Top tomatoes

L’étoile Executive Chef Mark Gresge is a big fan of Megan Weary’s tomatoes, and not just because the beautiful Striped Germans, Cherokee Purples and other heirloom varieties as well as classic Romas and cherry tomatoes that she and her husband Rob cultivate at their four-year-old Roundabout Farm in Keswick are flavorful in a way that […]

Microgreen thumb

Planet Earth Diversified is a study in the new science of small farming. Arriving at the Stanardsville site, you’re struck by both the primitiveness and dirtiness with which small scale agricultural businesses must survive, but also, the creativity and innovation. On the one hand, there are the fields of crops, the noisy chickens, the old […]

Doorstep dining

We know what it’s like. Sometimes even the thought of frying an egg (free range and local or not) is too much for your tired brain. It’s then that you turn to the telephone and instant grub gratification. And why not? Interesting delivery options abound around here, beyond basic pizza. Here are nine such dishes […]

Metallica; John Paul Jones Arena; Sunday, October 17

From lead guitarist Kirk Hammett’s firestorm leads on “Creeping Death” to the apocalypse thrash of “One,” very little has changed about the four horsemen of Los Angeles metal since 1981—save a few hard habits and a bassist or two. But any longtime, capital-“M” Metal-head should’ve been struck by two changes during the invigorating headbanger’s ball […]

Juliet, Naked; Nick Hornby; Riverbend Books, 416 pages

The press release accompanying my copy of Juliet, Naked describes the novel as Nick Hornby “writing about what he does best: rock ’n’ roll, extreme fandom, and the truths and lies we tell ourselves about love.” I disagree. Juliet, Naked is about the Internet. Sure, music plays a role. The story centers around Tucker Crowe, […]

Ridge/Cherry corner gets nod

The William Taylor Plaza, a development on the corner of Ridge Street and Cherry Avenue in the Fifeville neighborhood, got the initial favorable push from City Council last Monday. The developer, Southern Development, submitted an application to have the seven parcels that comprise the property rezoned to a Planned Unit Development (PUD). The planned development […]

Estimate discrepancy on dam highlighted

Less than a month ago, the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA) unanimously chose Virginia firm Schnabel Engineering Associates to replace Gannett Fleming as the leading designer of a proposed new dam at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir.