Walking into the downstage theater at Live Arts, the sounds are familiar. Vocal warm-ups have begun, and musical director Kristen Baltes shouts from the balcony that this is “real life,” signaling to the actors to fill the space with their voices (not easy to do in that room).
Seated in the hallway, with the singing in the background, is Ike Anderson, the director of Live Arts’ 2018-19 season opener, Ragtime.
“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever done,” Anderson tells me, speaking of the enormity of the task he’s undertaken, professionally and personally. “To direct the season opener for the largest theater organization in Charlottesville—and I’m black.”
The last time Live Arts had a black director was almost 10 years ago, when Ray Smith directed Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel. This season, Live Arts has two pieces directed by African Americans.
While there are still glimpses of the usually jovial Anderson, there is a new seriousness, a new shadow, that comes with directing a piece that deals with such intense issues. With a smile on his face, in jest or sarcasm, Anderson talks about the day of callbacks. He stepped out of his home excited to meet the day, take on the world, and was met by a racial slur.
Anderson took on the telling of Ragtime because he felt, “If not me, then who?” His mission is to move the audience’s understanding of what it is like to be black in America.
“This play is about white people that kill some niggas, and walk away,” says Anderson. It’s a dark place to spend more than 10 weeks.
Based on the novel by E. L. Doctorow, (book by Terrence McNally), the musical features African Americans, upper-class whites, and Eastern European immigrants. A well-to-do family takes responsibility for Sarah, an African American woman, who tries to bury her baby alive in the family garden because her husband has left her. Immigrants arrive to Ellis Island hoping for a better life, only to realize that the American dream is not accessible for everyone. A socialist movement forms in New Rochelle. As New York changes, the upper-class family moves to Atlantic City to escape the aftermath of a riot. Immigrants and African Americans fight to be heard and taken seriously, taking matters into their own hands. Everyone in the story goes through a transformation, but this is not a happy musical.
Live Arts has been a pillar in the theater community for more than 20 years, and the appointment of Bree Luck as Producing Artistic Director signaled a new direction for the non-profit.
“One thing we need to do at Live Arts is make sure we’re not just telling stories about a couple of white people sitting around the dinner table,” Luck told C-VILLE when she accepted the director position in 2017.
Ragtime, says Luck, is a story that draws parallels to the struggles of Charlottesville in the wake of August 12, 2017, when three people lost their lives. The musical speaks about how race and class can influence the path of a life. That influence is not always recognizable as negative or positive. With three dramaturgs, each focusing on different aspects of the time, it is clear that there is a deep commitment from the theatrical team to tell a true and visceral story.
“We’re dealing with epic issues, on a small stage—which is where Charlottesville is. We’re dealing with epic issues, and we’re a small town,” says Luck. For some theaters this is a bucket-list show, and despite the complications of producing it, Luck rose to the challenge. “It’s my job to respond to the needs, talents, and desires of the community,” she says when explaining how the entire season was chosen. Those wants and needs have certainly changed since the beginning of her tenure.
Deandra McDonald, who plays Sarah, says she was drawn to the role by the opportunity to tell black stories that are not normally told. The link between this revitalization and the changes in what theater audiences want to see has direct lines to what Charlottesville has been through, and the start of the African American Heritage Center’s Charlottesville Players Guild, an all-black theater company. More black artists are getting opportunities, and Ragtime is a part of that.
“This story is not only a black story, it’s an immigrant story, a story of privilege, and how those worlds blend,” says McDonald.
Live Arts’ Ragtime has the makings of everything that makes life-altering theater: a compelling story, a cast of Charlottesville’s best and brightest actors, and a director with vision. They have come together to tell a story that is as old as time, hoping the audience will understand that this story is still very much real life.
Ragtime, directed by Ike Anderson, is at Live Arts October 5 through 27.
Co-owners Tobiah Mundt and Kim Anderson will offer art projects, maker workshops, and more at their new art-and-craft lounge, The Hive. Photo by Martyn Kyle
What happens when two artists walk into a bar?
