Knife & Fork | Summer 2021

BAKERS! Three rising stars making delish fresh bread

TAKERS! C-Ville Supper Club brings dinner to your door

ICE CREAM MAKERS! A customizable hot-day treat SUMMER 2021

Taste is everything.

MEET MYO QUINN

THE PEAR CO-OWNER ON HER “SECOND LIFE” IN CHARLOTTESVILLE

Something’s fishy around here...could it be fresh salmon?

JM Stock’s ham biscuit is always a winner.

A very Southern summer Collards, fried chicken, mac ‘n’ cheese, and, yes, biscuits—our summer menu is heating up

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TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S The Dish 7 You scream Fresh-churned ice cream— just how you like it.

9 Home cookin’ C-Ville Supper Club makes dinner easy.

10 Perfect recipe Getting to know new food scene addition Myo Quinn.

20 lbs.

The amount of flour Twisted Biscuits uses— per day. PAGE 29

13 At the café

14 Fresh eats What to see (and taste) at 2021’s farmers’ markets.

15 Not too fishy Fresh wild-caught salmon?

Yes, please.

19 Bake and take Three artisan breadmakers worth their yeast.

JOHN ROBINSON

Jose de Brito on his newest venture.

Taste of the South What is Southern food? It’s a lot of different things—with influences from European, Native American, African, and Caribbean cuisine. In this issue, we examine what it looks like in our area—from fried chicken to Twisted Biscuits. PAGE 23

30 The Last Bite A mud pie in torte’s clothing.

ON THE COVER: JM Stock's ham biscuit is our favorite Southern staple. PHOTO: Eze Amos

KNIFE & FORK, a supplement to C-VILLE Weekly, is distributed in Charlottesville, Albemarle County and the Shenandoah Valley. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. Knife & Fork Editor Caite Hamilton. Copy Editor Susan Sorensen.

308 E. Main St. Charlottesville, VA 22902 (434) 817-2749 n c-ville.com c-ville.com/knife-fork

Graphic Designer Tracy Federico.

Art Director Max March.

Account Executives Lisa C. Hurdle, Gabby Kirk, Stephanie Vogtman,

Beth Wood. Production Coordinator Faith Gibson.

Publisher Anna Harrison. Chief Financial Officer

Debbie Miller. A/R Specialist Nanci Winter. Circulation Manager Billy Dempsey. ©2021 C-VILLE Weekly.

Knife&Fork 5

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The Dish TRENDS, TASTEMAKERS, AND FOODS WE LOVE

JOHN ROBINSON

Frozen gem A custom ice cream biz sneaks onto the scene Knife&Fork 7

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“I never imagined this little business magnifying to the size it did.”

SOPHIE TRAN

By Caite Hamilton

U

Supper heroes

The C-Ville Supper Club swoops in to rescue dinner from the clutches of rote routine

By Nathan Alderman

Q

bi-weekly customers,” she says. “Our customer base is definitely growing, especially now that we are offering meals portioned for families of two or four people.”

The Supper Club has embraced the challenge of devising different menus week after week.

“We have asked our staff, clients, families, and friends for inspiration,” Price says. “We have scoured blogs, Pinterest boards, and Instagrams. We have sourced ideas from all of our staff, just by asking, ‘What do you cook at home when someone is coming over you want to impress?’” Favorites from their restaurants have also migrated to the Supper Club’s menu, including Bizou’s shrimp and grits, Bang!’s poke bowls, and Luce’s handmade pasta. “We always want to keep trying new things, but some dishes are such a hit that they have to reappear due to client demand,” Price says.

Even after the pandemic finally lifts, Price says the Supper Club will continue its weekly meal-invigorating missions. “We have lots of new ideas and plans up our sleeves that we can’t wait to unveil in the coming months.”

uick: What do you want to eat every night for the next seven days? That question could leave even the stoutest-hearted foodies exhausted, even before COVID-19 barged into our lives—to say nothing of buying, prepping, and cooking all those meals. Diners weary of rehashing the same seven or so standbys for dinner every week received a lifeline last December, thanks to the C-Ville Supper Club.

Born from the brain trust behind Bang!, Bizou, Luce, and The Space Downtown— restaurant managers Laura Price and Rachel Gendreau and head chef Travis Burgess—the C-Ville Supper Club lets hungry diners pick main and side dishes for two or four from an ever-changing weekly menu.

Price, Gendreau, and Burgess had been kicking around the idea since summer 2020, but decided to jump in with both feet after a successful experiment with Thanksgiving dinners. “The community response was incredible, so much so that we borrowed a refrigerated truck to store all the dinners,” Price says. They launched the Supper Club the following week.

Order by Tuesday at noon (follow @cvillesupperclub for updated menus), and your meals are ready for pickup at Bizou—or delivery to your door, if you live within five miles of downtown—by Wednesday evening. Each week’s meal selections cater to a variety of diets and palates, from pescatarian to vegan to good ol’ omnivorous, and require little more than assembly and heating to reach diners’ plates.

According to Price, customers can’t get enough. “The majority of our clients are hooked after one order and are then weekly or Tuna Poke Bowls

COURTESY C-VILLE SUPPER CLUB

ntil her winter break, Sophie Tran’s culinary expertise—as least as it pertained to ice cream—went about as far as binge-watching dessert rounds of “Chopped” competitions.

But when she was gifted a Cuisinart ice cream maker for Christmas, her casual interest turned into an unexpected side hustle.

“I told myself I just wanted to do something extra this semester because I am taking less than my normal amount of credits,” says Tran, a premed student at UVA. “That said, I never imagined this little business magnifying to the size it did.”

Tran says to keep up with demand, she’s up at random hours or churning in the middle of classes to maximize how much ice cream she can make, given that the freezer bowl needs time to re-freeze between batches. She’s currently able to make two to three pints of one flavor every six hours.

And speaking of flavors, here’s how her menu works: Customers can choose from 10 base flavors, and add up to 13 mix-in made-from-scratch toppings (brownies, cookie dough, and raspberry preserves, for starters).

