To botanists, Tuber melanosporum is a fungus that grows on tree roots underground. Gourmets give it a classier name: the black Périgord truffle. Once only produced in certain areas of France, Italy, and Spain, black truffles are now cultivated all over the world—including locally. Seeing truffle farms in New Zealand gave Pat Martin and her […]
To botanists, Tuber melanosporum is a fungus that grows on tree roots underground. Gourmets give it a classier name: the black Périgord truffle. Once only produced in certain areas of France, Italy, and Spain, black truffles are now cultivated all over the world—including locally. Seeing truffle farms in New Zealand gave Pat Martin and her […]
The team behind Junction, the Southwest-style Belmont restaurant that closed in 2020, has launched another eatery in the same space, but new patrons can expect anything but the same old. The new resto goes by the name Mockingbird and serves up Southern comfort. Head chef Melissa Close-Hart worked with long-time collaborators Michelle Moshier, Matthew Hart, […]
“Is this the most environmentally friendly option?” At DuCard Vineyards, this is the question asked prior to making each and every decision. Nestled at the edge of the Shenandoah National Park among the mountains of Madison County, DuCard’s vintners are not only committed to producing award-winning, small-batch wine but also devoted to being good stewards […]
Known by the online community as BohoVegMom, food blogger Amy Rolph has been serving up plant-based recipes from her home in Charlottesville since 2019. The restaurant manager turned stay-at-home mom started an Instagram account to connect with other vegan cuisine enthusiasts during the pandemic, and soon after launched a dedicated website (bohovegmom.com) to share her […]
You may know her as the former baker at Greenwood Grocery, or the woman who in 2020 penned Hot Cheese (aptly named—it’s a collection of recipes with hot cheese as the star), or even as the author of the Chesnok food blog, but Polina Chesnakova’s gunning for a new title: the cake lady. Her new […]
Kylie Britt knows the wizardry behind winemaking. And she wants you to know it, too. “I think it’s important to know where wine comes from and the people who make it, but I want to share that in accessible ways,” says the aspiring consultant and current “wine specialist” at The Wool Factory. Britt’s journey into […]
Kindness Cafe + Play opened quietly during the first COVID-19 wave’s peak. Now, after battling pandemic-related challenges for almost two years, owner Katie Kishore is looking to expand on her mission: To give adults with cognitive disabilities structured, gainful employment and a place to feel like they’re part of something big. “It has been wonderful—even […]
Becky Calvert loves to cook. She’s held cooking and canning classes around town—places like the Charlottesville Cooking School, Market Central, The Happy Cook, The Spice Diva, and PVCC—for more than a decade, and always with a secret weapon: her cookbook collection. Numbering in the hundreds, it spans centuries and genres. “Cookbooks fascinate me because they […]
Is cooking an art or a craft? Whichever side you come down on, cooking is clearly creative. That’s why Brittany Fan—painter, illustrator, graphic designer, photographer, food blogger, and self-professed “all-around maker”—loves it. A native of Blacksburg, Fan came to UVA for a degree in studio art, art history, and arts administration and stayed for a […]
When people look back on 2021-2022, what will they think of?Okay, other than that. With a little luck, it will be the new coffee shops, bakeries, and lunch counters that braved the elements to open their doors to the city’s hungry and thirsty. With a little luck, it will be that elegant cake they brought […]