It’s not false advertising, there really are chinchillas at Chinchilla Café. Three of them: Pip, Napoleon, and Starr Baby. You can even pet them and feed them treats. “At first, we just tried to get people over to play with the chinchillas,” says café co-organizer Lane Rasberry. “But nobody came, so we started hosting shows […]
Local foodies of the greener persuasion have been getting some love lately, with four plant-based eateries opening in the past few months. Check out the following to get your fill of vegetarian and vegan goodness. Botanical Fare: This downtown lunch spot fulfills your daily servings of fruits and veggies with its soups, sandwiches, and Insta-worthy […]
That clarinet gathering dust in your closet isn’t going to play itself, is it? Lucky for you, The Center’s Second-Wind Band offers seniors an opportunity to, well, play it again. Organized in 1994, Second-Wind is a group of experienced musicians that performs classical, Broadway, patriotic, and holiday music during two annual concerts at The Center, […]
While developing the choreography for Connections, its original production that premieres May 7, Charlottesville Ballet had some big questions. For answers, the company, coming off a two-year pandemic hiatus, turned to its own dance academy, outreach programs, and the broader Charlottesville community, and asked: What does freedom mean to you? and When did you feel […]
“It was the Hot Wet Beef that started it all,” says Morgan Hurt. Kitchenette, the lunchtime sandwich shop Hurt co-founded with her partner, Gabriel Garcia, boasts 22 different subs, hoagies, and rolls. But the Hot Wet Beef, a juicy roast beef hoagie with eggplant and pepper spread, is the OG. The inspiration came after a […]
“Fresh mozzarella, tomato, and basil—that is the perfect pizza!” Giovanni Sestito, owner of Vita Nova Pizza and Pasta Bar, sings the praises of the Caprese’s toppings. “When you look at it, it’s lively, it’s inviting. It’s flavorful, but it’s simple,” he says. Thanks to that compelling combo, the Caprese has remained a staple on Sestito’s […]
The hollowing out of the U.S. Postal Service might not be the most dramatic thing that’s caused stress and anxiety over the last 18 months—but for Chroma Projects, it’s the motivation behind “Pandemonium: Postcards from the Edge,” the gallery’s latest installation. When co-curators Deborah McLeod and Sarah Sargent (a C-VILLE contributor) invited artists to reflect […]
Sitting on the back deck at the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar, Christina Wagner carefully measures out tea leaf with her fingers. “Tea is a great place to exercise intuition,” she says. Laid out on the table before us are the elements of a Chinese gong-fu tea ceremony. There’s a metal teapot filled with hot water […]
When Orion Faruque was a child, and adults asked him, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” he remembers thinking, “I kinda just want to sit in my bedroom and play music.” Now, at 29, Faruque is a working musician, and also the founder of local recording and production studio RedMusic Productions. […]
Like chocolate chip cookies and post-it notes, pickleball’s invention was a happy accident. One summer day in 1965, three dads were tasked with entertaining their desperately bored kids. Finding a nearby badminton court but no badminton rackets, theyscrounged up some ping-pong paddles and a plastic ball. Thus, an enduring sport was born. Pickleball can be […]