Month: July 2019

Categories
News

In brief: Censure-ship, walker-ship, sinking ACP ship, and more

A bus blocks the curb ramp on Water Street. Kevin Cox

Summertime and the sidewalks aren’t easy

Walkability is one of Charlottesville’s small-city charms, but sometimes it’s not so easy to get around, particularly if you’re disabled. On July 27 the city listed a dozen sidewalk projects that limit access. And then there are the blockages that aren’t official closings.

Pedestrian activist Kevin Cox spotted a charter bus July 25 blocking the curb ramp on Water Street, which many residents of Midway Manor, a low-income housing development, use regularly. He says CAT drivers have learned to leave the ramp open, but charter bus drivers are not so receptive to the need to keep the ramp and crosswalk clear. Assistant City Manager Mike Murphy, in an email to Cox, says he alerted Police Chief RaShall Brackney to be aware of these blockages.

A downed tree created a pedestrian detour for almost two months on Market Street. Kevin Cox

The tree that’s blocking the sidewalk on Market Street near Holly’s Deli has been down for six weeks. After multiple citizen requests to clear the sidewalk, city spokesman Brian Wheeler says CenturyLink and public works coordinated its removal Tuesday morning, as C-VILLE was going to press.

A pickup encroaches on a Water Street walkway. Erin O’Hare

Wheeler also reminds residents and trash pickup crews that trash cans should not block curb ramps when out on the street.

 

 

 

 

 

Quote of the week

“I want to make sure the voices of enslaved Africans are represented at all of the special 400-year commemorations this year. Our collective journeys in Virginia are of larger importance than any one person.” —Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax on his decision to attend Jamestown events other legislators are boycotting because
President Trump will be there

In brief

Censure thwarted

Anti-gay-marriage members of the 5th Congressional District Republican Committee tried to censure their own party member, Congressman Denver Riggleman, for marrying two men in Crozet July 14. The Washington Post first reported the nuptials of the conservative Republicans who were Riggleman volunteers and who asked him to officiate their wedding at King Family Vineyard. The reprimand failed after a closed session at a July 27 committee meeting.

Idea stations out

Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation is rebranding its Community Idea Stations, including WVPT and WHTJ, to VPM, as in Virginia Public Media, effective August 5. According to Commonwealth, national and local programming will be unchanged.

Mission fail

Rusty patched bumble bee. File photo

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out an Atlantic Coast Pipeline permit, and said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had apparently “lost sight of its mandate” when it approved the permit and failed to protect the rusty patched bumble bee, the clubshell mussel, the Indiana bat, and the crustacean Madison Cave isopod, the AP reports.

Tax-free holiday

Time to stock up on backpacks and batteries this weekend during Virginia’s sales tax holiday on school supplies and emergency-preparedness items. Or it might be a good time to buy a new Energy Star washer and dryer, which are also exempt. Tax-free shopping begins at 12:01am August 2 through 11:59pm August 4.

False report

UVA police say a July 20 call to 180 Copeley Road from an alleged victim of an attempted abduction and forcible fondling was false. The claim alleged a dark blue Honda Civic with multiple people fled toward Emmet Street. Police are discussing criminal charges with the Albemarle commonwealth’s attorney.

Charge it

City officials spend $480,000 on credit card purchases during the first half of 2019, according to the Progress’ Nolan Stout. Parks & Rec had the highest bill at $154K, including $27 to Regal Cinemas and a  premium version of Spotify. City Manager Tarron Richardson charged a new $136 phone case and the communications department picked up a $25.50 meal for Councilor Wes Bellamy before a budget work session in March.

Monacan voice

photo Jessica Elmendorf

Karenne Wood, a poet, member of the Monacan Indian Nation, and longtime director of Virginia Indian Programs at Virginia Humanities, died July 21 at age 59. She devoted her life to telling the stories of Native peoples and ensuring those stories are heard.

Wood, who was also a linguistic anthropologist, published two collections of poetry, Markings on Earth and Weaving the Boundary, and edited The Virginia Indian Heritage Trail guidebook.

The mother of two daughters, Wood was an integral voice in the city’s choice to observe Indigenous Peoples Day, and her decades of archival work led to government recognition of a number of Virginia Indian tribes, including her own.

A memorial service will be held at 1pm July 31 at UVA Chapel.

Categories
News

‘The squeeze’: Novelists sue city and county for business tax bills

Novelists John Hart and Corban Addison (pictured here with their attorney Renée Flaherty) are freelancers who work from home or remote locations. They’re suing the city and county for collecting taxes on what they say are their constitutionally protected endeavors. Eze Amos

John Hart and Corban Addison Klug both make a living writing novels. Unlike writers for newspapers and magazines, which state code exempts from business license taxes, Hart and Addison received sizable tax bills from Albemarle County and Charlottesville that they say are unconstitutional.

The two men filed lawsuits against the city and county July 24, represented by the Arlington-based Institute for Justice, a “nonprofit, public interest law firm that litigates cutting-edge cases,” according to attorney Renée Flaherty.

The libertarian institute focuses on government overreach in cases involving private property, occupational overregulation, free speech, and school choice. Its most famous case, and the only one it lost before the U.S. Supreme Court, according to its website, was Kelo v. New London, which spurred an eminent domain backlash against government confiscation of property for private development.

In this case, the city and county “unconstitutionally discriminate between different kinds of speech,” says Flaherty. “Instead of protecting and supporting its creative community, Charlottesville and Albemarle County have decided to treat it like an ATM.”

Klug, who writes under the name Corban Addison, has lived in Charlottesville since he attended law school here in 2001, and has written four novels that address human rights issues. Because he offers no goods or services for sale in the city, he was unaware he was subject to business taxes—until he got a notice from Todd Divers, the commissioner of revenue, who also is named in the suit, advising him he may need to pay up.

