Month: March 2015

We asked two of Charlottesville’s best chefs—Curtis Shaver of Hamiltons’ at First & Main and Angelo Vangelopoulos of Ivy Inn (a 2015 James Beard Award nominee!)—to tell us what they’ve spent all winter dreaming of cooking in spring and summer, respectively.

Curtis Shaver, Hamiltons’ at First & Main

Pickled Carolina shrimp with fried green tomatoes, green harissa, and a pea shoot radish salad

“Springtime is all about waking up from the winter and starting to use young, tender vegetables again. It’s about eating healthier and lighter. Radishes are one of my favorite vegetables to use. I love their fresh and spicy flavors. Pea shoots and their flowers are beautiful, and carry that fresh pea flavor when peas may not be quite ready yet.”

Angelo Vangeloupoulos, Ivy Inn

Crispy feta with country-style tomato salad, greek basil, cucumber, onion and olive oil

“Hands down my favorite part of summer is the arrival of tomatoes. We have so many amazing farmers in our region that it’s easy to choose some great tomatoes for a traditional greek style salad (that’s right—no lettuce!) with red onion, cucumbers, basil and a little red vinegar and olive oil.

“We take a chunk of barrel aged feta, bread and fry it crispy and serve it on top with grilled chunks of olive oil-soaked bread. It’s one of my favorite foods from my youth and I’ve upped the ante by frying the feta and serving it warm with the bounty of summertime.”

Italians are serious about their pizza. So serious, in fact, that they even have an organization to certify whether something really is pizza. The Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana (VPN) gives a special designation to restaurants meeting strict requirements that respect the tradition of Neapolitan pizza. According to the VPN, true Neapolitan pizza comes only from starting with specific ingredients and applying a precise, time-honored method. Admission standards are so rigorous that fewer than 90 restaurants in the country have achieved VPN status.

Charlottesville may soon have its first. Lampo, open since December, has begun the application process and is determined to see it through. Even without VPN status, Lampo has made a splash, with lines out the door every day and a group of young owners as talented as Charlottesville has seen. Chefs Loren Mendosa, Ian Redshaw and Mitchell Beerens have cooked at some of the area’s top restaurants, while Andrew Cole was the longtime beverage director at tavola, where the four worked together before launching Lampo.

In February, I checked on Lampo’s progress during a visit with VPN-certified master Ettore Rusciano, a Naples native whose Washington, D.C. pizzeria, Menomale, many pizza enthusiasts call the Mid-Atlantic’s best. Thanks in part to Rusciano, Lampo already had in place many of the elements necessary for VPN status, like the proper “00” flour for the dough, San Marzano tomatoes and an imported wood-burning pizza oven so massive it had to be lowered into the restaurant through the roof. True VPN pizzas must be cooked at least 900 degrees Fahrenheit for no more than 90 seconds.

Rusciano was in town to train Lampo’s chefs in pizza preparation itself, and there’s no substitute for learning from a master. To be sure, Lampo’s pizza was already good, and Rusciano even said as much. But, Rusciano’s lessons helped the chefs take it to another level, with the most striking difference being how light and airy the crust became when following Rusciano’s technique. “We are in a near constant state of study at Lampo,” said Beerens, “always looking for new ways to improve at our craft.”

Rusciano was glad to oblige with ways to improve—in virtually every detail, from the organization of the food station to how to stretch the dough. And this was not dogma for the sake of dogma. For each piece of wisdom, Rusciano had an explanation. Why not lift the pizza when removing it from the oven? “The smoke can contaminate the taste,” warned Rusciano. Why not touch the dough after stretching it into a circle? It can create uneven crusts.

After a long morning of pizza school, we sat down for a lunch of antipasti and insalate that showcased the talents and passion of the kitchen. Cavolo nero, a salad the team first created at tavola, is so delicious and well-balanced that it has had a cult following ever since: Tuscan kale, candied almonds, pickled mustard seeds and parsnips in apple cider vinaigrette. Straciatella was at once refreshing and satisfying, with farro, torn pieces of bufala mozzarella, red onion, walnuts and tangy pomegranate seeds. “Very good,” Rusciano said of the meal. “Top-quality ingredients.”

