Soups for the soul: Perfect for a ‘chili’ time of year

It’s wet. It’s cold. It’s downright frigid some days. Luckily we have a wide range of freshly prepared stews, chowders and bisques that venture to brothy realms, far beyond the canned stuff. It’s difficult to go wrong with so many options to warm us up and soothe our soul. Here’s a short list to help […]

Brunch and be merry: A roundup of local, mid-morning eats

Ah, the holiday season. The town is adorned with lights, music fills the air, and 2016 looms on the horizon. Friends and family gather to share the joy of love, laughter, overindulgence and dysfunction. Anticipation builds for what the coming year will bring, and we start to mull over New Year’s resolutions. But, before we […]

Hot in the kitchen: Blanc Creatives’ exceptional designs pan out

The founder of Charlottesville’s Blanc Creatives, Corry Blanc, won national attention recently when his hand-forged, carbon-steel cookware was named the winner of Garden & Gun magazine’s prestigious Made in the South awards. Out of thousands of applicants and nominees, Blanc’s products—made right here in Belmont—were selected as the best cookware fabricated by a blacksmith throughout […]

Top secret: The Underground Kitchen adds pop of surprise to dinner parties

The Underground Kitchen is so Charlottesville, it’s hard to believe it hasn’t made its way here before now. Pop-up dinners have been, well, popping up all over town for a while. It’s usually a one-of-a-kind, multicourse menu, meticulously chosen wine pairing or spectacular view of the mountains that inspires self-proclaimed foodies to fork over the […]

Kid’s menu: Schools offer healthier options

It’s 3:30pm on a Tuesday at Jackson Via Elementary School, and students as young as 5 are biting into fresh Pink Lady apples twice the size of their hands, nodding to one another in approval. They enthusiastically drain small cups of locally pressed apple cider, and several kids raise their hands to ask for a […]

Vintage reflections: Hang your hat on 2015 Virginia white wines

It’s that time of year again: The grapes have been harvested, and now they finish their ferments in the winery and await bottling. As winemakers taste these first wines of the year, they’ll start thinking about blending and bottling, and they might be surprised by some of the new pressing. How did 2015 work out […]