Ask textile artist Tobiah Mundt and painter Kim Anderson and you’ll get the same answer: It’s an immediate connection. Both women relocated to Charlottesville with their families, Mundt from northern Virginia and Anderson from Nebraska, and sought a stronger connection to the art community. This past January, Mundt was looking for a studio and felt the space where she created her wool sculptures shouldn’t be “quiet and lonely.” After her children started attending school, Anderson reached a similar conclusion: When surrounded by people, she became a better artist.
The two connected during Craft CVille’s Galentine’s Day pop-up over their shared vision for a creative and collaborative maker space. Eight months and one big renovation later, that vision will become a reality. On October 6, Mundt and Anderson will open The Hive, an art-and-craft lounge in McIntire Plaza where visitors can order up an art project along with coffee, small bites, beer, or wine.
“The art bar is 16 feet long,” Mundt says. “The [project] tray comes with instructions and everything you need. You’ll be able to order from a seasonal menu that will change.”
For Anderson, what makes the space unique is that visitors can walk in anytime the lounge is open and create a tangible work of art. The price of each art project on The Hive’s menu will range from $1 to $20. Coffee and treats come from Milli Coffee Roasters and Paradox Pastry.
“You’re engaging with the arts without having to invest,” Anderson says.
The lounge’s décor also celebrates the work of local artists and entrepreneurs. Sculptor Lily Erb created The Hive’s sign and a fence surrounding an interior play area for children, and Wade Cotton of Timber Made Company created the lounge’s bar from fallen trees around Charlottesville.
Four art studios for rent inside the lounge will be named after African American-owned businesses demolished in the razing of Vinegar Hill. So far, two of the four studios have been named after Carr’s and Bell’s, Vinegar Hill businesses Mundt identified with the help of Tanesha Hudson, an activist and executive producer of the forthcoming documentary A Legacy Unbroken: The Story of Black Charlottesville.
“When my husband told me we were moving here, I Googled Charlottesville,” Mundt remembers. She says the history of Vinegar Hill was the first thing she found. “I had to ask myself, ‘How can I raise my family here? How can I build my business to honor what happened here?’”
In addition to hosting maker workshops that range from bows and arrows to bath bombs, Mundt says there will be more programming at The Hive that celebrates African American artists and professionals who have contributed to the Charlottesville community. UVA English professor and seamstress Lisa Woolfork will lead evening sewing classes in the lounge’s mezzanine workshop area. Mundt discovered Woolfork and her work by following the Instagram hashtag #cvilleart, which led her to Woolfork’s account @blackwomenstitch.
“I was like, ‘Is she in Charlottesville? There are black women in Charlottesville sewing?’ So I contacted Lisa,” says Mundt. “She keeps sending me project ideas. The number-one thing people have asked for is sewing classes.”
Anderson and Mundt will serve as craft-tenders behind the bar to provide tools and fuel for visitors purchasing an art project. When they’re not helping with a workshop or hosting a private party, Mundt and Anderson hope to find time for their own artistic pursuits. Anderson wants to continue teaching custom chalk painting and stenciling classes. Mundt plans to sculpt her wool creatures when the space isn’t busy. She says it will be an interesting artistic challenge, as much of Mundt’s work is deeply personal. Her needle-felted creations are simultaneously haunting and child-like, akin to the stuff of science-fiction monsters or a child’s nightmare.
“I think a lot of people make assumptions about my work and about me,” Mundt says. “The Hive is an open place. I want people to ask about [my work]. What’s scary about it? Not all of our artists are sugary sweet artists. …Everyone has many sides to them.”
Two artists with studios in The Hive are multi-media printmaker Emily Vanderlinden and jewelry maker Kelly Cline. Anderson and Mundt will rent the studios on a yearly basis and hope to add more artists and studios in the future. They also plan to take The Hive on the road by hosting workshops for children in the hospital.
“If you don’t have the words, you put it in sculpture or draw it,” says Mundt. “We want to make art in alternative ways.”
On any given day, Mundt says kids visiting the lounge might get to paint on the wall with their feet, or they might use “loads and loads” of what Anderson and Mundt cite as most parents’ least favorite art material: glitter.
“It will become a beautiful patina on our floor,” Anderson says.
The animated Smallfoot’s feel-good story is told by a star-studded cast including Zendaya, James Corden, Common, and LeBron James. Image: Warner Bros.