But, as delicious as the chefs’ novel creations are, what stands out is their humility and passion in embracing a food firmly grounded in the past. Rusciano explained that the key to Neapolitan pizza is “staying true to the original method of preparation, which is hundreds of years old.” Conversely, the most common error, he said, is “trying to modernize the style and deviate from its heritage.” Indeed, VPN’s strict deference to heritage deters all but the most devoted traditionalists from even bothering to apply. In an era where chefs vie to create the next big thing, who on earth wants to bind themselves to age-old rigid rules?

The Lampo chefs do, that’s who. They had no qualms about making the VPN’s required certification “to accept, respect and promote the tradition of the Neapolitan pizza strictly following the specification of the VPN.” And, as humbling as some chefs might take a full day of critique, the Lampo chefs eagerly sopped up the knowledge. “They were the ideal students for this,” said Rusciano.

Of course, tradition is not for everyone. The trademark charred crust, which I find delicious, others have called “burnt.” And so many customers balked at being served pizzas unsliced, as is the custom in Naples, that the Lampo crew finally broke down and offered pizza scissors to anyone preferring sliced pizza.

So, how is Lampo coming along in the VPN process? “They are very passionate about making great—as opposed to good—Neapolitan pizza,” Rusciano said. Yeah, yeah. But are they going to be VPN-certified or not? “I am absolutely certain that they will qualify for VPN status,” said Rusciano.

What’s longer, the list of IPAs made by American craft breweries, or the span of every beard from every American brewmaster laid end to end? It’s a trick question, because both are still growing.

What’s with the beards is anyone’s guess, but Three Notch’d Brewing Company owner Dave Warwick says there’s good reason for the proliferation of India pale ales.

“IPA is the most versatile style of beer,” Warwick says. “I don’t think they’re going anywhere for a long time.”

If you think IPAs are just big, bitter monstrosities, check out these unique ales from seven local breweries.

Champion Brewing Company’s Habanero Missile IPA

Carved into the small industrial section of downtown, Champion is the quintessential modern beer tasting room. For a non-quintessential taste, try the Habanero Missile, a seriously hot version of the brewery’s flagship IPA. While the spiciness can vary from batch to batch, owner Hunter Smith says the big bite is by design. “If I say a beer is going to have a certain ingredient, I want it to really taste like that ingredient,” he says.

C’ville-ian Brewing Company’s C’Ville on the Rye’z IPA

C’ville-ian, a small brewhouse and tasting room located right on West Main Street, reinvented itself in late 2014 with a new brewmaster and tap list, and this golden beer is testament to its establishment on the local scene. The IPA features a rye spice that plays off the citrusy hop profile many American IPAs are known for.

Three Notch’d Brewing’s Zombie Killin’ Ale Black Rye Double IPA

This macabre IPA is a mash-up of IPA styles, with some roasted malts (which make it black), a hard rye kick and a big hops and booze presence. “It is definitely a big beer,” Warwick says. Zombie Killin’ is only available on tap at the spare Three Notch’d tasting room on Preston Avenue, but the brewery began distributing a more traditional black IPA in March.

Starr Hill Brewery’s Whiter Shade of Pale White IPA

Lighter and crisper than traditional IPAs, the white version is a good place for craft beer newbies to start. Starr Hill’s Whiter Shade of Pale is a great example of the style, having won a gold medal at the 2014 World Beer Cup. See what all the fuss is about at Starr Hill’s tasting room, which got a pretty significant facelift in 2014, and is situated directly inside the brewery’s Crozet production facility and distribution center.

Devils Backbone Brewing Company’s Catty Wompus Belgian IPA

Devils Backbone, a lodgy joint at the base of Wintergreen Resort in Nelson County, has quickly become one of the country’s most decorated small breweries. Catty Wompus, which mingles the fruity esters of a Belgian yeast strain with hoppy bitterness, hasn’t won any awards yet, but it’s only a matter of time.

