PICK: Cocoa & Spice

Spirited move: Vitae Spirits sweetens its tasting experience with a Valentine’s Day cocktail and chocolate pairing at the distillery’s new downtown location. In a collaboration with the chocolatiers at Cocoa & Spice, the event includes three specially made drinks, served with truffles that incorporate some of Vitae’s modern-flavored liquors. Sunday 2/14, $20, 4-9pm. Seating is […]

PICK: Casablanca

Movie date: If you think dating during a global pandemic is difficult, consider the plight of Casablanca’s main characters, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), the ill-fated lovers attempting to escape German-occupied Morocco in the midst of World War II. Yet for all their obstacles, can you think of a more swoon-worthy […]

Stitching together

By Erika Howsare Lisa Woolfork had been sewing for years when she came to a realization—or, rather, a resolution. “I would never again trade my humanity in exchange for doing something I love,” she says. As a Black sewist, she had too often found herself in a compromising position: trying to participate in white-dominated sewing […]

Sown with hope

Few things are as American as tales of immigrants pulling themselves up by their bootstraps and making a life through hard work and sacrifice. For better or worse, our national penchant for embracing this narrative is hard to deny. Initially, Minari may seem like one of those all-too-familiar sagas—but Lee Isaac Chung’s keen eye for […]

Baking connections

By Julia Stumbaugh In 2018, Charlottesville residents Jessica Niblo and Samuel Kane met for a first date at The Pie Chest. But they were both too nervous to eat the shop’s signature dish. Instead, they sipped coffee. Three years later, in January 2021, Kane proposed to Niblo at the same spot where they’d first met. […]

Shots that satisfy

It’s been a tough year for restaurants, and it remains a serious challenge for many to stay open. Sadly, we’ve already lost some local favorites, and there may be more to come. However, in the midst of it all, there are amazing stories of adaptation, re-invention, pivoting, and even new businesses opening against the odds. […]

Return to form through function

DJ Williams Short Stories, Projekt Music For a musician who’s spent over a decade playing countless live shows, teaming up with industry heavy hitters from Questlove to Karl Denson, you wouldn’t think there’d be much ground left to cover. But Williams’ latest project, Short Stories, is something of a rebirth. It showcases his first time […]

PICK: Astronomy on Tap

Looking up: Do you need some pandemic-free space? Astronomy on Tap Charlottesville takes a break from life on Planet Earth with a star-studded discussion led by UVA astronomy experts Dr. Michael Küffmeier, Abby Waggoner, and Dr. Jeffrey Bennett. The “suds and space” virtual talk reaches for the sky by examining the formation of stars, the […]

PICK: Lap dance lessons

Shake it up: Spice things up for yourself and/or someone special with a few lap dance lessons in preparation for Valentine’s Day—or simply because you’re bored silly at home during a pandemic. Phoenix Dance Studio offers Playful Girl beginner classes to get things going, and for those more experienced with the bump ‘n’ grind, the […]

PICK: Beyond the Screen

Big screen: One of the many gems of our arts community is the Virginia Film Festival’s year-round series Beyond the Screen: A Virtual Conversation Series, which offers more of what we love about VAFF’s programming: special access to film industry bigwigs who discuss their work. Writer-director John Lee Hancock and producer Mark Johnson log in […]