Food & Drink

Growing up as one of 10 kids in a Sicilian family, Liz James learned early on about the value of a good marinara sauce. “We had to really stretch the food budget, and marinara was a quick way of creating an easy, wonderful dinner—we put it on everything!” she says. But what stuck with her […]

Hunter Smith has had a busy year. As owner of Champion Brewing Company, he’s grown production capacity by more than 30 percent, added three new canned beers to his lineup and expanded into North Carolina. But we didn’t want him to get a big head, so we asked the brewmaster to tout a few of […]

Chef Allie Redshaw set her sights on culinary school after a high school trip to Paris introduced her to fine food. She attended the Culinary Institute of America, where she met her now-husband Ian Redshaw (a co- owner of Lampo) and worked for a while in Red Hook, New York, before moving to Charlottesville, where […]

One of the best things about saying hello to cooler weather? It finally makes sense to eat soup again. Here are nine of our favorites. (above, left to right) Petit Pois petitpoisrestaurant.com Tender onions and broth-soaked bread await beneath a canopy of melted cheese in this sinful French onion. Blue Ridge Country Store blueridgecountry.com A no-frills chicken […]

Jenée Libby always wanted to be on the radio. As a child, she spent hours pretending—“Remember Mr. Microphone?” she asks. But Libby’s all grown up now, and she no longer has to pretend, thanks to Edacious, her twice-monthly podcast devoted to all things food. “I initially thought [Edacious] would be a terrific way to bring […]

Now that temperatures have dropped, warm up by adding some spice to your plate. Here are just a few local options to put a little hair on your chest. 5. El Jefe sauce (above) Brazos Tacos  The spiciest item at the newest taco joint in town is the El Jefe, a thick green hot sauce […]

In late July, when a mysterious, creeping sugar pumpkin vine emerged from my compost pile, I started thinking about the strange fruit and how to get it from gourd to glass. The answer? Pumpkin butter. Pumpkin butter 8 sugar pumpkins; 1 1/2 cups Dr. Pepper (or something cola-esque); 1 1/2 cups brown sugar; 2 cups […]

We’ve picked this poached pear dish from Red Pump Kitchen for two reasons: First, it’s pretty enough to appear on a holiday postcard. But mostly because, with Marsala wine, saffron, cocoa and hazelnut, it’s the perfect punctuation to a winter meal.