Food & Drink

Our small city has hundreds of places to eat, and when Charlottesville Restaurant Week kicks off next Monday, thousands of people will descend on its eateries both to raise money for the Boys & Girls Club of Charlottesville and to soak in a culinary culture that’s exploded over the past decade. With just shy of […]

On Fridays, we and The Charlottesville 29 feature five finds from local chefs and personalities.  Today’s picks come from Gail Hobbs-Page of Caromont Farm, whose beautiful cheeses were featured last week in a Southern Foodways Alliance dinner at The Whiskey Jar, celebrating the region’s finest female purveyors of food.  Hobbs-Page’s picks: 1)  Amy’s Arugula Salad […]

In the vast and varied repertory of Italian cuisine, one dish stands above all others for its versatility and humble beginnings (in my Italian eyes at least). Risotto is the quintessential fare of la cucina povera, or the poor man’s meal. All you really need is rice and some sort of liquid and together they […]

Zinc announced over the weekend that it will close at the end of June. Open less than seven years, the West Main Street spot will close its doors after service Saturday, June 29. Owner Vu Nguyen posted this to the restaurant’s Facebook page Saturday: “It’s been a tough, fun, frustrating, enlightening, debaucherous, humbling, hazy, and […]

On Fridays, we feature five finds selected by local chefs and personalities.  Today’s picks come from Brooks Tanner, who recently rejoined chef Craig Hartman at Barbecue Exchange, after previous stints with him at Fossett’s restaurant and The Statler Hotel.  Tanner’s picks: 1)  Sunday Brunch at Hamiltons’.  “Chef Curtis Shaver and his kitchen ninjas reinstated an […]

Normally I try to avoid pigeonholing and categorizing wine too intensely; the thing about winemaking and viticulture is that they’re seemingly built to buck trends, to defy the accepted knowledge, to alter the industry’s trajectory one barrel at a time. And yet, one of the most overused categorizations in the wine world, “old world/new world,” […]

On Fridays, we feature five finds from local chefs and personalities.  Today’s picks come from Tomas Rahal of MAS Tapas, who focused on some of his current daytime favorites.  Rahal’s picks: 1)  Double Macchiato from Shenandoah Joe.  “Sometimes this is a meal, others a reward.  Perfect pitch by the baristas at Shen Joe.” 2)  Blueberry […]

Gourmet food is moving downscale. The work of talented chefs is increasingly available to diners who don’t wish to dress up or pay a small fortune for a good meal. While the proliferation of inexpensive, casual, high quality restaurants has generally been a good thing, one downside is the squeezing out of a dying breed—a […]