If you’re going to shamelessly mine classic films for plots, there are worse choices than Planet of the Apes. And if the goal is to keep a child occupied for two hours, you can do worse than Smallfoot. It’s the ultimate synthesis of what makes kids’ movies good without resorting to the lowest common denominator: screaming animals, musical numbers from a celebrity cast, gags for the adults, and a plot that’s smart but accessible for developing minds.
The story follows an isolated society of yetis on a remote mountaintop whose entire way of life is turned upside down when Migo (Channing Tatum) makes contact with a “smallfoot” (a human) in the form of TV wildlife celebrity Percy Patterson (James Corden). The nonexistence of the smallfoot is written on one of many stones that outline the laws of yeti civilization, and the discovery has dire implications. If that stone is wrong, others might be too, and then what is anyone supposed to believe? The Stonekeeper (Common) keeps order with a calm, soothing confidence while denying what is plainly obvious, making him the film’s villain. But what if the stones, while not factual, serve a larger truth? What do you do when fact and truth are not the same?
When Smallfoot works, the loftiness of its story and the madcap slapstick of its presentation come together in harmony. When it doesn’t, it’s just a kids’ movie with lots of goofy hijinks. Zendaya, voicing the Stonekeeper’s daughter, has a nice little song, Corden does an enthusiastic remix of Queen’s “Under Pressure,” and Common commits to his expository rap. Tatum shows enthusiasm in his songs, and the fact that he is not as musically seasoned as his co-stars works to his character’s advantage. Migo is not an exceptional yeti in any way other than his commitment to family and friends, and a desire to tell the truth. That’s all you need to do the right thing.
It’s easy to come down on movies like this as familiar and transparent, but there is a benefit to the familiarity in pace, style, and even the gags that pack a slightly subversive punch. Show kids a silly movie with cute characters, bright visuals, and some of their favorite stars, and maybe they’ll walk out with an idea of how to question societal consensus with respect and good intentions.
There are points at which the wholesale theft of Planet of the Apes can be distracting, and too many of the jokes land with a thud, but Smallfoot has its heart in the right place and has just enough sophistication to keep things interesting.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema 377 Merchant Walk Sq., 326-5056z A Simple Favor, A Star is Born, Bad Times at the El Royale, Crazy Rich Asians, Fahrenheit 11/9, The House with a Clock in Its Walls, Life Itself, Night School, Venom, White Boy Rick
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213zA Simple Favor, A Star is Born, Assassination Nation, Christopher Robin, Crazy Rich Asians, Fahrenheit 11/9, Hell Fest, The House with a Clock in Its Walls, Life Itself, The Meg, Night School, The Nun, The Predator, Searching, Smallfoot, Venom, White Boy Rick, The Wife
Violet Crown Cinema 200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000zA Simple Favor, Assassination Nation, BlacKkKlansman, Blaze, Crazy Rich Asians, Fahrenheit 11/9, The House with a Clock in Its Walls, Juliet, Naked, Night School, Life Itself, Love, Gilda, Pick of the Litter, White Boy Rick
"Stay ready so you don't have to get ready," says Nathaniel Star. The soul singer and songwriter is ready to get back to performing live. Photo by Amy Jackson Smith
Nathaniel Star gets most of his ideas in the shower. It’s where he ruminates on a beat, hums melodies, and devises lyrics.
When he knows he has something good, he’ll hop out of the shower, wrap himself in a towel and dash, water dripping all over the floor, into his studio to record it.
“I’ll be recording wet,” he says over pita-wrapped falafel, a cup of Moroccan stew, and a mug of “Soul Soother” tea at Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar.
He laughs while describing his song-making process, noting that while other musicians might use candles, incense, or lush fabrics to create a certain in-studio mood, all he needs is “a microphone, my computer, and some software. I don’t need candles.”
Star (a moniker, not his real name), who will play his first local live show in about a decade at The Front Porch on Saturday, grew up on South First Street and has been making music his entire conscious life. At first, he harmonized on gospel songs with his mom and sister; then he wrote country-esque songs with titles like “Hey You” on an electric guitar; and as a home-schooled teen, he snuck over to the Music Resource Center, back when it was on the UVA Corner, to rap.