“I’m committed to paying my taxes,” says Klug. But he believes he should be treated the same as the press and also get First Amendment protections.

Klug says he ended up paying the city almost $2,600 for three years in back taxes, penalties, and interest on his gross receipts, which don’t allow the deductions for travel or other expenses that he would get on his income taxes.

Hart, a former lawyer and financial adviser, spent 15 years trying to be a published author. His six literary thrillers in Southern gothic settings have been New York Times bestsellers. “I need a laptop and pure imagination, he says. “I don’t understand why the county feels they’re entitled to a piece of that.”

In 2016, he—many other local freelance writers—learned that the county, which had hired two full-time business-tax auditors, did indeed believe it was entitled to a piece of his income going back to 2011. He’s coughed up nearly $11,000 in taxes, penalties, and interest, which he paid under protest.

Besides claiming the business tax on freelance writers is unconstitutional, Hart and Addison also allege city and county tax officials “exploit” the code, which they say is vague and doesn’t list writers or authors among those businesses and services that must pay 36 cents per $100 on gross receipts if they earn over $100,000. Writers who earn less pay a flat fee that starts at $35 in the city and $50 in the county.

While other localities like Arlington have business taxes, they don’t target writers, says Flaherty.

When individuals are self-employed, they file a Schedule C on their income taxes to report profit or loss, and local tax collectors have access to those forms.

In 2016, Charlottesville didn’t regularly go after freelance writers. Divers told C-VILLE then, “The juice has got to be worth the squeeze. I don’t know how much it’s worth with our workload. We do check Schedule Cs occasionally.”

Divers declined to comment about the suit, and Bill Letteri, his counterpart in the county who is named in Hart’s suit, did not respond to an inquiry from C-VILLE.

The authors want the courts to declare the business license ordinances unconstitutional and to refund the taxes they’ve paid.

Categories
Arts

Whose history? The Niceties closes out Heritage Theatre Festival with an unforgettable debate

The Niceties starring Christine Morris as Professor Janine Bosco and Nikyla Boxley as Zoe Reed is at Heritage Theatre Festival August 1-11. Image: Martyn Kyle

By Nina Richards

Zoe is a bright and bold liberal arts college student enrolled in a class on the American Revolution. When she goes in to see her professor, Janine, to discuss an assignment, what ensues is a rich debate between a black student and an older white professor that touches on a wide range of issues.

The Niceties closes out The Heritage Theatre Festival’s 45th season. It’s “an office hours meeting you’ll never forget,” says director Kathy Williams, who sees this production as a microcosm of the ideological tensions displayed on a daily basis in the United States. Every member of the audience can find an entry point, an opportunity to recognize themselves on the spectrum between Zoe and Janine—student and professor, with similar goals for the country, carrying with them very different visions for how those goals should be achieved.

The women’s divergent perspectives are fed by their different races, generations, views on what feminism and womanhood mean, and on who’s stories get told. To add fuel to the fire, the debaters often speak right past each other. But though these are heated topics, the conversation offers twists and turns, humor, and surprising takes from both sides.

The cast of two—Nikyla Boxley, who plays Zoe, and Christine Morris, who plays Janine—had only two weeks to learn their lines and rehearse for the opening on August 2. (This is traditional for Heritage Theatre Festival’s summer season.) Boxley and Morris agree that a cast this small and preparation this condensed make for a unique experience.

“I like when a play isn’t too technical,” Boxley says “It allows you to be these human beings who are flawed, who are right, and who are wrong. I have so much fun playing in this world every day.”

Morris praises playwright Eleanor Burgess. “A good script is always easier to learn, and this one is wonderful,” she says.

Dialogue drives The Niceties. Zoe and Janine are the only two characters, and the script is densely packed with interruptions, shared words, and historical references. Learning the huge volume of lines has been one of the trickiest parts for the actors. In addition, there’s no downtime on stage. The spotlight is on Boxley and Morris the entire time, pressing them to stay present and on their toes. It’s heavy lifting for both actors, and they say they’ve developed a partnership to manage it together.

It helps that the cast members and director knew one another before the production began. The director, Williams, has worked with Morris before, and thought of her for the role of the professor, Janine. And Morris, herself a professor at the University of North Carolina College of Visual and Performing Arts, remembered seeing a stellar performance from Boxley when she was just a freshman.

Members of the production wonder if the Charlottesville audience might find special connections to the show. Some people might connect with the characters as members of the University community. Many will recognize one of the play’s central questions: Should we judge history by the standards of the present? The characters debate whether men like Thomas Jefferson should be considered great men of their time, regardless of the continuing effects of their racism. Should these men’s opinions be the ones we use to understand the past? How should we talk about these men, who are celebrated for their role in creating our democracy, but culpable in one of the country’s ugliest legacies?

At one point in the play, Zoe accuses Janine of “reading the children’s book version of American history.” Watching The Niceties may cause the audience members to question their own version of the past.

Eleanor Burgess’ The Niceties is in production at the Heritage Theatre Festival through August 11.

Categories
Arts

Change up: Nate Bolling says no to guitar rock in defining a unique sound

Nate Bolling (far right) formed A University of Whales with cello and violin instead of guitar. The band plays one of its rare live shows at Carter’s Mountain on August 1. Image: Ashley travis

By Graham Schiltz

When Nate Bolling started A University of Whales, he wanted the band to be different. After playing music in Charlottesville for 11 years, doing everything from metal to hip-hop, he wanted a change of pace.

