Get Out Loudoun for April 2023

GET OUT LOUDOUN

Get Out Loudoun is distributed monthly to entertainment, tourism, and hospitality venues throughout Loudoun County. For the latest news on the music scene and other community events, go to getoutloudoun.com.

CONTRIBUTORS

Dana Armstrong Renss Greene

Norman K. Styer

ON THE COVER

50 West Winery and Vineyards

2020 Petit Manseng.

Photo by Renss Greene

TO ADVERTISE Susan Styer at 703-770-9723 or sales@loudounnow.com

getoutloudoun.com

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TUNES

A Stone Bridge High School senior is getting attention on the national stage, joining the latest roster of contestants on “The Voice.”

DESTINATIONS

The Ion Arena opened in 2019 as a top training center for Olympic-level ice skaters. Now, it’s ready to become Loudoun’s largest concert stage as well.

WINE

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50 West Vineyards winemaker Jason Burrus tried something new with his 2020 Petit Manseng. It produced one of the commonwealth’s top wines.

HAPPENINGS

Downtown Leesburg will transform into a grand celebration of spring during the April 15-16 weekend as the Flower and Garden Festival returns.

BREWS

Interested to know what the latest artificial intelligence engines would brew up if given the chance? Belly Love’s Tolga Baki is going to find out.

BEST BETS

Get Out Loudoun’s top picks for April.

Farm To Mouth

BY DOUGLAS ROGERS, VISIT LOUDOUN

On a recent afternoon, my wife and I were settling down to a plate of braised short rib ravioli at The Wine Kitchen in Leesburg when a farmer walked in with a mushroom the size of a lion’s head. Indeed, it was a lion’s mane mushroom grown by Loudoun’s Misty Meadow Mushrooms, and Wine Kitchen Chef Tim Rowley wasted no time in buying it. Pretty soon it was starring on the menu as the Nashville Mushroom Sandwich: crispy lion’s mane mushroom with pickles, mayo, and a side of fries.

“I love that in Loudoun I have a connection to farmers and what they are doing in a way I wouldn’t in a big city restaurant buying produce from a conglomerate,” Rowley said. “I once bought fresh strawberries delivered to me here by Leesburg’s Lost Corner Farm. They were still warm from the sun.”

As we gear up to celebrate Earth Day on April 22, it’s worth celebrating how fortunate we are in Loudoun to experience authentic farm-tofork dining and truly local, sustainably grown produce.

At Magnolias at the Mill in Purcellville, greens, roots, tomatoes and meats are not only sourced locally but the farms they come from are often named on the menu. Endless Summer Harvest

lettuce farm in Purcellville has a salad named after it, while a juicy Springhouse Black & Blue Burger is made with beef from Hamilton’s Spring House Farm and cheese from Middleburg’s Locksley Farmstead Cheese Co.

At the iconic Restaurant at Patowmack Farm near Lovettsville, a pioneer of the farm-to-fork movement in the ’90s, anything not grown, raised or foraged on the farm is sourced from neighboring farms, local markets and, at times, even the Potomac River, which you can see from the greenhouse dining room.

But that’s not the whole story. In Loudoun you don’t need to go to a restaurant to enjoy farmto-fork. There are scores of roadside farm stores and farmers markets to buy from and CSAs to subscribe to. From May to October, Long Stone Farm in Lovettsville—the grass-based, pesticide-free livestock operation of Casey and Justin Wisch—hosts Sunday Suppers: meat-centric, four-course dinners that incorporate the beef, pork, lamb and poultry produced on the farm. A different Loudoun chef prepares each supper, a Loudoun winery supplies the wine and after a tour of the farm with the Wisch’s, up to 70 guests are seated in a historic barn.

“It’s a true farm-to-fork experience,” Casey Wisch said. “We want guests to see our passion for farming and caring for the land and understand why eating good meat is healthy and worthwhile.”

We second that. Bon Appétit!

Contributed Long Stone Farm’s Sunday Suppers are among Loudoun’s ample farm-to-table offers that showcase locally grown ingredients.

