Ice to a bartender is like fire for a chef: The amount and type you use will affect the outcome of the final product. Let’s talk about the main types of ice bartenders tend to use. Large format or block cubes: These are used for chilling a drink without adding much dilution, like with a […]
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. […]
Is there any food more delicious in season and yet more detestable out of season than the tomato? Juicy, sweet, tart, firm and bursting for a precious few months during the summer, fresh local tomatoes pretty much have it all. Out of season—well let’s not even speak of that mealy mess. In honor of this […]
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 […]
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 […]
Tim Gearhart outgrew his space in the Main Street Market five years ago, but it wasn’t until late last fall that he opened his new store in the Vinegar Hill Shopping Center next door to Staples. Gearhart’s business had grown enormously since it opened in 2001, back when he used two forks to hand-dip every […]
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 […]
When Jane Gregg studied in Madrid and Salamanca, Spain, during college, she had no idea it was the start of something wonderful. Epicurean Ways, her Charlottesville-based company that customizes luxury food and drink tours throughout Spain and Portugal, to be precise. “After college I lived in Madrid for three years and then went to graduate […]
“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.
The latest issue of Knife & Fork is on stands now and here’s what you’ll find inside. (Below, click through a digital copy of the magazine!) Mona Lisa Pasta’s guide to making pasta at home and seven perfect restaurant dishes. Caterer Gay Beery serves up ideas on sweet and savory dips. Hunter Smith’s fave VA […]
Gerry Newman can’t construct a building. He can’t set a broken bone, tune up a car or write the Great American Novel. What he can do is make the best baguette this side of Paris. Thousands of them every week, baked around the clock in a large, brick-lined oven, and available at dozens of area […]
When you consider the past 8,000 years or so of wine production history, sparkling wine is relatively new on the scene, becoming popular as late as the 1700s. In the early millennia of wine production, sparkling wines were usually made accidentally when a wine would continue its fermentation after warming up in the spring after […]
Whether you’re craving a delicate ravioli with sautéed local vegetables or hearty, homestyle spaghetti and meatballs just like mom used to make, our city offers plenty of ways to enjoy the ultimate Italian comfort food. Here are seven of our favorites. Linguine alla carbonara Tavola, 826 Hinton Ave., 972-9463 Tavola’s chefs have the restaurant’s most […]
“Making pasta is not a hard thing to do,” says Jim Winecoff, owner of Mona Lisa Pasta. “It’s messy, it takes some time, but it’s just flour and eggs and water—that’s it.” Although pasta at the 13-year-old shop is made using an extruder, which makes 75 pounds of pasta at once, Winecoff still enjoys cranking […]