A pianist by trade, Bolling, who’s perhaps best known around town as a member of the rock band Astronomers, sought a departure from the guitar-based music he’d spent much of his career entrenched in. He began with the instrumentation: cello and violin fill the void of guitars in fleshing out piano-based songs propelled by Bolling’s vocals. More traditional rock band instruments—bass and drums—comprise the rest of the band.

The result is grandiose chamber pop that swells and rescinds like the habitat of the group’s namesake, building with the gravity of an orchestra before dropping into hushed melodies. “It’s a style I’ve always liked… a lot of orchestral stuff, a lot of piano,” Bolling says. “I played a lot of guitar, I had done the rock band thing, so it was kinda just fun right off the bat to say no guitar.”

Between masonry jobs, live sound gigs, and wedding performances, Bolling was writing A University of Whales songs before the band’s lineup was filled. Bass player Jess Martin, a friend of Bolling’s since moving to Charlottesville, and former Astronomers drummer David Brear were interested, but cello and violin players eluded them. After fortuitously meeting cellist Erin Braswell and violinist Loryn Post in the span of a couple weeks, the pieces fell into place for the nascent band.

Bolling writes the songs, but the other members are involved as well. Even though he handles some of the arrangement, especially in the songs’ early stages, he wants the band to bring their own flair and experience to the writing process.

“They’re the ones that play the instruments. Most of the time, they probably hear something better than what I would hear,” Bolling says. “I try to make it a group effort as much as possible.”

Because of the band members’ respective careers and families, not to mention out-of-town members, full-band practices are limited. Bolling sends demos via email, and the band plays a limited number of shows. Thursday’s gig at Carter Mountain (one of Bolling’s favorite places to play) is one of the band’s only shows of the year.

“We’re not out here trying to be famous or anything,” says Bolling, and he’s happy with how the music turns out. In the age of the internet, when it’s easy to feel like everything has been done before, his aim is “just an attempt to not make the same old music.”

He’s certainly succeeded. A University of Whales’ brand of baroque pop isn’t necessarily in vogue, but Bolling isn’t too bothered. “I’ve always been pretty happy with [our niche],” Bolling says. “The best thing to hear at gigs from people is ‘nobody sounds like that.’”

Bolling says the band recorded its first full length, Everything is Beautiful, last year simply because they could. Three years of making music created an album he considers “more minor key [and] moody,” filled with meditations on death and mortality. Despite the limited time band members spend in the same room, A University of Whales accomplishes exactly what Bolling set out to do: make the music he’s always wanted in a way that no one has before.

Categories
Knife & Fork

Pop star: La Flor Michoacana knows icy goodness

At the shop down on Cherry Street, you’ll find more popsicle flavors than you can shake a stick at. Photo: Morgan Salyer

Some of us, when we were younger, marveled at Baskin-Robbins’ “original 31 flavors.” It seemed impossible (31 flavors!) but also confirmed that summer—ice-cream season—was the best season of all. In Charlottesville, that reassurance comes from the popsicles at La Flor Michoacana. Like Baskin-Robbins, Michoacana boggles the mind with its variety—47 flavors, by informal count. The basics are covered: vanilla, chocolate, mint chocolate chip. But then the freezer case veers into the improbable: watermelon/cucumber, hibiscus flower, pineapple chili, cucumber/lime/spinach, mango yogurt, avocado/lime, piña colada, soursop, tequila, and the list goes on. If there were enough room on this page, we’d give La Flor Michoacana 1 million heart emojis.

601-A Cherry St., 984-1603

Categories
Knife & Fork Living

5 super summer salads: Easy-peasy recipes from local chefs

Ira Wallace of the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange gives the classic Cobb salad a Southern twist with black-eyed peas and toasted pecans. Photo: Staff

Summer is the time to eat your colors. Yellow corn is at its sweetest, red tomatoes their juiciest, and the greens are just as green as could be. We’ve rounded up salad recipes from five local chefs that showcase the season’s leading stars along with some unexpected guest appearances: a piquant pinch of mint or sweet burst of watermelon. As with any great summer salad, these are best served outside, on a generous plate, and with your favorite cold beverage. Mangia!

1) Southern-style Cobb salad with black-eyed peas

From Ira Wallace, education and variety selection coordinator, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

A slight twist on the traditional Cobb salad, with toasted pecans and a Greek-yogurt blue-cheese dressing that you might want to slather on everything all summer.

Serves three to four

Ingredients

6 cups chopped romaine or mixed green lettuces

2 cups fresh black-eyed peas lightly simmered with 1/2 small onion, chopped, or 1 clove garlic, chopped

(Alternative: 1 15 oz. can seasoned black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed well)

3 hard-boiled eggs, quartered

1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped

2 boneless chicken breasts, grilled and cubed (optional)

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (substitute sharp, dry cheddar,
if desired)

1/2 cup fresh steamed sweet corn, kernels cut from cob, or thawed frozen sweet corn

1 sweet red pepper, cored, deseeded, and julienned

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and diced

Blue-cheese Greek-yogurt dressing

1/2 to 1 cup crumbled blue cheese

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt

1 tbsp. mayonnaise

1 tbsp. minced fresh garlic

1 tbsp. white vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Add all dressing ingredients to large mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. Place in container, cover, and refrigerate until chilled.

Place lettuce on platter. In separate rows, arrange chicken, black-eyed peas, red pepper, tomatoes, pecans, avocado, cheese, corn, and eggs on top of lettuce. Pass around dressing.

Pair with: A nice glass of sweet tea

 

Peloton Station’s Curtis Shaver likes his beer—and knows how to turn a salad into a meal. Photo: Tom McGovern

2) Steak and onion rings salad

From Curtis Shaver, general manager and chef, Peloton Station

This savory mélange would satisfy even the hungriest salad-as-a-main-course skeptic.