Hike to Bear’s Den Overlook

Stroll through Morven Park

Hold baby goats at Georges Mill Farm Try Petals & Poses at local wineries

Behind ‘The Voice’ with Ashburn’s Mary Kate Connor

BY DANA ARMSTRONG

On the day of her chair-turning debut on NBC’s Season 23 of “The Voice” last month, Mary Kate Connor was happy to be home in Ashburn celebrating with her friends, family, and schoolmates.

“I remember being in chorus class—my brother and I are both in the same class—and we’re rehearsing our pieces. We stand right next to each other in our concert formation. All of a sudden, I get a text on my phone. It’s my sister sending an article that says that I was leaked,” Connor said.

“We’re in the middle of the song and me and my brother just start shouting, jumping up and down, and running out of the classroom into the hallway [to watch the early released video]. My teacher was like, ‘what the heck?’”

“I was walking around school that day, and I would pass by classrooms that had all of their lights off and they were watching my video. That was such a surreal moment because it hadn’t

even aired on TV yet and already my whole school was supporting me and excited for me.”

The week became a whirlwind for the 18-yearold Stone Bridge High School senior. Immediately after the audition aired and she chose country musician Blake Shelton as her coach, Connor’s cell phone was overwhelmed with notifications of new followers on social media.

All of this sudden attention came after a threeyear-long journey to audition for the show and many months of keeping her audition a secret from her peers.

Back in 2020, a producer from ‘The Voice’ reached out to Connor’s father encouraging her to apply for the show. Although it remains a mystery how exactly she was discovered, producers invited Connor to send in audition videos and audition for Season 19.

She flew out to LA with her parents and underwent the month-long preparatory process for the audition, including TV training, vocal lessons,

and a rehearsal with the backing band. However, a positive COVID test before her blind audition forced her to return home early.

“Even though it didn’t go the way that I planned in 2020, it was definitely a blessing in disguise. I look back and I watch videos of me singing, and I’m like, I was not ready for this. So I’m happy that I got a couple more years to perfect my craft and work on myself and my abilities. I definitely think that paid off,” said Connor. Soon after her return to Ashburn, she bought her first guitar and started to teach herself how to play. She first fell in love with music through church and musical theater, but learning the guitar and beginning to write her own music was what helped her find her musical niche.

Last spring, Connor got back in contact with producers from “The Voice.” By July, she received a phone call while washing dishes at a summer camp that she was selected for a blind audition. And from late September to October, she embarked on the month-long pre-audition process again, but this time with a far better outcome.

She said the day of her blind audition started early in the morning, even though the audition wasn’t until later that afternoon. She spent the morning getting fixed up by the hair and makeup team, filming pre-performance interviews, and managing her nerves with the support of her family and network of friends from “The Voice” who were also going through the audition process.

Connor enjoys a variety of musical genres, including folk, country, Americana, indie-pop, blues, and bluegrass. She said her favorite artists range from Phoebe Bridgers to Patty Griffin. Her affinity for the breadth of the singer/songwriter category influenced her to choose the song “Stars” by fellow singer/songwriter Grace Potter and the Nocturnals as her audition song. Her performance received two chair turns from Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton.

“When [Chance the Rapper] was like ‘choose your coach,’ I had no idea what I was going to do. I just felt this little voice in my head—it was like the Holy Spirit speaking to me—was like, ‘Go with Blake.’ So I said, ‘I choose Blake!’ I don’t even remember saying it. … I didn’t really know

why, but it ended up being the best decision I ever could have made.”

In addition to her blind audition, Connor has already recorded the Battle Rounds, the last of which will be aired April 4. However, as of press time, she is sworn to secrecy regarding what happens.

“Just what I can say, it’s going to be a fun time. … The fun thing about the Battle Round is that you get to work with your coach so that was a beautiful thing for me was being able to work with Blake and hear from his mentoring. He has so much wisdom from being on the show for as long as he has been.”

In the meantime, Connor has kept busy back in Ashburn with completing her senior year and applying to college. Additionally, she finds great fulfillment in doing outreach ministry to middle school girls and those with special needs.

“All of my time is spent with my friends, being in my community, helping out, and doing fun things. I love going on long drives with the windows down and blasting music with my friends in the car—just normal teenage girl stuff. It’s been crazy because I’m just honestly a normal girl who just happens to be on a TV show.”