Those raps, Star says, were “good from a lyrical standpoint” but also “extremely violent,” and he felt it wasn’t music he could put out into the world. If it wasn’t something his religious mother’s ears could hear, he wouldn’t release it.
Inspired by singers and songwriters like D’Angelo and Bilal, Star later sang and played guitar in local neo-soul act Acoustic Groove Trio. “Everyone [in] the audience making out, because it was real sensual music,” he says, laughing. Acoustic Groove Trio broke up about 10 years ago when the percussionist and bass guitarist moved out of town. Star stopped performing, but he continued making music.
Star released his debut solo album, Collide-A-Scope, in December 2016, and two EPs, Nat-Blac Presents: EH-SUH-TER-IK and C.R.A.C.K., this year. He works with Vintagebeatwitsoul, making beats for other artists, and he writes music for documentary films, including Tanesha Hudson’s forthcoming A Legacy Unbroken: The Story of Black Charlottesville, directed by Lorenzo Dickerson and produced by Sarad Davenport. Star has also written music for Maxine Jones (a founding member of En Vogue). By day, he’s an elevator mechanic.
All the while, he’s waited for the right moment to return to the stage. “It’s time, it’s time. It just felt right again,” he says.
“I breathe music and bleed lyrics. You can’t live without breath and blood,” Star says of his songs about life and love, songs that are influenced by black culture and by African culture, by the potential of music to heal.
“Ghetto Physics,” off of Collide-A-Scope, is a song about overcoming, and “Via Dolorosa” is a song that compares Jesus’ walk to his crucifixion to black people’s walk through life. “Everything imaginable, in a wicked way, was done to Jesus right before they killed him. Everything imaginable, in a wicked way, has been done to black people the world over,” says Star. “But in the end, of course, it’s triumphant.” Jesus rose, says Star, and in the song, he and others will, too. “Stab me, shoot me, do whatever you can, but ultimately, I will rise again,” he says.
Star plays with genre on all of his records, oscillating between neo-soul, 1980s and ’90s R&B, funk, go-go, soul, and rap, sometimes blending the closely related genres together. He likes to make people think, including double, even triple meanings in many of the record and song titles, and in the lyrics, too. On the C.R.A.C.K. track “Respect the Shooter,” Star could very well be singing about shooting a gun, or shooting drugs. But he’s actually talking about a guy who’s taking a shot with his girl.
“You need to make people feel,” says Star. “A lot of music now just gets you amped. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I like a full scope of emotions—get hyped, but feel vulnerable, too. Feel like you wanna go march down the street. Feel emboldened to do.”
Star records lyrics on the fly so he can capture that full scope of feeling, and he doesn’t mess with the words much after the fact—he might switch parts around, or lay down some harmonies. “If you can create from that place, that’s the purest form,” he says. “How do you refine that?”
And while that purity, that genuine reflection of a moment, is important to Star as a musician, there’s more to it. He looks down at his bowl of Moroccan stew, chock-full of vegetables, then looks back up, inspired.
“Music should be an onion,” he says earnestly. It should be of the earth. It should be strong and sharp and robust. It should taste good, and it should make you cry. There should be layers in layers in layers. “It’s seasoning,” says Star. “And even when it’s gone, it lingers.”
The Devon Allman Project plays The Jefferson Theater Thursday, October 4. Publicity photo
When your dad and his brother and most of his friends are musical legends, the pull of the stage is in your blood. Devon Allman answered the call with a punk band at age 13, and by the time he forged a relationship with his famous dad, Gregg, at 17, he was a skilled guitarist in his own right. “I did not grow up studying the Duane [Allman] licks and knowing my dad’s catalog,” Devon told Rolling Stone. “I liked heavy metal. I liked the Cure and the Smiths. I loved blues.” His new six-piece band, The Devon Allman Project with special guest Duane Betts, pays tribute to his family legacy and showcases his 26-year career as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist.
Thursday, October 4. $22-25, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 245-4980.
Gillian Welch is among the artists scheduled to perform at this year's Festy Experience. Publicity photo
It’s not often that you can learn about mushroom cultivation, experiment with the didgeridoo, get an acupuncture treatment, and take a yoga class while the Hackensaw Boys, Gillian Welch, and Ricky Skaggs belt it out in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Festy Experience is defined by three days of Americana music in a family-friendly, comfortable setting that offers curated food and drink along with wellness activities and creative conversations.
