From the opening lines of The Marriage Portrait, author Maggie O’Farrell does not hedge: The Duchess of Ferrara will die. As historical fiction based on the real life and death of the 16-year-old Lucrezia di Cosimo de’Medici—the details were set in stone more than 460 years ago—this new novel probes the who and the how […]
As a poet, Kiki Petrosino has published four collections, including most recently, White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia, and received the Pushcart Prize and the Rilke Prize, among other awards and fellowships. As a prose writer, her first full-length book, Bright: A Memoir, published in August, and she will give a reading from it on […]
Virginia journalist and bestselling author Beth Macy returns this week with Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America’s Overdose Crisis. The book builds off her previous book, Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America. While Dopesick traced Purdue Pharma’s orchestration of the opioid epidemic and shared stories of those caught […]
The wife—a 40-something fitness trainer with a compact build—is standing beside the distressed-wood dining table that serves as the transitional element between the simple, serene kitchen and the airy living room, which has a vaulted ceiling accented by two triangular timber trusses and a pair of mod pendant chandeliers that look like giant bows, made […]
Jessie Chapman is standing in the shower of her Charlottesville home. She’s fully clothed and the water is not running. Architects do this sort of thing when they’re trying to give someone an idea of the scale of a particular place. “It really is very comfortable,” says Chapman, the co-principal of Goodhouse Design. At a […]
Feliz Navidad The 12 days of Christmas take on a whole new meaning with The Bebedero’s mezcal challenge, December 12-23. “It’s like an advent calendar with booze!” declares the restaurant’s listing. If you and your liver survive the shot-a-day contest (yes, there is a scorecard), you’ll win a free ticket to Bebedero’s rare mezcal tasting […]
Comal After 16 years as a manager at Mas Tapas, Benos Bustamante launched Comal, an authentic Mexican restaurant, in the former Belmont Barbecue space. Just a couple of weeks after opening, Bustamante and his team are already hitting their stride. The menu marries fine dining with traditional flavors from Mexico, specifically Oaxaca, where he was […]
Signs that fall is just around the corner: cool evenings, colorful leaves, and last but certainly not least, whiskey! But this is not Kentucky, so we’re not talking bourbon. Two new releases of locally distilled single-malt whiskey are available now. Spirit Lab Distilling, a little warehouse shop on Sixth Street SE, presents the fifth annual […]
Such a deal! Sometimes it’s fun to be a tourist in your own backyard. The Clifton—a top-notch boutique hotel that deftly pulls off the traditional-meets-modern thing—is offering a package that might be tempting enough to keep you close to home. Book a room on a Monday or Tuesday night through August 31, and receive a […]
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 & cheese, and deviled eggs better than the ones your […]