How do we like them apples? In cobblestoned layers beneath a tender, flaky crust, that’s how. Which is why, this fall, we’re voting for a slice from The Pie Chest, which owner Rachel Pennington packs with Granny Smith apples first marinated in a cinnamon and sugar mixture, then sautéed in a caramel made with Southern Comfort and baked in a […]
You may have explored the Virginia Wine Trail, but if you want a meal with your wine, you can sample area selections at a few choice restaurants around Charlottesville. Here are some must-visit places for great food and wine pairings. Wine and brine Start your food and wine crawl with some raw oysters at Public […]
The summer issue of Knife & Fork is out! From sweet tea’s Southernness to a local pastry chef’s favorite ice cream, this issue is packed full of tasty morsels from the Charlottesville dining scene. Here’s what you’ll find inside: The Whiskey Jar’s secret to the perfect tomato sandwich. These five tomato dishes? Our main squeeze. Fleurie’s […]
It’s hard to resist eating out for every meal in a town like Charlottesville, but ain’t nobody got money for that. So we cooked up a list of our favorite cheap eats—the expected ($3 dumplings at Marco & Luca, obviously) to the not-so-expected (read: grit bowl). They run the cuisine gamut, from Asian to Mexican […]
One of the most widely planted grapes in the world, Chardonnay grows well in a variety of climates and is capable of immense stylistic versatility: It can be a fresh, zesty, easy-drinking table wine; it can be picked ripe and heavily oaked to produce a toasty, buttery wine; or, if it’s planted on a great […]
John Hoffman has been the executive chef at Fossett’s for just over a month, but he’s already bringing a Southern influence to the kitchen. He previously worked at Keswick’s sister hotel, The Sanctuary, on South Carolina’s Kiawah Island for four years before moving to Virginia. We asked him to share a recipe he’s looking forward to cooking for […]
Ice cream dreams Nothing spells out s-u-m-m-e-r quite like a melty, drippy scoop of ice cream. Here are nine local options we’re digging right now (and always). Top row: Half Baked: Ben & Jerry’s (Barracks Road Shopping Center, 244-7438) Coconut: Kirt’s Homemade Ice Cream (Albemarle Square Shopping Center, 202-0306) Peach almond: The Market at Grelen (15091 Yager Rd. […]
Like any good Southern recipe, the origins of sweet tea are about as clear as an oversteeped pitcher of Lipton. Southerners of all stripes clamor for their own little piece of the beverage’s lore. Central Virginia, it seems, doesn’t have much of a stake. Thomas Jefferson certainly loved his tea—his financial records show he purchased […]
Serge Torres, Fleurie’s pastry chef since November 2015, grew up watching his mom, a chef, and helping her in the kitchen. But it was his sweet tooth that led him to focus on pastry. “I really enjoy the diversity of options that come with the profession and being able to express my creativity by making […]
It’s honey season, y’all! Bee colonies like the ones at Hungry Hill Farm have been buzzing around for months, and it’s time to reap the rewards. According to farm owner Glenn Clayton, June and July are the “height of the honey flow,” and one beehive can hold upward of 60,000 honeybees this time of year. […]
What makes the perfect tomato sandwich? We think The Whiskey Jar serves one of the best in town, so we went straight to the source. “I and my entire staff wait all year long for the tomatoes to come back,” says owner Will Richey. “It is heresy to use an out-of-season tomato and simply stupid. […]
The spring issue of Knife & Fork is on stands now! Here’s what you’ll find inside (and below, find a digital copy of the issue). Arley Cakes’ strawberry tart. Epicurean Ways blends food and faraway places. Bill Scatena’s favorite chicken recipe. Feast!’s cheesemonger gives us tips. Are anchovies the new bacon? Blasphemy! Clifton’s Yannick Fayolle bulks […]
If we could assign a color to each season, it’d go something like this: orange for summer, red for fall, blue for winter. And for spring? Green. It’s the color that symbolizes growth and, for a season in which everything, er, springs back to life, we couldn’t think of a better topic than nutrient-rich leafy […]
Over the course of a dozen centuries, wines from France’s Bordeaux region have revolutionized today’s world of wine. As ground zero for some of the globe’s most widely grown grape varieties, Bordeaux itself is as valuable as its far-reaching and varied diasporas. Virginia embodies pieces of a Bordeaux diaspora, so to truly understand Virginia wine, […]
With just the right balance of sweetness and spice, Oakhurst Inn’s Bloody Mary is an inventive take on the classic: vodka, fresh-pressed carrot-ginger juice and a splash of Tabasco topped with garlic-stuffed green olives and pickled green beans. Call it orange juice and you won’t feel so guilty ordering a second.
Whether Arley Arrington is frying donuts at Brookville or whipping up macarons in her home kitchen, we just can’t get enough of her sweets. We asked the owner of local baking company Arley Cakes a few questions—from her guilty pleasure food to how to make her strawberry tart at home. Knife & Fork: What’s your […]
It’s dinnertime at chef Diana Sbaitri’s house. She’s put two plates on the table, one for her and one for her husband, Morad. There’s just one thing missing: Morad. A chef based in Berkane, Morocco, he’s in the process of getting a visa to live in America with his wife. To cope with the distance […]
![Memory palace
“Mostly only students would go [to the Virginian] and very few women. The 32-ounce beer (called a bumper) cost 40 cents and a 16-ounce glass was 20 cents. Boiled eggs sat on the bar and cost a nickel. The dog mascots, Seal and later Beta, would hang out and the students would take a hamburger and put it in the bottom of a pail and fill it with beer. The dogs would both drink the beer down to the level where they could get the hamburger and usually get drunk.”—Ed Roseberry, Charlottesville. Photo courtesy Phil Larkum](https://www.c-ville.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Virginian_Phil-Larkum-FB-320x170.jpg)
The scene of a movie, the site of a mooning, an old inn reassembled from parts: Here are six local restaurants that have set the bar when it comes to keeping things interesting (and standing the test of time).—Laura Ingles, Dan Testa, Lynn Thorne and Caite White 1890 Timberlake’s (322 E. Main St., Downtown Mall) […]
They aren’t just the pizza topping you love to hate anymore. Anchovies are showing up on menus all over town, and diners are responding. “I think more chefs are turning to anchovies as an ingredient not just as a topping but as a way to add depth and umami to other dishes,” Lampo co-owner and […]
Sometimes, when it comes to food, it’s best to leave it to the experts—from your brunch omelet to your post-dinner cheese plate. We asked Feast! cheesemonger Sara Adduci to tell us how to do it right. She’s been cheesemongering for 12 years, ever since taking a part-time job at a shop in Richmond following a […]
To a chef, a new season means a chance to spruce up the menu. We asked Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards’ executive chef, Bill Scatena, to share one thing he’s excited to start cooking this spring. “My inspiration for this dish [comes from] cooking chicken on a little Weber grill in between high school and […]
“Chicken necks and backbones right off the rotisserie at The Park-side in Providence, Rhode Island. I worked at The Parkside as the meat cook early in my cooking career, while I was at Johnson & Wales University. We brined whole birds with lemon and garlic, then roasted them slowly on a gorgeous, fire engine red […]
Some things are almost too pretty to eat, like this raspberry tart from The Alley Light: bright red raspberries shoring up pistachio pastry cream atop sweet shortbread. It hums spring. Too pretty to eat? Somehow we’ll get over it.