Friday, October 5 through Sunday, October 7. $46-146, times vary. Infinity Downs Farm, 1550 Diggs Mountain Rd., Arrington.
The Turnpike Troubadors play the Sprint Pavilion Friday, October 5. Publicity photo
Evan Felker is full of stories, Southern twang, and soul. As frontman for the Turnpike Troubadours, Felker delivers tales of loss and love bolstered by the fiddling and electric strumming of his Oklahoman bandmates in tunes that swing from listening moments to dance-your-ass-off numbers. Playing bigger stages hasn’t changed the band’s accessible, laid-back approach to making music. “The show is about people having fun,” Felker says. “The more fun they have, the more fun we have, and the better off everybody is.”
Friday, October 5. $29, 7pm. Sprint Pavilion, 700 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 245-4910.
“Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. And monkeys do too—if they have a gun.” Eddie Izzard brings his multi-layered sarcasm to the Paramount on Thursday, October 4. Publicity photo
Through his unique gift of gab, Eddie Izzard can deliver off-color punchlines and move on to European politics without skipping a beat. In celebration of his 2017 memoir, Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens, Izzard takes the stage to reflect on childhood, alternative sexuality, and personal loss with humor and candor.
Thursday, October 4. $34.75-99.75, 8 pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 979-1333.
There are a lot of people around here who are passionate about meat, from Reid’s longtime butcher to a club that opens your mind (and stomach) to new cuts. This issue, we’re introducing you to the right people, places and dishes to satisfy any craving. Let’s meat!
By Nathan Alderman, Joanna Breault, Shea Gibbs, Erin O’Hare, and Erika Howsare
Meat your match
J.M. Stock’s Meat Club introduces adventurous carnivores to new cuts
By Erin O’Hare
By the end of cookout season, you might feel like you’ve consumed every type of meat there is to be eaten. Hamburgers. Hot dogs. Steaks. Steak tips. Kebabs. Chops. Tacos. Barbecue…sweet, vinegary, saucy barbecue that somehow tastes better when eaten at a picnic table when it’s 95 degrees out.
But join J.M. Stock’s Meat Club and you’ll find out that’s total baloney. Chances are you’re making the same thing over and over again, just in different shapes and sizes.
Photo: Morgan Salyer
Meat Club members stop into the West Main Street butcher shop weekly to retrieve a bag of varied meats selected exclusively for the club by expert butchers. There are three different weekly order sizes depending on how many carnivores you’re cooking for ($43, $67, and $89), orders differ week to week, and the butchers will give you cooking ideas and instructions upon pickup.
J.M. Stock’s Ben Moore-Coll says that it’s fun to put together each week’s Meat Club orders, for a number of reasons. Part of the point of meat club is to get people to try cuts of meat that are just as, if not more, tasty than ubiquitous cuts like the New York strip and sirloin steaks. Instead, they’ll wrap up a teres major cut from the shoulder tendon of a cow, which Moore-Coll says is a tender, “crazy flavorful” cut; or merlot steak, a rich, tender and lean calf piece that’s easy to cook (“a unicorn steak,” says Moore-Coll).
The shop has somewhere in the ballpark of 70 different sausage recipes, and the butchers like thinking of all the different ways a customer can cook up their share of chorizo throughout the week—for tacos, in a pot of beans, or with eggs for breakfast. They’ll create custom burger grinds (yep, there’s more than one way to grind meat for burgers, combining different types and amounts of fat and muscle for different flavors and textures).
All of this might raise the stakes (steaks?) of your next cookout or dinner party, and it’s a guarantee that you won’t butcher the menu. But beware: Your guests might grill you on where you got the goods.
Photo: Jeffrey Gleason
Hop on board
According to Daffy Duck, it’s “wabbit season,” and if he’s dining at The Alley Light, he would be correct. Charlottesville’s perennially popular speakeasy/gourmet restaurant is currently serving rabbit rillette, a French classic similar to a pâté in texture and served at room temp. Most commonly made of pork, rillette has been around since the mid-19th century.
