseback. There are exceptions. Gabriele Rausse Winery built […]
The fundamental nature of art,” says Tate Pray, “is that it has no use.” But the Charlottesville-based designer seems bent on proving that maxim wrong, crafting wooden furniture that’s both functional and reflective of his playful sense of humor. Pray seems to thrive on contradictions. He uses traditional woodworking techniques to give his stylish Modernist […]
The address of the wedge-shaped building is 550 E. Water St., but it is better known simply as 550. That’s what happens when a piece of architecture breaks new ground. It becomes a symbol, and a shorthand reference is enough to identify it. Designed by Cecilia Hernandez Nichols and her husband, Robert Nichols—founders and principals […]
This can’t be real. That’s the thought that popped into my head when I saw Wade’s Mill. The rustic wood-and-stone structure, with its big water wheel and dark raised- seam roof, basked in the soft sunlight of a late-fall day. As I approached, car windows wide open, I felt as if I were moving toward […]
“I started painting moths eight years ago. Each of the first few took months to complete, but now I can paint one a week. I’ve done 110, including several of the same species; I expect that number to rise steadily, since I paint every day. “At night, on the side of the shed on my […]
The world of social media marketing—particularly Instagram—is increasingly dominated by influencers, individuals who have amassed a sizable social media following, who’ve gained their audience’s trust, and who can sway consumers’ purchases—or even what they think. Yet many businesses today—and the strategists behind them—are becoming influencers in their own right, with the power to move products, […]
Charlottesville’s biotech industry—of which the University of Virginia is a major driver—is lively and growing, employing around 1,800 people. Nikki Hastings, formerly an executive at two of those companies, recently took the helm at CvilleBioHub, a local industry group with an ambitious vision: “to double the size of the biotech industry over the next 10 […]
Is love in the air? It appears so–at least between the cities of Richmond and Charlottesville, as witnessed by the number of businesses that have decided to open locations in both cities. Charlottesville, with its beautiful setting and college town vibe, has long made lists of best places to live and work. And in the […]
Could Charlottesville rectify its dearth of commercial and residential space in 2019? Put ’17’s political and social unrest behind us? Create more opportunities for minority-owned businesses? Charlottesville Office of Economic Development Director Chris Engel thinks prospects are promising. “I think 2018 was kind of a rebound year,” Engel says. “We are putting some time between […]
Charlottesville routinely finds itself on lists of the best places to live in the country. But it’s also a great place to work, judging by what people had to say about the following organizations. For this look at the best places to work in Charlottesville, we used job and recruiting website Glassdoor’s ratings system, a […]