Month: May 2011

Categories
Living

Small Bites

 Star turns

West Main restaurant L’étoile welcomes a new chef this week. Jonathon Gariepy joins the restaurant from Florida, where he worked at The Rivers Inn and under the master chef at the Gasparilla Inn. The former Earlysville resident’s adventures down south, says L’etoile head chef and owner Mark Gresge, instilled in Gariepy a love of cooking seafood, but “he is excited about our relationships we have built…with the farmers, purveyors and citizens of Charlottesville.”

Brian Wilkinson, who held the reins in the kitchen for more than four years, will be moving to Charleston, South Carolina.

Fire update

 

Bell hoppers will love this news: Formerly crispy Taco Bell on 29N near Rio Road is open for business. The building accidentally burned down in early December 2010 after sparks turned to flames during a roof repair. Just shy of seven months later (and an estimated $1 million in damages), the Bell is back with a new “stone” facade and a bright, hot sauce-inspired exterior paint job. Chow down!

 

 

NEW C-VILLE COVER STORY: O’Connor’s curve ball

Each year since he arrived, Head Coach Brian O’Connor has taken the team to the postseason, and this week—and possibly next—Charlottesville plays host to big-time summer baseball. Whether the Cavaliers win or lose, they’ve already accomplished the remarkable by giving thousands in this community a chance to cheer for something together. Read the cover story here, and don’t forget to leave comments.

Downtown apartment, restaurant survive weekend fire

On Sunday afternoon, the Charlottesville Fire Department responded to a small fire on the roof of a Downtown apartment building. After carefully threading a fire engine down the Mall, firemen extinguished the blaze. (And without the assistance of a 10-story ladder, at that.)

The fire began on the roof of 420 E. Main Street, following a party held the previous night. While the local fire marshal was unable to determine the cause, Chief Charles Werner said firefighters spotted dry leaves and cigarette butts in the area of the fire, and identified the items as the “likely cause.”

East Mall LLC, founded by late developer Chuck Lewis, purchased the building in 2003 for nearly $1 million. The site currently hosts retail shops on the bottom floor and apartments upstairs.

The building is next to the former A&N Building, the future site of Alex George’s Commonwealth Restaurant and SkyBar. “I was actually out of town when I heard about it,” says George, the executive chef who previously launched Downtown eateries Just Curry and Cinema Taco . He adds that he hasn’t noticed any damage to his site, nor does he anticipate any setbacks to his restaurant’s construction schedule.
 

Categories
Living

Alcohol rising

The alcohol in wine has been causing quite a buzz lately, and not just the kind that makes you want to hug everyone. One of the hottest issues in the industry these days is wine’s rising ABV (alcohol by volume). Certainly not a new trend, alcohol levels have been climbing for decades. However, some recent decisions by retailers and sommeliers to not stock wines over 14 percent ABV, along with a law passed in the UK mandating restaurants to publish all ABVs on their wine lists, are getting those who see ABV as merely a number all hot and bothered.

A wine’s alcohol comes from the ripeness of the grapes that made it. Riper grapes mean more sugar to be converted into alcohol during fermentation. Alcohol adds body and a perception of sweetness to wines, so when the ABV increases, these qualities are amplified. Sounds appealing, until every wine starts tasting like brandied plum pudding. But, there’s a palate out there for these fruit bombs pushing 16 percent ABV, and it belongs to the world’s most influential wine critic, Robert Parker, whose scores tend to go up as ABVs do. Producers caught on and began letting grapes over-ripen in order to make wines so high in alcohol that they should come with a designated driver. Parker’s allegiant followers buy by score, so even sun-challenged winemakers began producing walloping wines. And now, with what’s been termed “The Parker Effect,” many wines once known for elegant restraint (Burgundies) and quiet strength (Bordeaux) are becoming clumsy, characterless versions of themselves.

How much does this matter to wine drinkers who don’t know their ABVs from their ABCs? Considering the fact that higher alcohol wine gets you drunk faster, it should matter to anyone interested in getting home safely. Without the boring math, the difference between having two glasses of 12.5 percent wine and two glasses of 15.8 percent wine within an hour is 25 percent more alcohol—and the potential to go from within the legal limit to beyond it. Richmond-based wine importer Bartholomew Broadbent believes that consumers should be informed of a wine’s ABV before ordering it and hopes to see a law passed for American restaurants like the one passed in the UK.

