Knife & Fork: Summer 2017

Going green at A trip to France for Zucchini short a sweet chef stacks are back!

Glass House

Making a Taste is everything.

Plow, share

Volunteer gardens ripe for the picking

Mixed menu

Pearl Island’s chef goes off book

Solid ground

Winemakers search for the perfect spot BON APPÉTIT!

400+ ways to curb a craving

Summer 2017

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TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S The Dish

9 Fat stacks

Zucchini pancakes and— huh?—maple syrup.

13 Hawaii surprise

Mochiko is bringing Spam to the mainland.

$25,000

That’s approximately how much a tractor will cost you if you want to start your own CSA.

17 Garden variety

Three volunteer opps with produce rewards.

19 Berrey good

A new farm CSA with a waste-saving twist.

Drink, drank...

Drunk isn’t quite what you’ll be after you soak in this issue’s cocktail-focused feature, but we’d be willing to bet you’ll feel plenty thirsty. PAGE 26

Of wine and dirt

For area winemakers, finding the right spot of earth is just as important as growing the grapes when it comes to putting their best bottle forward. PAGE 49

21 On island

Caribbean classics, with an artful touch.

Half full

Fill up your glass at one of the area’s 40+ wineries and cideries.

PAGE 51

Eat up

More than 400 restaurants to satisfy your craving—from cake to confit.

PAGE 54

The Last Bite

Eat this treat and then split!

PAGE 62

1919

ON THE COVER: Vitae Spirits’ gin stays cool. Photo by Tom McGovern. COMMENTS? E-mail the editor at caite@c-ville.com.

That’s the year the 21st Amendment was ratified as part of the Constitution, making it illegal to produce, import, transport and sell alcoholic beverages in the United States. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Summer Knife&Fork 5

We asked the staff: Whatcha drinkin’?

“Gin and tonic on Vivace’s patio.”

Lisa Provence “Bang!’s Sin City is the martini of my dreams.”

Samantha Baars

&

“The Ten martini at Ten.” Tami Keaveny

Editorial EDITOR

“The Coy Mistress at Tavola.”

Lorena Perez

NEWS EDITOR

“Either the Lampo Smash or the lychee martini from Bang!.”

Bianca Catta-Preta

434.296.8555 | 317 EAST MAIN STREET, CHARLOTTESVILLE VA

P.O. Box 119 • 308 E. Main St., Charlottesville, VA 22902 (434) 817-2749 Advertising/Editorial Fax: (434) 817-2758 www.c-ville.com Facebook: facebook.com/cville.weekly Instagram: @cvilleweekly

“Easy: Vieux Carre at C&O. I also like being surprised at Lost Saint, where I never get the same drink twice.”

Erin O’Hare

“The blood orange margarita from Mono Loco. But really, any and every margarita from Mono Loco.”

Chaney Hambrick

gelato. espresso. pastries. delicious.

Charlottesville’s News & Arts Weekly

“I love Manhattans and I get them at The Whiskey Jar, on the rocks, no fruit, more dry than sweet, like a traditional Manhattan.

Not the fruity thing others make now. The bartenders call it the Eleanor Manhattan.”

Eleanor VonAchen

Jessica Luck (x20) editor@c-ville.com KNIFE & FORK EDITOR

Caitlin White (x45) Lisa Provence (x14) ARTS EDITOR

Tami Keaveny (x18) ARTS & LIVING REPORTER

Erin O’Hare STAFF REPORTER

Samantha Baars (x40) COPY EDITOR

Susan Sorensen

Design and Production CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Bill LeSueur (x17) artdirector@c-ville.com EDITORIAL DESIGNER

Max March (x16) GRAPHIC DESIGNERS

Tracey Federico (x19), Henry Jones (x22), Lorena Perez

“Acoustic Kitty Ale at South Street.”

Nanci Winter

Advertising

“Bang!’s Toasted Almond martini.

Yummmm.”

Debbie Miller

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

“Rapture’s happy hour house red—imbibed outside on a warm, sunny afternoon.”

Susan Sorensen

Bianca Catta-Preta (x29), Hannah Collier (x42), Eleanor VonAchen (x30)

“The Paloma at Junction. Salty, fizzy and peach!” (BELOW) Caite White

advertising@c-ville.com Erica Gentile (x43) erica@c-ville.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Faith Gibson (x25) MARKETING SERVICES DIVISION classifieds@c-ville.com

Chaney Hambrick, Beth Wood (x56)

Business PUBLISHER

Aimee Atteberry (x12) aimee@c-ville.com CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Debbie Miller (x28) MARKETING MANAGER

Lunch & Dinner I Patio Dining Private Event Space I Catering I Free Parking

434-975-6796 416 West Main Street Charlottesville, VA Soulful Mediterranean Food & Wine Follow us! @orzokitchen www.orzokitchen.com 6 Knife&Fork Summer

Anna Harrison (x51) A/R SPECIALIST

Nanci Winter (x33) CIRCULATION MANAGER

Billy Dempsey (x32) C-VILLE HOLDINGS

Summer Sippers PAGE 29

Bill Chapman, Blair Kelly KNIFE & FORK, a supplement to C-VILLE Weekly, is distributed regionally. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. ©2017 C-VILLE Weekly.

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Summer Knife&Fork 7

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8 Knife&Fork Summer

The Dish TRENDS, TASTEMAKERS AND FOODS WE LOVE

PAUL WHICHELOE

Stacks on stacks on stacks

Keevil & Keevil’s bringing back a fan favorite Summer Knife&Fork 9

Wedding and Special Occasion Cakes to Celebrate in Style.

Everyday Desserts and Espresso to Celebrate “Just Because.”

Discover What’s New in History

Special Events Farm Animals Picnic Spaces

Photography by Gene Runion

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Event space for rehearsal dinners, private parties, and corporate events.

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10 Knife&Fork Summer

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Dine in or Carry Out!

The Dish

W

hen Brookville Restaurant shuttered in December 2016, Southern food-lovers the town over wept into the last bite of their zucchini short stacks, which had been on the menu since the restaurant’s opening in 2010.

The summer dish became Brookville’s bestseller, so chef/owner Harrison Keevil knew he’d need to put it back on the menu at his Belmont grocery, Keevil & Keevil, once the weather turned warm.

It’s a riff on a traditional short stack—three pancakes, butter and syrup—but Keevil’s substituted in some Virginia-specific ingredients, like Caromont Farm goat cheese and zucchini, which is abundant in Virginia summers.

“It is the ultimate play on the sweet, savory and fatty combination that we were so keen on at Brookville,” Keevil says. “The more taste buds we can hit with one dish, the better it will be.”

Get yours at Keevil & Keevil this season—or make it at home!—Caite White

Zucchini Short Stack 4 zucchinis 4 sprigs of mint leaves, finely chopped 1 bunch scallions, sliced 4 eggs 1 tbs. salt 1/2 cup flour (substitute fine cornmeal to make gluten-free) 4 tbs. Caromont Farm goat cheese 1/2 cup Virginia maple syrup Olive oil

To market, to market

Using a box grater, grate all of the zucchinis into a large kitchen towel. Once grated,

It’s no secret that chef Harrison Keevil loves incorpo-

squeeze as much of the liquid from the

rating local food in each of his dishes—Brookville’s

zucchini as you can. Put the zucchini and the

promise, after all, was that a majority of its ingredients

rest of the ingredients in a bowl and mix.

would be sourced from within 100 miles of Charlottes-

Allow to sit for 30 minutes (can sit overnight

ville—and that’s still true at Keevil & Keevil, especially

if you want to party prep the day before).

this time of year when there’s so much in season. In

After at least 30 minutes, portion the batter

fact, he’s so pro-local, he wants to show how easy it is

into 12 equal patties on a sheet tray. Heat a

for you to be, too.

cast iron skillet or heavy frying pan over

This summer, Keevil’s introduced what he calls

medium/high heat. Coat the pan with olive

“Follow the Chef,” a program that allows you to follow

oil and cook the patties in batches of three

him around the Charlottesville City Market on Saturday

until golden brown on each side (three to

morning, meeting vendors, getting to know their

four minutes). (Chef’s note: Wipe out and

products and gaining a better understanding of how

re-olive oil the pan between batches.) To

and what to choose for your own meals. You’ll even buy one-off, three-course dinner for you and some friends.

It’s $75 to participate (including your groceries). Call 989-7648 to make a reservation.—CW

AMY JACKSON

ingredients, which later that day, Keevil will turn into a

plate, stack three pancakes and top them with two tablespoons of syrup and one tablespoon of goat cheese.

Summer Knife&Fork 11

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A taste of Hawaii

The Dish

Your new favorite flavor is...Spam?

By Dan Testa

S

Riki Tanabe’s popular Hawaiian food—which, yes, includes Spam—will get a brick and mortar spot later this year.

PHOTOGRAPHY: PAUL WHICHELOE

pam musubi is a dish in which the aforementioned Hormel pork product is grilled, laid on a block of sticky white rice and wrapped together with nori, in the Japanese style. In Hawaii, where more Spam is consumed per capita than any other state in the union, Spam musubi is ubiquitous: available everywhere from gas station convenience stores to finer establishments.

“It’s the quintessential Hawaiian snack food.

It’s convenient. It doesn’t need to be heated,” Riki Tanabe says. “It will satisfy you more than a candy bar will and carry over to your next meal if you need it.”

Tanabe has been serving and selling out of Spam musubi, along with a menu of other traditional Hawaiian dishes, at the Charlottesville City Market in preparation for opening his takeout and catering restaurant, Mochiko Cville, later this year.

Tanabe, who grew up in Hawaii and has been the pastry chef at Albemarle Baking Company since 2000, believes the timing is right to introduce Charlottesville to Hawaiian food, where the regional cuisine is heavily influenced

by Pacific cultures including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai and Filipino.

Other dishes Tanabe plans to serve include chicken katsu, a Panko-breaded cutlet deepfried and served with Hawaiian barbecue sauce; teriyaki beef; grilled shrimp and poke bowls, an increasingly popular dish usually consisting of raw salmon or tuna marinated in soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and scallions. Tanabe will serve it over a bed of rice with nori, encouraging diners to make their own hand rolls.

“In Hawaii it’s so popular that they’ll sell it by the pound,” he says. “I’d like to get to that point where I’d be able to just sell poke in a dish by the pound like they sell potato salad at Whole Foods.” He also plans a monthly luau feast serving smoked pig seasoned with alaea, a Hawaiian red sea salt, and wrapped in banana leaves.

The eatery’s namesake, Mochiko, is soy-marinated, deep-fried chicken. “I chose Mochiko

Tanabe also plans to serve poke bowls, a popular Hawaiian dish comprising raw salmon or tuna over rice.

because I wanted it to be a Hawaiian restaurant without hitting people over the head with it,” he says. “Calling it Mochiko implies that it’s going to be more of the Hawaiian regional or Hawaiian casual food that most natives would eat.”

Tanabe characterizes Spam musubi similarly: “If you walk into the shop and you see Spam musubi, it kind of legitimizes you as an authentic Hawaiian eatery,” he says.

Spam’s popularity in Hawaii goes back to World War II, when it and other canned meats like Vienna Sausage and corned beef were among the few sources of cheap, nonperishable protein available. Tanabe acknowledges Spam is nothing fancy, but it reminds him of his Japanese grandparents who were living on Oahu during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and had to persevere. Spam helped.

“It is what it is,” he says, “but it’s a symbol for me that helped my ancestors get through the tough times that they had and I’m here today because of them, so I owe the Spam some respect.”

Tanabe believes the timing is right to introduce Charlottesville to Hawaiian food, where the regional cuisine is heavily influenced by Pacific cultures including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai and Filipino.

Summer Knife&Fork 13

14 Knife&Fork Summer

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Summer Knife&Fork 15

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The Dish

The one-acre plot of UVA’s student-run Morven Kitchen Garden provides hands-on opportunities to learn about food. Likewise, below, the Urban Agriculture Collective in the city gives community members an opportunity to get their hands dirty.

You better work

Farm fresh is taken to a new level when you grab a pair of gloves and dig in. Cultivate and collect your own produce this summer by getting involved with these local volunteer gardens.

By Alexa Nash

students and the Charlottesville community to learn about sustainable agriculture.

“It’s really student-driven,” says Steph Meyers, Morven’s farm manager. Any student can get involved, and a portion of the produce they grow goes back to UVA dining services. “It really is a great way for all the worlds to collide,” Meyers said.

Urban Agriculture Collective of Charlottesville UACC provides thousands of pounds of fresh produce to the community. Volunteers meet on Wednesdays at the Friendship Court garden from 4-7pm, and the season goes through the last week of September. There’s no formal signup sheet; just come prepared to do anything from weeding to shoveling compost. Anyone with any kind of ability, experience or background can get involved.

“We create a venue where people with common interests come together, and then see what else they have in common,” operations director Todd Niemeier says.

For every half an hour of service, volunteers earn a “farm token” to exchange for a bag of assorted produce on market days. For those who can’t volunteer, there’s a Pay It Forward Jar with extra tokens to pay for produce with someone else’s time.

Morven Kitchen Garden goes beyond the collegiate and encourages University of Virginia

City Schoolyard Garden School’s out and volunteering is in. The City Schoolyard Garden, a nonprofit that has eight gardens with the Charlottesville City Schools to educate students on good agricultural practice and healthy eating, still needs people to help with gardening and organizational needs.

“They get neglected,” Jordan Johnson, City Schoolyard Garden program coordinator, says.

“We’d love for families to come in and volunteer to get engaged with their schoolyard garden.”

Some technical skills can be of use to the organization, such as design and web development, and are needed throughout the year.

High school students will also be considered for summer internships.

KEITH ALAN SPROUSE

Morven Kitchen Garden

Volunteering is open to anyone in the community, and Meyers says a typical workday includes weeding, planting and harvesting.

Other ways to get involved include direct donation or signing up for Morven’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program for regular crop shares.

Ya dig?

For more info on these volunteer opportunities, visit: uaccville.wordpress.com uvafoundation.com/morven/kitchengarden cityschoolyardgarden.org

Summer Knife&Fork 17

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18 Knife&Fork Summer

Come together

The Dish

From a fortuitous partnership grows a summer bounty

By Lisa Martin

PHOTOGRAPHY: JOHN ROBINSON

A

landowner and a farmer walk into an agriculturethemed social hour. Holly Maillet, a botanical artist and avid gardener, owns 55 acres of sun-splashed land in Madison County that she’d like to use productively. Katharine Wilson, a 26-year-old crew leader at Bellair Farm, has dreams of managing her own farm. They meet, recognize their shared vision for the land and launch a business together.

The resulting partnership is a brandnew community-supported agriculture (CSA) venture at Berrey Hill Farm, delivering diverse produce, herbs and eggs from pastured hens to subscribers in Charlottesville.

Wilson’s excitement about the year ahead is palpable as she describes the start-up process, from seeding the fields to acquiring and housing 100 hens.

“It’s full-throttle right now, and it will be a year of that to get everything established,” she says. Learning the land will involve some trial and error.

“To figure out what grows well, we may start with 50 varieties of vegetables and hone over the next few years.”

Record keeping for each crop is critical, as is gauging the demands of their customer base and accounting for potential loss at each stage. “Never stop planting is a pretty good motto for a CSA farmer,” Wilson says.

Before settling in Virginia, Wilson worked with nonprofits in east Africa to encourage community development. “I realized that food is a great root for a community to grow from,” she says, “and if I wanted to help farmers, I needed to know how to farm.” From her first season as an apprentice in southern Albemarle, she was hooked on working the land.

Both women are passionate about the local food movement and are taking a holistic approach to ecological farming. “We’re building an ecosystem,” says Maillet, “not only with the veg-

Katharine Wilson says the next year at Berrey Hill will be full throttle, learning the land by trial and error to figure out what grows best on the property.

You don’t CSA! How much does a 2-acre CSA cost to start up? Even if you provide all the labor yourself, here are a few key expenses: Irrigation supplies: $1,350 Soil amendments: $2,000 Tractor implements: $2,000 Seed: $2,250 Field supplies (like fencing): $3,500 Laying hens and supplies: $5,000 24'x48' greenhouse: $6,000 The biggest outlay of all?

A tractor (≈$25,000)

etables, but we’re healing the soil and thinking about how livestock can factor in. We’re thinking about the native habitat around us and bringing in bees. It’s a really wonderful thing to be a part of.”

Innovations abound, the largest of which is a mobile chicken coop that Wilson built on site. The hens will be rotated through fallow fields, adding valuable nitrogen to the soil at each stop. Throughout the complex planning stages, the partners only really disagreed on one thing: beets. (Maillet is not a fan, but they’ll grow them anyway.) Future plans include raising pigs—“my favorite animal and my favorite meat,” admits Wilson—and blueberries, which will take a few years to establish.

Another modern adaptation is their “market-style” CSA, which allows

customers to fill their own share bags each week rather than being given a pre-filled bag. This minimizes waste as there’s no getting stuck with unwanted produce, and the process adds to the sense of community that Maillet and Wilson are trying to build.

“We’re there at the pickup location for a few hours so that as people make their selections, they can talk to us and ask questions,” says Wilson.

The duo hope their project will be a model to young farmers of how to access land via partnering with landowners. The relationship is a serious bond, says Maillet, and rich with benefits. “We have open lines of communication and shared responsibilities.

There are lots of like-minded people around, but the trick is finding each other.” And with that discovery comes a bounty for all of us.

Summer Knife&Fork 19

20 Knife&Fork Summer

The art of food

The Dish

Pearl Island’s Javier Figueroa-Ray on cooking and creativity

W

riter, playwright, counselor— chef Javier Figueroa-Ray has worn many hats. But, to hear him tell it, cooking and poetry aren’t that different.

“When I moved to the mainland, my writing muse stopped and I began cooking,” he says. “I remembered all of my family cooking and began incorporating that into the ingredients available to me in my new surroundings.”