But plan ahead: Turnaround time is currently one to two days, depending on what’s available.

“It takes more time to make these toppings from scratch, but I think it brings more character to my business,” Tran says. “And nothing is more therapeutic than balling up little chunks of cookie dough while learning about magnetic flux through an enclosed surface.”

After you place your order (through @yourchurn on Instagram), be sure to give it a name for a truly customized pint.

The Dish

“The majority of our clients are hooked after one order and are then weekly or bi-weekly customers.”

LAURA PRICE

Knife&Fork 9

Annie Gould Gallery

The Dish

A successful pairing

Culinarian Myo Quinn’s unexpected journey to Charlottesville

By Tami Keaveny

T

here are so many pandemic woes that when a rare silver lining appears, it’s a terrific reminder that joy still exists.

Myo Quinn is one of those lights, and her appearance on the Charlottesville food scene makes us all better.

Quinn admits that she wasn’t supposed to be here. But when COVID-19 surged through New York City in spring of 2020, she and her husband packed their three boys into a rental car and headed south. They stopped in Orange, Virginia, for a night. That turned into a week, then a month. Eventually Quinn says they set their sights on “the biggest, closest town” and landed in Charlottesville.

It wasn’t the first time Quinn had made a radical pivot. She quit a hedge fund career after having her second child, and went to culinary school, where she put her love of cooking and her mother’s food wisdom together for what she calls her second life.

After cooking on the line for Danny Meyer’s Gramercy Tavern and Untitled, Quinn turned to food writing and recipe development. Her contributions can be found digitally on the Food Network, Delish, and Good Housekeeping. Last fall, her friendship with Holly Hammond of Whisper Hill Farm led to the formation of Pear, an IX Art Park Farmers Market stall that offers unique baked goods.

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10 Knife&Fork

What does a recipe developer do?

There are two approaches. First, you pitch a recipe that you want to put out there. For example, I’m Korean so it might be a Korean recipe that the Food Network is lacking. If it gets approved, you write the recipe from beginning to end. You cook it, test it. Then a big part of it is introducing it to the reader. What it is, what to keep in mind, what’s important— the tips and tricks.

A second way is that the platform might come to you and say, for instance, “We don’t have a good stuffed cabbage recipe.” So they’ll assign a

recipe to you. You’ll have to research it. If it’s a flavor profile you’re not familiar with you’ll have to make it several times. Ask the right questions to the right people.

Myo Quinn’s miso-braised kale with multigrain rice

Do you have a favorite or a major success?

The platform would measure that by likes, or comments, or ratings. For me, I am proudest when it’s a recipe that is familiar to me. A recipe that comes from something that I cook frequently for my family. Most recently it was a miso-braised kale that is served over multigrain rice.

How did Pear come to be?

Pear is the result of a friendship between Holly of Whisper Hill Farm and me. We met at the IX farmers’ market last summer. Over this past Christmas holiday, Holly came up with the idea to make cookie boxes...I think the final count was 4,200 cookies between the two of us.

That number is representative of how Holly and I approach life. We often joke that we do everything with gusto. So, Pear is a continuation of holiday baking.

Holly recently went back to farming so it’s just me right now. Every Thursday on Instagram we announce the menu that will be available on the following Saturday. I always try to have something with citrus, seasonal fruit, chocolate, caramel, and spice; something with a vegetable; and something with cinnamon.

Recently I had an ah-ha moment when I realized I needed to always have something for kids. Because when a kid walks up and says, “This is all grown-up stuff ” and walks away, the whole family walks away.

What ingredient will never be used in your cooking?

I grew up in Asunción, Paraguay. There are so many mango trees there, and as a child you ride your

1

cup medium-grain white rice

1/2 cup millet 1/4 cup sweet rice

JOHN ROBINSON

Was cooking a big part of your childhood?

Yes. My mother is a very good cook. She is also a very smart cook. I always joke that all of the things I could’ve learned in a professional kitchen I came into the professional kitchen already knowing because my mom had taught me: How to be efficient.

How to be thoughtful. How to work with urgency.

How to clean up as you’re working. And how to be a better eater, which means trying everything.

Multigrain rice

1/4 cup quinoa

Braised kale

bicycle on the roads and you squash the mangoes.

It splashes up through your bicycle wheels and you end up smelling of ripe mango, which some people covet, but it reminds me of really hot, humid summers where you just can’t get rid of it. So, mangoes.

What are some of the local discoveries that have impressed you?

When I arrived I put out a message on a Facebook group, asking, “What is the one thing that represents Charlottesville?” and people said it was the ham biscuits. So we worked our way through the ham biscuits.

I think something Charlottesville does really well is curry. Thai curry, even compared to New York, the red curry from Chimm. Pearl Island chicken curry is phenomenal. I went out of my way to talk to [chef Sober Pierre] because I was in tears when I had it. I was like, “Wow. I didn’t realize how homesick I was.”

What do you make of Charlottesville’s food scene?

As a chef that has been cooking and eating in New York City for the past 15 years or so, the biggest challenge I’ve had is to figure out what this community is willing to eat. Just like each family has specific eating habits, each community has food preferences.

There are times when I feel very vulnerable baking here. I love that the customers will ask lots of questions and try things, then come back every week. But I’m making something completely different, and always feeling like, “Are people gonna come?”

I think something Charlottesville does really well is curry. Thai curry, even compared to New York, the red curry from Chimm. Pearl Island chicken curry is phenomenal. MYO QUINN

2

tbs. neutral oil, such as grapeseed or vegetable

2

garlic cloves, minced

1

scallion, finely chopped (white and green parts)

2

bunches kale, tough stems removed, leaves chopped into 1-inch pieces

13/4 cups low-sodium chicken stock or water 3

tbs. white miso

2

tbs. agave syrup (or whatever sweetener you prefer)

2

tsp. soy sauce

2 tsp. unseasoned rice wine vinegar Cook the multigrain rice: Rinse and drain the white rice, millet, sweet rice, and quinoa. Place in a medium pot with two cups of water. Cook over high heat, uncovered, until it comes to a boil. Reduce heat to the lowest setting, cover, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for five minutes to finish cooking.