Connor has committed to James Madison University in the fall where she plans to continue studying music, particularly in the university’s Music Industry track. Along with her dreams of recording music, she also aspires to become a music therapist and help those with special needs connect with the power of music.

“My goal on the show is not just to perform, put myself out there, gain all the followers, and become big in the industry—that’s not really what my goal is. I just want to reach people and I want to move people. I want what I do to be a force of love, and I want people to feel Jesus in my performances, everything I do, and the way I carry myself.”

“Making an impact on people is what makes this journey—all of the stress, all of the pain, all of the no’s and the hardships—that’s what makes all of this worth it for me and what makes it beautiful.”

Follow Mary Kate Connor’s “The Voice” journey on Instagram @ylashburn.

Happenings

ronmental and conservation topics. Enjoy music, shop at a mini farmer’s market, and learn how you can live a more sustainable life. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more details, go to loudoun.gov/prcs.

ENVIRONMENTALLY THINKING ON EARTH DAY

Every April 22 since 1970, people around the world have paused to demonstrate support for environmental protection efforts. Concerns over climate change continue to boost interest in Earth Day themes.

In Loudoun, community groups have planned a number of community cleanups as well as special events planned at county parks.

On April 21 Claude Moore Park in Sterling hosts a wildlife walk from 3 to 4 p.m. Participants will enjoy a walk through the park while exploring local wildlife. A week earlier, on April 15, volunteers are invited to join a park cleanup from 9:30 a.m. to noon.

On Earth Day, April 22, the Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve south of Leesburg offers a day of hands-on activities, educational demonstrations, nature crafts, guided tours, and family-oriented festival games—all working to promote a more sustainable life. The program runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

On April 23, Franklin Park invites visitors to take a walk around the event field and visit with community groups to learn about various envi-

PURCELLVILLE CELEBRATES MUSIC & ARTS APRIL 29

The Town of Purcellville will welcome crowds to its historic Dillon’s Woods and Bush Tabernacle at the Fireman’s Field complex for its free family-oriented Music & Arts Festival on April 29.

The event, from noon to 7 p.m., will have multiple stages featuring a wide range of entertainment. In addition to musical entertainment, the Purcellville Arts Council offers a show of works by area artists and community organizations will have booths to promote their services and meet with prospective volunteers. There will be several artisan and food vendors onsite.

As of press time, the entertainment lineup had not been set. You can find that and other details at purcellvillemusicandartsfestival.com.

Ion Arena Kicks Off Concert Series with Starship

BY DANA ARMSTRONG

Starship featuring Mickey Thomas—an iteration of the 80s/90s rock band Jefferson Starship—is coming to Ion International Training Center on April 15. The concert kicks off the first of many at Ion Arena this year as it grows into its role as the area’s largest indoor concert venue.

Currently, Ion is better known for its ice rinks than its arena stage. However, co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer Mitra Setayesh said hosting concerts at Ion was always part of the plan.

“We opened in June of 2019,” Setayesh said. “Right when we were ramping up [to start hosting concerts], COVID hit. By the time March 2020 came, we had to cancel five shows that we had announced.”

Opening Ion has been a dream since 2008 for Setayesh and her husband, Ion’s Founder,

President, and CEO Luiz Taifas. Setayesh has an extensive background in management, marketing, and sales across Europe and the U.S., and Taifas was a member of the Romanian National Figure Skating Team for 14 years.

“[My husband] is an Olympian figure skater. He was a high-level athlete for many years, and then he coached at an indoor rink in Reston for over 19 years,” Setayesh said.

“He kept saying, ‘Why doesn’t this area have a high-level, international-caliber rink? We have very good neighborhood rinks, but nothing high level.’ And it’s the capital of the U.S., mid-Atlantic, close to Europe, it makes every sense in the world if we build something nice that international athletes would come to—which is exactly what we have here.”

At Ion, they train hockey players, figure skaters, ice dancers, and curlers from beginner to professional-level athletes.

Photo by Dana Armstrong

Ion International Training Center is known for training all levels of hockey players, ice skaters, ice dancers, and curlers. Now, they also hope to become known as Loudoun's premier indoor concert venue.