In the San Juan native’s household, his mom cooked “trendy” (as he puts it) food, his grandma went traditional and his uncle would cook outside on wood. Now, he translates those memories to dishes in his kitchen at Pearl Island Catering, a Caribbean-inspired restaurant at the Jefferson School City Center and at the Charlottesville City Market. “I have an idyllic memory when it comes to cooking. I research, learn, execute and repeat,” he says. “I’m always trying to create a story, a narrative to every dish and every meal.”

We asked the chef to tell us a few of his favorite foodie things, from his go-to cocktail to what sandwich he could eat every day.

Favorite bar: Fellini’s #9, although I truly miss the 9 1/2 Speakeasy. [Owner] Jo Dunkle can mix some serious drinks.

Special-occasion drink: Cosmopolitan. A good vodka, Cointreau, 100 percent cranberry juice, a touch of housemade simple syrup and splash of lemon.

AMY JACKSON

By Caite White

Chinese restaurant order: Chicken wings, pork ribs and combination fried rice (no shrimp).

Go-to comfort food: Fried plantains and pork Sandwich: Banh mi at Vu Noodles. Simply the best sandwich in town! If you don’t like it, I’ll pay for it.

Unusual ingredient: Love Healthy snack: Water!

Unhealthy snack: Tres leches (the one I make has lots and lots of rum).

Condiment: Sazon Chocolate: Dark Grocery store cookie: Whole Foods chocolate chip Dessert: Vanilla flan Beer: Weihenstephaner hefeweizen Ice cream flavor: Cookies and cream Brunch: sweet or savory? Savory always!

Kitchen aroma: Bread Bodo’s order: Everything bagel with avocado

Energy source: COFFEE!!!!

Salad bar toppings: Nuts

Breakfast: Eggs over easy—that’s all that matters!

Cut of meat: New York strip steak Fish: Sea bass

Vegetable: Cucumber Midnight snack: Frosted Flakes Always in the home fridge: Eggs, beer, lots of water in glass bottles, an onion, a pepper and a fruit.

Always in the pantry: Rice, pasta and popcorn Knife: One that does the job.

Appliance: Hyper Steamer—can’t live without it.

Cookbooks: Too many. …I don’t think we have enough time!

Mentors: My grandmother. She cooked every single day and everything was good.

Dream trip: Portugal. Lots of good wine and great food.

Cooking clothes: All black Cooking music: Salsa when mellow, heavy metal when I need to crank it up.

Food-related tattoos: None! Can’t decide.

First food memory: My mother’s rice with Vienna sausage Best meal ever: My friend Kevin Barnard’s backyard smoked pork and sausage, beer and kick-ass margaritas.

“I’m always trying to create a story, a narrative to every dish and every meal.”

Summer Knife&Fork 21

Reason #3 - Why Shop At a Co-op?

R E S TA U R A N T + A R C A D E

The money you spend at a co-op helps to support farmers and local producers. .

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Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated.

Mmmm...

Summer ·Knife&Fork 25h Baker y · Breakfast · Lunch Br un c

700 Rose Hill Drive, Charlottesville · 434.529.6118 · mariebette.com

Mix

Visit Anthony Restivo in C&O’s downstairs bar for a classic martini.

PHOTOS: PAUL WHICHELOE

26

Getting to know your local drink scene means trying one of everything (right?)

We’re not saying summer is the season for drinking (that’s every season), but there’s something about it that makes us want to mingle.

The pages that follow will introduce you to barkeeps, regulars and what you should be drinking right now. We’ll even make the case that Charlottesville does, in fact, have a dive bar.

Drink up.

it up

By Shea Gibbs, Laura Ingles, Alexa Nash, Erin O’Hare and Caite White

27

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Pick your poison Let the bartender choose your drink—if the time is right

By Shea Gibbs

I

We’ll admit that even we couldn’t sample from every bar in town (though we gave it the old college try), but here are 36 cocktails perfect for patios and pals or those lonely summer nights.

A watermelon marg at Zocalo is equal parts sweet—with its fruity purée—and spicy with muddled jalapeño.

PAUL WHICHELOE

t’s Saturday night. Eight o’clock. You step up to the bar and tell the ’tender to make you something special. Something off menu. “Dealer’s choice,” you say.

The dealer’s choice can be a wonderful thing— an exploration of your deepest desires and your drink maker’s greatest talents. But do it right.

“I head the bar in a busy, high-volume restaurant,” says Alec Spidalieri of Junction. “The majority of the drinks I’m putting out are going to patrons at tables. So when I get a table’s order from a server of ‘Oh, just make me something,’ that’s a lot of pressure, considering I don’t know you and I can neither see nor speak to you.”

The beauty of the bartender’s choice is working directly with your booze masseuse, letting him or her know your likes and dislikes and interacting in an intimate setting. Don’t assume the doctor’s best mixologisms are off-menu, but let him know if the standard choices aren’t quite hitting your sweet spot.

“We focus strongly on gin,” says Reid Dougherty of Brasserie Saison. “Sometimes I see that look on the guest’s face that says, ‘I don’t know what to do.’”

In that case, use your words. Dougherty suggests naming your favorite spirit, saying how boozy you want your drink and orienting yourself between light and heavy.

But, please, don’t forget to explore the menu first, Spidalieri says.

“It baffles me, as a bartender that puts this seasonal cocktail menu together a few times a year, that people think that the best stuff is not on the menu,” he says.

“Most of my more original ingredients are prepped for the menu drinks already, too.”

Dougherty agrees. If you want a dealer’s choice, it should be something the two of you can discuss and perfect.

Summer sippers

Brasserie Saison’s Reid Dougherty says the best stuff is already on the menu, but if you’re game, so is he. “It’s not just about making the drink, but talking about the drink,” he says. “I want to get them feeling like they’re a part of it.”

“It’s not just about making the drink, but talking about the drink,” he says. “It’s not just about saying, ‘Hey, is it good?’ It’s about being able to get them involved in the drink. It’s about saying, ‘Next time we make this, how would we change it?’ I want to get them feeling like they’re a part of it.”

The beauty of the bartender’s choice is working directly with your booze masseuse, letting him or her know your likes and dislikes and interacting in an intimate setting.

The Whiskey Jar’s herbed julep takes the Derby classic up a notch with rosemary and basil.

Arnold Palmer gets an upgrade with green tea and passion fruit at Water Street.

Words for your buzz If you’re planning to put your drinking

into something big and boozy or

bubbles give the impression of lightness

destiny in the hands of your bartender,

something more refreshing.

and liven up other flavors.

make sure you’re speaking his or her

Seasonal: As with farm-to-table cooking,

Bright/citrusy: Companion words to light

language. Here are a few boozewords

bartenders these days are looking to use

and effervescent, this will ensure your

that should help the conversation.

the freshest ingredients. This buzzword

tippler brings some acidic notes to the table.

Base spirit: To start, let your bartender

will put you on the path to drinking

Classic cocktails: Old-school drinks tend

know if you despise gin or love whiskey.

summer’s perfect produce.

to have more challenging flavors. If you say

Heavy vs. light: This is all you’ll need to

Effervescent: Sparkling wine and soda do

you like classic cocktails, you’re showing

tell your drink dealer to show if you’re

more to a drink than add flavor. The

you want to be adventurous.—SG

Bulleit rye, aperol, lemon juice and simple syrup’s powers combine in a glass with an absinthe rinse and an orange wedge in Ten’s Hemingway Stone Sour.

Summer Knife&Fork 29

Tuscan-Inspired Kitchen on the Downtown Mall

Join us for

L U NCH & W EEK END B RU NCH LUNCH

Tue-Fri, 11 am - 2 pm BRUNCH

Sat - Sun, 11 am - 2 pm 401 East Main Street Downtown Charlottesville

434.202.6040

redpumpkitchen.com

@redpumpkitchen #redpumpkitchen

Visit eastonporter.com to View our Collection

Farm-to-Table and Vine-to-Glass Join us for Featured Farmer Fridays — a mini-farmers market highlighting the goodness grown by local farmers, produce that becomes our inspiration for that afternoon’s Tasting Room bites. We believe that excellent wine and food is simply agriculture dressed up a bit. Call it agritourism if you like, we call it hospitality, and we hope you’ll join us.

For more information, visit pippinhillfarm.com

5022 Plank Road, North Garden, VA 22959 ~ 434.202.8063 ~ pippinhillfarm.com

@pippinhillfarm #pippinhill

Summer sippers

NATALIE JACOBSEN

Threepenny Café’s Lavender Sunset combines Virginia gin, Earl Grey and lavender syrups and egg whites, topped with local fleurs.

Regular-turned-employee Michael Flessner says he fell in love with Durty Nelly’s because it’s a place where you know everyone— but they’ll leave you alone.

Cheers, darlin’

When everything else is in ruins, The Local’s Pompeii —tequila, muddled basil, strawberry purée, aperol, Pernod, black peppercorn bitters—will set it right.

What’s it mean to be a regular in Charlottesville?

By Erin O’Hare

I

t’s no surprise that “Cheers” —a TV show set in a neighborhood bar—is one of the most popular sitcoms of all time. As its tagline suggests, there’s great appeal (and comfort) in going to a place where everybody knows your name. But as regulars at a couple of Charlottesville’s best-loved watering holes insist, the special thing about these places is not that everybody knows your name, it’s that they know you.

Durty Nelly’s “Hey Flezz! What’s happening?” someone calls when Michael Flessner walks through the door of Durty Nelly’s Pub & Wayside Deli on the corner of Fontaine and Jefferson Park avenues.

It’s how Flessner’s greeted by a fellow regular every time he walks

into the cozy, wood-paneled bar room. “Every day I walk in this door, if I don’t know nine of the 10 people sitting here, there’s something wrong,” Flessner says.

But usually all is well—“I walk in and I’m home. It’s like, ‘hi family!’”

Flessner has been a Durty Nelly’s regular for four years. He works in the service industry and says that late at night, it’s not easy to find a relaxing, chill place to decompress after a long shift, and whether you want to talk or just be left alone, Durty Nelly’s is that place.

Two years ago, Flessner started helping out at the bar when they needed a hand; now, he works there two or three nights a week and still comes in to hang out when he’s not on the clock, especially when there’s live music.

“The sheer amount of musical talent that walks through that door” is astounding, says Flessner, noting

that local acts like The Gladstones and Junior Moment often pack the house.

Plus, Lynyrd Skynrd drummer Artimus Pyle has performed there.

Flessner loves many things about Durty Nelly’s—his fellow regulars, the live music, owners Gary Hagar and Toby Breeden who he says “will do anything for you.” But what Flessner loves most about it is that even after decades in business, Durty Nelly’s doesn’t change. “It’s how this place will outlast the rest of ’em,” he says.

Donde Estan Mis Pantalones? We don’t know, but we know we like this unexpected combo—mezcal, agave, passion fruit and burnt thyme—from The Bebedero.

Lazy Parrot On any given weeknight, a group of four Lazy Parrot regulars can be found ordering their usual round: a white Russian, a vodka cranberry with a Fireball shot, cheap draft beer and a bottle of Budweiser.

Whether seated at an indoor table or under an umbrella on the patio, CONTINUED ON PAGE 33

Can’t go wrong with The Alley Light’s seasonal punch— spirit, citrus, lemon, water, sugar, spice, seasonal fruit.

Summer Knife&Fork 31

Relax . . . We have bacon And Breakfast All Day.

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32 Knife&Fork Summer

Summer sippers

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31

Swing out, Louise

A traditional Pimm’s Cup at Southern Crescent is the perfect complement to a platter of oysters on the half shell.

ASHLEY TWIGGS

they sip their drinks and talk spiritedly among themselves and to neighboring tables. It’s an after-work ritual they’ve had for 15 years, since they met at the old Lazy Parrot location on the other side of the shopping center.

It’s the only place they go on their way home from work, says the woman who ordered the white Russian, because of the location, the prices and the atmosphere, but mostly for each other.

“We’re good friends; we’ve connected through the years,” says the woman who ordered the vodka cranberry with a shot of Fireball. “We talk about almost everything,” says White Russian, while Vodka Cran nods and murmurs in agreement.

Their friendship may have started at the bar, but it doesn’t end there—with help from other regulars, Vodka Cran threw a baby shower for one of the Lazy Parrot bartenders. And when the woman who ordered a Budweiser broke her arm a few years ago, Vodka Cran and White Russian brought her bags of ice and helped out around the house.

“When we’re down and out, we’re there for each other,” says Vodka Cran.

Durty Nelly’s co-owner Toby Breeden has no problem with his restaurant being called a dive bar. “We’re just old,” he says.

Make a splash

Does Charlottesville have a true “dive bar”?

PAUL WHICHELOE

C

Of the more than 120 patios on which to sip your favorite cocktails, the one that really blows our skirt up (literally!) is at Shebeen Pub & Braai. Grab a seat at the bar on the covered patio and hang on to your hat—surprise!

It’s a swing!

Don’t forget to tend your Garden Variety, basil-infused vodka, Dolin Blanc and strawberry balsamic shrub at Red Pump Kitchen.

harlottesville, we love you, but you’re almost too damn square to have a real honest-to-goodness dive bar. Almost.

Sure, there are a couple places on the mall, south of downtown, out 29, maybe even on Pantops that get a bit seedy and rough around the edges late night. But we’ve only got one true dive. And it’s Durty Nelly’s. Period.

“I have no problem being called a dive bar,” says Nelly’s co-owner Toby Breeden. “We’re a restaurant, which is our mainstay. We’re just old.”

What makes a dive a dive? Kirby Hutto, who manages Sprint Pavilion and ran the Cotton Exchange on West Main before the boozin’ age went from 18 to 21, says it boils down to four things: local ownership, how long it’s been around, no bright lights or polished surfaces and a mixed clientele— blue collar folks, townies and gownies.

“In a true dive bar, hipsters might not feel comfortable,” Hutto says.

“It’s a place where you go in there and wind up having unexpected, tremendous conversations about who knows what. You have to have a certain adventurous spirit to walk in and feel comfortable.”

What sets Nelly’s apart? Breeden says it’s that they’ve been doing things the same way for nearly 40 years— other than a shift in ownership from the originals to him and Gary Hagar, previously the general manager. Live music, great food next door and a welcoming atmosphere.

Oh, and one more thing: no liquor.

“We’re not interested in all the rigmarole that goes along with serving whiskey,” Breeden says. “People come in and drink four or five beers and that’s it. People don’t act right when they drink whiskey.” Fact.—SG

Homemade ginger beer.

Gosling’s rum. Lime juice. Sometimes the best things are the most simple, like RockSalt’s Dark & Stormy.

The Pomelo, a tart treat at Orzo, pairs Ruby Red vodka with St. Germain, cranberry juice and prosecco.

Summer Knife&Fork 33

To thine own self be true C&O sticks to the standards…and remains a classic in its own right

By Erin O’Hare

C

34 Knife&Fork Summer

PAUL WHICHELOE

&O bartender Anthony Restivo likes making a Manhattan. It’s a clearly defined drink—rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, bitters—one that looks great in the glass and is generally ordered by the customer who enjoys “the drink for the drink, more than for the pretense of enjoying it,” says Restivo.

For the customer who likes the drink for the drink, who isn’t looking for a new twist on the old fashioned or a riveting take on a gimlet, C&O Restaurant is the place to go. Night after night, Restivo and his fellow seasoned (and debonair) C&O bartenders breeze around behind the bar in the dim, wood-paneled bistro room. They concoct classic cocktail after classic cocktail to guests lucky enough to have nabbed a table in one of the restaurant’s six dining rooms or, to the luckiest bunch of all, one of just a handful of well-worn stools cozied up to the high bar bookended by a neon-colored fish tank on one end and a funky, retro-rustic “Brady Bunch”-esque lamp and old-school cash register on the other.

Bar manager Dustin Fleetwood says that C&O bartenders follow a “simplest is best” method when it comes to the classics. Each bartender has his or her own style and flavor, but they try to be as consistent as possible when it comes to measuring and mixing individual cocktails, and they make large-batch bottle mixes when appropriate. For example, Fleetwood says, a negroni is equal parts Campari, sweet vermouth and gin.

Because it’s all hard liquor, they can measure out a large bottle of negroni mix for quick, consistent pours. “Therefore, the negroni Abraham pours on Tuesday should be the same exact negroni Jenn or Anthony pours later in the week,” says Fleetwood—and all of those negronis will be garnished with a wide strip of freshly sliced orange peel.

“Fresh citrus goes a really long way” in a drink, says Fleetwood, both as a garnish for negronis and old fashioneds and in juicing limes for gimlets, lemons for sidecars and grapefruits for greyhounds (and salty dogs).

These aren’t exactly secret ingredients or unique methods, so there’s got to be something else to what makes C&O a classic spot…something that has very little to do with the drinks and more to do with the atmosphere in which they’re consumed.

The answer is a cocktail in its own right: equal parts mastery of the classics, wood paneling, dim

Anthony Restivo was first drawn to the C&O bar as a customer, before becoming a bartender there. “The people I’m lucky enough to work with move with an understanding that what we do in that bar falls into a long-standing tradition,” he says.

lighting, fish tank and variety of quality tunes selected by the bartenders themselves—“we don’t believe in Pandora or other robot nonsense. The human serving the drinks is also serving the jams,” Restivo says.

C&O’s most distinct flavor note, though, is its sincerity, says Restivo. He was first drawn to the bar as a customer, for the jokes, weird rooms, low lights, good music and the cool, creative people who have made up the restaurant’s core clientele since day one. It’s well-known among C&O staff and regulars that the restaurant’s founder, Sandy McAdams (also of Daedalus Used Bookshop fame), started the place as a hangout spot for himself and his delightfully weird friends, and they work to keep that ethos alive.

“The people I’m lucky enough to work with move with an understanding that what we do in that bar falls into a long-standing tradition, and that it means a lot to a lot of people. We’re holding a space for others that we genuinely like to be in, and because we’re (usually) having a good time, it’s easy to be sincere,” Restivo says. “This is a quiet way of saying that the people that work here [are what] make it so damn good.”