Do not uncover! (That would release all the steam you need to make the rice fluffy.) Meanwhile, cook the kale: In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil, garlic, and scallion.

Cook, stirring continuously, until fragrant, about one minute. Add the kale in batches, stirring with each addition (the kale will slowly wilt, creating space for more kale). Stir in the stock, miso, agave, and soy sauce. Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce heat to medium-low.

Cook for five minutes, allowing the flavors to meld. Right before serving, drizzle with the vinegar and stir to combine. Taste and adjust the soy sauce or agave syrup if needed. To serve, divide the multigrain rice among four bowls and top each with the braised kale.

Knife&Fork 11

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12 Knife&Fork

The Dish

Straight talk

Local superstar chef Jose de Brito is back with Café Frank

By Shea Gibbs

“My only saving grace is flavor. I build and layer flavors like a maniac.”

JOSE DE BRITO

A second collaboration with Richey, Café Frank will give de Brito the chance to experiment with a seasonal menu of appetizers like meat pies, long-simmering soups, classic French salads, and entrées such as steak Diane and wagyu beef pot roast. According to de Brito, it’s all about flavor, not pretension.

“I do not have the team, time, space, and ability to make elaborate gardens on plates and play with tweezers, so my only saving grace is flavor,” he says. “I build and layer flavors like a maniac.”

Take Café Frank’s sauces. Each one starts with a base 20 years in the making—he freezes the bases and moves them from restaurant to restaurant as his career progresses. De Brito likens the strategy to the “solera” winemaking technique or the method for creating real balsamic vinegar.

PHOTO: JOHN ROBINSON | STYLING: DO ME A FLAVOR

W

ant to know what to order from the new Café Frank, acclaimed chef Jose de Brito’s newest proving ground? Don’t ask acclaimed chef Jose de Brito.

“I am never happy with my dishes, and I usually do not taste my finished plates,” de Brito says. “I am way too scared to find out how bad I am. But it is not exactly my first rodeo, so I know pretty much what works or does not.”

The modesty is almost comical coming from de Brito, arguably C’ville’s most acclaimed chef.

He began his career opening cult favorite Ciboulette in 2006, did stints at Trinity and Fleurie, and landed at The Alley Light, where he and restaurateur Wilson Richey drew accolades from the James Beard Foundation (Alley Light was one of 25 semifinalists for the coveted Outstanding Restaurant title; de Brito was a semifinalist for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic), Washington Post, and Washingtonian. After what would have been a pinnacle for many chefs, de Brito went to work cooking with Patrick O’Connell at the three-Michelin star Inn at Little Washington.

While the menu at Café Frank changes with the seasons, you can always count on a long-simmering soup, like this lobster and shrimp chowder.

“What is good about Café Frank is that I stay in my kitchen,” de Brito says. “I like dogs a lot, but I can really do without most people, so I rarely go into the dining room. I stay where I belong, talking to my shallots, listening to my sauces, getting aroused by my chicken stock, smelling my herbs. I like a perfectly silent kitchen so I can hear my ingredients.”

The food at Café Frank is classic and casual, “with a lot of TLC,” de Brito says. The new restaurant is truly an outlet for him to “get back into [his] madness.”

“Opening Café Frank was a way to fuel my obsession with making dishes. Hopefully in between I can give a few good nights out to some people. I am busy—extremely busy. I hope my wife will forgive me one day.”

Knife&Fork 13

The Dish

Farm fresh

Charlottesville’s farmers’ markets spring to life

By Paul Ting

14 Knife&Fork

EZE AMOS

F

or many locals, the annual return of chirping birds means rolling out of bed early on Saturday and heading downtown to the City Market. The beloved market has been in action since 1973, providing an opportunity to shop for fresh produce and farm-raised meats, but also a chance to see and be seen, as much of the community shops, eats, and mingles.

However, much like the rest of us, the City Market has been forced to adapt as a result of the pandemic. Even now, as vaccinations and decreasing case numbers give the public reason to look forward with hope, City Market is not sure when it will return to business as usual.

Once that happens, it will be welcome news indeed. Since April 2020, when it was announced that the market would be switching to a drivethrough model, shoppers have been required to preorder their produce online and then drive up in their vehicles on Saturday mornings for contact­less pick up. Of course, while the ability to buy from local farms is greatly welcomed, the change meant a temporary end to browsing in person, picking up a freshly cooked breakfast or coffee on Saturday morning, and the social aspects of attending the market.

Although the Charlottesville City Market certainly deserves kudos for its work these past few months, it actually wasn’t the first to establish the online ordering, drive-through market model. That distinction goes to the Local Food Hub, a nonprofit founded in 2009 with the goal of connecting area independent farms directly with consumers and increasing access to fresh, local food for food-insecure communities.

Quickly recognizing the needs and challenges that COVID-19 presented, the Local Food Hub announced the establishment of its contactless pick-up market on April 1, 2020, “due to small farms and food businesses challenged by stayat-home executive orders.”

If you’re hankering for the in-person market experience right away, the IX Art Park Farmers Market still allows customers to wander the premises, letting everyone check out what’s fresh, what looks good, and what might inspire the perfect menu. Held on Saturday mornings,

Currently the only market offering in-person shopping, IX Art Park Market is held on Saturday mornings.

Meal planning While IX Park market is the only setup offering in-person browsing right now, you can still sample the best of what’s around, even at the drive-through markets. Here are a few of our favorite stops.