Serves two to four

Salad ingredients

2 7 oz. Seven Hills Food Co. flat iron steaks (also called shoulder top blade steak)

6 oz. local arugula

2 ears fresh corn

1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted,
and sliced

6 radishes, sliced thin

8 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 English cucumber, sliced thin

3 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

1 red onion, sliced into rings

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups flour, seasoned to taste (salt, pepper, paprika, and others as desired)

3 cups canola or other preferred oil for frying onion rings

Greek vinaigrette dressing ingredients

3 cups extra virgin olive oil

2 1/2 tbsp. garlic powder

2 1/2 tbsp. dried oregano

2 1/2 tbsp. dried basil

2 tbsp. black pepper

2 tbsp. sea salt

2 tbsp. onion powder

2 tbsp. dijon mustard

Instructions

Prepare grill. Oil, salt, and pepper steaks, and grill to medium rare. Set aside. Grill corn until charred and slice off kernels. Set aside. Heat frying oil to 375 degrees in deep skillet. Soak onion rings in buttermilk, remove from liquid, and toss in seasoned flour. Fry onions until golden brown, remove from oil, and drain.

Place all dressing ingredients except oil in blender and mix well. Slowly add oil to emulsify. Refrigerate until ready to serve salad.

In a large mixing bowl combine arugula, corn, radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, and dressing. Divide mixture evenly among serving plates. Place avocado slices on salad. Slice steak on a bias and place on top of avocados. Finish by topping with onion rings.

Pair with: Champion Brewing Company True Love American Lager

Peppery arugula meets sweet roasted tomatoes in Forage chef Megan Kiernan’s creation. Photo: Tom McGovern

3) Roasted Sungold tomato and arugula orzo salad with pistachio pesto and blue cheese

From Megan Kiernan, product development chef and founder, Forage

Chef Kiernan calls this “the regular pasta salad’s more elegant cousin.” We agree that the recipe would impress guests at any picnic or dinner party.

Serves four

Ingredients

2 pints Sungold cherry tomatoes

1 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 lb. orzo

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

2 1/2 cups chopped arugula or
baby arugula

Salt and pepper to taste

Grilled or roasted chicken (optional), boned, and cut up any way you prefer

Pistachio pesto dressing

1/2 cup packed basil leaves

1 handful mint leaves

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup shelled pistachios

2 small cloves (or one large clove) garlic

1/2 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil (or a bit more, to taste)

Salt to taste (at least 1/2 tsp.)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss tomatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place on sheet tray and roast for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 250 degrees and continue roasting for two hours, tossing occasionally.

Combine basil, mint, pistachios, garlic, lemon juice, and a big pinch of salt in a food processor. Blend well, periodically streaming in olive oil. Stop to taste. Add more salt and lemon juice as desired. If pesto is too thick, thin with additional olive oil.

Cook orzo following packaging instructions. Run under cool water while straining. Combine with pesto, adding heaping teaspoons to taste. Toss in arugula and red onions. Gently fold in tomatoes and blue cheese. Add more salt, pepper, or pesto as desired.

Pair with: Potter’s Craft Passion Fruit Mosaic cider

 

Unexpected bursts of flavor—fresh dill, fried sardines, hickory syrup—enliven this beauty from Oakhart Social’s Tristan Wraight. Photo: Tom McGovern

4) Sweet and salty summer salad

From Tristan Wraight, executive chef, Oakhart Social

“For me, I need a salad to have a sweet element, a salty element, and crunchy element,” says chef Tristan Wraight. Here, he rounds out the essentials with some soft herbs and an acidic dressing.

Serves four

Ingredients

2 cups watermelon, cubed (Wraight sources his from Pleasant Pasture Farms, in Virginia Beach.)

8 radishes, quartered (also from Pleasant Pasture)

1 cup Lunix (red oak-leaf) lettuce

1/4 cup shaved fennel

2 tbsp. sunflower seeds, sautéed until golden brown

1 tbsp. fried charales (or fried sardines) tossed in Old Bay Seasoning

Fresh Thai basil and dill to taste, chopped

Pinch of Maldon sea salt

Hickory-syrup vinaigrette

2 tbsp. shallots, minced

2 tbsp. fresh-squeezed lemon juice

2 tbsp. fresh-squeezed lime juice

2 tbsp. hickory syrup (can also use Grade-A maple syrup)

1 cup grape seed oil

1 tsp. kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Soak minced shallots in lemon
and lime juice for 10 minutes. Add syrup and salt, and whisk in oil. Toss with salad ingredients in a large bowl.

Pair with: A dry white wine with mineral palate, like Albariño. Best local choice: Horton Vineyards 2017 Rkatsiteli

 

Pearl Island Catering chef Javier Figueroa-Ray balances the sweetness of watermelon and pineapple with the earthy flavors of kale and walnuts. Photo: Amy and Jackson Smith

5) Pearl Island summer salad

From Javier Figueroa-Ray, executive chef, Pearl Island Catering

Don’t forget the fruit! Pearl Island’s summer salad sweetens things up with tropical pineapple and the emblematic food of the season: fresh watermelon.

Serves four

Ingredients

8 oz. organic kale

8 oz. organic baby spinach

1 1/2 cups watermelon, cubed

1 1/2 cups fresh pineapple, cubed

1 cup carrots, grated (reserve some for garnish)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Shallot vinaigrette dressing

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp. dijon mustard

1 tbsp. fresh shallots, minced

1 cup brown sugar (or less, to taste)

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Place walnuts on baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, and roast at 350 degrees for five to ten minutes, or until fragrant.