Popularity contest C&O serves a host of classic cocktails, but it’s hard to know which is the most popular among customers.

“Cocktails experience periods of neglect and periods of renewed enthusiasm,” says Anthony Restivo, “but there seems to be a strong contingent for the old fashioned.”

As for some of the more overrated drinks that are

ordered, Restivo points to those with storied origins: “Why you would add vodka to gin and Lillet, then vigorously shake it is beyond me,” says Restivo of the vesper, a drink that’s mentioned in Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale. “Don’t order a drink just because James Bond did.” And then there’s Raymond Chandler’s gimlet. In Chandler’s novel The Long Goodbye, the character Terry Lennox tells Philip Marlowe, “a real gimlet is half gin and half Rose’s lime juice and nothing else.” As Restivo says, “Nobody wants that.”

The most underrated classic drink, according to

Restivo, is the Monte Carlo. He likes this rye whiskey, Benedictine and angostura bitters drink for the same reasons he likes the Manhattan—it’s clearly defined, looks good in a glass and is ordered by those who like the drink for the drink.—EO

Summer sippers

Strawberry Moon Forever (Belle Isle honey habanero moonshine, smoked strawberry shrub and Lillet Blanc) shines bright on the menu at Rapture.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Try TJ’s Express Lunch – Where everything you need, inlcuding dessert is served on one cool looking plate.

Guaranteed to your table in 30 minutes or less.

Named for its beloved barman, Oakhart Social’s Albee Seeing Ya boasts Leblon Cachaça, house blackberry syrup, lemon and cracked pepper.

TJ’s Tavern at the DoubleTree by Hilton 990 Hilton Heights Road Charlottesville, VA 22901

FOR RESERVATIONS CALL 434.529.8400

MODERN JAPANESE CUISINE DINNER SERVED MON-SAT

A traditional Tom Collins gets a sprig in its step at Public Fish & Oyster, with lavender syrup and an herb garnish.

No trip to Mono Loco is complete without a margarita. Recommended: the blood orange version.

Ten is Available to Host Your Private Event

120B E. Main St., Charlottesville on the Downtown Mall • www.ten-sushi.com • reservations: 295-6691

Summer Knife&Fork 35

YOUR ROOFTOP PERCH THIS SUMMER Craft cocktails • Mountain views Homespun small plates 434-295-4333 • graduatecharlottesville.com 1309 West Main Street • Charlottesville, VA 22903

1700 Allied St. near 250/ McIntire Rd. Interchange.

C R

RESTAURANT WEEK ™ W

JULY 14-23

July 14-23

3 prices, 3 courses

$19 $29 $39

Proceeds benefit Blue Ridge Area Food Bank 36 Knife&Fork Summer

! n w o d hC ow

CHARLOTTESVILLERESTAURANTWEEK.COM

Beer there, done that!

Summer sippers

Craft a trip to try out-of-town brews

PHOTOGRAPHY: RAMMELKAMP FOTO

The Virginia 75, a twist on a French 75 that replaces champagne with cider, is a hit at Michael’s Bistro.

Basic City Beer doesn’t take itself too seriously, but churns out some seriously good brews, at the hand of brewmaster Jacque Landry.

By Alexa Nash

Redbeard Brewing Company

Charlottesville has its own selection of stellar craft brews, to be sure, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t open yourself up to new opportunities. Take a trip over the mountain to discover new pours at one of these attentiongetters in Waynesboro and Staunton.

The slogan “small batches of big beers” sums up Redbeard Brewing’s philosophy: The Staunton-based brewhouse offers four robust flagship beers—a pale ale, a stout, an English brown ale and an IPA—and seasonal rotations. 120 S. Lewis St., Staunton. redbeardbrews.com

Stable Craft Brewing Located at Hermitage Hill Farm & Stables, a working farm and wedding venue, Stable Craft Brewing features 16 unique beers on tap made from its own hop crop. Food is available on site, so pair a smoked red ale with a satisfying burger made with locally sourced ingredients. 375 Madrid Rd., Waynesboro. stablecraftbrewing.com

Seven Arrows Brewing Company After opening on New Year’s Eve in 2014, lager-focused Seven Arrows Brewing Company developed four core beers on tap and in cans, with seasonals and rotationals available throughout the year. The taproom is also home to the independently owned Nobos Kitchen. 2508 Jefferson Hwy. #1, Waynesboro. sevenarrowsbrewing.com

Basic City Beer Co. Using water from an area spring keeps Basic City’s beer fresh and local. Pair a cold double IPA with live music every Saturday night. Not feeling the booze? Grab a house-brewed nitro coffee or kombucha. 1010 E. Main St., Waynesboro. basiccitybeer.com

Queen City Brewing With more than 80 recipes under its belt and the official title of first Staunton brewery since Prohibition, Queen City is not afraid to experiment. The taproom has 22 brews to choose from, along with fruit wines, alcoholic ginger beer and apple ale (plus homemade sodas for DDs). 834 Springhill Rd., Staunton. qcbrewing.com

Shenandoah Valley Brewing Co. Before there was beer, there were beer supplies. Doubling as a home-brewing supply store and craft brewery, SVBC takes the beer from start to finish. There’s no kitchen, but enjoy a menu from nearby Farmhouse Restaurant or BYOS (bring your own snacks) on the weekdays. 103 W. Beverley St., Staunton. shenvalbrew.com

Maya’s aptly named Coastal Breeze—Stoli vanil, Malibu, pineapple and orange juices—has us craving the beach.

Bombay gin, green chartreuse, lemon and muddled mint combine for one of Lampo’s most popular cocktails.

Bedlam Brewing This restaurant and brewpub is the newest addition to the Staunton brewery scene, opening this past January.

Brunch, lunch and dinner—from pizza to pork belly—served alongside saisons, Irish reds and more. 2303 N. Augusta St., Staunton.

Plantation Three Star rum, lime, blueberry, lavender and mint: Junction’s Songbird will have you flying back for more.

Summer Knife&Fork 37

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Summer sippers

Strange Monkey gin and strawberry lavender shrub blossom in the Jefferson’s Garden from Heirloom.

Not-so-vanilla ice A few cold facts about getting your cocktail just right

By Erin O’Hare

the ice and into the glass. The result is a cocktail that’s chilled but not diluted.

A

seat at The Alley Light’s bar is like a ticket to the bartender’s version of the Ice Capades: Bartenders are forever tossing ice cubes into shaking tins, hand-carving cubes from ice slabs pulled from the freezer and making crushed ice by hand, with a linen bag and wooden mallet.

It’s not just for show, says Alley Light bar manager Micah LeMon— ice is a crucial component of the modern cocktail, and one with an interesting history.

In the mid-19th century, a Boston entrepreneur named Frederic Tudor had a seemingly whacky idea: harvest ice from Massachusetts ponds and lakes and sell it to places like Cuba, South America and India, turning a profit by, among other things, training bartenders to use ice in refreshing drinks that customers would crave.

Before then, most cocktails were like lukewarm punches, says LeMon. But Tudor’s fanciful idea worked— after having one chilled beverage, customers wanted another and another, and their bartenders obliged, forever changing the art of the cocktail. Now, most cocktails require ice

The Albemarle Fizz— Hendrick’s, Chambord, lime juice, simple syrup and soda—at Hamiltons’ is an instant summer classic.

Stirred cocktails

At The Alley Light, as in most bars, ice is used in three ways: in shaken cocktails, stirred cocktails and shaved ice (or crushed ice) cocktails.

in some form, either in the drink itself or in the mixing process.

LeMon explains that at The Alley Light, as in most bars, ice is used in three ways: in shaken cocktails, stirred cocktails and shaved ice (or crushed ice) cocktails.

Shaken cocktails In a shaken cocktail, drink components are mixed together with cubes of ice (the larger the cube, the better) in a tin and shaken to thoroughly combine the ingredients, then strained off

Stirred cocktails, such as The Alley Light’s Improved Whiskey Cocktail (a take on the old fashioned), are typically built in the glass, component by component, and the bartender will add ice—often cut by hand for the shape of the glass—as a final step before stirring. Stirred cocktails are sometimes the strongest cocktails, and the ice serves to both chill and slightly dilute the beverage as you sip. They’ll start off boozy and become more refreshing and rounded on the palate as the ice melts.

Don’t be fooled by the rose petals atop The Fitzroy’s chamomile apricot sour; there’s nothing dainty about it.

Shaved ice cocktails These cocktails tend to be on the fruity side and thus taste best served cold. So in a shaved or crushed ice cocktail, such as a tiki drink, the ice serves almost like a mega chiller: Smaller pieces of ice means that there’s more cold surface area to interact with the combined cocktail components. Here, the palate-pleasing dilution comes not from shaking or stirring but from the melting of the ice.

Rum, chili liqueur and—say what?—cold brew coffee make for an unusual but tasty combo in Grit’s Amor al Fuego.

Summer Knife&Fork 39

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Found on West Main

Summer sippers

A tiny bar that’s big on creativity

By Erin O’Hare

O

n January 17, 1920, the United States went dry. A year earlier, the 21st Amendment had been ratified as part of the Constitution, and on that day in 1920—and for 13 years after— it became illegal to produce, import, transport and sell alcoholic beverages in the United States.

While Prohibition didn’t stop people from drinking— we’ve all heard about speakeasies—it did disenfranchise many brilliant bartenders who’d created cocktails that we now consider classics, explains Patrick McClure from a stool at the copper-topped bar at Lost Saint, where he shares head bartender duties with Carrie Meslar. “They created these masterpieces, and then all of a sudden, the government said, ‘What you do is illegal. Your art is void,’” says McClure. As a result, many of those bartenders, who had been at the social centers of their cities, towns and neighborhoods, left the country.

“To me, they were the saints of their communities,” says McClure. So when he and his brother, Andy, considered how to reinvigorate this small, dimly lit, brick-walled basement bar in a 200-year-old building, in a space that “screams speakeasy,” McClure wanted to pay homage to those lost saints.

Located in the basement of Tavern & Grocery on West Main Street, Lost Saint can accommodate roughly 30 people; otherwise, its highly trained bartenders strain to provide the level of service they strive for. When the green light behind the Tavern & Grocery host station is on, Lost Saint is open and accepting guests; when the green light is off, the bar is either closed, or open and not accepting guests.

It could easily be perceived as pretentious to tell people that they can’t come into the bar (“It implies a level of

exclusivity,” says Meslar), so Lost Saint balances that impression with a keen sense of humor.

Since Lost Saint opened in February 2016, Meslar and McClure have created a series of cleverly themed (and delicious) menus that change semi-regularly, depending on the season and what feels right. Usually the menus start as a joke between the bartenders—they constantly write down drink recipes and names that might work when it’s time to change the theme.

For example, last fall’s election season menu featured drinks such as the Anthony Weiner’s Snapchat (Espolón Tequila, orgeat, lime, bubbly) and the Overeager Intern (cold brew coffee, house vanilla vodka, Jameson Black Barrel, Demerara syrup, cream). A fitness-themed menu that ran through the spring featured drinks like the Every Day is Arm Day (Tavern & Grocery bacon-washed Elijah Craig, maple syrup, angostura bitters, habanero shrub, smoke), served with a sweatband around the glass, and the Namaste In Bed (chai-infused organic vodka, walnut-cashew milk, raw sugar, local vanilla porter bitters) served on a tiny yoga mat.

“We like a touch of whimsy,” says McClure with a smile.

In addition to the themed drinks, Lost Saint offers frequent one-off specials (like June’s Covfefe Tiki drink) and 42 on-menu classics. Guests shouldn’t feel shy about going off-menu, either, Meslar and McClure say. “At the end of the day, this is a profession that’s built around making people happy,” says Meslar, and no matter your taste, Lost Saint is happy to oblige.

As for this summer’s theme, you’ll have to see for yourself—the menu isn’t released outside of the bar. But Meslar promises a cocktail made with Boar Creek Appalachian Whiskey, Jam According to Daniel fruit preserves and Vitae Spirits orange liqueur. She says it “tastes like summer.”

The Lightening Bug (at, where else, Firefly) turns the summer cocktail on its head, with apple brandy, amaretto, rum and citrus juices.

You won’t be feeling so blue after The Downtown Grille’s blueberry lemondrop—tequila, Cointreau, fresh lime and blueberry juice.

The Namaste In Bed, the Every Day is Arm Day and a summery concoction—Lost Saint’s cocktail menu is always on theme.

Tequila, Aperol, agave and fresh lime unite with muddled cherry tomatoes and basil for the molto Italiana Etrurian marg at Commonwealth’s downstairs bar.

PAUL WHICHELOE

As for this summer’s theme, you’ll have to see for yourself—the menu isn’t released outside of the bar.

We’ve never once regretted ordering a house margarita at Continental Divide (three or four? That’s a different story).

Summer Knife&Fork 41

42 Knife&Fork Summer

Have you met Ted?

Summer sippers

Ted Norris has been bartending at Maya since before the paint was dry— literally. “A month before we opened I was here painting the walls,” he says.

We asked him to tell us more about his 10 years behind the bar, why Charlottesville drinkers should try something old and the biggest tip he ever got.

The sweet-and-sour Smokeshow at Cho’s Nachos joins muddled mango, citrus and raspberry vodka, lemonade and soda.

On longevity...

I started bartending in 1996, so anybody born the year I started bartending is now legally able to drink at my bar. Yay, if that doesn’t make you feel old.

On his “specialty”...

On Charlottesville’s adventurousness...

I think it would be cool if Charlottesville would try more of the local liquors we have here without me having to put them into a specialty drink. Sometimes you have to come up with some kind of new drink to put them in in order to get people to even try them.

On his best tip...

A car. My car broke down—like for good—and my customer found out about it and, instead of giving me a tip that night, he gave me a car. That was pretty cool.

In the belly of Cafe Caturra’s Pink Dragon lies Bacardi rum, lychee and lime juices, triple sec, simple syrup and Pom.

PAUL WHICHELOE

I consider myself a master martini maker. To make a martini the way it needs to be made, it needs to be finessed and loved. I’m about speed, simplicity and making things taste delicious. So my favorite newer one is something called a Femme Fatale. It’s a simple drink; it’s vodka, St. Germain elderflower, with a touch of pineapple and a touch of homemade sour that I make, and then I put habanero salt into it and shake it up. I think it’s my most popular drink right now.

Maya bartender Ted Norris has been serving there for 10 years, since the restaurant opened.

On drink trends...

On building relationships...

I like the reemergence of the sazerac, the old fashioneds, the Manhattans, the old-school real gin martinis. I’ve been bartending long enough now that I watch trends come and go and there’s always a steady constant that kind of flows through. But then you watch things that become popular and they die and become popular and they die to the point where things that were huge 15 years ago, nobody knows about anymore.

I have developed some really fantastic, wonderful friendships. Some of them move outside of the bar and become friends outside of here and, sometimes, I just have great friendships that stay here. And I really wanted to express how cool that is, to be able to have those kinds of relationships with people and the positive side of what this job has done for me and why I continue to do it after all these years.

We’d never had a Fennel Fantasy before C&O’s— Vitae rum, Don Ciccio & Figli Finocchietto fennel liqueur, orange and bitters—but now they won’t stop.

TOP IT OFF Head to c-ville.com/knifeandfork to see Ted—

and four other local barkeeps—answer our questions on video!

MATT BONHAM

Bitter truths Necessity is the mother of invention. At least, it was for Kip McCharen, who launched his eponymous bitters company after realizing he couldn’t get the ingredients he needed to make craft cocktails. He made a big batch in July 2016 and, within a month, was selling small bottles at the Charlottesville City Market. Local restaurants have caught on, too—McCharen’s Bitters can be found in cocktails at The Bebedero, Lost Saint, Citizen Burger Bar and others.

You can nab a bottle at mccharensbitters.etsy.com.

The Kiwi at Burger Bach is fruity through and through—with muddled kiwis taking center stage, mixed with Tito’s vodka and St. Germain, plus fresh lemon juice.

Summer Knife&Fork 43

L

isten, there’s just no way around it: Where there’s alcohol, there are calories and sugar. And unless you resign yourself to a lifetime of vodka and seltzer water (which, hey, is crisp and delicious in its own right), it’s not always easy to find a cocktail that’s in the healthy (or even healthyish) realm. So for your summer sippin’ this year, we’ve rounded up a few light and refreshing mixed drinks that won’t break the calorie bank and even have some health benefits.

town, but that certainly doesn’t stop us from mixing up our own boozy concoction. Since you can’t go wrong with a classic fruit juice and liquor combo, we went with one of owner Mike Keenan’s more unusual recommendations: the Turmeric Tonic (turmeric, lime and maple syrup) with Vitae gin. Often used in curries and other deeply flavored sauces, turmeric is known for its health benefits as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory.

The Secret Garden (left)

Ten Sushi

Ten 11 One of the simplest cocktails on Ten’s drink menu, the Ten 11 comprises three ingredients: Tito’s vodka, sake and aloe. Sake comes in at about 39 calories per fluid ounce, and aloe is good for more than just treating sunburns. It is also known for treating mouth ulcers, reducing dental plaque, improving your skin and helping with digestion. Oh, and it’s pretty tasty when mixed with vodka and sake.—LI

Public Fish & Oyster

Turmeric Tonic and Gin (right) The Juice Laundry + Vitae Spirits You may not find any Juice Laundry products behind the bars around

PAUL WHICHELOE

PAUL WHICHELOE

Healthy hooch?

If you don’t want to eat your veggies, does drinking them appeal to you? How about with a splash of vodka and lime juice? Public Fish & Oyster’s lightly sweet and earthy cocktail The Secret Garden starts with Square One cucumber vodka (the only flavored vodka behind the bar, according to owner Daniel Kaufman), shaken with lime juice, simple syrup and Fee Brothers celery bitters, topped with a pinch of freshly cracked black pepper. Perfect with a platter of salty raw oysters during the summer weather, Kaufman says it’s been the bar’s most popular cocktail by a mile.

