Virginia pols stay quizzical

As we ease into this year’s post-primary, pre-election lull, we can’t help but gaze back at the first half of this eventful year. And as we do, we’re struck by all of the curious and outrageous news items that we somehow failed to cover the first time around.  So, as a public service to Virginia’s […]

The education of Melissa Close-Hart

 As the morning fog lifts from the rolling hills of Barboursville Vineyards, Melissa Close-Hart, executive chef at the Palladio Restaurant, is busy opening boxes of fresh local produce with her sous chef, Mike Yager, and three assistants. Later, from this assortment of basil, mint and mushrooms, they’ll prepare fresh garnishes for their handmade pastas and […]

West Main sites approved for demolition

There’s no shortage of creative potential on the 300 block of West Main Street, a section of the city’s Vinegar Hill neighborhood that was once populated with automobile shops like Russell Mooney Oldsmobile. And if destruction is a form of creation, then a recent meeting of the Board of Architectural Review (BAR) provided a chance […]

Radio Free Albemarle

Dear Ace: Surely you’ve noticed that rather large, frankly ominous structure that popped up recently at the southwest end of the Montalto Ridge, among all those glowing red towers near Carter’s Mountain Orchard? What is it, and should I invest in a tin-foil hat?—Inquiring Mind That hat sounds like a good start. Why do you […]

Sam Abell's "Amazonia"; Les Yeux du Monde; Through August 31

 Les Yeux du Monde’s exhibition of photographer Sam Abell’s project “Amazonia” will give armchair travelers a destination even more hot and humid than a Charlottesville summer. Abell does a nice job of remaining true to stringent documentary photography techniques without stepping into the clichés of “National Geographic photographer travels to the Amazon.” His images are […]

A Midsummer Night's Dream; Hamner Theater; Through June 27

Afton’s Hamner Theatre continues the local Bard-a-thon by presenting A Midsummer Night’s Dream squarely on the heels of Live Arts’ Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2, which arrived soon after Four County Players’ Othello; not to mention the ongoing work of Staunton’s American Shakespeare Center. A Midsummer Night’s Dream might be an overrated script, even […]

25 more essential experiences for real Charlottesville locals

TO SEE LAST YEAR’S 25 ESSENTIAL CHARLOTTESVILLE EXPERIENCES, CLICK HERE. There’s a difference between being a resident and being a local. To be a resident, you need an address and a “434” area code. To be a local, you need time. How much? Well, that depends. You can’t grab Charlottesville’s classic milkshake (No. 9) at […]

It takes a village

Dear Ace: What would we be if we were Charlottesburg? What’s the difference between a ’ville and a ’burg, anyway?—Anton Burgess-Deville To begin with, you’d be reading these words in the C-Burg Weekly, not to be confused with that other paper, The Harpoon. Maybe that would be the extent of the difference. Then again, Ace […]