Camino chugs along serving a crew of regulars

There will always be restaurants that change hands so often that it’s hard to keep track. While the little cheese wedge of a restaurant next to the Vinegar Hill Theater has stood as its current incarnation—Camino—for nearly three years now, it was Il Cane Pazzo for three years before that, and L’Avventura for eight years […]

Charlottesville Street Style: The rebirth of cool

I ran into EDGAR (above), the owner and lead stylist of Reflections Salon, looking decidedly dapper on a break. He is wearing a Ralph Lauren shirt with Banana Republic pants, Cole Haan shoes, and a vintage hat for a unique look that’s rooted in the past but relevant for today. Edgar says his style mantra […]

Small Bites: This week’s restaurant news

Party like it’s harvest time Monticello, the home of our own “first foodie,” serves as the pastoral background for the sixth annual Heritage Harvest Festival on Friday, September 14 and Saturday, September 15. You and your family will learn—with all your senses—about the gifts of our local soils and the hardworking people who grow them. […]

Free Will Astrology: Week of September 11-17

Virgo (August 23-September 22): Arthur Turner, a Virgo reader from Austin, is upset with my recent horoscopes. In his e-mail, he wrote the following: “You’re making me mad with your predictions of non-stop positivity, Brezsny. I need more dirt and grit and muck. I’ve got to have some misery and decay to motivate me. So […]

The best of the fests: 21 events to kick off your fall fantastic

The Festy Experience Friday, October 5 to Sunday, October 7 Devils Backbone Brewery (200 Mosby’s Run, Roseland) Every music festival has an identity of its own. Names like Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Bumbershoot, and Coachella may have been head scratchers at first, but now they’re branded destination festivals where dozens of acts spread out across multiple stages […]

This month’s artisan: Brian Rayner, furniture maker

A regular on both the craft show circuit and local farmer’s markets—look for him at both the Nelson and Charlottesville City markets—Brian Rayner is a multifaceted artisan, creating both furniture and sculpture. If you want to see him in his native environment, find him on the Artisan Studio Tour. Check out brianraynerdesign.com or call him […]

Fruit of the vine: Wine events for the week of September 10

Afton Mountain Afton Mountain After Hours Saturday, September 22: Dallas Wesley and Band (6-9pm) (540) 456-8667 www.aftonmountainvineyards.com Barboursville Vineyard Italian Harvest Feast Saturday, September 22 at 1pm: Enjoy a traditional five course feast paired with Barboursville wines, prepared by Guest Chefs Cesare Lanfranconi, formerly of Washington’s Café Milano, Tosca, and Spezie, and Shannon Overmiller of […]

Designer Sandy Muraca sees the big picture at home

For interior designer Sandy Muraca, updating her foyer last winter so that it reflected her love of vintage art and antiques was vital. “While it’s not a space or room that you would sit and have coffee with a friend, it is a space where you come home, a space where you greet family and […]

Rhône’s white wines are as worthy as its reds

Behind every good man is a good woman—and behind every good red wine is a good white one. From the precipitous slopes of Côte-Rôtie to the stone-stacked soils of Châteauneuf-du-Pape (and many of the 150 miles in between), southeastern France’s Rhône Valley produces red wines deserving of adulation. Though standing in their long-cast shadows are […]