Will run for beer

MARTYN KYLE

Charlottesville loves beer, and Charlottesville loves running. Which is why the overwhelming success of Champion’s social run club shouldn’t be surprising. Though not a runner himself, Champion owner Hunter Smith conceived of the idea for the club, now affectionately called Paavo’s Apostles after the legendary runner Paavo Nurmi. What started as a handful of runners meeting up at Champion has evolved into a group that often reaches triple digits for the weekly three- or five-mile runs.

Last year organizers of the group hosted a 5K in remembrance of the notorious “Running Man” Phillip Weber III, who died in early 2016, and the group donated the proceeds to the library where Weber loved to spend his time when he wasn’t running. Check out Champion’s Facebook page for more information about the run club and upcoming events.—LI

44 Knife&Fork Summer

Summer sippers

The James Bondinspired Vesper Royale at Brasserie Saison goes above and beyond with an aperitif and vermouth.

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Adulthood meets childhood with Boylan Heights’ raspberry and cream milkshake— black raspberry liqueur and vanilla ice cream, with whipped cream on top (obvs).

Deceptively simple, Bizou’s St. Germain spritzer—St. Germain, Cava, lemon juice and seltzer—is a favorite summer fling.

Ruby Red vodka and grapefruit juice beneath a sugar rim, Bang!’s Pink Squeeze has us seeing things through a rosecolored cocktail.

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48 Knife&Fork Summer

T HE SW EET SP OT

Zeroing in on special vineyard sites

BY ERIN SCALA Veritas Vineyard STEPHEN BARLING

Summer Knife&Fork 49

COURTESY ANKIDA RIDGE

S

50 Knife&Fork Summer

Mountain Vineyards’ Ben Jordan. “I’m not the first to say so, but I think the best is yet to come.”

As the industry grows into its next phase, it’s helpful to revisit some vineyards that seem to have that “special something” in the hopes that we can glean a bit of experiential knowledge and new plantings may be aimed at great sites. Even at this early juncture, here are a few places that consistently give up superior fruit.

Ankida Ridge “There are a few characteristics that make Ankida Ridge a great site for growing quality wine grapes,” says winemaker Nathan Vrooman. “The elevation and relative altitude of the vineyard allow for excellent drainage of cold air, which helps to mitigate our risk for spring frost.” Ad-

COURTESY BARBOURSVILLE VINEYARDS

everal decades into Virginia’s booming post-Prohibition wine economy, we are starting to home in on some special vineyard sites throughout the state. In France, you’ll find heavily protected and coveted Grand Cru and Premier Cru sites; in other wine-centric countries you’ll find similar infrastructures protecting the best vineyards.

What sites are emerging as Virginia’s equivalent to Grand Cru vineyards?

A straightforward answer is much more elusive than you might think, because the question is being asked, perhaps, a bit too early. Learning the land takes time because agriculture takes time. The search for quality in the wine business is an especially drawn-out process because, though grapes are an annual product, a grape vine plant has a similar lifespan to a human, and grape vine roots can take decades to reach the depth and maturity they need to truly express their place. Only when the vines are echoing their environment can the influence of special sites shine their truest. This clarity of site quality can take decades and generations to discover.

You just can’t rush it.

Broaching the topic of “best sites” with some of Virginia’s top wine minds often draws a certain measure of recoil.

“I’d say for the most part that we are so young as an industry that most of our best sites are unplanted and yet to be discovered,” says Early

ditionally, the slope of the vineyard, combined with the loose rocky soil, allows for water drainage, so the plants are forced to send their roots deeper into the ground. Being on a mountainside, there’s almost constant air movement, so the plants and the fruit tend to dry very quickly, which results in lighter fungal pressures.

Barboursville Vineyards Barboursville winemaker Luca Paschina is always reevaluating his vineyard blocks for the highest quality material to make his Octagon blend. Among the vineyard’s 900 acres, there is a particular area that the wine team has designated “santa,” as if holy. For the past 18 years, it has been producing, with almost impeccable consistency, its prized Merlot, which is the starting block of the winery’s Octagon blend.

“Many elements make the block special,” Paschina says, “starting from the medium vigor red clay soil to the gradually steep slope facing to the east, which allows for a nice early morning dew-drying sun and for a cooling during the late summer afternoons.”

Michael Shaps Wineworks For Michael Shaps, who produces wine from grapes grown on various properties, three special Barboursville Vineyards

ly with the vineyards from Veritas’ first plantings in 1999, but says the newer ones—planted in the last four years—are quickly gaining her favor.

“We cleared 30-odd acres on the top of our ‘saddleback’ and we have planted it to Viognier and Cabernet Franc,” she says. “I think it may be the promise of the future that makes my heart skip a beat every time I visit these vineyards, or it may be the view, I’m not sure. This vineyard would be my first site that has considerable elevation and gorgeous aspect. Fingers crossed!”

Jake Busching Wines Winemaker Jake Busching is currently focusing on 800- to 1,000-foot elevation sites with claybased soil: Honah Lee, Carter Mountain and Wild Meadow and similar vineyards that are slowly being tuned in vintage after vintage.

“Monticello reds and Northern Virginia whites stand out to me, just as the Shenandoah Valley has so much to offer,” Busching says. “But like all of the sites, we need more time to suss it all out. We are headed into greatness. Patience seems like our best ally.”

While we are clearly far from drawing an official map that guides people toward the best vineyard sites, we are rushing into a third wave of Virginian wine investment. “We have so much yet to explore, so many places to dig and find hope for the future of our craft,” says Busching. “We are infants in an old world of wine and dirt.”

Ankida Ridge vineyards stick out in his mind: Carter Mountain for its Cabernet Franc, the Gordonsville’s Honah Lee Vineyard for its Petit Manseng and Loudoun County’s Wild Meadow vineyard for its Chardonnay.

“What makes Wild Meadow so special is not one particular variable, but how all the elements come together,” Shaps says. “The soil is lighter, loamier with less clay and with good drainage. But that in conjunction with the slope, exposure and its northern Virginia location, which provides cooler nighttime temps during the critical last two weeks of ripening, help to produce very balanced chemistry, which in wine vocab means fresh fruit.”

Erin Scala is the sommelier at Fleurie and Petit Pois.

She holds the Diploma of Wines & Spirits, is a Certified Sake Specialist and writes about beverages on her blog, thinking-drinking.com.

Emily Pelton, winemaker at Veritas, loves the new vineyards her family has planted. She works main-

Albemarle CiderWorks What started as an orchard for rare and heirloom apples grew into a popular area cidery. Tastings and tours are available for $3 per person. 2550 Rural Ridge Ln. 297-2326. albemarleciderworks.com Ankida Ridge Vineyards A Sumerian word that means “where heaven and earth join,” Ankida marks the spot—at 1,800' on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Visit the downtown tasting room (209 Second St., 989-7420, 22brixwineroom.com), too. 1304 Franklin Creek Rd., Amherst. 922-7678. ankidaridge.com Autumn Hill Vineyards Only open four weekends per year, Autumn Hill produces eight varietals. Tastings are $7 per person. Stanardsville.

985-6100. autumnhillwine.com Barboursville Vineyards Routinely listed on national “Best winery” lists, Barboursville is a true destination—for the wines and the scenery. Open for tastings ($5, includes glass).

17655 Winery Rd., Barboursville. (540) 8323824. bbvwine.com Blenheim Vineyards Established in 2000 by owner Dave Matthews (yep, that Dave Matthews), Blenheim’s timber-frame tasting room looks down into the barrel room. Tours and tastings are $5 per person. 31 Blenheim Farm. 2935366. blenheimvineyards.com Bluestone Vineyard Award-winning smallbatch wines in the Shenandoah Valley. Open daily for tastings. 4828 Spring Creek Rd., Bridgewater. (540) 828-0099. bluestonevineyard.com Bold Rock Cidery Virginia’s largest (and growing!) cidery. Free tours and tastings daily. 1020 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Nellysford. 361-1030. boldrock.com

Burnley Vineyards One of the oldest vineyards in the Monticello Viticultural Area. Tastings are $2 per person. 4500 Winery Ln., Barboursville. (540) 832-2828. burnleywines.com Cardinal Point Vineyard & Winery Try the Quattro—a blend of Riesling, Gewurtztraminer, Viognier and Traminette—at this spare but relaxing spot. Open for tours and $5 tastings.

9423 Batesville Rd., Afton. (540) 456-8400. cardinalpointwinery.com Castle Hill Cider Enjoy a glass of Terrestrial on the octagonal porch or explore the grounds.

Open for tastings daily. 6065 Turkey Sag Rd., Keswick. 296-0047. castlehillcider.com Chestnut Oak Vineyard Single-varietal, single-vineyard wines from Petit Manseng to Chardonnay. Weekend tastings from noon-6pm.

5050 Stony Point Rd., Barboursville. 964-9104. chestnutoakvineyard.com

MARTYN KYLE

Veritas Vineyards

Afton Mountain Vineyards Try the Albarino, a limited-production, estate-grown white only available in the summer. Tastings are $7 per person. 234 Vineyard Ln., Afton. (540) 456-8667. aftonmountainvineyards.com

Brent Manor Vineyards Sample wines from the vineyard and a selection of nearby Virginia wines. Tastings are $9 per person. 100 Brent Manor Ln., Faber. 826-0722.

Horton Vineyards Winemaker Michael Heny is impressed with the Viognier from Berry Hill Vineyard, just outside of Washington, D.C., where Dennis Horton started the Viognier story in Virginia. “Year-in, year-out, it continues to prove itself,” Heny says. “The vineyard isn’t immune to frost, but it’s never severe.

Hail strikes from time to time but the vines bounce back. We get hot, we get cold, we get dry, we get wet, with a procession of various insects entering and exiting the stage. The vines take it all in stride, dependably delivering lug after lug after lug of beautifully golden ripened fruit.”

Wineries, Vineyards & Cideries

Michael Shaps produces wine from grapes grown all over the region.

Cooper Vineyards There’s something for everyone—including sangria—under Cooper’s LEED-certified roof. Open for tastings daily. $10 per person. 13372 Shannon Hill Rd., Louisa.

(540) 894-5253. coopervineyards.com CONTINUED ON PAGE 53

Summer Knife&Fork 51

148 O ld Stony Ridge R d

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1100 Dryden Lane, Charlottesville, VA 22903

52 Knife&Fork Summer

WINERY SPOTLIGHT

Cunningham Creek Winery Once a working cow farm, this winery offers Chardonnay, Viognier, Pinot Gris, Cab Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot.

Open for tastings daily. $8 per person. 3304 Ruritan Lake Rd., Palmyra. 207-3907. cunningham creek .wine DelFosse Vineyards & Winery Try the reds at this off-the-beaten-path spot 30 minutes from Charlottesville. $5 for a classic tasting, $10 for reserve. 500 DelFosse Winery Ln. 2636100. delfossewine. com Democracy Vineyards All-American winery with regular music and events. Tastings are $5-8 per person. 585 Mountain Cove Rd., Lovingston.

263-8463. democracyvineyards.com DuCard Vineyards A successful grape-growing business bloomed into what’s now this boutique winery. Tastings are $6 per person and are credited back with a two-bottle minimum purchase. 40 Gibson Hollow Ln., Etlan. (540) 9234206. ducardvineyards.com Early Mountain Vineyards Beautifully appointed facility, with a terrace for mountain and vineyards views while sipping. 6109 Wolftown- Hood Rd., Madison. (540) 948-9005. earlymountain.com First Colony Winery Adopt a row of grape vines and you’ll get to learn how to prune and participate in its harvest. $5 tastings. 1650 Harris Creek Rd. 979-7105. firstcolonywinery.com Five Oaks Vineyard Hybrid vines producing Chambourcin, Sabrevois and more. 4574 Belle Vista Dr., Barboursville. 242-9445. fiveoaksvineyard.com Flying Fox Vineyard Named after the weathervane on the vineyard’s main building, Flying Fox boasts a limited production of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Viognier and Pinot Gris.

Tastings are $5. Highway 151 and Chapel Hollow Road, Afton. 361-1692. flyingfoxvineyard.com Grace Estate Winery This 50-acre vineyard on scenic Mount Juliet Farm produces 14 varietals. $9 tastings. 5273 Mount Juliet Farm, Crozet. 8231486. graceestatewinery.com Hill Top Berry Farm & Winery The bread and butter at this medieval-themed winery is the authentic honey meads. Try the Dragon’s Blood.

Open for tours and tasting. 2800 Berry Hill Rd., Nellysford. 361-1266. hilltopberry wine.com Horton Vineyards Fruit and dessert wines abound at this winery just outside of Barboursville. Tastings are $5. 6399 Spotswood Trail, Gordonsville. (540) 832-7440. hortonwine.com Jefferson Vineyards Grab a bottle of Meritage and get a spot on the tree deck for a picturesque afternoon. Tastings are $10. 1353 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy. 977-3042. jefferson vineyards.com Keswick Vineyards Dog-friendly tasting spot located at the historic 400-acre Edgewood Estate. Tastings daily. 1575 Keswick Winery Dr., Keswick. 244-3341. keswickvineyards.com Kilaurwen Winery Artisanal wines near Shenandoah National Park. 1543 Evergreen Church Rd., Stanardsville. 985-2535. kilaurwenwinery.com King Family Vineyards Frequent Governor’s Cup award winner, King Family is also the site of polo matches every Sunday from Memorial Day weekend to mid-October. Tastings are $7, and you get to keep the glass! 6550 Roseland Farm, Crozet. 823-7800. kingfamilyvineyards.com Knight’s Gambit Vineyard More than five acres of Petit Verdot, Pinot Grigio, Merlot and Cabernet Franc located on a rolling hillside near Whitehall. 2218 Lake Albemarle Rd. 566-1168. knightsgambitvineyard.com Lazy Days Winery A boutique winery that’s home to local festivals like the Virginia Summer Solstice Wine Festival. Open for tastings. 1351 N. Amherst Hwy., Amherst. 381-6088. lazydays winery.com

STEPHEN BARLING

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 51

Loving Cup Vineyard & Winery A certifiedorganic vineyard and winery tucked away in the hills. Tastings are $5. Open Friday-Sunday, 11am5pm (April-December). 3340 Sutherland Rd., North Garden. 984-0774. lovingcupwine.com

Glass House Winery

Sharp Rock Vineyards Once a working family farm, Sharp Rock is now a vineyard, winery and bed and breakfast. Tastings and self-guided tours available. 5 Sharp Rock Rd., Sperryville. (540) 987-8020. sharprockvineyards.com

Lovingston Winery A densely planted 8.5 acres yields wine of high-quality fruit. (Word to the wise: Leave your pups at home; there are two here already!) Free tastings. 885 Freshwater Cove Ln., Lovingston. 263-8467. lovingstonwinery.com

In an area with more than 50 wineries

Meriwether Springs Vineyard The post-andbeam event space is just the beginning—there are also two ponds, a three-acre lake and beautiful Ivy Creek here, which flanks the property.

Open for tours and tastings. 1040 Owensville Rd. 270-4299. meriwethersprings.com

out among the crowd. At Glass House

Stinson Vineyards The cozy tasting room opens to a quaint patio for sipping award-winning wines and noshing on farm-fresh snacks.

Tastings are $7, $10 per person for groups of 10 or more. 4744 Sugar Hollow Rd., Crozet.

823-7300. stinsonvineyards.com

Michael Shaps Wineworks Sample Virginia wines in the spare but stylish tasting room, as well as the Premiere Cru Burgundies, grown and bottled in France by owner Michael Shaps. $10 for a tasting of 12 wines. 1781 Harris Creek Way, 296-3438; 1585 Avon St. Ext. (Wineworks Extended), 529-6848. michaelshapswines.com

within spitting distance, we’d imagine it’s difficult to come up with that something extra that helps you stand Winery, it’s, well, a glass house.

In addition to its award-winning wines—from Pinot Gris to Chardonnay to even a port-style blend—and artisan chocolates made by the in-house chocolatier, Glass House is known for its tropical conservatory. Attached to the tasting room is a wall-to-wall

Mountain Cove Vineyards Even better with age? The first batch of wine here was made in 1976. Open for tours and tastings. 1362 Fortunes Cove Ln., Lovingston. 263-5392. mountaincove vineyards.com

botanical garden—a sight to behold

Mountfair Vineyards You’ll find small-batch, blended red wines at Mountfair, just 20 miles west of Charlottesville. Open for complimentary tastings. 4875 Fox Mountain Rd., Crozet. 8237605. mountfair.com

conservatory is a send-up to the

Moss Vineyards Fifty-two acres with views of the Blue Ridge, including nine under vine with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Viognier grapes. Open for tastings Friday-Sunday. 1849 Simmons Gap Rd., Nortonsville. 990-0111. mossvineyards.net Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards Try a glass of the Merlot Reserve while having lunch at the Farm Table & Wine Bar. Tastings are $6 per person. 5022 Plank Rd., North Garden. 202-8063. pippinhillfarm.com Pollak Vineyards Located between Charlottesville and Wintergreen, this 98-acre farm produces 27 acres of French vinifera. Open daily. 330 Newtown Rd., Greenwood. (540) 4568844. pollakvineyards.com Prince Michel Vineyard & Winery Sip a glass of Chardonnay in Prince Michel’s tasting

for sippers who want to feel like they’re on their own private island.

In fact, that was the point. The tropical locale where the owners lived prior to moving to Virginia in 2006. Welcome to the jungle!

Tastings are $5 per person, $8 with an etched wine glass. 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union.

975-0094. glasshousewinery.com room, above the barrel cave and tank room.