The venue is home to 23 travel hockey teams, including adult hockey leagues, and hosts both local skaters and Olympic-level ice athletes from nine countries. The facility also has a Fitness Center offering individual training for lifters and bodybuilders and conditioning for their ice athletes.

Setayesh describes herself as “the only mortal” among an incredibly talented pool of athletes and co-workers. The accolades of their coaches, fitness trainers, off-ice dance instructors, and even the chef of their in-house restaurant, Lu’s Bar and Grille, all attest to this.

“That was the thing with the vision my husband had. He really hand-picked the best of the best,” she said.

In addition to its training, camps, and after-school programs, Ion offers public free skates and hosts a variety of birthday parties and charity and corporate events. Their lobby holds up to 500 people with options for catering and holding smaller-scale concerts.

The arena’s main ice rink is equipped with a multi-functional floor. When they cover the ice with a thermal layer, the space can be used to host a variety of non-ice events including sports like basketball, tennis, and martial arts and, of course, concerts.

They can even partially cover the ice with flooring to create collaborative events with live orchestras and ballet companies alongside their ice skaters.

Overhead heat radiators keep the seating at a comfortable temperature for the audience. Additionally, the arena contains multiple concession stands selling snacks and non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages. Attendees can also plan for a more substantial, high-quality meal before performances at Lu’s Bar and Grille.

During 2019, ice shows were the main form of performance in Ion’s arena. Its June 2019 grand opening show featured Olympian Nathan Chen, and the 2019 Christmas show showcased the legendary Canadian figure skater Kurt Browning.

Forced to cancel concert plans through 2020, Ion used its 2021 Christmas ice show to test if the community was ready for live performances again.

“We thought if we could get 500 people that would be nice. We got 1,700 people. So that

told us, okay, people are ready to come back,” Setayesh said.

In 2022 they hosted a variety of events in the arena, including Arc of Loudoun’s Shocktober festival with They Might Be Giants, an Oktoberfest event with vendors from local breweries and a Bon Jovi tribute band, and a ‘90s concert featuring Dr. Alban, No Mercy, and Ace of Bass. With the upcoming Starship concert in April, they hope to showcase the potential of the 5,500-person-capacity arena and attract more large-scale musicians to perform there. Mickey Thomas leads the band in performing a long list of ’80s hits, including “We Built This City,” “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” “Find Your Way Back,” and “Layin It On The Line.”

Setayesh said Ion is finalizing contracts with the talent for this year’s concert series. Still, she hints they plan to host 14 concerts from April through October featuring plenty of well-recognized, internationally touring artists and bands. Most recently, contemporary Christian singer Tauren Wells and his band performed March 18 at the venue.

Since Ion primarily uses the arena for hockey games throughout the year, it currently has limited weekend availability to host concerts. However, this won’t be the case for much longer.

“We are soon to expand to another two sheets of ice. We’re hoping for an August or fall of 2024 opening of that,” Setayesh said.

“Not only have we outgrown the space already, but with two more sheets of ice, it allows us to use the Arena as a full-time arena so we can have concerts here year-round.”

On June 10, Ion will be putting on the ice show “Fire on Ice” with the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra will play live on the ice for some major figures in the skating world, such as Olympians and other international athletes.

Audiences also can look forward to a concert by the R&B/funk band Kool & The Gang on May 20.

To purchase tickets to the April 15 Starship ft. Mickey Thomas concert and learn more about Ion International Training Center and its programs and upcoming events, go to ionitc.com.

