Virginia Craft Brewers Fest is a soggy success

Saturday, August 25th, was the inaugural Virginia Craft Brewers Fest, held on the grounds of Devils Backbone Brewing Company in nearby Nelson County. With over 22 participating breweries, Virginia’s craft beer surge has certainly earned itself its own day in the sun. Alas, that was not to be the literal case. After moving back into my remodeled home in […]

Small Bites: This week’s restaurant news

Colonial locavores If you think our country’s founding foodies are the only ones with their own shows on the Food Network, think again. Tuesday, August 28, from 6-8:30pm, head to Monticello’s West Lawn for a conversation with Dave DeWitt, author of The Founding Foodies: How Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin Revolutionized American Cuisine. For the $60 […]

Charlottesville street style: Girls who wear glasses

I caught Ph.D. student LIZ on West Main Street as she was making her way Downtown to meet friends. Her H&M dress was a gift from a friend, and her watch was on loan for the day from her girlfriend. Liz cites the movie Holiday, starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, as her style inspiration. […]

A stay at home dad finds support online

After my first son was born some four years ago, I briefly thought about starting a blog to document staying home with him, but then dismissed the idea. I wasn’t yet ready to “come out” as a stay at home dad, but when my wife became pregnant again two years later, it was finally time […]

A changing of the guard in C&O’s cellar

No story on the C&O would be complete without mention of its wine cellar. We’ve crowned the calligraphied list Best of C-VILLE seven-plus years running and it’s won Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence every year since 1996. But regulars will notice a gaping hole in the list next time they visit—the person who (literally) wrote […]

We love this town: Get sporty

I grew up in the city and I love the country, a fact borne out by the fact that I have lived as an adult in New York, Boston, and Chicago, and also in Kyle, Rhinelander, and Sylva. It’s a quintessential American desire to marry Mayberry to the Metropolis, hence the suburb, and my experiences […]

Always warm, always charming, always C&O

Inside the C&O’s big wooden door, it was cool and dark and reminiscent of lovely evenings spent there—some for occasions, others for a final drink on a night I wasn’t ready to end. Volumes could be filled with patrons’ stories, but it was those of proprietor Dave Simpson (who’s eminently quotable, but especially on the […]