Tastings and self-guided tours. 154 Winery Ln., Leon. (540) 547-3707. princemichel.com Rappahannock Cellars West Coast wine on the East: A desire to raise their 12 children in Virginia led Rappahannock’s owners to relocate from California. Open year-round for tours and $8 tastings. 14437 Hume Rd., Huntly. (540) 6359398. rappahannockcellars.com Rassawek Vineyards No tasting room; these folks grow grapes for other wineries. 6276 River Rd. W., Columbia. (804) 396-3098. rassawek.com

Stone Mountain Vineyards A rustic winery offers panoramic views of the surrounding counties from 1,700'. Tastings and tours available. 1376 Wyatt Mountain Rd., Dyke. 9909463. stonemountainvineyards.com Thistle Gate Vineyard Handcrafted wines aged in French and American oak. Tastings available. 5199 W. River Rd., Scottsville. 286-7781. thistlegatevineyard.com Trump Winery Virginia’s largest vineyard, Trump (yes, that Trump) offers 200 acres of French vinifera varieties. Tastings are $10 for seven wines.

3550 Blenheim Rd., 984-4855. trumpwinery.com Valley Road Vineyards Vineyard and tasting room at the head of the Rockfish Valley. Tastings are $10 per person for six wines or $15 for a tasting paired with Flora Artisanal Cheese.

9264 Critzers Shop Rd., Afton. (540) 456-6350. valleyroadwines.com Veritas Vineyard & Winery Award-winning wines at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Bring a picnic basket! Tastings are $5. 145 Saddleback Farm, Afton. (540) 456-8000. veritas wines.com Weston Farm Vineyard & Winery Small, family-owned winery. Must love dogs: Charlie and Suzie, the owners’ French bulldogs, often roam the property. $5 tastings and you keep the glass. 206 Harris Creek Rd., Louisa. (540) 9674647. westonfarmvineyardandwinery.webs.com White Hall Vineyards Call ahead to reserve a cheese plate from the neighboring monastery to enjoy with your $5 tasting. 5282 Sugar Ridge Rd., White Hall. 823-8615. whitehallvineyards.com Wisdom Oak Winery Make your way down the long gravel road to get to an intimate tasting room and outdoor picnic area. Tastings and tours are $5 per person and $10 per person for groups of eight or more. 3613 Walnut Branch Ln., North Garden. 984-4272. wisdomoakwinery.com

Summer Knife&Fork 53

Restaurant Guide Restaurant price ranges $/Under $10, $$/$10-25, $$$/$25+

Asian Cuisine Asian Express Cheap and cheerful, plus delivery. 909 W. Main St. 979-1888. $.

Bamboo House Korean and Chinese entrées served with an aesthetic flair. 4831 Seminole Trail. 9739211. $$.

Bang! Asian fusion tapas, martinis to die for. 213 Second St. 984-BANG. $.

Bangkok ’99 Traditional Thai. 540 Radford Ln. #700, Crozet, 823-5881; 2005 Commonwealth Dr., 974-1326. $$.

Beijing Station Chinese favorites on the Corner.

104 14th St. NW. 234-3877. $.

Café 88 Cheap dim sum, bento boxes and soups.

Lots of veggie offerings. Preston Plaza. 293-9888. $.

Chen’s Chinese Take-out or eat-in. Inside Annie Land Plaza. 73 Callohill Dr., Lovingston. 263-8865. $.

Chopsticks Express Straight-up no-nonsense Chinese place. 1841 Seminole Trail. 975-4380. $.

Doma Korean Kitchen Korean-style barbecue, kimchi and more. 701 W. Main St. (703) 336-3918. $.

Downtown Thai Homemade recipes from Bangkok. 111 W. Water St. 245-9300. $$.

East Garden From chow mein to General Tso’s.

Pantops Shopping Center. 295-2888. $.

Flaming Wok Japanese standards prepared before your eyes. 1305 Seminole Trail. 974-6555. $$.

Giddy’s Good Fortune Take Away Counter-service spot with Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai.

4916 Plank Rd., North Garden. 245-0332. $.

Ginkgo Chinese Restaurant Sichuan classics from a Peter Chang-trained chef. 104 14th St. NW #8. 872-9386. $/$$.

Got Dumplings Pork, chicken, shrimp and chive, tofu—fast and hot. 1395 W. Main St. 244-3040. $.

Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet Watch chefs prepare food hibachi-style. 1185 Seminole Trail.

973-8889. $$.

Himalayan Fusion Curries, tandoori and other faves, plus a lunch buffet. 520 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 293-3120. $$.

Hong Kong Restaurant & Take-out Favorite Chinese entrées down Avon way. Southside Shopping Center, off Avon Street. 245-8818. $.

Jade Garden Chinese essentials, plus twists like Hawaiian-style Triple Delight. 1139 Fifth St. SW. 979-3512. $.

Kabuto Sushi and Teppanyaki Beautifully presented fresh sushi and teppanyaki, plus soups and desserts. 1836 Abbey Rd. 973-1585. $.

Korean House Traditional Korean specials for modest prices. Cheap lunch specials, too. 221 Carlton Rd. 244-0736. $$.

Kuma Sushi Noodle & Bar Pan-Asian restaurant and karaoke bar. 12 Elliewood Ave. 328-2741. $.

Kyoto A mix of Japanese and Chinese meals— teppanyaki to bento boxes. Rio Hill Shopping Center. 923-8889. $.

Lemongrass Vietnam meets Thailand. Veggie options and delivery, too. 104 14th St. NW. 244THAI. $$.

54 Knife&Fork Summer

Lime Leaf Thai The serene dining room is a tad more upscale than the average Thai place. Rio Hill Shopping Center. 245-8884. $/$$.

Love Sushi King All-you-can-eat sushi for $11.98 (lunch) or $17.99 (dinner). Seminole Square Shopping Center. 978-1199. $.

Maharaja Spicy Indian specialties. The lunch buffet’s a deal. Seminole Square Shopping Center. 973-1110. $$.

Marco & Luca’s Noodle Shop Quality meets quantity for under $5. York Place, Downtown Mall, 295-3855; 107 Elliewood Ave., 244-0016; 176 Zan Rd., no phone. $.

Mi Canton Chinese and Latin cuisine. Think pupusas with a side of beef lo mein. McIntire Plaza.

296-8661. $.

Miso Sweet Ramen and donuts. 414 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 979-6496. $.

Milan Indian Cuisine Authentic Indian cuisine with all the standards; daily lunch buffet. 1817 Emmet St. 984-2828. $$.

Ming Dynasty Chinese food with many vegetarian options. Low-fat menu available. 1417 Emmet St. N. 979-0909. $.

Monsoon Siam Curries, pad Thai and other entrées, plus an outdoor patio. 113 W. Market St. 971-1515. $$.

Noodles & Company Fast-casual chain with noodles, soups and sandwiches. The Shops at Stonefield. 984-9621. $.

Now & Zen Bite-sized gourmet Japanese and sushi spot. 202 Second St. NW. 971-1177. $$.

Oriental Express Chinese standards plus sushi.

3440 Seminole Trail, Suite 107. 974-9988. $.

Pad Thai Homestyle Thai cooking from an experienced chef. 156 Carlton Rd. 293-4032. $$.

Peter Chang China Grill Authentic Sichuan cuisine from a renowned chef. Barracks Road Shopping Center North Wing. 244-9818. $$.

Poke Sushi Bowl Hawaiian-inspired poke on the Corner. 101 14th St. NW. 328-8833. $.

Red Lantern Chinese cuisine by the pint or the quart. 221 Carlton Rd. 979-9968. $.

Royal Indian Restaurant One of the best-kept secrets in town. Seminole Square Shopping Center. 973-2288. $$.

Sakura Japanese Steak and Seafood Great teppanyaki seafood and Japanese-style steaks.

Hollymead Town Center. 872-0099. $$/ $$$.

ShangHai Wide array of regional selections, plus a lunch buffet. 312 Pantops Shopping Center.

984-2688. $.

Shun Xing Szechuan, Hunan and Cantonesestyle dishes. Forest Lakes Shopping Center. 9749888. $.

Szechuan Szechuan, Mandarin, Japanese hibachi and all-you-can-eat lunch buffet. Delivery, too. 2006 Holiday Dr. 296-9090. $.

Taiwan Garden Basic assortment of Chinese fare in basic surroundings. 2171 Ivy Rd. 295-0081. $.

Tara Thai Serves up affordable Thai faves, with multiple meat, fish and veggie options. Barracks Road Shopping Center. 984-9998. $$.

Taste of China Chinese favorites on 29N. Albemarle Square Shopping Center. 975-6688. $$.

Taste of India Delicious Indian fare and a lunch buffet under $9. 310 E. Main St, Downtown Mall.

984-9944. $$.

Tea House Chinese-American and authentic Chinese weekly specials. 325 Four Leaf Ln., Crozet. 823-2868. $.

Ten Super swanky second-floor spot serving modern Japanese. 120B E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 295-6691. $$$.

Thai ’99 Thai restaurant with everything you’d expect, served simply and reasonably priced.

2210 Fontaine Ave. 245-5263. $.

Thai ’99 II Similar food as its numerical predecessor but with radically different interior. In the Gardens Shopping Center. 964-1212. $.

Thai Cuisine & Noodle House Traditional Thai food, noodle dishes and vegetarian specials.

2005 Commonwealth Dr. 974-1326. $$.

Thai Fresh Thai take-out with great prices. 106 Fifth St. SE. 249-5291. $.

Tokyo Rose Long-standing landmark serves sushi and sashimi. 2171 Ivy Rd. 296-3366. $$.

Vu Noodles Four kinds of homemade noodle bowls from a take-out window. 110 Second St. NW. $.

Yuan Ho Great lunch deal before 4pm. 117 Maury Ave. 977-7878. $.

Zip Chicken Korean-style fried chicken and fusion. 105 14th St. NW. 202-0772. $.

Zzaam Fresh Korean Grill Tacos, rice bowls, noodle bowls and more—Korean-style. 1232 Emmet St. 284-8980. $.

Bakeries Albemarle Baking Company Get your ABCs of baked goods here. 418 W. Main St., in the Main Street Market. 293-6456. $.

BreadWorks Breads, desserts and a full deli with sandwiches, soups, etc. Preston Plaza, 296-4663; 2955 Ivy Rd., 220-4575. $.

Carpe Donut Well-loved donuts, hot beverages and locally brewed kombucha. McIntire Plaza.

202-2918. $.

Chandler’s Bakery Cakes for any occasion, plus cookies and brownies for your sugar fix. Rio Hill Shopping Center. 975-2253. $.

Crust & Crumb Bakery Fresh-baked bread and pastry specials, plus a light menu. 1671 W. River Rd., Scottsville. 960-4444. $.

Duck Donuts Outer Banks donut spot with madeto-order treats. Stonefield Shopping Center, 8231960. $.

Found. Market Co. Bakehouse and mercantile specializing in cookies—eat them there or take dough home. 221 Carlton Rd., Suite 2. $$.

Great Harvest Bread Company Sandwiches, sweets and bread baked from scratch every day.

McIntire Plaza. 202-7813. $.

MarieBette Café & Bakery French pastries for breakfast, more pastries (and a dine-in menu) for lunch. 700 Rose Hill Dr. 529-6118. $.

Nestlé Toll House Café Coffee, ice cream, cookie cakes and other sweet treats from the chocolatey chain. 5th Street Station. 328-8393. $.

Pearl’s Bake Shoppe Classic and specialty cupcakes, plus desserts and other sweet treats. 711 W. Main St. 293-2253. $.

SweetHaus Homemade cupcakes and specialty candy at this sweet shop on West Main. 2248 Ivy Rd., 270-2944; 929 Second St. SE, 422-2677. $.

The Pie Chest Homemade breakfast and hand pies, plus by-the-slice options. 119 Fourth St. NE. 977-0443. $.

Bars, Breweries and Grills Beer Run Rotating beers on tap, six-packs and wine to take away and three meals daily. 156 Carlton Rd., Suite 203. 984-2337. $$.

BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse American fare—plus pizza and award-winning, handcrafted beer. 3924 Lenox Ave. 422-5170. $$.

Blue Mountain Brewery Well-liked brewery serves up its local drafts, plus light fare for lunch and dinner. 9519 Critzers Shop Rd., Afton. (540) 456-8020. $$.

Blue Tavern & Sports Bar Food offerings include 55 flavors of chicken wings. 8315 Seminole Trail, Ruckersville. 985-3633. $$.

Blue Toad Hard Cider Large outdoor space, classic pub food and, of course, hard cider. 9278 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Afton. 996-6992. $$.

Bold Rock Hard Cider Excellent hard cider and scenic views. Lunch fare and apps available, too.

1020 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Nellysford. 361-1030. $.

Champion Brewing Company No food, but five ales on tap and food trucks outside. 324 Sixth St. SE. 295-2739. $.

Cho’s Nachos and Beer Nachos abound, from the Two Step (with short ribs) to the Poke-Cho’s (with sushi-grade tuna). 946 Grady Ave. #16. 2932017. $$.

Coupe’s Pub food with a popular late-night scene.

9 Elliewood Ave. 282-2141. $.

Devils Backbone Brewing Company Nelson’s hip brewpub—award-winning craft beers, lunch and dinner. 200 Mosbys Run, Roseland. 3611001. $$.

Double Horseshoe Saloon American food, plus billiards and occasional live music. 1522 E. High St. 202-8714. $.

Draft Taproom Sixty self-serve taps with a large, diverse selection of craft beer styles. 425 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 422-5901. $.

Fardowners Restaurant Local ingredients liven up pub fare like sliders and sandwiches.

5773 The Square, Crozet. 823-1300. $/$$.

Firefly Craft beer, tasty eats and arcade games.

1304 E. Market St. 202-1050. $.

Hardywood Pilot Brewery & Taproom Charlottesville’s version of the beloved Richmond brewhouse. 1000 W. Main St. 234-3386. $.

Hurley’s Tavern Twenty taps and 20 TVs. Rivanna Plaza. 964-2742. $.

James River Brewing Co. There’s only beer here. 561 Valley St., Scottsville. 286-7837. $.

Joe’s Pool Hall & Sports Bar Pool, darts, poker and ’cue. Scottsville Shopping Center, Scottsville. 286-7665. $.

Kardinal Hall Bocce and beer garden. 722 Preston Ave. 295-4255. $.

Lost Saint Diminutive cocktail bar below Tavern & Grocery. 333 W. Main St. 293-7403. $.

Miller’s A classic Downtown bar, with pub grub and live music every night. 109 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. 971-8511. $$.

Mountain Grill Farm to table at Carter Mountain Orchard. 1435 Carters Mountain Trail. 977-1833. $$.

Mountainside Grille Everything from Cobb salad to peanut butter and chocolate chip pie.

375 Four Leaf Ln., Crozet. 823-7080. $$.

Potter’s Craft Cider Handcrafted cider out of Free Union, with with a city tasting room. 209 Monticello Rd. 964-0271. $.

Pro Re Nata Brewery A farm brewery and food truck offering up to 12 craft beers and live music.

6135 Rockfish Gap Tpke., Crozet. 823-4878. $.

Random Row Brewing Co. No food (but there are food trucks!), but nearly 12 beers on tap. 608 Preston Ave. 284-8466. $.

Rapture Contemporary American with soulful accents, weekend brunch, purple pool tables and

Restaurant Guide a hoppin’ dance club. 303 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 293-9526. $$.

Rockfish 151 Pub Irish-American grub, with daily specials. 9278 Rockfish Valley Hwy. 966-6992. $.

South Street Brewery Brews and food from the folks at Blue Mountain. 106 W. South St. 293-6550. $$.

Starr Hill Brewery Largest independent craft brewer in Virginia with 16 rotating beers on tap.

5391 Three Notched Rd., Crozet. 823-5671. $.

Stoney Creek Bar & Grill Distinctive dining at Wintergreen’s Stoney Creek Golf Course. Wintergreen Resort, Rte. 664, Nellysford. 325-8110. $-$$.

SWAY Taphouse & Grill Farm-to-plate Southern staples. 5790 Three Notch’d Rd., Crozet.

823-4328. $.

Texas Roadhouse Steaks, ribs and from-scratch sides. Albemarle Square. 973-4700. $$.

The Biltmore Large portions and a popular drinking scene. 16 Elliewood Ave. 202-1498. $.

The Livery Stable Hole-in-the-wall (er, basement) spot Downtown. 120 Old Preston Ave. 202-2088. $/$$.

The Pub by Wegmans Pub fare for lunch and dinner, plus beer, wine and signature drinks. 100 Wegmans Way. 529-3265. $$.

The Smokehouse Grille Locally sourced barbecue, plus a seasonal farm-to-table menu. 515 Valley St., Scottsville. 286-4745. $$.

The Southern Café & Music Hall Downtown music venue opens its café before shows. 103 S. First St. 977-5590. $.

The Villa Sports Bar & Ultra Lounge Live music, private parties, Mexican food and dancing.

917 Preston Ave. 962-6575. $$.

The Virginian Cozy Corner mainstay with an 80plus-year history. 1521 University Ave. 984-4667. $$.

The Whiskey Jar Saloon-style Southern spot with, naturally, more than 90 varieties of whiskey.

227 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. 202-1549. $$.

Three Notch’d Brewing Company No food, but seven Three Notch’d beers on tap. 946 Grady Ave. 293-0610. $.

Timberwood Grill All-American eatery and after-work watering hole. 3311 Worth Crossing.

975-3311; Fifth Street Station (Timberwood Tap House), 234-3563. $$.

Cavalier Diner Breakfast all day, plus burgers, subs and Italian standbys like lasagna. 1403 Emmet St. 977-1619. $.

Lazy Parrot Backyard BBQ The Lazy Parrot Grill’s sister restaurant. Pantops Shopping Center.

244-0723. $/$$.

Wings Over Charlottesville Wing delivery spot that encourages patrons to eat like a caveman.

2029 Ivy Rd. 964-9464. $$.

International House of Pancakes Standard breakfast fare. Long lines on the weekends. Rio Hill Shopping Center. 964-0830. $.

Lumpkins Classic burgers, salads, fried chicken and foot-long hotdogs. 1075 Valley St., Scottsville. 286-3690. $.

Zinburger Wine & Burger Gourmet burgers, fries, milkshakes and, of course, plenty of wine.