“I check the ABV on a wine before the sommelier opens it and I turn it away, more often than not, if it is 15 percent or higher,” he says. “It would save time for them and aggravation for me if I knew the level before ordering it.” For him, it has nothing to do with balance. “A 7 percent wine can be just as balanced as a 16 percent one, but if I can safely have one extra glass of wine a night by buying a 12.5 percent wine versus a 14.5 percent wine, I will always prefer an evening spent with a lower alcohol wine.”

Should it be the restaurant’s duty to provide full disclosure, or simply be a case of buyer beware? Keswick Hall’s sommelier, Richard Hewitt, expects that people who order wine are aware of how it may influence them. “It seems a bit rude to publish ABVs—that would imply that people are not responsible or educated enough to know that alcohol levels vary.” At Keswick, ABVs are discussed in terms of food pairings, though, since a 15 percent Chardonnay isn’t going to match the chef’s hamachi crudo any better than a shot of Jameson would.

And how about those sommeliers and retailers who won’t let beefy wines past their velvet ropes? Rajat Parr, wine director for a San Francisco restaurant group, stirred up controversy when he banned any Pinot Noir or Chardonnay above 14 percent alcohol from his own restaurant. To Parr, it’s all about the balance in these Burgundian grapes, but his decision got him an online slap on the wrist from Parker, who suggested that “arbitrary cutoffs make no sense, and are nothing more than a form of wine fascism.” An interesting criticism from a man who’s made his living and ruined others’ by way of the arbitrary. Fortunately, some retailers, like Tastings of Charlottesville owner Bill Curtis, stay above it all. “I’ve spent my life goading people into exercising their own judgement when I sell wine and the ABV is clearly printed on every label.” And, for those of us who find the number inconsequential and just don’t care? Well, we can just ignore it and enjoy the buzz. 

Categories
Arts

Checking in with Lee Alter

 What were you doing when we called?
I was sitting in front of Greenberry’s reading a book and hanging out with my friends. I was reading The Wise Heart by Jack Kornfield, which is a really cool guide to some of the universal teachings of Buddhist psychology. It takes on emotional issues but focuses on the process rather than the product. A lot of what I do in my artwork has to do with that—giving yourself permission to be yourself in the moment.

“The Students of Lee Alter” showed at The Bridge through May. Alter is working on a large mural for a show this fall at Random Row Books.

What are you working on right now?
For the last three or four years I’ve been working on portraits, mostly of musicians. It started with Jim Morrison, when I got really into his poetry. Before that, most of my work had been pretty abstract. Later I got into Red Rattles and did a portrait of Luke Nutting, and I was totally able to feel Luke’s presence, and that kind of energetic reception doesn’t happen with everybody. I’m also working on a really large mural for a fall show at Random Row Books. It features a lot of archetypal images. Everybody has certain personal archetypes that follow them throughout their lives, whether they’re aware of it or not.

Tell us about your day job.
I’ve been independently teaching art classes for kids and adults since 1992, and that takes up a lot of my time. [Last month, there was] a show at The Bridge for all the kids that work with me, and their stuff is all totally awesome. You put it up on the wall but you’re not critiquing it. You’re honoring their vision.

What is your first artistic memory from childhood?
I grew up in a jazz family, so at 14 I’m listening to Django Reinhardt when all the other kids are listening to rock and roll. We were all very artistic, but my mother got me into dancing, which was what I did as a child. So the first incredible artistic experience I had wasn’t until I was 19 years old and living on my own somewhere. I picked up a mirror, put it on my desk and did a self portrait. I can still feel it right now, what it was like to do that piece. That experience is still in my cellular memory. I just remember thinking, “Oh, this is what I’m supposed to do with this life of mine,” and it was profound. Years later, I realized it turned out looking like an Oskar Kokoschka.

