“Slinging pans among flames and rock’n’roll seemed pretty badass for a 15-year-old kid,” says Tommy Lasley, Angelo Vangelopoulos’ pick for a rising star, of his first job in the restaurant world. “It was there that I discovered I wanted to cook.” It is that same kind of energy and enthusiasm that Lasley, now 31, brought […]
“Slinging pans among flames and rock’n’roll seemed pretty badass for a 15-year-old kid,” says Tommy Lasley, Angelo Vangelopoulos’ pick for a rising star, of his first job in the restaurant world. “It was there that I discovered I wanted to cook.” It is that same kind of energy and enthusiasm that Lasley, now 31, brought […]
“Many young chefs flair up like a meteor flashing across the sky,” says Craig Hartman. “But a chef that spends a lifetime toiling in the kitchen has to have everything it takes to run a marathon of consistency.” According to Hartman, Curtis Shaver of Hamiltons’, at 31, has what it takes. Hartman first met Shaver […]
There are no women on the real Mount Rushmore. Since there still hasn’t been a female U.S. president, there are not even any candidates. Although the realm of restaurant chefs is not quite as male-dominated, it’s not far off. For whatever reason, in Charlottesville as elsewhere, the top restaurant kitchens are still usually run by […]
A protege of not one but two Mount Rushmore chefs, Pippin Hill’s Amalia Scatena has been groomed for success. She spent a year and a half as an intern turned line cook at Palladio under Melissa Close-Hart. Then, starting in 2006, she spent nearly five years with Craig Hartman at Fossett’s, much of it as […]
Although no one could have known it at the time, September 10, 1988 was a big day for Charlottesville food. It was the first day of work in the area for two young cooks: Tim Burgess at Silver Thatch Inn and Vincent Derquenne at The Galarie in Crozet. Not long after, Burgess moved to The […]
Food trends can be slow to reach Charlottesville. Diners in big cities often enjoy (and maybe tire of) the latest fads years before we even get a whiff of them. This is not all bad. For one thing, it gives us some discretion over which trends to embrace. The city’s deliberate pace allows us to […]
Every Easter, chefs, purveyors, foodies, and friends gather for a massive celebration of food and wine centered around the distinctly Greek ritual of roasting a goat outdoors on a spit. Started in 2010, it is now the largest annual gathering of Charlottesville’s food family, and its host is the family’s patriarch, Angelo Vangelopoulos, chef-owner of […]
There is no elite culinary school in Charlottesville. Instead, there is the Clifton Inn. No kitchen has helped to create more local chefs than the Clifton’s, the fine dining restaurant that Craig Hartman built. Hartman first came to town in 1991, when he visited from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to watch a UVA […]
On Fridays, we feature five food finds selected by local chefs and personalities. Today is a special Friday because it is the Grand Opening of the much-anticipated new nose-to-tail butcher, JM Stock Provisions & Supply, at 709 W. Main St. To mark the day, we are featuring the picks of the butcher’s owners, James Lum […]
There’s undoubtedly something special about this time of year in this part of the world, and with the right wines and the appropriate food, it becomes pure magic. One of the most perfect of those pairings? Smoked meat and Provence reds. Situated in the far southeast corner of France, Provence straddles the Mediterranean and benefits […]