Barracks Road Shopping Center. 244-2604. $$.

Sam’s Kitchen All-day breakfast, plus American and French dishes at this local institution. 1863 Seminole Trail. 964-9488. $.

Luv’n Oven Gizzards, livers, fries and shakes.

162 Village Sq., Scottsville. 286-3828. $.

The Pigeon Hole Cozy all-day breakfast spot with fresh-squeezed juices and stone-ground grits. 11 Elliewood Ave. 977-4711. $.

The Villa American breakfast all day. 129 N. Emmet St. 296-9977. $.

The Well House Cafe Coffee, tea, smoothies and pastries. 118 10 1/2 St. NW. 973-0002. $.

Waffle House It’s breakfast ’round the clock.

1162 Fifth St. SW, 296-5010; 495 Premier Cir. on 29N, 975-5860. $.

Burgers, BBQ, Dogs and Diners Ace Biscuit & Barbecue Breakfast and lunch spot serving up soul food by the biscuit. 711 Henry Ave. 202-1403. $.

Barbeque Exchange Hickory-smoked and slowroasted pork, plus hushpuppies, pie and pickles.

102 Martinsburg Ave., Gordonsville. (540) 8320227. $.

Blue Ridge Pig For connoisseurs of barbecue, the Pig is the place. Rte. 151, Nellysford. 361-1170. $.

Boylan Heights Burger spot and popular bar serves organic Virginia beef. 102 14th St. 9845707. $.

Brother’s Bar & Grill The same barbecue folks have loved for years. 2104 Angus Rd. 293-6333. $.

Buck Island BBQ Pulled pork, spare ribs, fried chicken. 4842 Richmond Rd., Keswick. 872-0259. $.

Burger Bach New Zealand-inspired gastropub.

The Shops at Stonefield, 328-2812. $$.

Buffalo Wild Wings Wings rated on a spiciness scale, plus burgers and more. Barracks Road Shopping Center. 977-1882. $.

Tin Whistle Irish Pub Traditional Irish pub Downtown. 609 E. Market St. 979-4279. $$.

Chicken Coop Chicken, barbecue and variety of sandwiches. 40 Front St., Lovingston. 2637818. $.

Trinity Irish Pub Hand-carved wooden bars, exposed brick and an upstairs balcony directly across from Grounds. 1505 University Ave. 295-7100. $.

Citizen Burger Bar Gourmet burgers with highquality meat, plus a large collection of beers. 212 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 979-9944. $$.

West Main Pub Residence Inn’s bar and appetizer spot. 315 W. Main St. 220-0075. $.

Doodle’s Diner Country cookin’ from breakfast to burgers. 1305 Long St. 295-7550. $.

Wild Wolf Brewing Company An outdoor “biergarten,” robust menu and up to 12 brews on tap. 2461 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Nellysford.

361-0088. $$.

Wood Ridge Farm Brewery “From the dirt to the glass” brewery 165 Old Ridge Rd., Lovingston. 422-6225. $.

World of Beer Over 500 different beers from more than 40 countries. 852 W. Main St. 970-1088. $$.

Breakfast Joints Bluegrass Grill and Bakery Unpretentious breakfast and lunch spot, beloved by local weekenders. Glass Building, Second Street. 295-9700. $.

Five Guys Two locations for local carnivores.

Barracks Road Shopping Center, 975-GUYS; Hollymead Town Center, 963-GUYS. $.

Fox’s Café Daily specials, burgers, dogs and dinners. 403 Avon St. 293-2844. $.

Holly’s Deli & Pub Southern food, live music and beer. 1221 E. Market St. 282-2713. $.

Jack Brown’s Beer & Burger Joint Classic burgers, daily specials and bras on the chandelier. 109 Second St. SE. 244-0073. $.

Martin’s Grill Delicious hamburgers, veggie burgers and fries. 3449 Seminole Trail, in the Forest Lakes Shopping Center. 974-9955. $.

Coffee Places with Kitchens

Me2 Market and Eatery Delish barbecue and fresh baked treats just 3.5 miles east of Monticello. 2243 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy. 297-2201. $.

Atlas Coffee Get a cup of coffee or an espresso roasted by Shenandoah Joe. 2206B Fontaine Ave. 970-1700. $.

Mel’s Café Southern soul-soothing food. A longtime favorite on West Main. 719 W. Main St. 9718819. $.

Baine’s Books & Coffee Books, music, film, pottery, musical instruments, food and, of course, coffee. 485 Valley St., Scottsville. 286-3577. $.

Mission BBQ Pulled turkey, pork and chicken, plus racks by the bone. The Shops at Stonefield.

260-7740. $.

Moe’s Original BBQ Alabama-style pulled pork smoked in-house. 2119 Ivy Rd. 244-7427. $.

Moose’s by the Creek American favorites, plus mounted moose antlers for photo ops. 1710 Monticello Rd. 977-4150. $.

Nelly’s Roadhouse American and Mexican menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 2815 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Nellysford. 361-1400. $$.

Olive’s Grill Food for the working man. Most items under $10. 8839 Seminole Trail, Ruckersville. 990-2634. $.

Otto’s All-American faves and daily specials at your service. Order at the counter and sit outside if it’s warm. 325 Four Leaf Ln., Crozet. 823-4200. $.

Paulie’s Pig Out First barbecue joint on the way to Wintergreen. 7376 Rockfish Valley Hwy. 3612001. $.

Pig N’ Steak Pig…and steak. 313 Washington St., Madison. (540) 948-3130. $.

Red Hub Food Co. Quality catering and barbecue at a 10-seat lunch counter. 202 10th St. NW. 975-2271. $.

Riverside Lunch Legendary burgers and fries.

1429 Hazel St. 971-3546. $.

Riverside North Notable burgers and fries on 29N. Sunday morning buffet, too. Forest Lakes Shopping Center. 979-1000. $.

Sam’s Hot Dog Stand Get three dogs, fries and a drink for only $8.20. 5786 Three Notch’d Rd., Crozet. 205-4438. $.

Smoked Kitchen and Tap Beloved food truckturned-restaurant in Crozet’s Piedmont Place.

2025 Library Ave., Crozet. 205-4881. $.

C’ville Coffee Co. Well-established café, with a kids’ corner and library to keep wee ones entertained. 1301 Harris St. 817-2633. $.

Calvino Café Espresso, panini and smoothies, plus breakfast on Sundays. In the Main Street Market. 293-5696. $.

Carpe Café Breakfast, lunch and snacks inside Studio IX. 969 Second St. SE. 260-3803. $.

Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin-Robbins Coffee and donuts. 305 Rivanna Plaza Dr., Suite 101, 2449998. $.

Greenberry’s Java and specialty drinks, plus fresh baked goods. Wi-Fi available. Barracks Road Shopping Center, 984-0200; in Alderman Library on UVA grounds, 243-8961. $.

Grit Coffee People, coffee, food, space, design and work: That’s the focus at Grit. 110 Old Trail Dr., Crozet, 205-4253; 112 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 971-8743; 989 Second St. SE, no phone; 19 Elliewood Ave., 293-4412; The Shops at Stonefield, 284-8461. $.

Java Java All fair-trade organic coffee all the time. Smoothies and a lunch menu, too. Comfy seating, warm atmosphere, Wi-Fi. 421 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 245-0020. $.

La Taza Cuban press sandwiches, soups and salads. Live music often. 407B Monticello Rd., 296-8292; 212 Seventh St. (inside the SNL Building), no phone. $.

Lone Light Coffee Specialty coffee spot inside The Pie Chest. 119 Fourth St. NE. 977-0443. $.

Mermaid Express Mochas to smoothies. Inside PVCC. No phone. $.

Milli Coffee Roasters Espresso drinks, chai and hot chocolate. 400 Preston Ave., Suite 150, 2822659. $.

The Colleen Drive-In On Rte. 29, look for the huge ice cream cone. 4105 Thomas Nelson Hwy., Arrington. 263-5343. $.

Mudhouse Locally roasted, heavy-duty coffee, fresh juices and pastries. 213 W. Main St., 9846833; The Square, Crozet, 823-2240; also to-go in the Bellair Market, 977-0222; Mill Creek, 9841996; and Mulberry Station, 245-0163. $.

Timberlake’s Old-fashioned soda fountain, sandwiches galore, burgers and dogs. 322 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 295-9155. $.

Paradox Pastry Retro-urban-vibed bakery and dessert café. 313 Second St., in the Glass Building. 245-2253. $.

Tip Top Breakfast, lunch and dinner with Italian and Greek specials. 1420 Richmond Rd., on Pantops Mountain. 244-3424. $.

Rapunzel’s Coffee, books and music; chill out in Lovingston. Live music, too. 924 Front St., Lovingston. 263-6660. $.

Wayside Takeout & Catering Famous Old Virginia fried chicken and barbecue sandwiches.

2203 Jefferson Park Ave. 977-5000. $.

Shark Mountain Coffee Roastery, coffee shop, chocolatier. 621 Nash Dr. (540) 327-1564. $.

Jak-N-Jil The working man’s Bodo’s: foot-longs and fries. 1404 E. High St. 293-7213. $.

White Spot Burgers with tradition at this popular Corner spot. 1407 University Ave. 295-9899. $.

Korner Restaurant This greasy spoon offers all the usual suspects. Daily lunch special. 415 Ninth St. SW. 977-9535. $.

Wild Wing Café Sports bar features wings and beer, plus live music, karaoke, trivia and poker.

820 W. Main St. 979-WING. $/$$.

Sheepdog Coffee Grab-and-go coffee spot inside the Graduate hotel. 1309 W. Main St. 2954333. $.

Shenandoah Joe Local roaster with a coffee bar and pastries. 945 Preston Ave., 295-4563; 2214 Ivy Rd., 923-4563. $.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 57

Spring/Summer Summer Knife&Fork 55

Everyone Deserves a Slice of the Pie • Albemarle Fire & Rescue • Shelter for Help in Emergency • Blue Ridge Area Food Bank • Thomas Jefferson Food Bank • Ronald McDonald House • UVA Cancer Center • Make a Wish Foundation • Wildlife Center of Virginia • Caring for Creatures • Music Resource Center • ARC of the Piedmont • Habitat for Humanity • Salvation Army • Special Olympics • Mosby Foundation • Live Arts • SPCA • SARA • SOCA Free Kindness • H.O.W.S. with Every Order!

FreshNever Frozen Dough

o et ad r M rde O Locally owned

Fresh Toppings

Ray Sellers

Owner of Your Local Domino’s Pizza

56 Knife&Fork Summer

The BLUE RIDGE ABORTION ASSISTANCE FUND provides immediate, positive support and financial assistance for abortion care without shame, judgement or personal agenda attached.

If you need help, call 434.963.0669 We are dedicated donors and volunteers who believe access to reproductive healthcare is a human right.

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Volunteer – Donate blueridgeaaf.com

Snowing in Space Coffee Co. Nitro brew coffee plus light snacks to tamper your caffeine buzz. 705 W. Main St. 228-1120. $.

Starbucks Multiple locations for all your corporate coffee needs. 1601 University Ave., 9701058; Rivanna Ridge Shopping Center, 295-4996; 1520 Seminole Trail, 973-5298; Hollymead Town Center, 975-6005. Location without phone in Fashion Square Mall. $.

The Corner Cup Fresh Trager Brothers coffee and espresso, plus pastries and muffins. 1325 W. Main St. 293-7905. $.

Trager Brothers Coffee See the roastery in action and sample some of the fresh roasted coffee while you’re there. 486 Front St., Lovingston. 263-8916. $.

Family-Friendly Ann’s Family Restaurant Good old country cooking. 1170 Thomas Nelson Hwy. (Rte. 29, south of Lovingston). 263-8110. $.

Applebee’s Steak and Southwestern amid local memorabilia. 571 Branchlands Blvd., 974-5596; Rivanna Ridge Shopping Center, 293-3208; 2005 Abbey Rd., 293-3208. $/$$.

Chili’s Southwestern eats in a colorful, boothheavy interior. 100 Zan Rd. 975-0800. $/$$.

Michie Tavern Traditional Southern lunch in an 18th-century tavern near Monticello. 683 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy. 977-1234. $$.

Red Robin Gourmet burgers, salads and bottomless pits of steak fries. Fashion Square Mall.

964-9523. $.

The Light Well Coffee-kitchen-tavern healthy ingredients in original recipes. 110 E. Main St., Orange. (540) 661-0004. $.

WHAT TO DO

Ready, set, eat

Mark your calendar—these summer food events will fill you up.

City Market Saturday, 7am-noon

Head to the parking lot at the corner of Water and First streets to take in all the things that are great about Charlottesville: artisan goods, community and, of course, food—from prepared goods to fresh produce.

Birth of Democracy Festival July 1, 11am-5pm

Enjoy food from local vendors, wine tastings and music. $21.97 general admission, $11.48 for designated drivers. Democracy Vineyards, 585 Mountain Cove Rd. (Lovingston). democracyvineyards.com

SKYCLAD AERIAL

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 55

City Market

C-VILLE Restaurant Week

Annual Blackberry Harvest and Music Festival

July 4, 9am-9:30pm

July 14-23

August 5, 9am-5pm

Food, cider and fun for the family —like a watermelon seed-spitting contest, a three-legged race, hayrides and more—to celebrate Independence Day. Carter Mountain Orchard, 1435 Carters Mountain Trail. chilesfamilyorchards.com

Three courses at three price points ($19, $29, $39) at nearly 40 restaurants around town. One dollar from every meal sold during Restaurant Week will benefit the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. charlottesvillerestaurant week.com

The 24th annual festival is an all-day event complete with blackberry picking, wine tasting, food and live music. $10 per person. Hill Top Berry Farm and Winery, 2800 Berry Hill Rd. (Nellysford). hilltopberrywine.com

Bojangles Chicken and biscuits. 2009 Abbey Rd. 293-1190; 3370 Seminole Trail, 284-5862. $.

Starry Nights

Burger King The Whopper. Pantops Shopping Center, 296-5145; 1181 Fifth St. Ext., 963-7827; 1000 Emmet St., 293-8566; 11518 James Madison Hwy., Gordonsville, 589-6854. $.

July 8, August 12, September 9

Fifth Annual Summer Seafood Festival

The Nook Half-century-old Charlottesville diner serving breakfast, lunch and dinner with a full bar.

415 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 295-6665. $.

Wood Grill Buffet Big buffet featuring things grilled on wood. 576 Branchlands Blvd. 9755613. $.

Fast Food Arby’s Big roast beef. 1230 Emmet St., 296-8995; 1700 Timberwood Blvd., 978-1050. $.

Chick-Fil-A Waffle fries. 350 Woodbrook Dr., 872-0187; Fashion Square Mall, 973-1646; 1626 Richmond Rd., 245-5254. $.

Cook-Out Diner fare, plus chicken nuggets —as a side. 1254 Emmet St. $.

Dairy Queen Home of the Blizzard.1248 Crozet Ave., 823-6585; 1777 Fortune Park Rd., 964-9595. $.

Hardee’s Burgers, breakfasts and fried chicken.

1150 Fifth St. SW, 977-4804; Rte. 250E, 9773191; Rte. 29N, 973-2083. $.

Kentucky Fried Chicken Double-down with the Colonel. 1705 Emmet St. 295-5158. $.

McDonald’s Home of the Happy Meal. Barracks Road Shopping Center, 295-6092; 475 Ridge McIntire Rd., 977-2984; 1294 Stoney Point Rd., 2956677; 29th Place, 973-3055; Forest Lakes Shopping Center, 975-1112; 11455 James Madison Hwy., Gordonsville, 589-6753; 85 Callohill Dr., Lovingston, 263-8066. $.

Popeyes Chicken chain with savory sides. 1709 Emmet St. 529-8148. $.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 58

Happy birthday, America!

Pack a picnic and relax under the stars at one of the most popular summertime events in the area. Local bands provide entertainment while you sip a Veritas vintage. $15-20. Veritas Vineyard & Winery, 151 Veritas Ln. (Afton). veritaswines.com

Winemaking Workshop July 8, 9:30-11:30am

Gabriele Rausse, the “father of Virginia wine,” leads this two-hour participatory workshop, during which aspiring viticulturists will learn to make wine—from harvest to fermentation to bottling. $24.

Monticello’s David M. Rubenstein Visitor Center, 931 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy. monticello.org

July 15, 5-8pm

Shrimp, crab and other foods aplenty at this annual Democratic Party event. Meet with campaigning politicians and eat fresh from the sea.

Mountain Cove Vineyards, 1362 Fortunes Cove Ln. (Lovingston). mountaincovevineyards.com

Super Peach Sunday July 23, 11am-5pm

Peaches, peaches everywhere: peach tastings, soft serve, milkshakes, baked goods and (peachy keen) entertainment. Come for the fruit, stay for the live music and atmosphere. Drumheller’s Orchard, 1130 Drumheller Orchard Ln. (Lovingston). drumhellers orchard.com

Virginia Craft Brewers Fest August 19, 10am

More than 100 breweries from across Virginia serve craft brews from 1-8pm, so you can get a complete taste of the Virginia beer scene.

Family-friendly, with perks for designated drivers. $50 for general admission ($25 for DDs), $90 for VIP tickets. IX Art Park, 522 Second St. SE. vacraftbrewersfest.com

Heritage Harvest Festival September 9

The 11th annual festival celebrates the legacy of Thomas Jefferson’s gardening, sustainable agriculture and local food. $28 for adults, $9 for kids age 5-11, free for kids under 5.

Monticello, 931 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy. heritageharvestfestival.com

Summer Knife&Fork 57

Restaurant Guide CONTINUED FROM PAGE 57

Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers Chicken fingers and Texas toast. 1805 N. Emmet St. 293-4331. $.

Taco Bell Great late-night drive-thru. 820 Gardens Blvd., 974-1344; 1158 Fifth St. NW, 295-9185; 801 Emmet St., 979-9074; Pantops Shopping Center, 296-7647. $.

