LIVING Picks: Week of December 7-13

Family Monticello gingerbread house workshop Saturday, December 10 and Sunday, December 11 Feast on cookies and hot chocolate as you create a colorful new addition for your holiday décor. $55 for a four-member family pass, 2-4pm. Smith Woodland Pavilion at Monticello, 931 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy. monticello.org Nonprofit Santa Pancake Breakfast Sunday, December 11 Enjoy breakfast […]

New concept pops up at Yearbook Taco

When deciding on what to do next with the Yearbook Taco space, owner Hamooda Shami dug deep into a lengthy note on his iPhone, a note full of mostly wild hospitality ideas that ends with a Peanuts cartoon where Lucy, in her winter coat, hat and mittens, says to Charlie Brown, “I feel torn between […]

Spudnuts closes after close to 50 years

For years, Mike Fitzgerald has arrived at the Spudnut Shop at 309 Avon St. between 1 and 1:30am to get started on the day ahead. He’ll have a cup of coffee, check on the equipment and begin to make the first batch of potato flour donuts—he’ll mix the dough and let it rise, then roll […]

Sultan Kebab offers a feast for all of the senses

When I asked Lampo’s Ian Redshaw to name the best restaurant in Charlottesville, his answer surprised me. Don’t get me wrong, I love Sultan Kebab. Even when it was hidden in a nondescript location off U.S. 29 North, I named it to The Charlottesville 29, my list of Charlottesville’s essential restaurants. Now that it has […]

LIVING Picks: Week of November 30-December 6

Family Lighting of the Lawn Thursday, December 1 This annual tradition aims to unify UVA students and faculty as well as the Charlottesville community with performances ranging from a capella to dance, and an elaborate light show. Free, 7-10pm. UVA Lawn. lightingofthelawn.com Nonprofit The Great Charlottesville Santa Fun Run & Walk Sunday, December 4 Adults […]

LIVING Picks: Week of November 23-29

Family Barracks Road holiday parade Friday, November 25 The annual parade featuring floats, costumed characters, marching bands, Santa and more starts at Harris Teeter and ends at Kroger. Free, 9:30am. Barracks Road Shopping Center. barracksroad.com/parade Nonprofit Triple your giving Through November 26 Virginia Blood Services will donate $1 to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank […]

Virginia Tech’s impact on what, where and when to grow

You’ll often find a university at the epicenter of many of the world’s great wine regions. Learning institutions help drive and fund research and increase wine quality. Since 1905, the University of California, Davis has conducted vine and wine research just outside of Sacramento. Its findings have had an immeasurable impact on winemaking in Napa […]

The Salad Maker opens on Market Street

In The Big Salad episode of “Seinfeld,” Elaine asks George to get her a big salad from the coffee shop. “What’s in the big salad?” George asks. “Big lettuce, big carrots, tomatoes like volleyballs,” Jerry deadpans. You won’t get enormous salads with gargantuan vegetables at The Salad Maker at 300 E. Market St., but you […]

Mican and Lemongrass merge their menus

After celebrating a decade in business, Pham, the owner of Lemongrass on the Corner, has been looking ahead to the next 10 years. Yoshihiro and Yukiko Tauchi, owners of Mican, a Japanese restaurant that, until this fall, had been located at York Place on the Downtown Mall, fused with Lemongrass. Says Yoshihiro Tauchi, “[This was] […]

Local artisan launches bitters company out of necessity

Bitters are back, baby, and one local is looking to get in on the action. Wait, bitters? “The traditional recipes for a cocktail up to the late 1800s were all the same—bitters were a part of almost all cocktails,” says Kip McCharen, founder and owner of McCharen’s Bitters. “It’s a seasoning. It serves the same […]