In a large bowl combine kale, spinach, watermelon, pineapple, and carrots, and toss together.

Place dressing ingredients in blender and mix well, about one minute at high speed.

Transfer salad ingredients to platter, drizzle with dressing, and top with walnuts and carrots.

Pair with: Stinson Vineyard’s sauvignon blanc

Categories
Knife & Fork

Food with a view: Five great places to feast your eyes while you satisfy your hunger

The rooftop deck at Camp Ten Four, at The Graduate Charlottesville, opens up a panoramic view of the city (which covers 10.4 square miles). Photo: Ron Blunt

Whether you’re kicking back with a cocktail or tucking into a hearty meal, a great view always enhances the moment. You may be on a patio in the country, gazing at a distant mountain ridge, or on a cozy porch in the city, surrounded by strings of sparkling party lights. Whatever your vantage point, there’s a reason the phrase “drinking in the view” was invented. Here are just a few places where the outlook is always bright.

Camp Ten Four is delightfully, um, campy. Photo: Roy Blunt

1. Camp Ten Four at The Graduate Charlottesville

The view: Camp Ten Four is named for the 10.4 square miles that make up Charlottesville proper. Nine floors up, the rooftop restaurant’s view stretches from West Main Street all the way the Blue Ridge Mountains. On a recent visit, one guest was overheard saying, “This is the spot.” Sounds about right.

The vibe: The restaurant offers casual fare in a laid-back setting, not surprising for a place with camp in its name. String lights, picnic tables, and rocking chairs all contribute to the atmosphere, as does the aural backdrop of a lively playlist at just the right volume. Indoor and outdoor seating are available.

The menu: Sharables and sandwiches dominate the menu. A highlight is the crispy chicken sandwich, served with a honey hot sauce and piled high with a spicy slaw. Sides are a la carte, and both food and drink are ordered at the bar. The rotating drink menu is playful, with three varieties of Boozed Capri—think an adult Capri Sun—and a spicy pineapple mule among the selections.

Vitals: 1309 W. Main St. 295-4333. graduatehotels.com

 

Early Mountain, in Madison, offers broad views of the vineyard and the peaks beyond, but what you’ll see inside is equally delicious. Photo: Tom McGovern

2. Early Mountain Vineyards

The view: The atmosphere at Early Mountain Vineyards is well worth the drive out to Madison. The property certainly doesn’t lack beautiful things to ogle, with green rolling hills, mountains, vineyards, and two historic barns all on site. “One of the most important things about the view is that it’s here no matter the weather, with the way the vineyard is situated,” says Aileen Sevier, director of marketing.

The vibe: Guests can choose from a number of different experiences in the expansive setting, including a traditional tasting, flights, or a picnic on the back lawn with a bottle of wine. The winery hosts a number of festivals throughout the year, including its bi-annual Oyster Fest and Solstice Sundown event. (Ed. note:

The menu: A bestseller here is the ever-evolving cheese and charcuterie board, featuring cured meats, local cheeses, housemade pickles, and a creamed honey so good that one visitor purchases containers of it in bulk. The grilled cheese isn’t too shabby, either. “I’ve had so many people write in and say this is the best grilled cheese they’ve ever had in their life,” Sevier says.

Vitals: 6109 Wolftown-Hood Rd., Madison. (540) 948-9005. earlymountain.com

 

The balcony at Michael’s Bistro and Tap House overlooks The Corner, where the city and UVA meet and mingle—but you may be forgiven for shortening your focus to take in the beautiful food. Photo: Tom McGovern

3. Michael’s Bistro and Tap House

The view: Owner Laura Spetz’s preferred table on the balcony at Michael’s Bistro is just outside in the right-hand corner. From there, she can look down along the Corner and watch the comings and goings of a quintessential Charlottesville place, or shift her gaze to UVA’s iconic Rotunda. The outdoor space is small, with only four two-top tables (that’s part of what makes it special),

The vibe: Word has it that several regulars visit Michael’s Bistro almost every single day the restaurant is open. It’s no surprise, given how comfortable and inviting it is. Outside, the open-air space shows off with string lights and flickering lamps, a calm oasis above the madding crowd on University Avenue.

The menu: A patron’s impression of Michael’s Bistro might shift depending on which menu she chooses to focus on. The list of nightly drink specials showcases deals on rails and pitchers that no doubt cater to UVA students, but the beer and craft-cocktail menus both have a more universal appeal. The food menu is just the right size, with enough entrée and small-plate options to please every palate without inducing decision fatigue. The fried green tomato small plate served with a housemade pimento cheese sauce is a delicious way to start your meal.

Vitals: 1427 University Ave. 977-3697. michaelsbistro.com

 

The Rooftop, in Crozet, is known for its food, by chef Justin van der Linde, but the view is also undeniably good. Photo: Jack Looney

4. The Rooftop

The view: The Rooftop delivers sprawling mountain views worthy of the restaurant’s name. Even diners facing inward can enjoy the scenery, captured in the reflection on the glass wall that separates the interior and exterior of the space.

The vibe: It’s hard to be in a bad mood when you’re on any rooftop, and almost impossible if that rooftop is this one. The breeze hits just right, the service is warm and welcoming, and the experience is chill at this classy yet casual space. Fair warning: The Rooftop can be tricky to find. Enter through Smoked Kitchen and Tap, head down the hallway, and get in the elevator to find your way upstairs.

The menu: Launched by chef Justin van der Linde, of Smoked barbcue-truck fame, and partner Kelley Tripp, formerly of The Fitzroy, the restaurant offers options suited for both celebratory occasions and a Friday night out. Truffle fries, served with aged Parmesan, white truffle, fresh herbs, and a garlic aioli for dipping are a crowd favorite. Other popular selections are the mussels simmered in Bold Rock cider and the hanger steak.