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31 Maggie Malick Wine Caves

12138 Harpers Ferry Rd., Hillsboro maggiemalickwinecaves.com

32 October One Vineyard

7 Loudoun St., SW, Leesburg Octoberonevineyard.com

33 Old Farm Winery

23583 Fleetwood Road, Aldie oldfarmwineryhartland.com

34 Otium Cellars

18050 Tranquility Rd., Purcellville otiumcellars.com

35 Stone Tower Winery 19925 Hogback Mountain Rd., L’burg stonetowerwinery.com

36 Stonehouse Meadery

36580 Shoemaker School Rd., Purcellville stonehousemeadery.com

1 Adroit Theory Brewing 404 Browning Ct., Purcellville adroit-theory.com

2 B Chord Brewing Company 34266 Williams Gap Rd., Round Hill bchordbrewing.com

3 Barnhouse Brewery 43271 Spinks Ferry Rd., Leesburg barnhousebrewery.com

4 Bear Chase Brewing 33665 Bear Chase Ln., Bluemont bearchasebrew.com

5 Belly Love Brewing Company 725 E. Main St., Purcellville bellylovebrewing.com

6 Black Hoof Brewing Company 11 South King St., Leesburg blackhoofbrewing.com

7 Black Walnut Brewery 210 S. King St., Leesburg blackwalnutbrewery.com

8 Crooked Run Fermentations Central 22455 Davis Dr., Sterling crookedrunbrewing.com

9 Crooked Run Fermentations Market Station, Leesburg crookedrunbrewing.com

37 Sunset Hills Vineyard 38295 Fremont Overlook Ln, Purcellville sunsethillsvineyard.com

38 Terra Nebulo 39892 Old Wheatland Rd., Waterford terranebulo.com

39 Three Creeks Winery 18548 Harmony Church Road, Hamilton 3creekswinery.com

40 Two Twisted Posts Winery 12944 Harpers Ferry Rd., Hillsboro twotwistedposts.com

41 Village Winery 40405 Browns Lane, Waterford villagewineryandvineyards.com

42 Willowcroft Farm Vineyards 38906 Mount Gilead Rd., Leesburg willowcroftwine.com

BREWERIES

10 Dirt Farm Brewing 18701 Foggy Bottom Rd., Bluemont dirtfarmbrewing.com

11 Dynasty Brewing Company 21140 Ashburn Crossing Drive, Ashburn 101 Loudoun St, SE, Leesburg dynastybrewing.com

12 Flying Ace Farm 40950 Flying Ace Ln, Lovettsville flyingacefarm.com

13 Harper’s Ferry Brewing 37412 Adventure Ctr. Lane, Hillsboro harpersferrybrewing.com

14 Harvest Gap Brewery 15485 Purcellville Road, Hillsboro facebook.com/HarvestGap

15 House 6 Brewing 4427 Atwater Dr., Ashburn house6brewing.com

43 The Wine Reserve at Waterford 38516 Charles Town Pike, Waterford waterfordwinereserve.com

44 Walsh Family Wine 16031 Hillsboro Rd., Purcellville northgatevineyard.com

45 Williams Gap Vineyards 35785 Sexton Farm Lane, Round Hill williamsgavineyard.com

46 Zephaniah Farm Vineyard 19381 Dunlop Mill Rd., Leesburg zephwine.com

BREWERIES & WINERIES

1 Bluemont Station Brewery and Winery 18301 Whitehall Estate Lane, Bluemont bluemontstation.com

2 Hillsborough Brewery & Vineyards 36716 Charles Town Pike, Hillsboro hillsboroughwine.com

3 Notaviva Brewery and Winery 13274 Sagle Rd., Hillsboro notavivavineyards.com

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22 Old Ox Brewery Middleburg 14 S Madison St, Middleburg, VA

23 Phase 2 Brewing 19382 Diamond Lake Dr, Lansdowne Phase2Brewing.com

24 Solace Brewing Company 42615 Trade West Dr., Sterling solacebrewing.com

25 Sweetwater Tavern 45980 Waterview Plaza, Sterling greatamericanrestaurants.com

26 The Craft of Brewing 21140 Ashburn Crossing Dr., Ashburn thecraftob.com

27 Vanish Farmwoods Brewery 42245 Black Hops Ln., Lucketts vanishbeer.com

28 Wheatland Springs Farm + Brewery 38454 John Wolford Rd., Waterford wheatlandspring.com

4 Quattro Goomba’s Brewery & Winery 22860 James Monroe Hwy., Aldie goombawine.com

50 West Vineyards Wins Spot in Governor’s Cup Case—Again

BY RENSS GREENE

50 West Vineyards’s 2020 Petit Manseng was one of only a dozen wines from across Virginia to earn a spot in this year’s Governor’s Cup Case.

It’s the second year in a row the winery, near Aldie, has won a spot in the prestigious case. And it was winemaker Jason Burrus’s first attempt at making the technically complex wine, an off-dry version of the normally sweet petit manseng.