Good eats In addition to fresh eggs and produce, Sussex Farm is known for freshly prepared Korean food and a wide variety of kimchi. Jennifer Naylor, affectionately known as “Mama Bird” to those who frequent her stall, says it’s been challenging to provide fresh food and an alternative to grocery stores. “I think it’s an absolute necessity for people to consume what’s local and fresh to boost their immune system during times like this,” she explains, “Now, the market has become a place to go for safe, healthy, local food and fresh air.” @themamabirdfarm

says they experienced an overall decrease in engagement this past year, but they’re “grateful to still be operational and hopeful for the upcoming season. The local community’s commitment to supporting local businesses has been really encouraging.” @sweetjaneskitchen_va

Sharing is caring Offering a wide variety of organic produce, fresh eggs, and meats each week at the IX market and the Local Food Hub market, Bellair Farm has become well known in Charlottesville largely as a result of its community-supported agriculture program. “Business has changed a lot,” says Michelle McKenzie, who credits the quick pivots by the markets for being instrumental in helping get through 2020, “We saw record sales…from farmers’ markets, which helped offset reduced income from events on the farm.” @bellairfarmcsa

No more feeling crabby

The right stuff

Sweet Jane’s Kitchen offers Maryland-style jumbo lump crab cakes, both ready to eat and to take away and cook at home. Owner Alyce Johnson

Whisper Hill Farm offers many items that are popular among shoppers, including fresh garlic and a wide variety of peppers. Prior to 2020, most

the focus is on a more traditional outdoor market experience that doesn’t require advance ordering (although online ordering for pick up is available). In addition, there are fresh prepared food options available from food trucks and some of the vendors.

The IX Park market was founded in 2018, previously existing as a way of bridging the winter months when the City Market was closed. But due to its popularity during the pandemic, the market continued past March last year, and ran through the rest of 2020. In January 2021, the market resumed for its fourth season, and quickly announced that it will again continue through the year.

IX market takes many safety precautions: posted signs, hand sanitizer stations, widespread mask-wearing, strict social distancing, and touch-free transactions. Perhaps more importantly, it revealed fresh produce and meats, a bevy of favorite food trucks, and many neighbors supporting local farms and businesses. Not only do these markets keep dollars in the local economy and promote community, but, through the inspired work of the city and nonprofits, they also help bring food to many who truly need it.

As Gorham is proud to point out, during the pandemic “it has been important for vendors and customers to have options to connect for local food. Local producers have filled in food shortages with fresh, high-quality products.”

of the farm’s business was at farmer’ markets, but one result of this past year was an increase in its CSA, from 30 members in 2019 to 250 members in 2020. The farm has just opened up an additional 200 members shares for 2021. @whisper_hill_farm

Still truckin’ Opened in the midst of the pandemic, Basan food truck is a staple presence at IX market, which is the only market that currently features food trucks. The menu offers an interesting mix of ramen, Korean fried chicken, and some amazing and ever-changing specials, based on Asian street food. Co-owner Anna Gardner explains, “Market Central has been absolutely wonderful trying to work with vendors and adapt safety protocols to all of the changes.” Co-owner Kelsey Naylor adds, “the farmers’ market scene has been incredibly helpful for us. It allows us to serve people in a setting where they can really spread out, or take food home, which helps minimize risk for all involved.” @eatbasan

EZE AMOS

The Dish

Fish run

Cold Country Salmon brings better than sushi-grade salmon to farmers’ markets

By Shea Gibbs

W

ant anything from Alaska? Local fisherman Zac Culbertson is going anyway.

Culbertson runs a small family farm just outside Charlottesville. And he also runs Cold Country Salmon, a direct-delivery and farmers’ market-based retail seafood operation. For his wares—mostly salmon, but also halibut and sablefish—Culbertson heads to Alaska once a year and fishes the waters of Elfin Cove like a barracuda after a sparkly bracelet.

Salmon season lasts only a short time, so Culbertson typically travels to southeast Alaska in June. He makes his annual catch in less than two calendar months, torridly fishing for days on end over that single, frenzied period.

Take king salmon. Culbertson landed about 11,000 pounds of the stuff last year in only a handful of days. Indeed, the king salmon catch sometimes runs only a single day. As for coho salmon, which Culbertson calls his “bread and butter,” 9,000 pounds of catch weight found its way into Cold Country Salmon’s live wells last year. And a good amount of that then went to C’ville customers.

“The Charlottesville market is one of my top markets,” Culbertson says. “I think with the pandemic...there was a lot more interest in nailing down a food pipeline. People felt like the supermarkets were running out of everything, and they wanted a local source for things.”

Even if that local source has to make a 3,600mile run to grab the goods.

Knife&Fork 15

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WINE-DOWN WHO’S JAMMING AT LOCAL WINERIES? WRITTEN BY STEPHANIE VOGTMAN

As the weather warms, and COVID restrictions lift, people are hoping to enjoy themselves with a sense of normalcy. Live music and concerts have finally started to return, and we here at C-ville Weekly wanted to share some of the vineyards who are supplying that! Check out what the wineries had to say about their upcoming music series, plus what wines we suggest you pair with them:

53RD WINERY AND VINEYARD Owner Dave Drillock 53rd winery first started hosting live music on weekends beginning in 2016. Being out in Louisa it was a way to bring guests and our rural community together. Wine is meant to be enjoyed socially with friends and family, and live music just enhances that. Going forward, we are restarting live music every Saturday, but have also started our Sunset in the Vines concert series once a month! Expect to see food trucks there, but you’re always welcome to bring your own picnic.

Make sure to check on our social media for the most up to date information on what musicians and food options we have. One of our winery favorites to play live here would be local musician Luke Bobbitt. He has a wide variety of music and is quite popular. We hope to see you soon!

Our Wine Pick: 2019 Albariño Light with refreshing acidity, their Albariño is all estate grown. Hints of lime and light salinity are balanced out by white floral notes. This wine is perfect for the warm weather and enjoying with acoustic music!

DUCARD VINEYARDS Owner Scott Elliff Over 10 years ago when DuCard opened, we began hosting live music events. Live music matched our “vibe” as a family at the winery, and over the years we have had a handful of world premieres. We are

still hoping that one of our featured artists makes it big and can come back for a fun reunion or “mega concert”. Every Saturday afternoon, and sometimes evenings, we have live music in our outdoor space.