Item you’d splurge on?
I buy a lot of music. I’ll buy a CD and listen to it for like three weeks until it’s all memorized. Singing just blows my mind. It’s like the most present thing I’ve ever done. You sing a note, it’s there, it’s out and then it’s gone. I really want to sing and be in a band, to travel around in a big van like Dylan. Sometimes I feel like being a visual artist is too solo, and I want to collaborate.

Which of your works are you most proud of?
I like these new portraits that I’ve been doing. I had a showing called “Time, Space and Connection” at The Bridge about three years ago, and several pieces from that are signature pieces, although it was before I started doing portraits. I did one that looked like a DaVinci when I was 22 years old, and the professor of fine arts thought it was cool, but I looked at it and said, “Why bother? DaVinci already did it.” So I never did another piece like that until just recently, when I started realizing that portraits can be the best way to capture the energy of a performer.

Locally, who would you like to collaborate with?
Some musician friends of mine are going to play at the Random Row show, which is a kind of collaboration. If I’m working on a show and John D’earth is going to play then some of the art will reflect that.

How do you prepare to work on something?
Having to teach as much as I do is a problem. I think being an artist requires a lot of downtime on an emotional level. If you have a vision you need to make friends with it, and take the time to invite it into your life. So sketches, I make a lot of sketches. When I worked on painting Sam Wilson I spent two days on one line on his chin. I mean, who has time for that? You’ve got to make money and pay the bills.

UVA lacrosse nets fifth national championship

Despite five losses, a low postseason seed and a few recent disciplinary matters, the UVA men’s lacrosse team clinched its fifth national title yesterday in a 9-7 win against the University of Maryland. The Cavaliers’ first NCAA championship since 2006 followed a year of increased vigilance among coaches and media following the 2010 arrest of UVA lacrosse player George Huguely and scrutiny of players’ habits and criminal records.

Colin Briggs, a junior midfielder who was previously suspended for undisclosed reasons and did not start the game, scored five goals off the bench and earned MVP honors. Tied at six goals with 11:43 left in the game, Cavalier midfielder Matt White notched two goals while attacker Nick O’Reilly earned two assists.

Following the game, UVA Coach Dom Starsia credited his players, family and UVA support for the title.

“We had to reconfigure ourselves midway through the season,” said Starsia of his team. “They had to decide that it was important enough to pick themselves up and get going again.”
 

Categories
News

Counting the homeless

 The latest results of the annual “Point-in-Time” census of the local homeless population show a decrease in both the total number of homeless individuals and the number of unsheltered individuals.

While the annual, one-day census counted fewer area homeless, seasonal shelters and a growing Latino population make a defin-itive count difficult, says Kaki Dimock, director of the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless.

On January 27, volunteers for the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless (TJACH) visited local shelters and counted beds that were in use. They also went to places where homeless men and women congregate and conducted a 28-question survey about the circumstances that led them to their current state. Ultimately, volunteers counted 253 homeless, down from 274 last year.

The census also found 201 adults and 34 children in emergency shelters or transitional housing. According to TJACH’s count, the most pronounced decrease came in the number of unsheltered homeless folks: 18, compared to 27 last year.

Seventy percent of those individuals surveyed were males, and 35 percent of respondents had been homeless for less than six months.

“A bias people have about homelessness is that it’s permanent,” says Kaki Dimock, executive director of TJACH. Dimock is also executive director of The Haven, the Downtown day shelter that opened in January 2010.

“Nationally, 80 percent of people are homeless less than two years, so they transition out,” says Dimock, who says that Charlottesville data reflects the same dynamic. “Forty percent [are homeless] less than six months. It’s transitional for most people.”

The results, however, may indicate only a portion of the local homeless population.

“We are not capturing a 30,000-foot view of homelessness in our community,” she says. “Because it happens in January, [the census] counts a group of people as sheltered in our community that, six months out of the year, are not sheltered,” she says. PACEM, the area’s major emergency shelter, is seasonal and only operates from October to April.

“The data that we report to the federal government has a tendency to skew towards a more chronically homeless population,” says Dimock. “It appears as though we have a group that is homeless longer with a greater need than we may actually have, if we counted everybody who is truly homeless,” says Dimock. She adds that TJACH’s census also doesn’t account for homeless Latinos who may not access traditional shelters and care systems.