In the Alley Light’s version, Rainbow’s End Farm rabbit is slow-cooked with vegetables and aromatics, then further enhanced with chopped olives, oven-dried tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper. The rabbit rillette is served in a glass jar on a wooden board along with gingered carrots and ciabatta bread. Guests use a knife to spread the rillette on the ciabatta before eating.
“People have enjoyed the dish, especially if they are familiar with rillettes,” says chef Robin McDaniel. “Sometimes a little explaining is necessary if a guest is unfamiliar with the style of the dish. Rabbit is not found on many menus, so people seem to enjoy trying new dishes.”—JB
Photo: Tom McGovern
Gyro worship
Angelo Vangelopoulos, acclaimed chef-owner of The Ivy Inn, has a history with the humble gyro.
“The gyros on our menu are paying homage to my family’s restaurant that I grew up in,” Vangelopoulos says. The elder Vangelopoulos and his coworkers at Ikaros, a late ’70s and early ’80s institution in Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown, packed cones of ground lamb and spices to rotate and roast on a mechanical rotisserie. Vangelopoulos’s father “had the machine and his gyro chef ‘Mr. Nick’ in the front window of the restaurant facing M Street,” he says.
At the Ivy Inn, “we serve our gyro as a part of a lamb duet (sometimes a trio) for a playful match with a classically prepared lamb rack, because it’s fun and our customers seem to enjoy it,” Vangelopoulos says.
The Ivy Road restaurant seasons lamb trimmings, grinds them, and bakes in a terrine mold. They’re then chilled, sliced, and crisped to order. “We wrap it in pita bread with tzatziki, Greek feta, tomato, onion, and a red wine vinaigrette.”
The dish takes hours to prepare, but minutes to assemble for hungry diners, who order roughly 80 servings weekly. That’s about 100 pounds of lamb, some from Nelson County’s Double H Farms, and some from New Zealand—around 20 pounds of which go into the gyros.—NA
Jean Norford has been behind Reid’s meat counter for 32 years, offering an unmatched selection that includes beef liver, hog maws, and pig feet. Photo: Eze Amos
Deep cuts
A specialty slice of meat is not so hard to find
By Shea Gibbs
Reid Super-Save Market, a one-time punchline in craft beer social media circles, is no joke. The low-cost leader, tucked behind the railroad tracks on Preston Avenue, these days has a standout craft beer selection.
But long before the market started trafficking in high end suds, it had established itself as C’ville’s best kept secret for hard-to-find cuts of meat.
Jean Norford has been working behind Reid’s butcher counter for 32 years and managing it for the last four. She says a lot of folks don’t know about her little counter, but those who do come in religiously for the meat they can’t get anywhere else at a price they can afford.
“We carry a lot of stuff that other places don’t,” she says. “We have always been known for the best prices, but within the last few years, we’ve become known for our selection.”
Photo: Eze Amos
That selection includes beef liver, oxtail, hog maws, pig tails, pig ears, and pig feet, Norford says. She sells up to 60 pounds of offal per week. Ground beef is also popular, going out to consumers and restaurants at an 1,800 pound per week clip, as are pork chops and chicken. Chuck rolls are another big seller; Norford says her shop is the only place that slices the beef thin enough for carne asada.
And that’s not the only cut customers can order the way they want it. Norford says Reid Super-Save has been slicing everything on-site since before it was cool. “It’s time-consuming, but we’ll cut whatever customers want,” she says.
Norford says the younger generation is now coming to her for pricier meat, as well—filet mignon, ribeyes, other bone-in showstoppers cut to order. And that craft beer selection doesn’t hurt. Norford says people will grab their brews on aisle one and then cruise by the meat counter for a special cut of steak.
So just how did Reid Super-Save become a one-stop shop for carnivorous, thirsty hipsters? Only the most hipster way possible. Sometime around 2014, jerks on Facebook started making jokes about hard-to-find craft beer being available at the market. The rare bottles weren’t there at the time, but management was flooded with calls and decided to play along.
“We have an awesome craft beer selection,” Norford says.
Photo: Jeffrey Gleason
Get in m’belly
Lucky for us, pork’s fatty cut is here to stay
Pork belly has been the darling of restaurant kitchens—from gastropubs to bistros to fine dining rooms—for more than a decade now, and the fatty cut doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.
