Five Finds on Friday: Doug McLeod

On Fridays we feature five food finds selected by local chefs or personalities. This week’s picks come from Doug McLeod, chef of Duner’s. McLeod’s picks: 1) Chicken and Waffles at Ace Biscuit & Barbecue. “One of my guilty pleasures, best Southern food in town.” 2) Dried Fried Eggplant Szechuan Style at Taste of China. “I find myself craving them. And the service is […]

Ristorante Al Dente abandons fine dining, rolls out new pasta café menu

Pick your pasta, pick your sauce. It’s a simple concept, and one that Morocco native Karim Sellam hopes will bring more life to his Venetian-inspired restaurant in the Ix building. Introducing Al Dente Pasta Café, a classic Italian restaurant that’s open for lunch, dinner, coffee breaks, and everything in between. Ristorante Al Dente, which Sellam […]

Para Coffee buys Café Cubano, and other restaurant news

Two coffee shops become one Last week, the owners of Para Coffee, the homey coffee shop tucked away on Elliewood Avenue where UVA students and professors camp out for hours with lattes and textbooks, announced that they’ve purchased Café Cubano on the Downtown Mall. Para owners Eric Kelley, Brad Uhl, and Brandon Wooten, who founded […]

Tastes like summer: Famed D.C. chef swoons over Palladio 

Charlottesville food is hot. In the last year alone, our area’s food has won praise from national media outlets dozens of times, culminating with a recent nod in Wine Enthusiast as one of “America’s five new foodie cities.” For one of our restaurants, though, national attention is nothing new. Since opening in 2000 at Barboursville […]

Five Finds on Friday: Stephanie Williams

On Fridays, we feature five food finds selected by local chefs and personalities. This week’s picks come from Stephanie Williams of La Vache Microcreamery, maker of extraordinary handmade caramels. A modern day renaissance woman, the mother of two is a trained architect who also co-founded the outstanding wine buying club The Wine Guild, and occasionally combines her loves […]