Commonwealth Restaurant and Skybar is getting a makeover. And, it’s bringing in some industry experts: restaurateur Will Richey and chef Harrison Keevil. Co-founder of Ten Course Hospitality, Richey has to his name The Alley Light, The Bebedero, Brasserie Saison, The Pie Chest, Revolutionary Soup and The Whiskey Jar. Keevil meanwhile co-owned Brookville restaurant with his wife before closing last year and opening Keevil […]
Why do so many chefs love Riverside Lunch? Don’t get me wrong—I love it too. Few things hit the spot like a Riverside burger. But this is the era of local food, where chefs preach the gospel of local sourcing and other responsible food practices. Yet they regularly allow themselves to “cheat” at Riverside. Take […]
Food judging is a puzzle. Into the round hole of subjectivity, it tries to place the square peg of objectivity. After all, isn’t taste a matter of, well, taste? Take barbecue, a food especially prone to the whims of personal preference. Sure, there is science and skill to it. Application of specific methods, under specific […]
I am old enough to remember when cooking was not cool. Before entire networks were devoted to it, cooking was relegated to the nerdy back room of public television. The prototypical chef was the bumbling Muppet Swedish Chef, while rock stars like Animal were the cool Muppets. Today, chefs are the rock stars. And, cooking has […]
What does it take to earn a Michelin star? Outside of Charlottesville, restaurants have wondered this for years. Both prestige and revenues can come from recognition by the French guide book, which is famously stingy with praise. When it released its first guide to Washington, D.C., last year, Jeremiah Langhorne’s The Dabney was one of just […]
When I asked Lampo’s Ian Redshaw to name the best restaurant in Charlottesville, his answer surprised me. Don’t get me wrong, I love Sultan Kebab. Even when it was hidden in a nondescript location off U.S. 29 North, I named it to The Charlottesville 29, my list of Charlottesville’s essential restaurants. Now that it has […]
What happens when a meat market hires an acclaimed fine-dining chef? Timbercreek Market is about to find out. When Timbercreek Farm owners Sara and Zach Miller opened the market in July 2015, their aim was to bring directly to consumers the same produce from their farm that had long been served at top restaurants around […]
Oktoberfest may be the ultimate celebration of food and beer. Here in Charlottesville, though, the festival’s signature Bavarian fare can be hard to find. Enter Kardinal Hall. Opened last year by the team behind Beer Run, the beer hall and garden filled a gap in Charlottesville dining with food and drink it calls “Alpine.” Truth […]
I don’t like kids’ menus. Beyond their uniform content, what troubles me most is the message they send to kids that there are two different types of food—one for adults to enjoy and another to keep you quiet in the meantime. As a food-lover and parent, I can’t see how this helps to cultivate a passion […]
Chef life is grueling. It’s not just the physical toll of long nights in the kitchen. It’s the psychological toll, too, of missing friends’ weddings, graduations and regular evenings at home with family. As chefs grow older and tire of the grind, many look to use their skills in ways that do not prohibit life […]