New this year we also have music on Friday evenings, and we usually have a rotating group of food trucks on site for these events. We recommend reservations, especially on Saturday nights. Make sure to check our events on our website for any details.

We are especially looking forward to Bomar and Ritter joining us for Father’s Day on Sunday, June 20th, as well as Smokin’ Trout this summer who will be playing on Saturday, July 3rd.

Our Wine Pick: 2019 Signature Viognier This wine is aromatic and mellow, with hints of honey and wildflower. After partial fermentation and aged in barrels, the melon and fruit character feel round and soft on the palate. Wonderful for listening to bluegrass music!

HARK WINERY Owner Aaron Hark Memorial Weekend of 2020, we began to host live music after reopening exclusively outdoors per COVID regulations. In the warm months since then, we have hosted live music and food trucks every Saturday. With 80 acres of space, we encourage our guests to bring lawn chairs, blankets, pop-up tents to find the perfect spot for their friends and family to relax. We bring in a wide variety of food trucks, including some that do not typically work in the Charlottesville area to keep it fresh and interesting each week for our guests. One of our favorites is Paella Perfecta our of Harrisonburg, which will be back throughout the season. They cook up three types of paella in massive pans right next to our lawn, and the only thing better than the smell is the taste! We are looking forward to hosting The Currys on June 19th, and the Big Boy Brass Band on July 31st. The Currys are very well known and

have played all over the East Coast. The Big Boy Brass Band is an 8-piece New Orleans-style brass band originating from Pennsylvania, and we are looking forward to the awesome mid-summer party with them!

Our wine pick: 2020 Virginia Verde Stylized after Portuguese Vinho Verde wine, the Virginia Verde is bright with slight effervesce.

Bright notes of honeydew melon and lime zest are perfect for pairing with oysters, paella, and that New Orleans brass band music.

KNIGHTS GAMBIT VINEYARD General Manager Jordan Summers We first started hosting live music a few years ago as a natural adjunct to our business. What is better than dancing to local tunes, VA wine in hand, while gazing out over a sweeping view of the Blue Ridge mountains? It is a joy to have created a space for the community to enjoy the amazing local music Charlottesville has to offer. We have live music every Saturday from 5-8 pm, and some of those night we have food trucks as well. Look out on our website for upcoming Thursday night events as well! There is such a wide variety of musical talent in the area, and each band brings its own vibe and energy. We are lucky to have them out to play for us!

Our wine pick: 2019 Pinot Grigio Pale gold in color with a refreshing flavor of Meyer lemon, this Pinot Grigio has hints of honey with slight acidity. Warm weather, rocking chairs, and string music pair beautifully with this wine.

Charlottesville’s favorite Filipino Food Truck is coming to the Dairy Market! We can’t wait to bring our delicious and authentic food to our customers 7 days a week. dairymarketcville.com/stalls/manila-street

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Rising stars Three local bakers keeping us rich in dough BY CAITE HAMILTON Knife&Fork 19

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ow does anyone get better at anything? They practice. That’s what these three artisan bakers have in common—they found a thing they were interested in (bread), experimented with its execution (over and over and over), and became experts.

We’re just lucky enough to reap the benefits.

Risen Bread

Lukpla’s Loaves Lukpla Gerbert had always loved reading food blogs and watching cooking videos. But after the birth of her son and

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Althea Bread

PHOTOS: EZE AMOS

Truth be told, says Abbey Biber, “I never intended to start a company. My extended family and friends encouraged me to consider it.”

Biber had been baking bread for her family for about five years with, she says, “countless flops” and a few loaves that turned out well. It was the good ones that encouraged her to keep at it. Eventually, she started giving away the best loaves, and that was when the recipients urged her to start Risen Bread.

Biber prides herself on never using yeast (“flour, water, and salt—that’s it,” she says) and touts the benefits of sourdough over other types of bread.

“Bread that is fermented is easier to digest because the bacteria breaks down the gluten,” she says. “Sourdough bread is also less likely to spike your blood sugar, having a lower glycemic index compared to other breads due to the fermentation process. I also think the flavor of sourdough bread is more complex and delicious.”

Her menu includes signature products like a country loaf (“great for dipping in soup or oil, for sandwiches and toast”), and other staples like a rosemary loaf, focaccia, and pizza dough. And she’s always experimenting, having tried out a short run of cinnamon/raisin bread earlier this spring, and a sourdough naan that was a hit with her husband and two kids. Biber says a seeded loaf is the most likely addition to the menu this summer.

Naturally leavened bread makes for a lengthy baking process—more than 24 hours from start to finish—so Biber bakes twice a week, every Tuesday and Wednesday, and has weekly pickup locations in Greenwood and Charlottesville. Place your order through Instagram @risenbreadva.

daughter, twins, she began to spend a lot more time at home. Eventually, what was once a passing fascination with from-scratch cooking became a full-on hobby.

“I enjoyed cooking from scratch, including yeast bread with a bread machine,” she says. “From there I moved on to baking sourdough bread, doing as much as possible by hand.”

Each of the loaves, which she bakes once a month, are made with 100 percent sourdough starter, no yeast, and organic flour. Gerbert changes the menu each month, adding in new, fun options to her list of staples, like bestseller Chalapeño (cheddar and jalapeño) or sourdough pizza crust, which she can barely keep in stock.

Eventually, she says, she’d like to return to selling at the Forest Lakes Farmers Market, where she launched her business in 2019, but for now Gerbert takes orders online and makes deliveries monthly. The baker, who is a full-time stay-at-home mom to her now-kindergarteners, posts her monthly menu to the Lukpla’s Loaves’ Facebook and Instagram pages (@lukplasloaves). Send her your order, get a confirmation, pay online, and wait for your loaf to be delivered.

“Baking small batches of sourdough for neighbors is what I love,” she says. “I wouldn’t be able to bake if there were no customers to support me.”