“It appeals to a lot of people,” says Parallel 38’s Justin Ross, whose pork belly gyro recently won top prize at the Cured Central Virginia Bacon Festival. “There are just so many things you can do with it—what kind of smoke you use, how you cook it, what you pair it with.”
Take that gyro. Parallel shaves roasted belly thin and pan fries it before layering it on grilled naan with Lebanese yogurt, pickled shallots, cucumber, and arugula. The multi-step preparation yields a pile of meat that’s mostly crisp, but with tender strands tangled throughout.
And that’s not the only place you’ll see pork belly on the Parallel 38 menu; whole chunks of roasted belly are also seared “a la plancha” for texture and served with a cherry gastrique.
Craig Hartman at The Barbeque Exchange agrees that pork belly—”one of the best cuts there is”—thrives on its versatility. At the Exchange, you can take away belly in bulk, in bites, on a platter with sauce and sides, or along with lettuce and tomato for a refined BLT.
Ross says pork belly’s popularity has only been heightened by the current bourbon craze. The smokiness of the barrel-aged spirit, whether sipping it neat or blending it into glazes and garnishes, pairs perfectly with bacon’s more authentic cousin.
And while pork belly might never be a standard in personal kitchens, Ross says it’s perfect for restaurants looking to get the biggest bang for their buck.
“For people at home, pork belly takes up more space, and most people just don’t want to work with it,” he says. “For a restaurant that’s going through it more quickly, you wouldn’t buy just bacon when you can buy the whole side of pig and break down the belly.”—SG
Photo: Eze Amos
Amazing braise
As the weather turns cooler, hearty, comforting fare becomes even more appetizing. Belmont’s The Local has you covered with its short rib plate, slow-cooking locally raised beef with veal stock, red wine, and the classic trio of potatoes, pearl onions, and carrots.
Beef stew traditionally involves boneless chuck, but executive chef Matthew Hart has good reason to stick to his ribs.
“When braising, I prefer to use a bone-in cut when possible,” Hart says. “It provides a little extra insurance against dryness and makes the sauce, which is made from the braising liquid, that much better.”
He prefers Lexington’s Buffalo Creek Beef. The purveyor primarily grass-feeds its cows, but finishes them with a mix of corn silage and spent grain from the nearby Devils Backbone brewery. (This grain is discarded well before the beer-producing fermenting process begins. Buffalo Creek’s cows seem happy, but they’re not that happy.) “However they are raising the cattle,” Hart says, “it has the perfect marbling.”
At roughly a pound per raw rib, bone included, hungry diners go through 120 pounds per week, Hart says. That’s about four cows’ worth of short ribs, according to Buffalo Creek head chef Patrick Flaherty.
Photo: Jeffrey Gleason
What is halal?
Local resources for Muslim diners
By Erika Howsare
Although dietary restrictions are sometimes described as being “religiously” followed—gluten-free, say, or non-GMO—it’s worth remembering that many people adhere to actual religious laws regarding their food. In Charlottesville, observant Muslims have a few options for sourcing halal meat, which is meat that conforms to Islamic law as found in the Qu’ran.
The word halal means permissible, a contrast with haram—forbidden. The laws for halal meat require that the animal be slaughtered with a cut through the jugular vein, carotid artery, and windpipe; that all blood be drained from the meat; that the animal be alive and healthy before being killed; and that during the process a Muslim will recite a particular prayer.
Serhat Peker, co-owner and chef at Sultan Kebab, says that especially during Ramadan, local Muslim families will come to his restaurant to take advantage of a menu that offers only halal meat. After opening in 2012, he and his partner Gokhan Deniz Dikmen tried to source halal products from local butchers and farms, but found it difficult. “It was hard to get it all the time, and expensive,” Peker says. They now buy halal chicken, lamb, and beef from various suppliers in places like Northern Virginia and New Jersey, where there are larger Muslim communities. (Somewhat surprisingly, Sam’s Club supplies the lamb.)
“It costs more than the regular meat because of the process,” says Peker. “It affects the quality. If you use this, you can see the difference. [With] regular meat it’s a lot of water coming out; it’s so chewy.” Halal meat, he says, is “juicy and tender.”