Burrus is now in his 25th year in the wine business, and has been in Virginia for 17 years. He came to Loudoun in 2015, and started at 50 West and its sister winery, Sunset Hills Vineyard, as a consultant. That turned into working as the hands-on winemaker in 2021.

The winning petit manseng was an involved wine to make. He already had experience making a late-harvest petit manseng, but it’s

“a niche wine—it sells a lot in the tasting room, but not many people buy bottles because it’s a sweet, dessert wine.”

“We really needed to make a wine that had more broad appeal,” he said.

That meant arresting the fermentation of the normally sweet, high-sugar grapes, which involves cooling it down and filtering out the yeast. That also had to be done in October, already a busy time of year in the cellars. There’s also the question of preserving the wine, which they bottle early to preserve its freshness, and which has to be kept cold because the high sugar content could be food for microorganisms.

But the result was an excellent wine with a lot of character.

WINE FROM PAGE 14

“What stands out about the wine is that it has varietal character, which is more difficult to do on the East Coast. Basically, what that means is, the wine smells like it came from petit manseng grapes,” he said.

The annual Governor’s Cup, one of the most competitive events of its kind, took place over 13 days of judging, awarding 142 gold medals to 66 wineries. But only one wine—this year, a wine from Nelson County’s Delfosse Vineyards and Winery—wins the Governor’s Cup, and only a dozen of the 614 wines in this year’s competition are included in the Governor’s Cup Case. Both 50 West and Sunset Hills Vineyard are regular contenders for top prizes in the Governor’s Cup and the Loudoun Wine Awards.

“The main things is that we are an estate winery, which means 100% of all of the wine that we make comes from grapes from our own vineyard,” Burrus said. “We don’t just manage the vineyards, but we also own the vineyards. So everything form planting the wine, to maintaining the vineyards, to growing the grapes, to making the wine, we do ourselves here. That’s the number one thing we do to control quality— we control every aspect of production.”

With the exception of 2019, at least one Loudoun wine has been in the Governor’s Cup Case every year since it was introduced in 2012. Increasingly, Loudoun wineries have also been competitive for the top award— in 2017 Loudoun won its first Governor’s Cup with The Barns at Hamilton Station Vineyards’ 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, and then again in 2020 with 868 Estate Vineyards’ 2017 Vidal Blanc, and last year with Cana Vineyards and Winery of Middleburg’s 2019 Unitè Reserve.

This year, 13 Loudoun wineries and 22 Loudoun wines earned gold medals, continuing Loudoun wineries’ annual strong showing in the competition. In addition to 50 West’s 2020 Petite Manseng, gold medals went to:

• Breaux Vineyards, 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve and 2019 The Quarter

• Cana Vineyards and Winery of Middleburg, 2021 Petit Manseng

• Creek’s Edge Winery, 2019 Durden Family Blend and 2019 Petit Verdot

• Doukénie Winery, 2019 Petit Verdot and 2020 Sauvignon Blanc

• Fabbioi Cellars, 2019 Cabernet Franc Reserve and 2021 Cabernet Franc

• The Barns at Hamilton Station Vineyards, 2019 Meritage, 2019 Petit Verdot and 2020 Chardonnay

• The Vineyards & Winery at Lost Creek, 2019 Trinity

• Three Creeks Winery, 2020 Melange Rouge and 2020 Vidal Blanc

• Two Twisted Posts Winery, 2019 Cabernet Franc and 2019 Petit Verdot

• Walsh Family Wine, 2021 Bethany Ridge Chenin Blanc

• Williams Gap Vineyard, 2019 Fieldstone and 2021 Cabernet Franc

• Zephaniah Farm Vineyard, 2019 Friendship

Check out

Loudoun’s Dining

FORDS FISH SHACK

Consistently voted Loudoun residents’ favorite place for seafood, Ford’s offers fresh seafood in a family-dining atmosphere at three locations, as well as a catering arm and a food truck operation.

