Che bella!
Wild Wing Café owner Douglas Muir and his wife Valeria Bisenti are spreading their wings down West Main Street to the old Penne Lane space where they will open Bella’s, a family-style authentic Roman Italian restaurant. Muir has a partner/general manager, a contractor, a muse (his wife is “Bella” in this scenario), and is busy buying restaurant equipment and documenting the opening process on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Let’s hope it’s amore.
Sichuan roots in Richmond
There’s no rest for Peter Chang this year. The Sichaun chef with restaurants in Charlottesville and Atlanta, a movie about his career in production, and a date to cook at NY’s James Beard House on January 30, is opening a new restaurant in Short Pump with partner Gen Lee by the middle of February. Chang plans to relocate to the Richmond area permanently, cooking full-time at the new place while working on yet another restaurant in downtown Richmond. That town’s about to get a whole lot spicier.
Flown the Coupe
A new year means new owners at Coupe DeVille’s, one of the Corner’s favorite music and beer-swilling joints. After 26 years of ownership (with many of the same employees since day one), Will Devillier sold to the owners of Trinity Irish Pub. We don’t know their plans for Coupe’s yet (and have heard grumblings that the live music will go), but we imagine it will still serve beer—and UVA students.
One tasty town
Charlottesville is one of ten nominees in Southern Living’s contest for South’s Tastiest Town. You can cast a vote everyday until January 31 (all while qualifying yourself for a $2,500 cash prize for a trip to your Tasty Town of choice) and the winner will be announced in the magazine’s April issue. Last time we voted, we were in fifth place (with 10,000 votes to first place Lafayette, Louisiana’s 41,000). Rock the vote at southernliving.com/tasty and tell the rest of the South what we already know!
