Savoring the seasons

A menu is a canvas for Executive Chef Alicia Simmons, who presents Through the Seasons, a thoughtfully crafted dining experience, every three to four months at Tavola. The seasonal one-day-only dinner is filled with the restaurant’s recent daily specials, prepared in collaboration with chef de cuisine Kendall Moore. Simmons typically handles the dessert course, while […]

Byrd’s-eye view

Charlottesville-based wellness guru Renee Byrd was a successful influencer before being an influencer was cool.  Byrd launched her blog, Will Frolic for Food, in 2012. The goal was to “provide free tools for living well … recipes, advice, yoga videos, and entertainment to sensitive souls.” In a few short years, she was working part-time hours […]

Better with friends

Blenheim Vineyards taps Fine Creek Brewing Company for new release There’s nothing that forges stronger bonds and solidifies friendships quite like collaboration. Whether combining resources, such as different raw materials, or providing an area of individual expertise, it’s exciting to work as a team to produce a new or better result. Blenheim Vineyards and Fine […]

Five dishes that will make a vegetarian feel loved

Eating out as a vegetarian can be disappointing, to say the least. While joints like GRN Burger and Botanical Fare have dedicated entire menus to tasty vegetarian and vegan eats, many restaurants only offer a token vegetarian dish. So for those who are tired of the seasonal vegetable plate, grain bowl, and mushroom risotto, we […]

What’s for dinner?

Charlottesville loves to eat. With a restaurant scene that prides itself on punching above its weight class, there is no shortage of options when an out-of-towner asks me the obligatory “where should we eat?” question. That list of options has evolved over the years, taking stock of the ever-changing landscape. The following is a highlight […]

Pick: Thankful Dead

Get ahead of the gravy boat by dancing your ass off at the Thanksgiving eve jam band party Thankful Dead. Grateful Dead tribute band Bigfoot County puts a unique spin on the Dead’s songs while staying true to its spirited jams. Sisters & Brothers, led by vocalists Andy Tichenor and Davina Jackson, draws from the […]

Pick: Elf, The Musical

Journey to the Candy Cane Forest, past the sea of twirly-swirly gumdrops, and through the Lincoln Tunnel at Four County Players’ production of Elf: The Musical. The beloved story of Buddy the Elf comes to life with laugh-out-loud humor and plenty of festive music, including songs like “Sparklejollytwinklejingley” and “Nobody Cares About Santa,” because the […]

Pick: Yevgeny Kutik and Anna Polonsky

The Tuesday Evening Concert Series features an elegant program of Brahms, Milhaud, Strauss, and Ravel performed by Yevgeny Kutik and Anna Polonsky. Violinist Kutik is known for his technical precision and poetic interpretations of standard works, as well as newly composed pieces. His recent release, The Death of Juliet and Other Tales, highlights Russia’s rich […]

Conjuring the curriculum

With the series of paintings that make up Kristopher Castle’s engaging show “Curriculum Vitae” at Phaeton Gallery, the artist explores Thomas Jefferson’s Academical Village and his innovative ideas for education. As the title suggests, the exploration is not a discourse on the UVA founder’s achievements, but rather the artist’s deeply personal relationship to Jefferson’s ideals […]

Saving Private Baumer

Netflix has elaborately revived Erich Maria Remarque’s classic World War I novel All Quiet on the Western Front, directed by Edward Berger. Remarque’s novel’s descriptions of trench warfare and mechanized bloodshed have lost none of their punch (likewise, Lewis Milestone’s 1930 film version), but in Berger’s take, many elements don’t fully coalesce into the potent […]