There’s not much Restaurantarama likes more than a slice of whole wheat bread with a thick slathering of homemade jam. And we’re not alone. Local jam maker Daniel Perry has been back at the City Market for two weeks and, he says, “sold as much jam as I’d been selling during peak season last year, which is really fabulous for my first appearance.”
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Jam According to Daniel’s Daniel Perry says he’s a pozzy-wallah, a 1914 term describing a man who is “inordinately fond of jam.” |
Perry says his interest in the sweet stuff started back in 2003, when his crush, a Hampshire College orientation leader, asked him to go on a raspberry-picking trip. Since then, his love of jam has become three-fold. He enjoys the hands-on process of jam-making and being his own boss, but Perry is most proud of the fact that his product is all local. In fact, some of his leads on fruit come from his Market customers who have a fig or cherry tree, or some blueberry bushes or an overgrown rhubarb patch, “which I am overjoyed to pick.” With jam, every day is a treasure hunt for the best fruit available for the best price, he says.
Perry currently has more than 50 recipes for jams—including cherry rhubarb and lime, blueberry and lemon and peach lavender—and tries to bring a new one to the Market each week. If you miss him there, a whole host of local stores—Feast, Happy Cook and Albemarle Baking Company included—keep Jam According to Daniel in stock. But don’t expect him to go global. “I’d much rather spread the gospel of better jam and encourage others to lift the torch, than franchise myself,” he says.
Go to accordingtodaniel.com for more information.
Something’s in the water
Eighty percent of the seafood we consume in Charlottesville is imported, and last month’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill undoubtedly has some local seafoodies worried. Seafood at West Main’s Chris Arsenault, for one, reached out to a number of his suppliers, many of whom derive their livelihood from the Gulf. But, he says, it’s too early to tell what effect the spill might have on the industry.
“If [the oil] hits the shoreline,” Arsenault says, “that’s where the real disaster starts to happen.” Being the breeding ground for fish, the shoreline is the most sensitive environmental area.
Now hear this
Charlottesville’s City Council and Planning Commission are holding a joint public hearing tonight to discuss a few restaurant-related matters. On the docket: the very definition of a restaurant itself, as it pertains to live entertainment.
A continuation of the noise ordinance amendments in Belmont and the Neighborhood Commercial Corridor from earlier this year, the discussion will focus on amendments to eight sections of the City Zoning Ordinance. Specifically, the Council and the Commission will consider replacing references to “Dance Hall” with “Music Hall” and revise definitions of “Restaurant,” “Restaurant-all night” and “Music Hall.”
Milano closes
It’s for real this time, folks. After some deliberation, Milano Cafe will close at the end of the week. Owners Mark and Victoria Cave told Restaurantarama in March that there were parties interested in buying the coffee shop, but a sign posted at the Cafe confirms it will close Saturday, May 15.