Blue Mountain Brewery’s A Hopwork Orange

One of the cardinal rules of craft beer geeks is “never fruit your beer.” So let the brewery do it for you. This subtly orange IPA is the perfect beverage to enjoy while taking in the views from Blue Mountain’s expansive, award-winning outdoor space.

Wild Wolf Brewing Company’s Exquisitely Evil Ale

From the street, Wild Wolf looks like it’s out of a fairy tale, with its picaresque beer garden complete with water feature. Inside, things get more serious, and the beer’s what really matters. The brewery’s double IPA is lot like that, with honey and citrus notes disguising a bruiser of an ale made with obscene levels of hops.

We’ve been following one trend faithfully for a few years—like, literally following it—from the City Market and Fridays After Five to Hydraulic Road and the Ix Art Park. Whether it’s Australian hand pies or smoked pork barbecue, fresh donuts or cupcakes, Charlottesville’s food truck scene brings everything to eat, drink and satisfy your sweet tooth. Here are three of our recent favorites.

South Fork

“The view from our window is always changing,” says Phillip Gerringer. It was the variety that drew
the South Fork owner to the food truck biz—the fact that he could be at a concert one day and a wedding the next. “It would allow me to be constantly evolving and adaptive to wherever I could drive the truck. I knew it wouldn’t be boring.”

That goes for the menu, too. A stop here will leave you stuffed with South Fork’s twists on Southern classics, like the smoked jalapeño meatloaf sandwich with garlic mashed potatoes, or the Cheerwine-braised pork sandwich with arugula, chipotle barbecue, blue cheese and pickled red onions. Or, for that matter, Gerringer’s favorite: “It’s hard to beat the meatloaf, but I’m partial to the grilled pimento cheese sandwich with arugula and a fried green tomato.”

You can find him setting up outside Champion Brewing Company on Thursday evenings, at Fridays After Five and at various events on Saturdays throughout the summer. southforkfoodtruck.com

Gypsy Juice

You’ll often find owner KC Sperry selling her original juices from a booth at the City Market on Saturday mornings, but her rustic wagon, which she constructed from salvaged materials found on the historic farm where she lives, is unmistakable at festivals around the area, too. Sperry brings at least 10 varieties with her, from mint limeade to iced raspberry rose green tea (and grows many of the ingredients herself!), but it’s the sage peach lemonade that’s customers’ favorite. No wonder: Says Sperry, “All of our recipes are developed after many years of customer input!” gypsyjuice.co

The Flat Takeaway Crêperie

In 2005, Lauren McRaven opened The Flat, a 10’x14′ walk-up restaurant behind The Jefferson Theater. Eight successful years (and countless crêpes) later, McRaven launched a Kickstarter campaign to open a mobile version—and take her crêpes and beignets on the road. The successful campaign yielded $10,439 —enough for a trailer. The Flat celebrates a 10th birthday this year. We’re celebrating the only way we know how: banana and Nutella. facebook.com/theflat.downtown

I’ve been asked by bar customers to make some pretty ridiculous drinks in my day—Sex with Alligators, a Duck Fart, a Sloe Comfortable Screw Up Against the Wall, a Cement Mixer, a Brain Hemorrhage, a Greene County Man Hammer. Most of them are not very good, and the people who order them are not shooting for the stars when it comes to a properly made cocktail—not that there’s anything wrong with that. Drink what you like, that’s what I say. However, when someone asks me to make a beverage I’ve never heard of before, many times I’ve simply rolled my eyes. Having bartended for over 15 years, I feel like I know a thing or two about what drinks are good and worth knowing about —and worth making. Make you a “Jamaican Lizard”? C’mon, dude.

Occasionally, though, I’ll be caught off guard: Instead of asking for Duck Farts, tipplers will make a savvy request, asking for something new with Cynar, something spiritous and gin-based or something with herbs and Chartreuse. They similarly ask me to make drinks that I’ve never heard of that are also well-balanced and delicious. This really rattles my cage. How do I not know about the Bonsoni? The Bitter Giuseppe? The Knickerbocker? And The Improved Whiskey Cocktail? I’ve been mixing drinks most of my life, and there’s always more to learn.

