For UVA alum Polina Chesnakova, writing Chesnok: Cooking from My Corner of the Diaspora: Recipes from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia was a crash course in learning her family’s culinary traditions. “I wanted to document and preserve my family’s recipes and to be able to hand down this culinary heritage to my children […]
For UVA alum Polina Chesnakova, writing Chesnok: Cooking from My Corner of the Diaspora: Recipes from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia was a crash course in learning her family’s culinary traditions. “I wanted to document and preserve my family’s recipes and to be able to hand down this culinary heritage to my children […]
If you’ve ever foraged for mushrooms or berries locally, it’s possible you’ve encountered Gabrielle Cerberville. Also known as Chaotic Forager or the internet’s Mushroom Auntie, Cerberville is a foraging influencer on social media as well as a composer, community mycologist, and climate advocate. She recently published Gathered: On Foraging, Feasting, and the Seasonal Life, a […]
When Micah LeMon titled his 2017 mixology manual, The Imbible: A Cocktail Guide for Beginning and Home Bartenders, he wasn’t expecting a lawsuit. After nearly two decades behind the bar, a master’s in linguistics, an abandoned Ph.D., a Hollywood stint, and being part of the opening team at the James Beard-nominated Alley Light restaurant, LeMon […]
After a fire closed Silk Thai in the summer of 2022, the beloved Charlottesville restaurant is finally welcoming diners back. The road to reopening was long, but owner Mongkhol Chinsetthagit, known as TK Chin, never lost sight of his vision. The fire, caused by a gas leak in the basement of the old building on […]
Soul food is more than just a meal. It’s kinship and history piled high on a plate. It’s about the people who make it and the community it brings to the table. That’s the philosophy behind Signature Soul, Shaun Jenkins’ new restaurant in the former Umma’s location. As the eclectic sister to Jenkins’ Soul Food […]
Donuts have been on a certain trajectory for the last two decades: bigger, more toppings, more creativity—an arms race of candy, cookies, and fried pork. After several years working with semi-traditionalists Jason Becton and Patrick Evans at MarieBette Café & Bakery, Melissa Sbrocco went in a different direction when she opened her namesake donut shop […]
When my husband and I arrived at Veritas Vineyards and Winery for the final Supper Series and Harvest Celebration in mid-October, I thought I’d prepared him for the evening. But as we approached a sea of round tables set for family-style dining, he was visibly horrified—visions of passing dishes and making small talk with strangers […]
Included in the 2024 Michelin Green Guide USA East, The Clifton was built in 1799 as a home for Thomas Jefferson’s daughter Martha and her husband. The property currently houses a boutique hotel and restaurant helmed by Executive Chef Matthew Bousquet. On a crisp November evening, I decided to see what all the excitement was […]
Naples, Italy, the pizza capital of the world, is sprinkled with more than 800 pizzerias, with styles varying from the thin ruota di carretto to a denser crust-forward a canotto. And all still uphold the Neapolitan spirit in the harmony of ripe tomato, fragrant basil, and the kneading of the dough. It was on a […]
By BJ Poss Barbecue is nestled as deep in Charlottesville’s roots as any homemade brine. You’d be hard-pressed to find a self-respecting plate of pork barbecue in Virginia that didn’t start out submerged in coarse salt dissolved in water full of sugar, spices, and citrus zest, a chef’s emulsion that absorbs into the meat and, […]