Althea Bread

Lukpla Gerbert

Marian Bayker

Marian Bayker was finishing a degree in biology at Mary Washington University when she fell in love with the service industry. “I always looked forward to my shifts at Hyperion Espresso more than the schoolwork,” she says.

That’s where she met her partner, Susan, and they eventually moved to Charlottesville, where Bayker took a job as a UVA research lab tech, and began studying cancer immunology. Working in science was fascinating, she says, but she decided to stop avoiding the pull she felt toward service work, and took a job first at Mudhouse in Crozet, and then at MarieBette. It was there that she became fascinated with bread.

“Bread seems so simple, and in a lot of ways it is, but there is a lot of complexity hiding under the surface,” Bayker says. “What is flour really made of? How does it ferment?

How can we adjust the bread-making process to get what we want in the final loaf?”

Eventually, she connected with a farmer who wanted to turn his wheat into bread, and Bayker began milling flour and baking bread at home using local grain.

That’s the heart of Althea (which, in Greek, means wholesome and healing) bread.

“I’ve always thought of Althea Bread as a mill first, bakery second,” Bayker says. “We go through a lot of effort to mill the majority of our flour ourselves from local, organic grains, and to blend grains and flours together to achieve the properties we desire in each product.”

Althea is “definitely headed toward a brick-and-mortar,” Bayker says, but in the meantime, visit altheabread. com for details on how and when to get your hands on a loaf. (Bayker recommends the classic country sourdough or the red corn grit. And grab a few chocolate chip cookies for the road.)

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BREWED F O R T H E D AY

INSPIRED

BY THE MOON

©2021 BLUE MOON BREWING COMPANY, GOLDEN, CO • ALE Per 12 oz.: 95 cals, 3.6g carbs, 1.1g protein, 0g fat

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Southern cooking in the heart of virginia

Collard greens for the soul Knife&Fork 23

Southern food is experiencing a resurgence as chefs and historians reexamine its legacy By Shea Gibbs

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Food historian Leni Sorensen says what we think of when we think of Southern cuisine is really a melding of many culinary traditions.

Southern (con)fusion New Southern cuisine is like putting ranch dressing on pizza. Everyone’s doing it, but no one admits to it.

“When we set out to do Whiskey Jar, we specifically were not trying to be ‘new Southern,’” local restaurateur Will Richey says. “We might make some tweaks in the new Southern vein, but I still say we are classically Southern.”

So what is new Southern? The South Carolina Encyclopedia defines it as “a culinary trend that developed during the final three decades of the twentieth century in the American South [when] a new affluence provided the climate to experiment with new foods or prepare traditional fare in new ways.” The University of South Carolina-driven wiki cites grits made with milk, cream, or broth instead of water as an example.

According to Richey, new Southern is all about the extent of experimentation. Vinegar-based coleslaw instead of the traditional mayo base? Southern. Slaw with jicama and avocado? New Southern. Indeed, Richey says the easiest way to spot a new Southern dish is to look for Californian influence. Since Southern cuisine has long relied on farm-fresh produce, Cali’s 1970s-era farm-to-table movement fit right in.

So where does one find a new Southern supper in C’ville? Harrison Keevil’s Brookville was once the standard-bearer, Richey says, but since the restaurant closed in 2016, the genre has been underrepresented.

“Maybe Ian Boden at The Shack, because he is so hyper-local in his sourcing,” Richey says.—SG

EZE AMOS

ast culinary traditions influence Southern food—European, Native American, African, Caribbean. But if you’re thinking individually about those traditions when you’re thinking about Southern food, you’re kind of doing it wrong, according to food historian Leni Sorensen. Those traditions hit American soil in the 1600s and immediately began to mingle, even as they traveled south, she says.

“It happened fast, and it began to happen much earlier than it is ordinarily supposed to,” says Sorensen. “In the last quarter of the 17th century is when it begins to accelerate.”

The result in the American South was a European cooking tradition—staples from Great Britain tinged with French influences—vastly transformed by the indigenous and enslaved people of the New World. Where chefs in Europe may have had luxurious ingredients, clever cooks stateside had to coax flavors out of what the land provided, using seasoning (think plenty of fat and salt) and technique (think low-and-slow transformations).

“Southern food is indigenous food,” says Ryan Hubbard, owner of Red Hub Food Co. “Southern food is not filets or T-bones or rib eyes...It captures more the cuts of meat you weren’t used to seeing.”

The history of the American South also led to a rapid alignment of Southern food into regions, Sorensen says. Just as quickly as the cuisine’s worldwide influences coalesced in the States, the influences redistributed with subtle differences into the Old South, Mid-South, Gulf Coast, and other sub-regions.

“That’s what makes it exciting,” Sorensen says. “You can go 200 or 300 miles, and you are in a different world.”

The regionalism sprung naturally from the different growing regions present across the South, says Sorensen, but it was also due to the new nation’s “immense peripatetic population.”

“Different groups and families were moving and looking for new land,” she says. “You had that tremendous exodus of the slave trade out of the Old South and eastern coastline. In one decade, 350,000 black Virginians were sold to the rest of the Southern slave states.”

Nevertheless, Sorensen says four ingredients anchor Southern food: corn, rice, greens, and pork. Take hush puppies, one of Red Hub’s most popular menu items. Hubbard points to the Native American influence in the corn and the deep-frying tradition of Scotland coming together to make an inexpensive, humble dish found throughout the South.

Today, Sorensen says Southern cooking is enjoying newfound respect in culinary circles. But where does Charlottesville fit in the Southern culinary tradition? According to Sorensen, central Virginia lacks a specific focus because of its many bounties.

“Part of what it was known for was its fecundity,” she says. “We were a breadbasket and an apple basket...we were really producers—food that was transported to a lot of other places.”