Ashburn-44260 Ice Rink Plaza, Ashburn, VA 20147 (571) 918-4092 • fords shshack.com

Lansdowne-19308 Promenade Dr., Leesburg, VA 20176 (571) 333-1301 • fords shshack.com

South Riding 25031 Riding Plaza, Chantilly, VA 20152 (703) 542-7520 • fords shshack.com

SPANKY’S SHENANIGANS

Known as one of the Loudoun’s favorite bars, Spanky’s Shenanigans is a popular destination from its morning breakfast menu to its ample roster of live music performers.

538 E Market St, Leesburg, VA 20176 (703) 777-2454 • spankyspub.com

LIGHTFOOT RESTAURANT

Inside an historic bank building in downtown Leesburg, the Zagat-rated Lightfoot provides both a ne-dining experience and a gathering place for locals. Executive Chef Ingrid Gustavson serves up American cuisine with southern and ethnic accents.

11 North King Street Leesburg, VA 20176 703-771-2233 • lightfootrestaurant.com

TUSCARORA MILL

Known by locals as Tuskies, the restaurant is located inside a restored 19th century grain mill in Leesburg’s historic district. Offering everything from locally sourced ne dining to a casual bar experience, it’s been a dining destination for more than three decades.

203 Harrison St SE, Leesburg, VA 20175 (703) 771-9300 • tuskies.com

Leesburg’s Flower & Garden Festival Returns April 15-16

The warm weather arrived weeks ago, but for many locals it’s not really spring until the Leesburg Flower and Garden Festival.

This year’s event will be held April 15-16 throughout the downtown historic district.

The 2023 festival hours are Saturday, April 15 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, April 16 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. rain or shine. The festival is open to the public for free.

More than 125 vendors— landscapers, gardening suppliers, plant sellers, outdoor living businesses, furniture makers, and more—will fill the downtown blocks of King and Market streets during the weekend.

The event also includes musical performances and entertainment on three stages along with an assortment of food trucks, children’s activities, and a beer garden.

The beer garden moves to the top floor of the Town Hall parking garage, allowing the Garden Patch children’s area to return to the

Town Green. Five art activity stations will offer hands-on diversions for young festival goers and the stage will feature community groups and professional entertainers all weekend long.

The weekend’s musical entertainment includes a full roster of popular performers, including Eric Campbell, Doin’ Time, Hananiah, Bart Harris, Meisha Herron Rob Hoy, Jason Masi, Dave Mininberg, Pebble to Pearl, Gary Smallwood, Hilary Veltri.

The festival, founded in 1990, is produced by the Town of Leesburg, with efforts from many different departments, including Parks and Recreation, Public Works, Leesburg Police, and Leesburg Utilities.

The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday— rain or shine. Pets are not permitted.

For a listing of vendors, a festival map, full entertainment schedule and more, go to flowerandgarden.org.

Loudoun’s Attractions

LOUDOUN HERITAGE FARM MUSEUM

Travel through time to meet the 10 generations of Loudoun County residents who built this county and left their mark on the land. Exhibits include a schoolhouse, general store, Native American artifact display and the American Workhorse Museum Collection.

21668 Heritage Farm Lane, Sterling, VA 20164 (571) 258-3800 • heritagefarmmuseum.org

LOUDOUN MUSEUM

With a collection of more than 8,000 artifacts, the Museum tells Loudoun’s story from pre-1600 up until today, with a selection of special exhibits featuring the history of Virginia Wine, the Early Republic era, and the County’s role in the US Civil War, along with a timeline of Loudoun County history. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram for upcoming events and public programs!

16 Loudoun Street SW Leesburg, Virginia 20175 (703) 777-7427 • loudounmuseum.org

MORVEN PARK

Morven Park is a 1,000-acre historic estate on the edge of Leesburg that was home to Virginia governor and agricultural pioneer Westmoreland Davis. Tours of the Greek Revival mansion include 16th century Belgian tapestries, Spanish cassones, hundreds of silver pieces, Hudson River Valley paintings, and Asian treasures. The estate also features the Winmill Carriage Museum, the Museum of Hounds and Hunting of North America, formal boxwood gardens, miles of hiking and riding trails, and athletic elds.

