We Ate Here

A $13 hamburger would normally stretch our bank accounts too thin (we are writers, after all), but Hamiltons’ has one topped with cheese, bacon and fresh greens that proved irresistible. To start with, the ground beef was from Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farm and was so tender when we bit down that it was like sinking […]

Tick talks

I remember the first time I ever heard about the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference, the annual four-day gathering in Long Beach, California, of the world’s foremost thinkers in the aforementioned areas. It was two years ago, and a friend told me not only that she had gone, but that it was the most amazing […]

We Ate Here

“Delicious as the less criminal forms of sin.” That’s how Mark Twain described a piece of fish he once ate while overlooking Lake Pontchartrain, near New Orleans. And it’s not a bad turn of phrase to apply to the beer called Mandolin out at Blue Mountain Brewery—a golden-colored brew with a pleasing enough taste to […]

No Spoof for you!

The bed was an island in a sea of open wine bottles and sloshing spit buckets crowded into a room in a modernist high rise in Paris. It was an absolutely beautiful day, and outside, tout le Paris seemed to be enjoying the weather. Inside, however, three Virginians were following their dream, a dream that […]

Sex Files: Love hurts

Sex is not much fun when it hurts. About 15 to 20 percent of women in the United States report having pain during intercourse, and yet this problem often makes women feel alone. Unlike a backache or tennis elbow, it’s not something you can easily share with friends or colleagues. It’s not unusual for a […]

Goodbye, Satellite

Feedback first stepped into Satellite Ballroom in February 2002. Plan 9 Music had just moved into the Anderson Brothers Building and a slew of performances were taking place in the adjacent room, then known as the “Outer Space,” to celebrate the new location’s grand opening.

Local lover

Craig Hartman, executive chef at Keswick Hall and its restaurant, Fossett’s, may be one of the area’s original locavores. Over lunch on a recent afternoon, Restaurantarama had an opportunity to reflect with Hartman on his long culinary career and his particular devotion to Virginia-made foodstuffs. Despite the chichi surroundings and the European-esque elegance of the […]

We Ate Here

Mmm, quesadillas. They’re pretty much always good, but the veggie quesadillas from La Taza are really, really delicious. The cheddar is sharp and studded with black beans and corn and tomatoes, and the tortillas are top-notch, but the real charm is this: You can add pineapple—sweet, surprising pineapple—for free. Friends, there is no reason to […]

Mourning wood

“Oh yeah. Oh yeah.” That’s Mike Panczak, the winemaker at White Hall Vineyards when I ask him if he’s paying more these days for the oak barrels he uses to age his wines. Barrels that used to cost $700 or $800 each are now at about $1,000, he tells me. I put the same question […]