Food stars—they’re just like us!

Around here, the folks cooking your favorite foods are as close to celebrities as some of us get (unless you’re lucky enough to corner Dave Matthews on the mall). So, for this year’s annual Food & Drink Issue, we decided to take a look behind the scenes—beyond your pork belly tacos and pain de campagne—at […]

Pho 3 Pho opens off 29 North

By Jenny Gardiner and Sam Padgett eatdrink@c-ville.com You’ve gotta give John Dinh, owner of Charlottesville’s newest Vietnamese restaurant, major props for his clever restaurant moniker: Pho 3 Pho. In case you didn’t know, “pho” is pronounced “pha,” as in do-re-me-fa-so-la-ti-do. Dinh credits the name, which echoes our local 434 area code, to his brother James. […]

LIVING Picks: Beer and bourbon fest, square dancing and more

FAMILY Family Night Out Friday, January 26 Enjoy some family time with swimming, a movie, pizza and snacks. $6 per person; $25 families of five or more, 6-8pm. Crozet YMCA, 1075 Claudius Crozet Park, Crozet. 205-4380. NONPROFIT Drop spindle class Saturday, January 27 Crafter Russell Hubert teaches a class on how to spin wool using […]

Does winter weather spell trouble for area growers?

By Natalie Jacobsen Between sporadic power outages, icy roads and burst pipes, Charlottesville is dealing with plenty of winter woes. But we aren’t the only ones grappling with the freezing temperatures: Central Virginia vineyards are facing this weather head-on, with growers keeping a close eye on their property. David Geist, co-owner of Arcady Vineyard Bed […]

Family ties: Fifeville diner feels like home

On a recent Tuesday morning, a frigid wind whipped through Charlottesville, but all was warm and cozy inside the Cherry Avenue Diner at 820 Cherry Ave. in Fifeville. Sparkly snowman decorations hung from the wall sconces lighting each wooden booth, and two waitresses bustled about behind the counter, one wearing a green elf apron and […]

Magic is being made with Honah Lee Vineyard’s grapes

When Vera Preddy and her late husband, Wayne, purchased their property on Gibson Mountain in 1985, they never imagined they’d end up in the wine business. Their 150-acre farm was once part of Windholme Farm, and when they moved onto their parcel, they christened it Honah Lee, after the idyllic place described in the 1960s […]

Food is the focus at this festival

There’s always something new to learn about food, and for the past 11 years, the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello has been one of the best ways to learn a lot about the history of what we eat in a little bit of time. On Saturday, chefs, farmers, culinary historians, purveyors and foodies from all […]

Three Notch’d Brewery shares expansion plans

Sitting at the edge of IX Art Park is the new Three Notch’d Brewery restaurant and production facility, which will top out at 11,000 square feet between the indoor and outdoor spaces. The setup is similar to a traditional beer garden, but bigger, and Three Notch’d says it will be the largest restaurant in Charlottesville. […]

Master hot dog purveyor passes down trade secrets

Joey Mirabile has been around hot dogs his entire life. His father, Tony, served them at Bacali’s Hot Dogs in Norfolk during World War II and even fed celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. when they were in town to perform. Tony and his wife, Geri, opened Tony’s Hot Dogs in Norfolk in […]

Jake Busching’s new label raises the stakes for Virginia wine

It was while working at Jefferson Vineyards that Jake Busching had his aha wine moment. His epiphany, the Jefferson Vineyards 1998 cabernet franc made by Michael Shaps, remains a true bellwether for Virginia wine—“That’s the one that hooked me,” Busching says. Once he made the connection in his mind between place and flavor, a soil-based […]