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 […]
Comedian Jim Gaffigan claims that Mexican restaurants seem to take the same combination of ingredients and repackage them under different names. Tortillas, cheese, meat and vegetables, he says, combine to form nachos, tacos, burritos, chimichangas and more. At many so-called Mexican restaurants, this is sadly true, giving Mexican food an undeserved reputation as slop to […]
I have heard it said more than once: Charlottesville is not a brunch town. What? With Blue Moon Diner, Bodo’s, Brookville, Beer Run, Bizou, Bluegrass Grill & Bakery and Brazos Tacos, I don’t even need to leave the B’s to name great brunch spots in town. On the other hand, I do understand the perspective. There […]
The first time I visited the Côte-Rôtie food truck, I knew it would be at Champion Brewing Company before long. Since opening in 2012, the downtown brewery has become the capital of Charlottesville food trucks, and hosts one almost every night. This is the brainchild of Champion owner Hunter Smith, who had seen the success […]
Chef-owned establishments aside, the executive chef position at Clifton Inn may be the peak of Charlottesville’s culinary ladder. In the restaurant’s 24-year history, seven chefs have worn the honor, and several went on to own top eateries such as C&O and Maya. The latest is Yannick Fayolle, a bold young chef who in October took […]
Breakfast with national champions, it turns out, is an inspiring start to the day. So I learned on a recent weekday morning with UVA baseball coach Brian O’Connor and men’s tennis coach Brian Boland, both defending NCAA champions in their sports. Their takes on success, failure, competition, family and life were so moving that, when […]
Did you know you that most restaurants let you bring wine to dinner? Though fees and restrictions vary, restaurants will open a guest’s own bottle of wine for a corkage fee. Some higher-end restaurants with sophisticated wine lists limit the practice to special bottles not on their list, while lower-end restaurants impose looser restrictions, if […]
I lucked out and married into an oyster family. My wife’s grandfather was a Virginia oysterman, her brother founded a Virginia oyster company and for decades, her family has rung in each November with a spectacular oyster roast. To me, November means oysters. Now that association is official. Under an order by Governor McAuliffe last year, […]
I grew up in the dinner party era. Among my favorite childhood memories is falling asleep to the mysterious sounds of my parents’ parties—roars of laughter, clanging glasses and high heels across wooden floors. My parents loved them, too. When preparing for their guests’ arrival, they always floated around the house with a gleam of anticipation. […]
In the fall of 1993, in a booth at an unassuming new restaurant on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall, I dug into a plate of rabbit quesadillas. I was floored. “Who puts rabbit in quesadillas?” I thought. “And, how could they taste this good?” In an era when fine dining meant white tablecloths and fussy French cuisine, […]