“We don’t know where they are, so we can’t go gather the data, so the data doesn’t reflect their needs,” says Dimock.

TJACH will submit census data to the federally funded Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) as part of a grant request that could bring $350,000 for three consecutive years. The SAMHSA grant, called Cooperative Agreements to Benefit Homeless Individuals, supports the creation of programs to address mental health issues and substance abuse, problems among the chronic homeless population.

The grant request is a collaboration between TJACH, the City of Charlottesville and Region Ten, a local mental health service provider. Grant money would fund a benefits worker staff position with the City of Charlottesville, two clinicians with Region Ten (one for outreach and one for assessment and programming) and a case manager at The Haven.

While Dimock says the likelihood of receiving the grant is slim, the application has helped clarify the needs for the area homeless population. “We might be in a position to take this sort of programming and try to market it to another funder,” she says.

A stake through the heart of paradise

Things are starting to look mighty nice in the garden. Our trips to the farmer’s market tell me that we’re still not pro growers–our broccoli has weeks to go before harvest, while local farmers have been selling gorgeous heads for nearly a month–but that’s OK. What crops we have are doing well, and we’re feeling good.

This weekend, I took a little time to hunt down stakes for the last few tomatoes. We’ve never bought premade stakes; we’re way too cheap. Plus, our land is covered with young, scrubby woods. There are literally thousands of tomato stakes just waiting to be harvested.

Our favorite stake material has long been ailanthus, or as it’s more colloquially known, paradise trees. It has the advantage of growing quite straight and being an invasive that we’d like to get rid of anyway. We cut down the young ones, trim off the leaves and voila: readymade stakes that usually last two years before they get too brittle.

We’ve always gone to one particular part of our land, near the garden, to find our stakes. And interestingly, now that we’re in our fourth year of gardening in this place, we’re noticing that there are a lot fewer ailanthus to choose from!

This is great news, and unexpected, because we’ve always been told that when cut, the trees just send up a bunch of new shoots and keep on growing. And that the only long-term solution is to use herbicides. It looks like, to some degree, we’ve been able to beat back the paradise with nothing more than persistence.

So, now we’re gathering stakes from another widespread invasive: Chinese privet!

Biker dies in Albemarle County

The Albemarle Police Department is investigating a bicycle crash that resulted in the death of 79-year-old James Stocker, a member and cyclist of Adventure Cycling Association, a nonprofit group whose mission is to inspire people to travel by bicycle. The group was traveling from Yorktown to Oregon.

The accident happened at the 3900 block of Rolling Road north of Scottsville. Stocker was transported to the University of Virginia Medical Center but later died from his injuries. For C-VILLE’s coverage of local bicycle safety efforts, click here.

 

When your kid eats the environment

A friend of mine lives in Brooklyn and recently encountered an interesting dilemma there at the playground where he takes his toddler son. Seems a teacher in the adjacent school was bringing the class chicken out to scratch around under a tree near where kids play. Some parents thought this was cool–a chance for youngsters to interact with an animal that’s pretty rare in NYC–while others worried about disease.

My friend asked my opinion about this situation, then published this column in which he was kind enough to quote me (alongside bestselling author Susan Orlean! It’s all downhill from here).

It’s true that, as I told my friend, I wouldn’t let my daughter crawl around with our chickens. Nor would I, say, allow her to eat lead paint chips. But I’m realizing, as she becomes more mobile, that I’ve got to have some trust in our environment and let her experience things as babies do–i.e., often with their mouths.

This plays out in interesting, sometimes ironic ways. When we’re outside on the grass, I find myself taking grass clippings away from her and distracting her with a plastic toy. I try to relax about her chewing on a wallet, but draw the line when she tries to lick my friend’s shoe. All the while, the threats are invisible and probably often imaginary.

What’s funny is that I know there’s a lot of toxic pollution in the world, and definitely hope to limit my daughter’s intake of it when I can, but what I spend most of my day trying to keep out of her mouth is probably just dirt.

Parents, how have you handled this sort of thing? And is anyone keeping both chickens and toddlers in a small city yard?