Living Picks: To-do this week

Family     Sweet Dreams Festival This family-friendly event features activities including a craft tent, rock climbing wall, laser tag, inflatables and more. Saturday 7/23. Free, 9am-4pm. Stuarts Draft Park, 96 Edgewood Ln., Stuarts Draft. sweetdreamsday.com. Nonprofit Restaurant Week Enjoy specially designed menus in local restaurants, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. […]

Jeanette Peabody finds balance in and out of the kitchen

Chef life is grueling. It’s not just the physical toll of long nights in the kitchen. It’s the psychological toll, too, of missing friends’ weddings, graduations and regular evenings at home with family. As chefs grow older and tire of the grind, many look to use their skills in ways that do not prohibit life […]

Starving artists find sustenance in local restaurant scene

Many artists in Charlottesville who don’t have the privilege of pursuing their art full-time have found that employment in the food service industry allows them the flexibility to pursue their creative muse. We scouted around town, found four artists who work in the restaurant business and asked them about their experience in both professions, whether […]

Dig in: Who’s got the best taco in town?

We can’t be the only ones who’ve noticed that Charlottesville’s cuisine scene is trending toward tacos. Even fine dining spot C&O offers a version on its late-night menu. But who would win in a blind battle? We put nine to the test, choosing only restaurants in the city and only those open for lunch, to […]

Let’s eat (cheap)!

It’s hard to resist eating out for every meal in a town like Charlottesville, but ain’t nobody got money for that. So we cooked up a list of our favorite cheap eats—the expected ($3 dumplings at Marco & Luca, obviously) to the not-so-expected (read: grit bowl). They run the cuisine gamut, from Asian to Mexican […]

Ice cream dreams: Nine of the coldest scoops in town

Ice cream dreams Nothing spells out s-u-m-m-e-r quite like a melty, drippy scoop of ice cream. Here are nine local options we’re digging right now (and always). Top row: Half Baked: Ben & Jerry’s (Barracks Road Shopping Center, 244-7438) Coconut: Kirt’s Homemade Ice Cream (Albemarle Square Shopping Center, 202-0306) Peach almond: The Market at Grelen (15091 Yager Rd. […]