Wendy’s Spicy No. 6. 416 Fourth St. NW, 9790380; Corner of Rte. 250E and Rte. 20, 979-5908; Fashion Square Mall, 973-6226; 8764 Seminole Trail, Ruckersville, 990-2021. $.

French Basic Necessities A taste of Southern France with fresh organic fare, plus wine and cheese.

2226 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Nellysford. 361-1766. $$.

C&O Sophisticated French at a 30-plus-year-old establishment. Excellent cheese plate, extensive wine list, popular bar. 515 E. Water St. 971-7044. $$$.

Fleurie Upscale modern French restaurant gets rave reviews. Extensive wine list. 108 Third St. NE. 971-7800. $$$.

Petit Pois French-American bistro from the owners of Fleurie. All the chic, lower check. 201 E. Main St. 979-7647. $$.

Pomme Casual French in the heart of picturesque Gordonsville. 115 S. Main St., Gordonsville. (540) 832-0130. $$$.

Frozen Treats Arch’s Frozen Yogurt Wahoo-approved yogurt with tons of optional toppings. 104 14th St. NW. 984-2724. $.

Ben & Jerry’s Thirty-four flavors of ice cream and froyo. Barracks Road Shopping Center. 2447438. $.

Bloop Self-serve froyo with rotating flavors.

1430 Rolkin Ct. 282-2093; 32 Mill Creek Dr. 3282288. $.

Chaps More than 20 years of gourmet homemade ice cream. Grub like burgers and diner fare.

223 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 977-4139. $.

Cold Stone Creamery Ice cream, cakes, shakes and smoothies at this frozen treat chain. 1709 Emmet St. 529-8526. $.

Crozet Creamery Small-batch ice cream in rotating flavors from Rocky Road to dairy-free lemon. 2025 Library Ave, Crozet. 205-4889. $.

Kilwin’s Ice cream, fudge and truffles. 313 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 234-3634. $.

Kirt’s Homemade Ice Cream Ice cream made fresh in the store. 202-0306. $.

Kohr Bros. Frozen Custard Cones, cups, floats, sundaes, “snowstorms” and smoothies. Woodbrook Shopping Center, 975-4651; 250E, 2960041. $.

La Flor Michoacana Homemade popsicles, fruit beverages and ice cream. 601 Cherry Ave., 984-1604. $.

Red Mango Fresh juices, smoothies and frozen yogurt. 5th Street Station. 328-8393. $.

Smojo Smoothies, juices, power bars and granola bars to go. 2025 Library Ave., Crozet. (360) 4814087. $.

Smoothie King Chain features smoothies, supplements and healthy snacks. Barracks Road Shopping Center, 295-8502; Rivanna Ridge Shopping Center, 975-5464. $.

Splendora’s Gelato Ranging selection of Italian gelato (and sorbet) and delicious desserts in a

58 Knife&Fork Summer

bright Downtown location. 317 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 296-8555. $.

Sweet Frog Interesting froyo flavors and even more interesting toppings—Cap’n Crunch with fresh mangos, maybe? 219 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 293-7123; Hollymead Town Center, 975-3764; Barracks Road Shopping Center, 293-1130. $.

The Juice Laundry Pressed juices, nut milks, shots, smoothies, coffee, salads and raw foods. 722 Preston Ave. #105, 1411 University Ave. 234-3044. $.

The Juice Place Smoothies, juices and rice bowls for quick eating. 201 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 270-8813. $.

Gourmet Groceries and Gas Stations Batesville Market Sandwiches to order, salads and baked goods plus cheeses, produce and packaged goods. 6624 Plank Rd., Batesville. 8232001. $.

Bellair Market Gourmet sandwich spot on Ivy Road. 2401 Ivy Rd. 971-6608. $.

Blue Ridge Bottle Shop Craft beer store with both bottles and growlers available—plus sample before you buy! 2025 Library Ave, Crozet. 6022337. $.

Brownsville Market Breakfast starting at 5am, plus burgers, sides and famous fried chicken.

5995 Rockfish Gap Tpke., Crozet. 823-5251. $.

Butcher On Main Beef, pork, chicken and duck from 20 Virginia farms. 416 W. Main St., in the Main Street Market. 244-7400. $.

Everyday Café Gourmet gas station with homemade pizza and gelato. 2404 Fontaine Ave., 2063790; 250E on Pantops Mountain, 971-8771. $.

Feast! Nationally noted cheese, wine and specialty food shop. 416 W. Main St., in the Main Street Market. 244-7800. $$.

Foods of All Nations Sandwiches, deli and salads at this gourmet grocery. Try the West Coast. 2121 Ivy Rd. 296-6131. $.

Greenwood Gourmet Grocery Made-to-order sandwiches, plus fresh soup and a deli with macn-cheese, bread pudding and other rotating dishes. 6701 Rockfish Gap Tpke., Crozet. (540) 456-6431. $.

Hunt Country Market A rotating menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 2048 Garth Rd. 296-1648. $.

Integral Yoga Natural Foods All-natural food, supplements and personal care products, plus a deli and juice/smoothie bar. 923 Preston Ave. 293-4111. $.

JM Stock Provisions Whole-animal butcher shop with sandwiches to go. 709 W. Main St. 2442480. $.

Keevil & Keevil Grocery and Kitchen Belmont grocery with breakfast and lunch sammies, plus takeaway dinners. 703 Hinton Ave. 989-7648. $.

Market Street Café Gourmet breakfast, rotisserie chicken and deli meats. 1111 E. Rio Rd. 9641185. $.

Market Street Market Deli in the Downtown grocery serves sandwiches and prepared foods.

400 E. Market St. 293-3478. $.

Market Street Wineshops An expertly curated selection. 305 Rivanna Plaza Dr., Suite 102, 9649463; 311 E. Market St., 979-9463. $$.

Mill Creek Market The Southern sister of Bellair Market. Avon Street, across from the Southside Shopping Center. 817-1570. $.

Mulberry Station at Shadwell A full-service convenience store. 3008 Richmond Rd., Keswick.

245-0315. $.

Salt Artisan Market Artisan cheeses, meats, charcuterie, sandwiches and prepared foods.

1330 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy. 270-2072. $.

Seafood @ West Main Fresh fish, shellfish and seafood, plus Japanese groceries. 416 W. Main St., in the Main Street Market. 296-8484. $.

The Fresh Market A European-style market chain, with high-quality meats, cheese and seafood, plus über-fresh produce. Albemarle Square.

244-2444. $$.

Timbercreek Market Grocery arm of Albemarle’s Timbercreek Farm. Fresh produce, meats and cheeses, plus a café with a locally sourced menu.

722 Preston Ave. 202-8052. $.

Trader Joe’s This grocery chain boasts top quality at low cost, including “Two Buck Chuck” wine (which is actually $3.50). The Shops at Stonefield. 974-1466. $$.

Whole Foods Market Fresh, all-natural sandwiches ranging from classic favorites to vegan delights. Big salad and prepared-foods bar, too.

1797 Hydraulic Rd. 973-4900. $$.

Inns and Hotel Restaurants Birdwood Grill at The Boar’s Head Open seasonally for breakfast and lunch. 410 Golf Course Dr. 293-6401. $$.

Café 1201 Seven-day breakfast buffet. At Courtyard Marriott-UVA Medical Center. 1201 W. Main St. 977-1700. $$.

Charlotte’s All-American menu in the Holiday Inn. 1200 Fifth St. SW. 977-5100. $$.

Emmet’s Holiday Inn restaurant serves American fare. 1901 Emmet St. 977-0803. $$.

Fossett’s American regional cuisine for breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus a tapas bar. Inside Keswick Hall, 701 Club Dr., off 250E. 979-3440. $$$.

Heirloom Rooftop bar and restaurant inside The Graduate Hotel. 1309 W. Main St. 295-4333. $$.

Inn at Court Square Upscale Southern in the oldest house Downtown. 410 E. Jefferson St. 295-2800. $$$.

Keswick Hall Monday through Friday lunch buffet in the Villa Crawford. Reservations required. 701 Club Dr. 979-3440. $$.

Lafayette Inn Restored 1840s inn that once served as a boarding house for proper young ladies. 146 Main St., Stanardsville. 985-6345. $$$.

Oakhurst Inn Coffee & Café Southern breakfast, lunch and weekend brunch. 1616 Jefferson Park Ave. 872-0100. $.

Old Mill Room Restaurant Expect historic ambience with your breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. The Boar’s Head, 200 Ednam Dr. 972-2230. $$$.

Prospect Hill Plantation Inn & Restaurant Candlelit prix fixe four-course dinners in this 1732 plantation house. 2887 Poindexter Rd., Trevilians.

(540) 967-0844. $$$.

The Boar’s Head The Old Mill Room with a formal daily menu. The adjacent Bistro 1834 has a relaxed dinner menu. The Sports Club Café and Birdwood Grill offer casual dining options as well.

Prices vary widely. 200 Ednam Dr. 972-2230. $$$.

The Edge Casual fare with a family priced menu for a meal overlooking the slopes. Wintergreen Resort, Rte. 664. 325-8080. $$.

The Fountain Room at the Mark Addy Inn Picture-perfect mountain B&B with a dining room open to all. 56 Rodes Farm Dr., Nellysford. 3611101. $$$.

The Inn at Meander Plantation Upscale American cuisine and candlelight dining. Breakfast open to inn guests only. 2333 N. James Madison Hwy., Locust Dale. (800) 385-4936. $$$.

The Inn at Willow Grove This inn boasts an exquisite menu at its in-house restaurant, Vintage.

14079 Plantation Way, Orange. (540) 317-1206. $$$.

The Pointe Tapas-style appetizers, filet mignon and Starr Hill beers on tap. In the Omni Hotel, Downtown Mall. 971-5500. $$$.

TJ’s Tavern and Dining Room Doubletree Hotel dining room with views of the Rivanna and American and Italian fare. 990 Hilton Heights Rd. 973-2121. $$.

Italian and Pizza Amici’s Italian Bistro Sicilian cuisine in a family-style setting. 370 Valley St., Scottsville. 2864000. $.

Anna’s Pizza No. 5 In the family for 35 years.

115 Maury Ave. 295-7500. $.

Anna’s Ristorante Italiano From the folks behind Anna’s Pizza No. 5. 1015 Heathercroft Cir., Crozet. 823-1327. $.

Bella’s Restaurant An authentic Roman-Italian family-style restaurant. 707 W. Main St. 3274833. $$.

Belmont Pizza and Pub Fresh, stone-baked pizza on hand-tossed pies. Beer, too! 211 Carlton Rd. Suite 10. 977-1970. $.

Benny Deluca’s Giant slices from a simple fivepie menu. 913 W. Main St. 245-4007.

Brick Oven Gourmet pizzas, sandwiches from an authentic wood-fired grill. Rio Hill Shopping Center. 964-1119. $.

Brixx Wood Fired Pizza Franchise pizza spot serves, you guessed it, wood-fired pies. Barracks Road Shopping Center. 245-4050. $$.

Carmello’s Upscale service just like in Little Italy, gargantuan pepper mills and all. 29th Place.

977-5200. $$.

Chirio’s Pizza Authentic, homemade NY pizza, subs, salads, sandwiches, specials and ice cream.

Eat in, take-out, delivery. 2777 Rockfish Valley Hwy. 361-9188. $.

Christian’s Pizza The place to get fresh pies, by-the-slice or the whole darn thing. 118 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 977-9688; 100 14th St. NW, 872-0436; 3440 Seminole Trail, 973-7280. $.

College Inn Straight-up late-night goodness.

Pizza, gyros, subs and its delivery can’t be beat.

Breakfast items, too. 1511 University Ave. 9772710. $.

Crozet Pizza Unpretentious, family-owned pizza parlor with nationally recognized pies. 5794 Three Notch’d Rd., Crozet, 823-2132; 20 Elliewood Ave., 202-1046. $.

Domino’s Six locally owned branches of the national chain. Pizza, of course, plus pasta, sandwiches and wings. 1137 Millmont St., 971-8383; 1147 Fifth St. SW, 970-7777; 2335 Seminole Trail, 973-1243; 508 Stewart St., 979-2525; Food Lion Shopping Center, Ruckersville, 990-2000; 325 Four Leaf Ln., Crozet, 823-7752. $.

Dr. Ho’s Humble Pie Pizza joint in the Crossroads mini-mall. 4916 Plank Rd., on 29S at North Garden. 245-0000. $/$$.

End Zone Pizza Pizza, big subs and fresh salads.

Forest Lakes Shopping Center. 973-8207. $.

Fabio’s New York Pizza Pizza, subs, salads and calzones made by natives of Naples. Get your pie the Sicilian way. 1551 E. High St. 872-0070. $.

Fellini’s #9 A local landmark featuring Italian favorites plus some inventive new takes. 200 W. Market St. 979-4279. $$.

Fry’s Spring Station Very characterful brick-oven pizza joint. 2115 Jefferson Park Ave. 2022257. $$.

MY FAVORITE BITE

Mediterranean Bashir’s Taverna Authentic Mediterranean cuisine by a Mediterranean chef. 507 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 923-0927. $$.

Food is love

Basil Mediterranean Bistro Mediterranean fare from grape leaves to tapas, plus a late-night wine bar. 109 14th St. 977-5700. $.

Copper Mine Bistro Mediterranean-inspired menu features tapas, pizzas and entrées like shrimp provençal and veal saltimbocca. Wintergreen Resort. 325-8090. $/$$.

Mezeh Mediterranean Grill Bowls, wraps and pita pockets, all prepared with the fresh ingredients of your choosing. The Shops at Stonefield. 202-1446. $.

Orzo Kitchen & Wine Bar Dishes from Spain to Greece and wines of the world. Main Street Market. 975-6796. $$.

Parallel 38 Small plates, innovative “farm-totable” cocktails and an extensive wine list. 817 W. Main St. 923-3838. $$.

Stephanie Connock Taylor makes arguably the least controversial food you can—who doesn’t love an ice cream sandwich? The Wonderment owner sells her small-batch sammies and tarts at Violet Crown Cinema, Live Arts and the Charlottesville City Market and loves the connections that affords her. Here, Taylor recalls a recent food memory made on her honeymoon to Nice, France, that reminded her why she loves what she does.

“We entered the cozy spot and were greeted with hugs from Marie, one half of the husband-and-wife team who runs the restaurant. She whisked us to our table, where we took her suggestion to order two variations of the specialty of the house: roast duck.

“Our plates arrived heaped with perfectly golden pan-seared potatoes, arugula salad and a slice of baguette topped with foie gras. And, of course, the duck—golden and crisp on the outside with the perfect tender texture.

“We savored every bite as Marie moved among the tables, taking food orders and opinions on the topic of the evening: health care. She translated our responses to neighboring guests, going from French to English with lots of scribbles on napkins in between.

“We finished with a fresh pistachio ice cream. It was the perfect conclusion to the evening...or so we thought. Upon learning we were on our honeymoon, Marie poured celebratory drinks and kept us deep in conversation, giving advice and sharing photos, with her husband, Jean Michel, who joined us after he closed the place down.”

Mexican and Southwestern Al Carbon Chicken Tacos, tamales and sandwiches with rotisserie chicken. 1871 Seminole Trail. 964-1052. $.

Aqui es Mexico Authentic Mexican and Salvadoran tacos, tortas, sopas, pupusas and more.

221 Carlton Rd., Ste. 12. 295-4748. $.

Baja Bean Co. California Mex flair on 29N. Hearty salsa and margaritas to die for. 2291 Seminole Ln., 975-1070. $.

Barbie’s Burrito Barn California-style Mexican food to go. 201 Avon St. 328-8020. $.

Brazos Tacos Austin, Texas-style breakfast, lunch, early dinner and brunch tacos. 925 Second St. SE, 984-1163. $.

Burrito Baby Made-to-order burritos, baby. 111 S. Faulconer St., Gordonsville. (540) 832-6677. $.

BurritOh! Burritos, tacos, rice bowls, quesadillas and nachos made to order. 540 Radford Ln., Crozet. 812-2152. $.

Chipotle Simple menu of burritos and tacos made before your eyes. Barracks Road Shopping Center, 872-0212; 2040 Abbey Rd. Suite 101, 984-1512. $.

Cinema Taco Burritos, tacos and empanadas inside the Jefferson Theater. Delicious and cheap.

110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 245-4981. $.

Continental Divide “Get in Here!” commands the neon sign in the window. 811 W. Main St. 984-0143. $$.

El Jaripeo Mexican favorites for the 29N crowd and also the UVA Corner crowd. 1750 Timberwood Blvd., 296-9300; 1202 W. Main St., 972-9190. $.

El Vaquero West This tried-and-true Mexican place has sister locations in Palmyra, Haymarket and Orange, all owned by the same family. 1863 Seminole Trail. 964-1190. $.

Fuzzy’s Taco Shop Fresh, handmade, Bajastyle Mexican food. 435 Merchant Walk Sq., Suite 600. 214-0500. $.

Guadalajara Mexican food by Mexican folks.

Margaritas so green they glow. Cheap prices!

805 E. Market St., 977-2676; 395 Greenbrier Dr., 978-4313; 2206 Fontaine Ave., 979-2424; 108 Town Country Ln., 293-3538; 3450 Seminole Trail, 977-2677. $.

Junction Modern Mexican in Belmont. 421 Monticello Rd. 465-6131. $$.

La Cocina del Sol Southwestern flair for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 1200 Crozet Ave., Crozet, 823-5469. $$.

La Joya Authentic Mexican from tacos to churros. 1145 Fifth St. SW, 293-3185; 1015 Heathercroft Cir, Ste. #300 (Crozet), 205-4609. $.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 61

AMY JACKSON

Giuseppe’s Italian Restaurant Everything you could want out of classical Italian fare. 2842 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Nellysford. 361-9170. $$.

Lampo Authentic Neapolitan pizzeria in Belmont. 205 Monticello Rd. 282-0607. $.

Lelo’s Pizza By the slice or the whole pie. Rivanna Ridge Shopping Center, 293-6788. $.