17195 Southern Planter Lane Leesburg, VA 20176 703-777-2414 • morvenpark.org

OATLANDS HISTORIC HOUSE & GARDENS

The 415-acre Oatlands estate, owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, offers tours of the historic mansion, extensive gardens and outbuildings that include the oldest standing greenhouse in the South. Exhibits focus on the lives of the Carter and Eustis families who building the estate, as well as the lives of enslaved people who lived and worked there.

20850 Oatlands Plantation Lane, Leesburg, VA 20175 703.777.3174 • oatlands.org

Belly Love, Hillsborough Vineyards to Debut Loudoun’s First AI Beer

BY RENSS GREENE

Belly Love Brewing Company and Hillsborough Vineyards and Brewery in April will debut a Loudoun first and an experiment in beer making: Solar Flare New England IPA, a beer designed, described and decorated by an AI. Every part of the beer—the recipe, the label, even the marketing—was written by a computer. Artificial intelligences today aren’t actually intelligent in a human sense. (An attempt by CNET to have bots write news articles ended disastrously, producing articles rife with errors and possible plagiarism.) In the case of chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, they’re language models, processing massive quantities of text to come up with plausible responses to human inputs. But the answers they come up with can be persuasive.

Belly Love founder Tolga Baki said he first asked the AI to design a beer on a whim. He’d been meaning to play around with an AI bot for a while, but high interest in the bots meant they were overwhelmed with traffic.

“So when I finally got in, I just started talking to it like oh, I wonder if it knows anything about beer,” he said. So I asked what’s the most popular style of beer, knowing of course it’s the IPA, and it said IPA. So I said, let’s see if it could figure it out. So I said, give me a recipe for an IPA that’s never been brewed before.”

The chatbot isn’t ready to put all the brewers out of work yet—that first recipe needed a little tweaking. It produced a recipe for a New England IPA, but it overshot on bitterness. New England IPAs are meant to be more subdued.

Baki said the chatbot apologized for the error. It also had some unconventional ideas—for example, it used Nelson Sauvin hops, which Baki said is not typically a variety used in a New England IPA. So he asked it why.

“It gave a pretty intelligent response, saying

is brewing up a Loudoun first: a beer with the recipe, marketing and artwork all created (with some nudges) by chatbots.

that, well, the new England-style IPAs or hazy IPAs are meant to be tropical and really juicy, and Nelson Sauvin, although it can taste like sauvignon blanc grapes, it also has a lot of really tropical notes and I think it might go well. It was like talking to another brewer, the way it responded,” he said.

So he kept going. He asked the bot to describe the label artwork and to give him marketing blurbs, which it did.

“I couldn’t have written it better myself, to be honest,” he said.

Renss Greene/Loudoun Now Belly Love Brewing Company founder Tolga Baki

The bot described Solar Flare as “a New England-style IPA designed to satisfy hop lovers and novices alike,” and called it “a juicy, tropical fruit explosion with notes of passionfruit, grapefruit, and pineapple. The dry ale yeast strain adds a slight sweetness and enhances the fruity hop character. Whether you're soaking up some rays on a sunny day or warming up by the fire on a chilly night, Solar Flare IPA will transport your taste buds to a tropical paradise."

He also plugged the label description into another bot, Jasper AI, which can produce images.

And with recipe in hand, Baki went to work brewing a limited batch of only seven barrels.

“Brewing this thing yesterday, I kept joking around—my assistant and I were like, oh my god, we’re working for our robot overlord right now,” he said.

The test will be when the beer is ready to try.

“I've been doing this long enough to know to look at something like yeah, that's pretty close to style. And as I said, it's using some malts and

hops that I wouldn't have ever thought to use,” he said. “So either it's going to teach me something or I’m going to be like, yeah, that’s why I thought not to use those.”

Whatever the result, it was an interesting experiment, he said.

“I’m still going to release it, good or bad, because I think people would be really interested to see what a computer could do,” he said.

And Baki’s not ready to hand over creative control to computers just yet.

“The creative part is what I like about it, and so to hand that over is—honestly, I just thought it would be fun to do it, just to see what it could come up with,” he said. “If this beer turns out fantastic, then I might be a little worried.”

Solar Flare IPA will be available in limited quantities at Belly Love Brewing Company in Purcellville and Hillsborough Vineyards and Brewery near Hillsboro in April.

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