Afghan Kabob is another local place to order halal dishes. Owner/chef Mirahmad Mirzai, born in Kabul, Afghanistan, cooks up kabob combinations, gyros, curries, and more, and advertises on his website that he serves halal and kosher food. (Most people agree, by the way, that while halal meat does not satisfy the more extensive requirements for kosher food, Muslims will be in compliance with Islamic law if they eat kosher—as long as no alcohol is used in the preparation of the food.)
For home cooking, locals can find what they need at Grand Market, which offers fresh halal meats. Whole Foods sometimes carries kosher meats, and offers a line of halal-certified frozen foods, from Saffron Road. Halal might imply a certain rigor in its production, but the cooking and eating don’t have to be hard.
One of the first things that catches your eye when you walk onto the patio of Meriwether Springs Vineyard & Brewery is the teepee. It’s made of gray canvas, about seven feet tall, and it’s flanked by a play castle and an assortment of balls, hula hoops, and Frisbees. Beyond this is a footbridge crafted from one huge, arching tree, spanning a dry creek bed and leading to the ruins of the original Lewis family springhouse. String lights illuminate the area. This kind of childhood paradise is not a common sight at Charlottesville-area vineyards, but owners Ed and Regina Pierce have deliberately chosen to include elements like these just for the delight of the vineyard’s smallest patrons. Within a sphere that sometimes feels stuffy or elite, the Pierces have opened a venue that has something for everyone.
Regina, whose mother is Austrian, spent some of her childhood in Europe, and fondly remembers afternoons at vineyards and bier gardens with family of all ages. Now that she and Ed are grandparents, she says, it is even more important to them that all feel welcome at their vineyard/brewery.
While the Pierces have included fun elements for kids, they are serious about making great- quality wine and beer. To do so requires expertise, and theirs came with many hours of trial and error. As career educators, Ed and Regina Pierce are used to instructing others, but as brand new vintners, they became the pupils.
Photo: Stephen Barling
The Pierces bought the 40-acre parcel of land in 2011 because it abutted their property and they wanted to keep it from being developed. But in order to afford the mortgage, they needed the land to generate a profit, so they decided to plant a vineyard and use the post-and-beam barn that had been built on the land 16 years ago as an event venue. With the advice of numerous consultants, the Pierces planted grapes in 2012, knowing it would take three or more years to grow a crop worthy of wine-making. At first, the going was rough.
“The first year we planted, half the vineyard died,” Ed Pierce says. “We had a really late April frost where it got in the single digits. We replanted, and the second year, we lost a third of it in an almost identical scenario.”
All of the experts they consulted stressed the importance of “learning the vineyard” so that they would be able to knowledgeably evaluate the input of future vineyard managers. So rather than outsourcing the care of their vineyard, Ed and Regina rolled up their sleeves and, with the help of their adult children and some local high school students, worked the land themselves.
“It’s really labor-intensive, so that added years to our lives,” Ed laughs. “If there was a mistake to be made, we made it, which is really how you learn. But now it’s in good shape. We had a good harvest last year and should have a decent one this year.”
Meriwether Springs serves six different wines, all from their own vineyards and made via “custom crush” by the King family. The current local favorites are the petit verdot and the vidal blanc.
In late 2017, Ed and Regina made the decision to add a brewpub to their business.
“We would open the winery and couples would come in and sometimes one would want wine and the other would want beer,” Ed says. “We thought, ‘Why not offer both?’”
They constructed a 10-barrel brew house and a bar and hired John Bryce, an internationally recognized brew master, to oversee the brewing. He is currently producing six different original beers. The soft opening of the brewery was in August, orchestrated by Jesse Pappas, the new director of operations.
In addition to all of that, Meriwether Springs is also an Airbnb rental. A spacious home that sleeps 14, it has been popular for UVA alumni events, family reunions, and bachelorette parties. It is the only establishment like it—combination winery, brewery, and guest house—in the state.
And Ed and Regina aren’t done expanding their offerings. In October, they will start serving wood-fired pizza made to order on the premises. As an unconventional twist, they are retrofitting an old Alaskan fire-fighting bus for food preparation, and constructing a wood- burning oven on a trailer. Stay tuned.