Southern cooking in the heart of virginia

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Kicking up a classic

Coming soon: Mac and cheese, with a twist By Caite Hamilton

hat’s not to love about mac and cheese? According to Sherry Bryant, whose dream of opening a restaurant dedicated to the gooey comfort food is approaching reality: basically nothing.

Elbows, a mac and cheese-focused virtual restaurant, started back in Bryant’s childhood home, where her family prepared a lot of Southern comfort foods, and she’d help in the kitchen.

“One of my favorite dishes to eat and make was macaroni and cheese,” Bryant says. “The entire process was just so consuming and...fun. From stirring the roux and slowly adding in milk for the bechamel sauce, to experimenting with blending different cheeses to alter flavor in subtle ways, to the sound of stirring in elbow noodles to cheese sauce, and spooning cheesy heaps of goodness into a bowl. Magical.”

Cut to a trip to Manhattan, when Bryant stumbled into S’MAC in the East Village.

A tiny hole-in-the-wall spot, it was dedicated to her favorite food, plus add-ins.

She was smitten. She was inspired.

She’s spent the last several years—and spare moments between her full-time middle school teaching job—cultivating the concept of gourmet macaroni and cheese and pitching it to willing ears and mouths. As of this writing, she had applied for commercial kitchen space with Bread & Roses, which would allow her to partner with delivery services to get her mac bowls to customers.

But let’s get down to the nitty-gritty (ooey-gooey?): the flavors. A fan favorite so far is the Chorizo Mac—creamy Jack cheese, smoked chorizo, and chipotle adobo topped with cilantro and a squeeze of lime—and she’s currently workshopping a Cajun-influenced dished, trying to strike a balance between spicy andouille and a mellow cheese like fontina. But Bryant’s personal preference is for the Pesto Mac: wide elbows tossed in basil pesto, pecorino romano, and topped with mozzarella pearls and ripe cherry tomatoes.

“It’s just the right combination of nutty, herbaceous, and salty,” she says.

“The driving force behind Elbows is taking a dish that is so comforting and familiar and making it fresh,” she says.

“That’s at the core of the sort of restaurant that Elbows will be—super approachable, but also exciting!”

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EZE AMOS

STAFF PHOTO

Southern cooking in the heart of virginia

Angelic’s Kitchen

Vision BBQ

Take us out In an ongoing effort to support local dining establishments during the pandemic, our writers have been enjoying a variety of takeout meals from some of their favorite restaurants. On the menu: duh, Southern cuisine.

Soul kitchen How does a new restaurant get away with having just six items on the menu? By making all of them very, very well.

What you’ll get at the Soul Food Joint is crispy-battered fried chicken, fall-off-the-bone ribs, tender-as-a-lullaby pulled pork, simmered-to-perfection collards, boy-oh-boy baked mac and cheese, and deviled eggs better than the ones your grandmother made.

In this case, owner Shaun Jenkins’ late grandmother, from Butler, Alabama, created the recipes. “Then she

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passed that special touch down to my mother, Helen Alexander, who showed me everything I know about comforting the soul through delicious foods,” Jenkins says.

He describes his little spot as “somewhere between a restaurant and a food truck,” and indeed, patrons may either eat there or pick up their food at a window that opens onto the sidewalk. Sharing space with The Salad Maker at 300 E. Market St., The Soul Food Joint is open 11am-9pm daily.—Joe Bargmann

946 Grady Ave., dairymarketcville.com When your soul needs soothing, Angelic’s Kitchen offers a variety of fried foods, as well as homestyle sides. Unable to decide, I ordered Angelic’s Sampler Tray so I could try a little bit of everything. It came with fried fish, two crispy wings, mac and cheese, hush puppies, cheese sticks, and street corn fries with ranch and marinara. There’s enough here to share, and my roommates got to feast on what I unfortunately couldn’t finish from my delicious meal. The hush puppies and mac and cheese were the best part of my order. (You know a hush puppy is going to be good when you can see real corn on the inside.) The mac and cheese was clearly made with love, and had gobs of melted cheese and a crispy top.

Angelic herself enthusiastically welcomed me to her Dairy Market stand (which is open seven days a week), gave me my order, and was eager to offer me extra sauces. I felt like I was at home in my own kitchen.—Madison McNamee

Wayside Takeout & Catering 2203 Jefferson Park Ave., waysidechicken.com It’s just chicken, man—and I mean that as a serious compliment. Wayside doesn’t get cute. Its fried chicken is everything fried chicken should be: crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, salty enough to sting your lips, and greasy enough that the box gets damp. Scarfing down a couple of wings will leave you in a glorious, satisfied haze. The sides complete the picture. The coleslaw cuts the grease a bit, the beans add a little sweetness, and the cornbread fills in the cracks—if you still have room.

The Jefferson Park Avenue shop has always done a brisk takeout business, so the pandemic hasn’t disrupted its usual system.

The decadent chicken is affordable, reliable, and fast. You can’t eat like this every day, but it would be a sad world if you couldn’t eat like this once in a while.—Ben Hitchcock

Vision BBQ 249 Ridge McIntire Rd., visionbbqcville.com There’s certainly no shortage of barbecue joints in the Charlottesville area, but Vision proves there’s still something to be said for doing things the good ol’ fashioned way—no chemical starters, no gas, no electric. On my last visit to Vision, I sampled The Hot Mess, the spot’s specialty sandwich, as well as the standard for any quality barbecue joint: the pulled-pork platter. The pulled pork was slightly fatty, but overall not too dry, and it was complemented by tangy North Carolina vinegar sauce. The Hot Mess, though, was a truly glorious experience. The flavorful pimento, the light heat of the peppers, and the fall-apart brisket were a combination perfect enough to warrant a return visit.—Will Ham

Southern made simple: These four spots set the standard for down-home dining ’round these parts

JOHN ROBINSON

Angelic’s Kitchen

Mel Walker

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hen you feel like all these newfangled Southern restaurants are putting the fusion in confusion, you know where to turn: the diners and lunch counters where the flattop’s been sizzling since your mama was in short pants. The standbys where the menu reads like a 1955 edition of Southern Living: collard greens, fried chicken, mashed taters, gravy, coleslaw, burgers. No gimmicks, no tricks.