This perfect storm of customer enlightenment is a confluence of several things, but it is largely due to the well-read, well-traveled, curious tipplers here in Charlottesville who are paying attention to the momentum of the craft cocktail movement nationwide. Increasingly, these consumers are dropping some knowledge on the beaks of local bartenders, themselves eager to augment their recipe book. their skill set and their ability to please their guests. I checked in with a few locals about the serendipity of learning and creating new bevs through savvy sippers.

Brad Langdon, Public Fish & Oyster

Cocktail: Big City Blues

“I had a regular come in to my old bar all the time. He would usually just drink bourbon straight or a Manhattan, but it was Derby season so he was feeling a mint julep. We came up with a fusion of the two cocktails: a mint julep/Manhattan hybrid with a touch of blueberry shrub. The end result was a surprisingly delicious concoction! From then on it would be his first cocktail of the night whenever he stopped in.”

2 oz. Hudson Manhattan rye

1 oz. Carpano Antica

2 dashes Breckenridge bitters

8 large mint leaves

1/2 oz. blueberry shrub

Muddle mint and blueberry shrub in a mixing glass. Combine remainder of ingredients. Stir with ice and strain up into a coupe. Garnish with a Luxardo maraschino cherry.

Brianna Sumey, Red Pump Kitchen

Cocktail: Picante Paloma

“I’ve always appreciated a perfectly crafted margarita. It’s slightly sweet, tart and damn delicious. A fellow customer, Rich, shared that appreciation but we both wanted something lighter, something more refreshing. We opened the restaurant with a classic Paloma, and then collaborated on the drink below. The flavors are really turned up on this one.”

1 1/2 oz. Tequila (100 percent agave blanco)

1/4 oz. Cointreau

1/2 oz. pink peppercorn syrup

Pinch of Himalayan salt

Few sprigs of cilantro

Squeeze of lime

3 oz. quality grapefruit soda

Cayenne sugar salt rim

Peppercorn syrup

Equal parts sugar and water

1/2 cup pink peppercorns

Cayenne rim

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 salt

1 tsp. cayenne

Moisten the rim with lime and coat with the cayenne mixture. Fill glass with ice. Add tequila, Cointreau, salt, lime, peppercorn syrup. Give a nice stir to chill. Top with grapefruit soda. A few pink peppercorns from the syrup for added color and texture.

Smart glass

How to politely ask a bartender for an off-menu cocktail

1. Ask your bartender if he has time to make you something off-menu. If he is in the weeds, please pick another time to ask.

2. Have a recipe ready, in case the bartender is unfamiliar with your requested beverage. If he is unfamiliar with your beverage, do not take that moment to gloat.

3. Have a backup beverage in mind in case he doesn’t have the ingredients/equipment to make your drink.

4. A bartender’s limited resource to making a living behind the bar is time. If he takes extra time to politely field your request and ensure your drink is made properly, be generous in equal measure.

5. Not all bars do fancy cocktails. Order cocktails at a bar that does cocktails, and don’t be judgy if they don’t.

Micah LeMon is the bar manager at The Alley Light.

When it comes to barbecue, could Virginia ever be on the level of Texas or Kansas? The Barbeque Exchange’s Craig Hartman thinks so.

“Virginia was once the epicenter, and when people moved away they did barbecue,” Hartman says. “The first written advertisements in Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, they all said come to Virginia for barbecue. There’s no reason Virginia can’t re-establish itself.”

Here’re six local restaurants looking to make that happen.

The Barbeque Exchange

Hartman comes from a fine dining background, so his restaurant offers some refined dishes on top of your barbecue staples. His favorite is the pork belly, a versatile cut that comes off the smoker like über-bacon. Whether it’s served cold as charcuterie, in pork belly bites or as a belly, lettuce and tomato sandwich, to Hartman it’s “one of the best cuts there is.”

Belmont Bar-B-Que

Go for the ribs at Belmont BBQ. They’re big, meaty and saucy, but not fall-off-the-bone tender like at most places. That’s actually how ribs are supposed to be made, and Belmont owner Wes Wright should know; the native of Oklahoma’s been making barbecue the right way since he started serving it out of his smoke wagon in 2000.

