We’re always keeping our eyes and ears out for the latest news on Charlottesville’s food and drink scene, so pick up a paper and check c-ville.com/living each week for the latest Small Bites. Have a scoop for Small Bites? E-mail us at bites@c-ville.com.
Forget the pizza and take-out Thai; you can now order a freshly made meal from Brookville Restaurant and have it delivered to your doorstep. The Downtown Mall restaurant recently announced the debut of its dinner service called Brookville Brings It, which provides a pickup or delivery meal for anywhere between four and 100 people. You get one protein and four sides from a specified selection of menu items, but staff will be happy to discuss adding your Brookville favorites to the list of options if you ask. Main dishes include fried chicken, roasted pork belly, and braised short ribs, and your winter side options range from mashed potatoes to butternut squash with arugula. And every meal comes with the famous bacon chocolate chip cookies. If you’d rather dine in, be sure to check out Brookville’s newest sandwich, Clyde’s Big Easy, a Virginia-style muffuletta.
Historic Charlottesville landmark Michie Tavern, the 200-year-old spot that’s known for entertaining locals and travelers with 18th century tavern life, is holding a holiday open house Saturday and Sunday, December 21-22. Stop by between 10am and 4pm for tastings of local food, beer, wine, hard cider, and mulled apple cider.
Charlottesville’s food scene is constantly rotating as chefs come and go, and local chef and restaurant owner Ralph Brown wants to take advantage of what food experts from other towns have to offer. Each month, he’s been inviting out-of-town restaurateurs to check out Charlottesville’s food scene and bring their own techniques to food lovers here. On Monday, December 23, Chef Adolphus Stuart, owner of Sage N’ Thyme in Dallas, Texas, will visit Chef Ralph’s Cherry Avenue Grill to share his cuisine for two days.
Looking for the perfect gift for the coffee lovers in your life? Head to Mudhouse on the Downtown Mall and pick up a bag of Worka, a naturally processed coffee from Ethiopia. And while you’re at it, check out the line of gadgets like coffee grinders and the Chemex coffeemaker, a chemist-designed glass vessel that uses special filter paper for the purest tasting coffee.
If you haven’t made it to the Charlottesville City Market yet this year, be sure to drag yourself out of bed next weekend to check it out. Saturday, December 21 is the market’s last day of 2013, and the dozens of local vendors—including The Pie Guy, Lettuce Grow Farm, Hudson Henry Bakery, and Karen Wright Jewelry—won’t reappear in the Water Street parking lot again until April 2014.