“I’ve been here for 30-some years,” says Mel Walker of Mel’s Cafe on West Main Street. “The whole Charlottesville community done changed. When I first opened up, it was all Black businesses in an all-Black neighborhood.”

Thank the good lord places like Mel’s tune out the noise and stick to their roots.

Moose’s By the Creek With taxidermy lining the walls and offhand firearm humor, Moose’s in Belmont does its own thing and does it well. Come for the breakfast—country ham and eggs with home fries and a biscuit should suit— and stay for a Classic Creek burger with a side of mashed potatoes, green beans, potato salad, coleslaw, or mac and cheese. It’s a veritable who’s who of southern sides and savories. 1710 Monticello Rd.

Mel’s Cafe Even if his neighborhood’s flipped upside down over the last three decades, Walker still loves what he does. “I don’t know if I’m crazy or what,” he

says. “I just love the restaurant business. I’m still enjoying myself.”

The choice at Mel’s? Despite the extensive menu, it’s easy. Fried chicken. Still made the same way Walker started making it last millennium, and still delicious. “We are basically home-cooked Southern food,” Walker says. Sometimes that’s all it takes. 719 W. Main St.

Fox’s Cafe Fox’s Cafe on Avon Street has two words and one contraction for ya: biscuits ‘n’ gravy. Biscuits as in from-scratch buttery rounds. And gravy as in homemade sausage.

Owned and operated by Diane Fox since it opened, Fox’s also does right by dinner as well, with fried bologna sandwiches, liver and onions, and hamburger steaks hot from the grill. 403 Avon St.

Croby’s Urban Viddles Croby’s has only been slinging the Southern in C’ville since 2016, but it’s an old soul. Owned by Shannon and Rob Campbell and Mike Marcinek, Croby’s is named for the former’s dad and focused on scratch cooking family recipes.

Oh, and Croby’s ain’t afraid to mash up traditional ingredients in funky ways. Check out the Hot Mess Muffins next time you happen by—sweet cornbread topped with pulled pork and chicken, pimento cheese sauce, and a barbecue sauce drizzle. It’s all the Southern staples on a spoon. 32 Mill Creek Dr. #102—SG

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Southern cooking in the heart of virginia

Excellence on a plate I

n 1953, the late Dr. Walter N. Ridley earned a doctorate in education from the University of Virginia—the first Black American to receive a Ph.D. from a traditional white Southern college. The Ridley, the new Black-owned restaurant at the Draftsman Hotel (1106 W. Main St.), honors Ridley’s legacy by giving traditional Southern cuisine a high-end twist.

“We really have worked hard to bring our interpretation of Southern cuisine to life,” says co-founder Warren Thompson, a Darden School grad and

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CEO of restaurant group Thompson Hospitality, “elevating expected offerings like shrimp and grits, deviled eggs, fried green tomatoes, and cornbread, and adding completely unexpected dishes like our fried lobster tails and duck and dumplings.”

The Ridley’s menu focuses heavily on seafood— Thompson sings the praises of the Chilean sea bass, covered with Thai broth tableside just before it’s served—and at least 5 percent of its annual profits will be donated to UVA’s Ridley Scholarship Fund.

JOHN ROBINSON

The Ridley honors a UVA trailblazer with top-notch Southern fare By Nathan Alderman

When the pandemic hit, we found ourselves with an uncertain future and a lot more down time.”

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Spin doctors

Twisted Biscuits food truck offers a new take on tasty traditions By Nathan Alderman

ayley Tew and Ian Judd knew their new food truck needed some kind of twist. They hit upon the name and the concept simultaneously: Twisted Biscuits, where classic biscuit sandwiches get a fresh presentation.

From breakfast standbys, to lunch offerings like the Green Gobbler or the Fig Pig, to specials like bacon-gravy poutine, Tew and Judd bring serious culinary firepower to bear on the humble biscuit.

Both Twisted Biscuit founders have been working in professional kitchens since their high school years, with a combined resume that includes The Clifton, the Ivy Inn, and BBQ Exchange. “We’d always talked about having our own business,” Tew said. “When the pandemic hit, we found ourselves with an uncertain future and a lot more down time.”

Like a boost of baking powder, this gave them the kick they needed to start their rise. In November 2020, they launched their food truck—and promptly found themselves all but buried in biscuits.

“We do 80 to 200 biscuits a day,” Tew says—that’s anywhere from five to 20 pounds of flour every day, all day, right on the truck. They often need to turn out more trays to meet demand for favorites like the pimento cheese and bacon gravy-slathered Dirty Bird, featuring their hand-breaded and brined fried chicken.

Beyond their usual offerings, the Twisted Biscuits twosome likes to experiment with playful seasonal additions, from “pupsicles” for canine customers (Tew and Judd have three dogs at home) to biscuit-crumb crab cakes on cheddar-chive Old Bay biscuits for Valentine’s Day. While Tew says they’re open to operating a stationary location in the future, for now you’ll have to stay on the go to score their fare. You can track them on Facebook or Instagram at @twistedbiscuittruck—or just follow the aroma of fresh-baked biscuits.

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The Last Bite

Our game is mud Our favorite southern dessert? Mississippi Mud Pie—that rich concoction of pudding and whipped cream on a chocolate crust. And while Maya’s chocolate torte doesn’t exactly cop to its origins, it tastes suspiciously like the real thing.

The West Main restaurant’s elevated version of the classic starts with an Oreo crust baked with butter and brown sugar. Chef de Cuisine Joshua Moore then adds a smooth layer of dark chocolate torte (“with notes of Shenandoah Joe coffee and vanilla beans,” he says), and covers it in salted caramel, fresh whipped cream, and more crushed Oreos. Moore says the restaurant sells about four dozen slices per week. At least a few of those are ours, tbh.

JOHN ROBINSON

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