Hoo’s BBQ

When Hoo’s owner Stephanie Parsons got the opportunity to open her own ’cue restaurant, she knew she wanted to do everything fresh and homemade. To get a taste of all the roadside joint has to offer, order The Pit-Master, a bowl layered with macaroni and cheese, beans, pulled pork, sauce and coleslaw.

Jinx’s Pit’s Top

The barbecue at Jinx’s isn’t meant to be fussed over. Your choices are pulled pork and ribs, and you can only get ’em for lunch Wednesday to Sunday. Jinx Kern doesn’t like the term BBQ—“BBQ is abbreviated barbecue,” he said—and he doesn’t think you need sauce. You’d be advised to listen to him; the former art history major said these days, “The art I do is pork, barbecued pork.”

PastureQ

PastureQ started as a Southern small plates joint, so while owner Jason Alley’s love of slow-cooked pork translates well to barbecue, the restaurant has a few unique items that wink at its past. Try the fried catfish or pimento cheese and Ritz for some serious Deep South flavor.

Red Hub Food Co.

Red Hub is all about classic barbecue—pulled pork, brisket and fried chicken paired with four traditional sauces. What brings the platters together is side dishes like hush puppies and house-fried potato chips. “As long as we have a deep fryer, we’ll never serve chips out of a bag,” co-owner Ryan Hubbard says.

A relative newcomer to the Charlottesville food scene, Tristan Wraight opened Oakhart Social with his business partner (and childhood friend) Ben Clore in late 2014, after nearly five years of working toward the goal. But Wraight’s no stranger to the kitchen—he started as a dishwasher at a bakery in high school and worked his way to sous chef at Parson’s Chicken & Fish in Chicago (with a bit of a detour to be a touring guitarist, before returning to cooking).

Since it opened, the midtown restaurant has been getting a lot of buzz for its inventive dishes and attentive service. What will he be making at Oakhart this spring? “One thing I’m very excited about is a charred carrot dish that I’ve been playing with,” he said. And look forward to lardo, various sausages and duck yolks from Sylvanaqua Farms in Earlysville, which Wraight has been curing himself.

Always on the bar
Cheap whiskey shot (Old Grand-Dad, Old Overholt rye, Jim Beam) with a pickle back.

Special occasion drink
Nice bourbon with no pickle back. Any Pappy Van Winkle (20-year, of course), Four Roses small batch or Copper Fox limited edition rye.

Breakfast
Black coffee.

Lunch spot
JM Stock Provision sandwich series is what I want to eat always.

Sandwich
A BLT with great bacon and summer tomato on grilled sourdough is king.

Unusual ingredient
Morita chilis. They are smoked dried jalapeños, sort of like chipotles but with a much jammier, plummy taste.

Healthy snack
Popcorn with nutritional yeast.

Unhealthy snack
Popcorn with nutritional yeast and butter.

Chocolate
Kinder Bueno.

Dessert
Ice cream. Any kind of ice cream.

Ice cream flavor
Chocolate.

Beer
PBR.

Kitchen aroma
Bacon cooking or mirepoix.

Always in the home fridge
Ranch dressing…

Always in the pantry
Dry pasta.

Bodo’s order
Pastrami, red onion and mayo on a sesame seed bagel.

Condiments
Mustard. Preferably Cracovia. It’s Polish, very vinegary and hot.

Cut of meat
Dry-aged ribeye.

Fish
Hamachi and maybe whole fresh sardines?

Vegetable
Greens of any kind. Or baby white hakurei turnips.

Midnight snack
Ice cream.

Knife
Korin chef’s knife. The first thing I cut with it was my finger.

Appliance
I don’t have one and have never used one, but I really want a Searzall.

Cook book
Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn.

Mentors
Hunter Moore (Parson’s Chicken & Fish in Chicago), Michael Sheerin (WD-50 in New York and Blackbird in Chicago) and my parents.

Dream trip
Any beach with my wife.

Food city
Seattle, Washington. So many great inventive cooks and such great produce and proteins. Seif Chirchi’s Revel and Rachel Yang’s Joule come to mind first.