Vitals: 2025 Library Ave., Crozet. 205-4881. smokedkt.com/the-rooftop

 

Dining outdoors at The Southern Crescent Galley and Bar offers the look, feel, and flavors of New Orleans, right in the middle of Belmont. Photo: Tom McGovern

5. The Southern Crescent Galley and Bar

The view: An evening at The Southern Crescent could easily be mistaken for a friend’s party at a house with a great outdoor space—in this case, a pleasantly worn Victorian with a porch and patio. Deliberately evoking the Big Easy, the Crescent—named for the Amtrak train that round-trips between New York and New Orleans—prompts a sigh of relief like the one you experience at the start of a vacation. Through twinkling lights and sweeping trees, visitors will see the character and homes that make up the Belmont neighborhood.

The vibe: This charming spot claims no pretenses, and its quirkiness is exactly what makes the restaurant so inviting. The concept was born from the experiences owner and executive chef Lucinda Ewell had growing up in New Orleans, and that inspiration comes through in touches, like fleur-de-lis floor tiles, potted tropical plants with big, broad leaves, and brightly painted furniture nestled in the lush gardens.

The menu: Among the drink selections is the Vieux Carré cocktail first made at New Orleans’ famous Carousel Bar. The menu features a raw bar, gumbo that’ll make your mind travel to the bayou, and entrées like smothered catfish. A variety of po’ boys are also available, made on fresh Leidenheimer Bread shipped from Louisiana. “Aside from the bread, everything we do is made from scratch—including our beignets, which some people say are better than the ones at Café Du Monde,” Ewell says.

Vitals: 814 Hinton Ave. 284-5101. thesoutherncrescent.com

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Knife & Fork

The ubiquitous Mr. Smith: You can’t swing a growler in this city without hitting Hunter Smith

Hunter Smith, founder of Champion Brewing Company, is growing and diversifying his role in the local food and drinks industry. Photo: Eze Amos

On a rainy night in early April, I joined a handful of other food-and-drink journalists in the glass-walled pavilion at Afton Mountain Vineyards to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Tony and Elizabeth Smith’s ownership of the winery. About a minute into my conversation with Elizabeth during pre-dinner winetasting, I had a smacks-forehead-with-palm moment when she told me their son is Hunter Smith, founder of Champion Brewing Company.

“Of course,” I said, feeling doltish. “Well, he’s been busy lately.”

“That’s Hunter,” she said, “always up to something new!”

Ascendant beer mogul Hunter Smith has plenty of reasons to smile, including his collaboration in The Wool Factory, a food, drink, and events space (still under renovation) in the historic Woolen Mills. Photo: Amy and Jackson Smith

A month later, I’m sitting in the Champion taproom across a four-top from the Missile IPA man himself. Hunter Smith has the thick build of a football lineman, and he favors a ball cap, T-shirt, and loose-fitting shorts as a uniform. His soft, boyish facial features make him seem younger than his 33 years. In conversation, he’s straightforward and polite. Tony and Elizabeth evidently raised him well—and perhaps imbued in him some ambition and business acumen.

Smith opened Champion around Thanksgiving in 2012. Within a year, he announced plans to increase production to 10,000 barrels a year, and the brewery’s signature IPA debuted in the spring of 2014. Two years later, Champion planted a second tap room in Richmond, and now produces 15,000 barrels a year. His appetite for growth unsated, Smith helped to launch Brasserie Saison, on the Downtown Mall, in February 2017, and earlier this year assumed sole ownership of the gastropub.

Just a couple of weeks before I was at Afton Mountain, news broke that Smith had jumped into yet another venture—The Wool Factory. A scant two miles from the mall, the 12,000- square-foot facility in the historic Woolen Mills will feature an events space, fine dining restaurant by chef Tucker Yoder, coffee-and-wine shop by the Grit Coffee team, and Selvedge, a Champion spin-off brand and Smith’s second gastropub. As if that weren’t enough, Smith—co-chair of the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild government affairs committee—has signed on as a consultant to Waterbird Spirits, a micro-distillery due to open downtown in July.

In the quiet of the Champion tap room, a few hours before opening, Smith discussed his many projects, the possible saturation of Charlottesville’s restaurant industry, and how he balances family life with his pedal-to-the-metal business style.

Knife & Fork: Let’s start with The Wool Factory. When and how did you attach to that project?

Hunter Smith: About a year after we put our production brewery on Broadway, near the Woolen Mills, I met Brian Roy, the developer, and I learned about what he was doing down there. I had no idea that it existed, and to see it was just mind-blowing. It’s a gorgeous spot of land right there by the river. We stayed in touch, and then came the exciting news that [local tech company] WillowTree would move to the mills.

Eventually, Brian told me the project involved a brewpub, and he said, “Maybe they could use your advice.” After that, the conversation proceeded on two tracks. One was transactional: I had enough extra equipment to get a brewpub up and running, and wouldn’t mind selling it. And the other was, “How can I help? Can I become a partner?”

One day I ended up in a room with the Grit Coffee guys, Brad [Uhl], Brandon [Wooten], and Dan [FitzHenry], and Tucker Yoder, the chef I’d been collaborating with since starting Champion. It’s such a cool group project, and I wanted in. But it took a lot of ideation. What are we going to call this thing? It’s five guys and various operations that all need their own brands. How does that make sense as a business? How will people identify with it?

On the banks of the Rivanna River, the picturesque and historic Woolen Mills will house the local tech company WillowTree as well as The Wool Factory, a food, drink, and events space. Smith’s new brand, Selvedge, will anchor a brewpub there. Photo: 3north

There’s also the issue of competition. Was that part of the conversation?