Little Caesar’s Pizza Home of the $5 Large Hot-n-Ready Pizza. 1301 Hydraulic Rd., 296-5646; Albemarle Square, 964-1011; Pantops Center, 234-3328. $.

Mellow Mushroom Trippy-themed franchise, with great pizza and even better beer selection. 1321 W. Main St., in the Red Roof Inn. 972-9366. $.

Mona Lisa Pasta This market carries nearly every variety of pasta and sauce imaginable. To-go entrées serve two to three people. Preston Plaza. 295-2494. $$.

Nate & Em’s Pizza All your pizzeria faves: calzones, stromboli, pasta, subs and—of course—pies.

5924 Seminole Trail, Ruckersville. 985-9000. $.

Palladio Restaurant Northern Italian cuisine and Barboursville wines. 17655 Winery Rd., Barboursville. (540) 832-7848. $$$.

Papa John’s Pizza fans come to Papa. 3441 Seminole Trail, 973-7272; University Shopping Center, 979-7272; 1305-A Long St., 296-7272. $.

Pizza Hut The Jabba of pizza chains. 1718 Seminole Trail, 973-1616; 540 Radford Ln., Suite 300, 823-7500. $.

Sal’s Caffe Italia Brick-oven pizza plus subs, pasta and outdoor seating in a lively Mall location.

221 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 295-8484. $$.

Sal’s Pizza Hand-tossed pizzas, fresh bread, delicious pasta dishes since 1987. Crozet Shopping Center, Crozet. 823-1611. $.

Tavola Open kitchen serves up lovely food (pancetta-wrapped shrimp, handmade pappardelle) and an artisanal wine list. 826 Hinton Ave. 972-9463. $$.

The Rooftop Pizzas, salads, seafood and steaks with panoramic views of the Blue Ridge. 2025 Library Ave, Crozet. 205-4881. $$.

Threepenny Café Artisan pizza and rustic entrées. 420 W. Main St. 995-5277. $$.

Travinia Italian Kitchen Contemporary American Italian, plus an outdoor patio for people watching. The Shops at Stonefield. 244-3304. $$.

Uncle Maddio’s Pizza Build your own perfect pizza, assembly line-style. The Shops at Stonefield, 234-3717. $$.

Vinny’s Italian Grill & Pizzeria This regional chain has pies plus a slew of caloric subs, pastas and stromboli. Hollymead Town Center.

973-4055. $$.

Vinny’s New York Pizza and Pasta Serves up authentic pies, pastas and subs. Lasagna and veal are faves at this long-established joint.

8841 Seminole Trail. 985-4731. $.

Vita Nova Cheap and hearty pizza by the slice.

310 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 977-0162. $.

Vito’s Italian Restaurant Specializing in pizza and Italian dishes. Rte. 29, 8181 Thomas Nelson Hwy., Lovingston. 263-8688. $$.

Vivace Every kind of pasta imaginable, plus seafood, Italian wines, grappas and full bar in a casual, elegant setting. 2244 Ivy Rd. 979-0994. $$.

Vocelli Pizza Pizza, pasta, panini, salads and stromboli for carryout and delivery, plus antipasti. 1857 Seminole Trail in the Woodbrook Shopping Center. 977-4992. $.

Summer Knife&Fork 59

craft cuisine & concept productıon

www.cateringoutfit.com 60 Knife&Fork Summer

• (434) 951-4699

Restaurant Guide CONTINUED FROM PAGE 59

La Michoacana Mexican deli serves budget-friendly burritos, tacos and enchiladas. 1138 E. High St. 409-9941. $.

La Tortuga Feliz Authentic Mexican entrées and baked goods. 1195 Seminole Trail. 882-7461. $.

Los Jarochos Authentic Mexican in Midtown.

625 W. Main St. 328-8281. $.

Margarita’s the Flavor of Mexico Authentic Mexican, American and margaritas. 2815 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Nellysford. 218-7767. $.

Mono Loco Outstanding Latin-themed entrées, inventive sides and legendary margaritas. Inside, cozy cantina feel, plus a covered patio. 200 W. Water St. 979-0688. $$.

Morsel Compass Popular food truck’s brick and mortar spot. 2025 Library Ave., Crozet. 989-1569. $$.

Plaza Azteca Tableside guacamole is just the beginning of the offerings at this Mexican chain.

101 Seminole Ct., Seminole Square Shopping Center. 964-1045. $.

Qdoba Mexican Grill Spicy burritos, quesadillas and Mexican salads made before your eyes.

1415 University Ave., 293-6299; 3918 Lenox Ave., 244-5641. $.

The Bebedero Upscale authentic Mexican, plus cocktails and made-to-order guac. 313 Second St. SE. 234-3763. $$.

Miscellaneous Nationalities Afghan Kabob Palace Mouthwatering authentic Afghan cuisine. 400 Emmet St. N. 245-0095. $$.

Aromas Café Mediterranean and Middle Eastern fare. Sandwiches, salads and famous falafel; super-friendly service. Barracks Road Shopping Center. 244-2486. $.

Bavarian Chef German cuisine in Alpine atmosphere. 29N in Madison. (540) 948-6505. $$.

Little India Delicious Pakistani, Indian and Middle Eastern-inspired food for veggies and carnivores. 1329 W. Main St. 202-2067. $.

Mas Authentic Spanish tapas and wines in a funky, dimly lit atmosphere in the heart of Belmont. 904 Monticello Rd. 979-0990. $$.

Obrigado New American fare and pasta nights are the specialties at this colorful, bistro-like storefront spot. 109 W. Main St., Louisa. (540) 967-9447. $$.

Sticks A quick, healthy alternative to fast food: kebobs (veggie options available), sides, salads, desserts. Preston Plaza, 295-5262; Rivanna Ridge Shopping Center, 295-5212. $.

Sultan Kebab Authentic Turkish food, all kind of kebabs, vegetarian dishes, salads, homemade Turkish baklava, Turkish tea and coffee. 333 Second Street SE. 981-0090. $.

The Shebeen Pub and Braai Conjures the South African veldt with brunch on Sundays.

Great bar for futbol-watching. Vinegar Hill Shopping Center. 296-3185. $$.

Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar Downtown teahouse offers international vegetarian fare, delectable desserts and 80-plus exotic loose teas and hookah.

414 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 293-9947. $.

Soups, Salads, Sandwiches Baggby’s Gourmet Sandwiches Give your name; your sammich arrives in a bag with a cookie. Get it? 512 E. Main St., Downtown Mall.

984-1862. $.

Blue Ridge Café Ruckersville joint serving American-continental. 8315 Seminole Trail. 985-3633. $$.

Blue Ridge Country Store Breakfast is eggs, scones and muffins; lunch is pre-made wraps, soups and entrées, plus a popular salad bar. 518 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 295-1573. $.

Bodo’s Bagels Still the king of bagels in our town.

1418 N. Emmet St., 977-9598; 505 Preston Ave., 293-5224; 1609 University Ave., 293-6021. $.

Café at Monticello Sandwiches, barbecue, coffee, tea and ice cream for when you’re done with your tour of TJ’s house. 984-9800. $.

Café Caturra Fresh food and boutique wines on the Corner. 1327 W. Main St., 202-2051. $$.

Carving Board Café Inventive salads, soups and sandwiches for the 29N lunch bunch. Albemarle Square Shopping Center. 974-9004. $.

Croby’s Urban Viddles Southern-inspired chicken and pork rotisserie fare. 32 Mill Creek Dr., suite 102. 234-3089. $.

Durty Nelly’s Jazz, blues and rock in a rootsy pub and deli that caters. 2200 Jefferson Park Ave. 295-1278. $.

Firehouse Subs Hot subs and sandwiches across from Fashion Square. 29th Place. 995-5921. $.

Greenie’s Vegetarian and vegan sandwiches.

110 Second St. NW. 996-1869. $.

HotCakes Fancy sandwiches, homemade entrées and desserts. Delivery available. Barracks Road Shopping Center. 295-6037. $.

Ivy Provisions Hot and cold sammies with inventive names like the “Don’t Call Me Shirley.”

2206 Ivy Rd. 202-1308. $.

Jack’s Shop Kitchen Farm-to-table brunch, lunch and supper spot with elevated classics. 14843 Spotswood Trail, Ruckersville. 939-9239. $$.

Jersey Mike’s Subs Subs from Jersey, prepared right in front of you. 2040 Abbey Rd. #104.

529-6278. $.

Jimmy John’s Low-cost sandwiches on 29N. “Freaky fast” delivery. 1650 E. Rio Rd., 975-2100. $.

Kitchen(ette) An assortment of sandwiches (vegetarian included!) plus sides and salads. 606 Rivanna Ave. 260-7687. $.

Littlejohn’s New York Delicatessen Buxom sandwiches. Delivery, too! 1427 University Ave., 977-0588. $.

Lovingston Café A pleasant surprise in the middle of Lovingston, with a diverse, modestly priced menu. 165 Front St., Lovingston. 263-8000. $.

Mac’s Country Store Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Daily specials, eat in or take out. 7023 Patrick Henry Hwy., Roseland. 277-5305. $.

Market at Grelen A casual café with seasonal ingredients and daily specials. 15091 Yager Rd., Somerset. (540) 672-7268. $.

Martha’s Garden Café Healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner options. Martha Jefferson Hospital, 595 Martha Jefferson Dr. 654-6037. $.

Panera Bread Co. Ubiquitous chain with casual fare. Barracks Road Shopping Center, 245-6192; Hollymead Town Center, 973-5264; Fifth Street Station, 973-5264. $.

Quizno’s Subs Chain offering cheesesteaks, meatballs and specialty subs. Salads and soups, too. Rivanna Ridge Shopping Center. 977-7827. $.

Revolutionary Soup Choose from a slew of enticing soups made daily. 108 Second St. SW, 296-SOUP; 104 14th St. NW, 979-9988. $.

Roots Natural Kitchen Fast-casual health food from UVA alumni. 1329 W. Main St. 529-6229. $.

Subway Tons of locations, so you can “eat fresh” anywhere. 1764 Rio Hill Ct., 978-7008; 32 Mill Creek Dr., 295-5555; Pantops Shopping Center, 9840652; 1061 E. Rio Rd., 973-9898; 2212 Ivy Rd., 293-

0666; 104 14th St. NW, 295-7827; 111 Maury Ave., 977-5141; 1220 Seminole Trail, 973-4035; 1779 Fortune Park Rd., 974-9595; Vinegar Hill Shopping Center, 245-8000; 65 Callohill Dr., Lovingston, 263-6800. $.

Take It Away Sandwiches, salads, sides and desserts in a jazz-themed shop. Favorite spot of student study breakers. 115 Elliewood Ave. 295-1899. $.

The Flat The place for crêpes: Choose sweet or savory for lunch or dinner. 111A E. Water St., behind the Jefferson Theater. 978-FLAT. $.

The Salad Maker Made-to-order salads, plus a daily soup special and sweet treats. 300 E. Market St. 284-5523. $.

Trackside Café Healthy fare and smoothies inside ACAC. ACAC, Albemarle Square Shopping Center. 978-3800. $.

Tubby’s Grilled sandwiches and subs galore.

1412 E. High St. 293-3825. $.

Which Wich Superior Sandwiches Create your own sandwiches by marking up the pre-printed brown bags. Hollymead Town Center. 977-9424. $.

Zazus Fresh Grille Lots of wraps, salads, soups and fresh smoothies, plus yummy breakfast wraps.

Delivery available. 2214 Ivy Rd. 293-3454. $.

Zoës Kitchen Fast, casual meals with an emphasis on health-conscious, Mediterranean-inspired ingredients. Barracks Road Shopping Center.

955-5334. $.

Steaks and Seafood Aberdeen Barn More beef than you can shake a T-bone at, since 1965. 2018 Holiday Dr. 2964630. $$$.

Bonefish Grill Sister to mega-popular Outback Steakhouse featuring seafood, grilled non-fish specialties and a full bar. Hollymead Town Center.

975-3474. $$.

Devils Grill Restaurant & Lounge Above Devils Knob Golf Course with 50-mile views. Dinner reservations required. Wintergreen Resort. 3258100. $$$.

Brasserie Saison Downtown Mall brewery with Franco-Belgian cuisine. 111 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 202-7027. $$.

Burton’s Grill Contemporary American menu with stylish ambience. The Shops at Stonefield.

977-1111. $$.

Clifton Inn Sit at the chef’s table and watch the action. 1296 Clifton Inn Dr. 971-1800. $$.

Commonwealth Restaurant & Skybar Swanky Downtown restaurant with inventive entrées and a rooftop bar. 422 E. Main St., Downtown Mall.

202-7728. $$$.

Court Square Tavern Hearty pub fare and 130plus varieties of bottled beer. 500 Court Square.

296-6111. $$.

Duner’s Artful entrées and fine desserts on a rotating menu. 250W in Ivy. 293-8352. $$$.

Escafé Friendly spot with a seasonal menu. 215 W. Water St. 295-8668. $$.

Fig Bistro & Bar Mediterranean and New Orleans-inspired dishes with house-made ingredients. 1331 W. Main St. 995-5047. $.

Hamiltons’ at First & Main Imaginative American cuisine, award-winning wine list and superb vegetarian. 101 W. Main St., Downtown Mall.

295-6649. $$$.

Ivy Inn Daily menu of modern American cuisine in an 18th century tollhouse. 2244 Old Ivy Rd. 977-1222. $$$.

Maya Upscale Southern cuisine. Pleasant patio seating outside, sleek mod inside. 633 W. Main St. 979-6292. $$.

Michael’s Bistro Mucho microbrews and an artful menu. Second floor of 1427 University Ave. 977-3697. $$.

Oakhart Social Seasonal Atlantic coast food for sharing. 511 W. Main St. 995-5449. $$.

Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards The Farm Table & Wine Bar is as big a draw as its beautiful setting. 5022 Plank Rd., North Garden. 202-8063. $$.

Red Pump Kitchen Tuscan-inspired restaurant with chic, rustic décor. 401 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 202-6040. $$.

Downtown Grille Upscale steak and seafood with white-linen service and a chummy bar scene.

201 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. 817-7080. $$$.

Restoration Indoor and outdoor dining at this spot at Old Trail Golf Course. 5494 Golf Dr., Crozet.

823-1841. $$.

Outback Steakhouse Bloomin’ onions and giant steaks. 1101 Seminole Trail. 975-4329. $$.

Southern Crescent Cajun and Creole fare in Belmont. 814 Hinton Ave. 284-5101. $$.

Public Fish & Oyster Simply prepared, responsibly sourced seafood. Shucked oysters, raw bar and a full bar. 513 W. Main St., 995-5542; 1015 Heathercroft Cir., Crozet, 812-2909. $/$$.

Tastings Wine shop/restaurant with woodgrilled entrées and an impressive wine list. 502 E. Market St. 293-3663. $$.

Red Lobster Seafood with daily specials. 1648 E. Rio Rd. 973-0315. $$.

Tavern & Grocery Inspired tavern fare from chicken sandwiches to banh mi. 333 W. Main St. 293-7403. $.

Rhett’s River Grill and Raw Bar She-crab soup, half-shell delicacies and steaks. 2335 Seminole Trail, Suite 100. 974-7818. $$.

The Alley Light Intimate small-plate spot above Revolutionary Soup. 108 Second St. SW. 2965003. $$.

Rocksalt Seafood-centric chain with an outdoor bar and patio. The Shops at Stonefield. 326-5665. $$.

The Fitzroy Restaurant and bar in a swanky setting. 120 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 2951223. $$.

Shadwell’s Seafood, steaks, burgers, pasta and salads made out of fresh, local ingredients. 1791 Richmond Rd. 202-2568. $$.

The Local Belmont neighborhood spot with unusual twists on local, organic ingredients. 824 Hinton Ave. 984-9749. $$.

Upscale Casual

The Melting Pot It’s a fon-do! This melted-cheese franchise features warmers built into the tables and a huge wine selection. 501 E. Water St. 2443463. $$$.

Bistro 1834 Located beside the Old Mill Room Restaurant, the menu has a variety of lighter fare.

The Boar’s Head, 200 Ednam Dr. 972-2230. $$$.

Bizou Upscale down-home cookin’ with fresh fish, pork and beef dishes. 119 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. 977-1818. $$.

Water Street French fusion and progressive American small plates. 117 Fifth St. SE. 244-0217. $$.

Zocalo Flavorful high-end, Latin-inspired cuisine with a full bar. 201 E. Main St., Downtown Mall.

977-4944. $$.

Summer Knife&Fork 61

The Last Bite

SPLIT DECISION It may not look like anything fancy, but the old-school banana split at Chandler’s Ice Cream (that throwback soft-serve stand by the Tractor Supply store on River Road) 62 Knife&Fork Summer

TOM MCGOVERN

is a summertime must-have. Served in a styrofoam container, it’s two bananas, split down the middle and piled high with ice cream, whipped cream, walnuts, pineapple and strawberry, then generously drizzled with chocolate syrup and topped with a ruby-red cherry. You might wanna bring a friend.

Come out to Early Mountain this summer.

New off-the-grill & seasonal cafĂŠ menus.

Live music. Special events.

Details at earlymountain.com.

Celebrating the best of Virginia wine & food.

Early Mountain is located in Madison, Virginia in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK SUN - THURS 11AM - 11PM; FRI & SAT 11AM - 12AM

CALL 434-293-6550 FOR RESERVATIONS

WE VALIDATE PARKING! COMPLIMENTARY VALET SERVICE FRIDAY & SATURDAY NIGHTS

106 West South Street | Charlottesville, VA 22902 | southstreetbrewery.com

OPEN for LUNCH and DINNER 7 DAYS a WEEK Monday – Saturday 11 am – 10 pm Sunday 11 am – 9 pm 9519 CRITZERS SHOP ROAD (RTE. 151) AFTON, VA • 540-456-8020 • BLUEMOUNTAINBREWERY.COM