Cooking clothes
Jeans and a T-shirt.

Kitchen shoes
Super Birkis.

Cooking music
The War on Drugs, Queens of the Stone Age, Band of Horses, Kendrick Lamar, Bob Dylan, Tame Impala, The Band.

Food-related tattoos
I don’t have any food tattoos yet but if I did, it’d probably be a radish of some kind.

First food memory
I ate a whole roast chicken when I was 5.

Best meal ever
The Publican or Longman and Eagle in Chicago are definitely up there. I had the gnarliest glazed pork belly with orange at The Publican that I still dream about.

Egg order
Soft boiled or poached and toast.

Whether you’re slicing up a fresh tomato to anoint your BLT or asking for extra arugula at the lunch counter, it’s definitely sammy season. We recommend taking yours to go and enjoying it in the sunshine. Here are three of our picks that achieve picnic perfection.

IvP Banh Mi (pictured)

For meat lovers: roasted pork, pâté and ham join cabbage, cilantro, pickled veggies, mayo and chile oil on a warm baguette. (Ivy Provisions, 2206 Ivy Rd., 202-1308)

Olive Branch

Roasted red peppers, olives and lettuce nestle between two slices of thyme bread spread with whipped feta. (C’ville Coffee, McIntire Plaza, 817-2633)

Ham, goat cheese and plum panini (below)

Grilled focaccia sets the scene for rosemary-crusted ham, arugula and Caromont goat cheese. Plum chutney adds a bit of spice. (Feast!, Main Street Market, 244-7800)

In the five years since she’s owned the shop, PK Ross has made quite a few changes to Splendora’s—most notably by adding a whole host of flavors to the repertoire. We caught up with her ahead of Splendy’s fifth birthday (June 24!) to chat about some of the biggest gaffes, greatest successes and what’s up next for the Downtown Mall gelateria.

Personal favorite flavor: “Chocolate or chocolate/strawberry/vanilla.”

Customers’ favorite flavor: “In terms of volume, chocolate. The industry standard is for vanilla to be most popular, so that’s pretty nifty for us. In terms of most vocal fans, the pistachio or the salted caramel. But we make chocolate, cookies and cream, raspberry sorbet and mango sorbet the most often.”

Most creative flavor: “I was mucking about with cheese flavors. Goat Cheese Honey Fig is super popular and a lot of people really responded to Gorgonzola dolce with wine-poached pears. Surprised the hell out of me that it sold. The herb things I do seem to take people aback, like rose geranium black pepper.”

Disaster flavor: “Sriracha peanut butter. Funny thing about the Sriracha is the longer it was exposed to the air, the hotter and more garlicky it became. There was no hope for it. I could try again by roasting peanuts in Sriracha, but I’m not sure.”

Favorite summer ingredient: “Peaches. I did not know peaches came from trees until college, so they’re a little magical to me.”

New flavors on the horizon: “I’ve been knocking around some beer combinations with South Street [Brewery] and other breweries. Someone told me about the scorpion pepper-infused honey they had at Lampo, so I want to do some honey infusions.”

Where do you get your inspiration? “Eating, and other people telling me things. Mostly the things I eat and drink around town strike a chord. Or people will have been excited by a flavor they had elsewhere and will tell me about it. The chili mango was from a martini at Zocalo, and my sister was the one who told me to make a goat cheese flavor. I used to sit at Commonwealth [Restaurant & Skybar] and chat with Nick Crutchfield; he was a great guy to talk shop with because he ate a lot of gelato and had flavor profiles in his head from mixology. And vendors! Smelling all the jars at The Spice Diva is rad, and Michael [Clark] from Planet Earth Diversified always gives me great herb and pepper ideas at the City Market.”

Local ingredient source: “The City Market—Hungry Hill Honey, Agriberry, Planet Earth Diversified, Caromont Farm. Also Chiles Peach Orchard and Henley Orchard. And I’ll probably extend the list to breweries since my beerlato guinea pigs have seemed to enjoy the flavors I’ve trialed so far.”