Of course. My experience with Champion and with Brasserie taught me not to count on any sort of late traffic to drive business. I suggested to the group—and I think they knew this, too—that we weren’t going to pay the rent just because we were next to WillowTree. We needed to be smart about it. We are going to be a brewery, restaurant, coffee and wine shop, and events space, and there’s plenty of competition for those things in Charlottesville.

As for the brewery piece of it, I know what’s it’s like to go from home-brewing to commercial brewing. It’s a sharp and painful learning curve. I told the guys, “I don’t think you want to start this on your own.” We all needed to do our own thing, and do it well, and then work together on the bigger picture. And that’s what became The Wool Factory.

I had no idea that you and Tucker Yoder go back to the beginning of Champion. How did that come about?

It was born out of friendship. We were two guys really into the food-and-drink space. When we met, he was the executive chef at The Clifton Inn, and I was just getting the brewery going. He’s a big beer fan, and I’m a big fan of his food, and we both have enjoyed the idea of taking a chef-like approach to making beer.

With The Wool Factory project, you’re introducing a new brand, Selvedge. How will you distinguish
it from Champion? 

We’re treating it sort of like a sister brand. With Selvedge, we want to be more cutting edge, no pun intended—experimental IPAs, beers with lots of fruit, and lots of stuff that we’ve done sporadically at Champion.

Another ambitious culinary project, the Dairy Market on Preston Avenue—which will also have market- rate housing—is due to open next year. Is Charlottesville’s food scene reaching a saturation point?

I read comments online about this and chuckle. They’re like, “Another restaurant? It’s pretty absurd.” But Charlottesville’s restaurants-per-capita number is not just about its resident population. Tourists and other transient traffic count for a lot of the clientele. I think that’s a sustaining factor.

At the same time, the city is going to grow. For me and a lot of other folks, affordable housing is a high priority. But from a strictly market perspective—especially, the five- or 10-year growth metrics—there are going to be more people here, and we need more market-rate housing.

It’s definitely not a Field of Dreams thing. It’s not, if you build it, they will come. We experienced that at the brewery. In the first couple of weeks you’re slammed, and then, crickets—because you’re not the new thing anymore. But I think we’ve gotten fairly good at keeping it fresh. If you’re not willing to come up with new specials, new ideas, new ways to engage the community—if you’re just propping up the shop—forget it.

Are the economics really right for a place like The Wool Factory?

That’s been part of our initial conversations. Having done the start-up thing a few times, I’ve emphasized that we’re going to have be loud. We’re not ignorant to the fact that people have a lot of options. There was a time not too long ago when you could stick a brewery anywhere, and people would show up. But now we’re opening in a 12,000-square-foot space. It needs to be busy. There will be 400 folks working at WillowTree, and I definitely think there’s going to be some spillover from there. But they’re also going to have their own in-house kitchen…. So, yeah, we’re going to have to be down there at the end of the street, like the guy waving the Liberty Tax sign, saying, “Get in here and try our stuff.”

And most customers will come from where?

Downtown. I think that’s what we want to illustrate: Hey, we’ve got this gorgeous amenity on the Rivanna River that’s super-close to downtown.

Let’s talk about Brasserie Saison. The plan for you to take over 100 percent was in the works for awhile, right?

Yeah. Will [Richey, of Ten Course Hospitality] and I always had an agreement that after two years I’d have the option to buy him out. Everything I thought he would bring to the table, he did. He’s got the elbow-grease magic. I’m grateful for the opportunity where we partnered and I was just the beer guy and he was the restaurateur. Somewhat to my surprise, I learned how to be part of operating and managing a restaurant, and that happened at the Champion taproom in Richmond.

What changes can people expect at Brasserie? Tangibly, what will your influence be?

With places like Lampo, C&O, Bizou, Petit Pois, and Fleurie in town, I thought the last thing we needed was another chef-driven, small-plate, precious restaurant. What I had in mind was a Western European-style restaurant: great food, great beer. But at Brasserie, beer is about 5 percent of sales now. A really cool restaurant with some niche brewing capacity is what it is. I joke about the fact that if we ever need to remember who our clientele is, there’s a vintage cocktail shaker with reading glasses at the host stand, and that tells me everything I need to know.

Do you have a collaboration with Afton Mountain Vineyards in mind, given your obvious connection there?

Tres Pittard, Brasserie’s executive chef, and I went out to Afton to take inventory of the space and think outside the box. Brasserie and our neighbors at Old Metropolitan Hall are affiliated with Stay Charlottesville, which has the vehicles to do wine tours. Tres and I are looking at the possibility of doing harvest dinners and perhaps cooking classes at the vineyard. We’ve got this gorgeous place that’s a half hour from town, but including transportation will be critical. Once we’ve gotten over that hurdle, we can start doing some really cool events.

Always into something new—that’s what your mom told me about you.

My wife asks what’s wrong with me when I keep considering new projects. But I come from a family of entrepreneurs. It’s nice to blame it a little bit on the previous generation: “Well, look, I got it from them. It’s not just that I’m Mr. Crazy Bananas.” But yeah, it’s always something.

How long have you been married?

It’ll be 10 years this week.

What does your wife do?

She had initially helped me with the books for the brewery, but we grew beyond a one-person-on-QuickBooks operation. At the same time, our kids got to the age where we had to consider whether they’d go to daycare, which is costly, or whether she could raise them herself. So we’ve been single-income since we started Champion. It’s been a team-oriented approach for us, a family affair.

How many kids do you have?

We have two. A daughter who’s 7 and a son who’s 5. They walk to school. It’s a very sweet life that they have.

What influence, if any, do your kids have on your business decisions?

Interesting that you ask. We’ve been speaking to the folks at Little Planets about potentially creating some areas of the patio at Champion specifically for kids. We learned a lot by showing the Virginia March Madness games outside. There’s an opportunity to make the most of this patio. It was initially a 12-space parking lot, but it has turned into an entirely different thing. Anytime we can skim off a nickel or a dime to improve the space, that’s what we’ll continue to do.

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Knife & Fork

Cup of mud, meet glass of grape: Local cafes offer coffee and wine side-by-side.

Bright and breezy, the dining room at Belle is perfect for enjoying a light meal and a beverage (caffeine or alcohol, your call). Photo: Stephen Barling

In a town obsessed with coffee and wine, it was only a matter of time before the two beloved beverages started shacking up. Cafes in Europe have long kept both on the menu, and now a host of local java joints and new establishments are following suit.

“I think most people love cafes, even if they don’t know it, and creating a comfortable space where you can get great coffee, great and quick bites to eat, and some wine when ready has been something I’ve wanted to do for a while,” says Andy McClure, who opened Belle Coffee & Wine last spring in the former La Taza space in Belmont. “Having a 2-year-old certainly helps with opening early, too!” (McClure owns The Virginian Restaurant Company, which is best known for Citizen Burger on the Downtown Mall.)

In uniting coffee and wine under one roof, Belle joins local stalwart C’ville Coffee & Wine; Crozet’s Rocket Coffee, which recently added a tasting room for offerings from nearby Lovingston Winery; Charlottesville’s Smallest Wine Shop, whose modest by-the-glass selection enhances the ever-eclectic offerings at Milli Coffee Roasters; and local chain Grit Coffee, which has served wine alongside its house-roasted coffee at its Stonefield location since 2017.

“We’ve been interested in the relationship between coffee and wine for a number of years,” says Grit co-owner Brandon Wooten. “Both coffee and wine can easily be enjoyed by novices but also can be explored in a way that brings other levels of enjoyment.” But Wooten says it’s been tough to add wine to an existing cafe: Once customers think of a place as a coffee shop, “it’s a challenge for them also to view that as a place to drink wine or beer.”

To rectify that, Wooten and partners Brad Uhl and Dan FitzHenry will be combining coffee and wine from the start at The Workshop—part of The Wool Factory, the food-and-drink conglomerate opening later this year in the Woolen Mills development. “The Workshop will primarily be a bottle shop focused on selling interesting small-batch wines,” Wooten says. Those offerings will include international vintages alongside passion projects from area winemakers. As for coffee, “this space will be different from a normal Grit Coffee location in that there will be a much bigger focus on coffee tasting and telling the story about the factors that go into delivering really great coffee,” Wooten says.

McClure also champions a more thoughtful approach to these often-gulped offerings. “I think the European style of coffee drinking is something we can all appreciate,” he says. “Less rushing and more a fundamental part of the eating or drinking part of the day.”

Since Belle opened in late April, McClure and his team have been busy tweaking the menu of locally roasted Trager Brothers coffee, wine by the glass and bottle, light breakfast and lunch items, and happy hour snacks. “I am still not done messing around with the offerings,” McClure says, “but I do see a finish line at this point.” It’s easy for McClure to stay hands-on; he lives two blocks away. “This was designed for Belmont specifically. I am hoping it’s a great fit for years to come.”

For Rocket Coffee’s Scott Link, adding wines was a practical proposition. He’s already brought in pastries, sandwiches, and barbecue to help draw a more varied audience to his converted gas station near downtown Crozet. “Things have been going well for the coffee shop in the mornings,” Link says, “but we were not hitting our daily traffic targets and needed to help stimulate traffic in the afternoons.”

Link had space free to rent and had already been considering adding beer and wine, and Lovingston Winery wanted to open a tasting room in the area. It’s too early to tell how the new offerings will work out, Link says, but “the place feels better, and initial response has been positive.”

Matching coffee, a stimulant, with alcohol, a depressant, might seem odd. But Belle’s McClure says there’s a good reason for this unusual combination. “Every drink should be delicious, but it also serves a purpose. We love wine, and when you love it too much at one time, that’s when it may be time for an espresso.”

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Knife & Fork

In the mix: Cocktail alchemist Rebecca Edwards whips up a sublime summer drink just for you.

The name of the cocktail is Most Beautiful Words. Scroll down for the recipe—and prepare for delicious. Photo: Tom McGovern

Being a great bartender is the sort of thing your parents can lose track of. They know you work in a nice restaurant—one like Tavola, for instance. They glean from your calls home that the hours are long and the work is hard. But greatness? At making a gin and tonic? That’s tough for Mom and Dad to get their heads around.

But then you make it to the semifinals of the most prestigious cocktail competition in the world, and you’re among the top 50 mixologists in the country, and the light bulb switches on. “We looked it up last night,” Mom gushes on the phone. “This is a really big deal!”

A bigger deal: Edwards advanced to the finals. In early June, she went up against just 15 other great drink-slingers at the United States Bartenders’ Guild (USBG) World Class contest, in Lexington, Kentucky.

The top prize went to a woman from Chicago. “I didn’t win overall,” Edwards says. “But considering there was only a one-in-15 chance, this wasn’t exactly a surprise. The competition was fierce!”

Edwards did finish among the top four in the speed competition, and—big picture—cemented her position among the nation’s elite bartenders. She’ll make a drink for you right there at the bar in Belmont. “I’m just happy to put Charlottesville a little bit more on the map in the craft-cocktail world,” she says. And also to make her parents proud, no doubt.

We asked Ewards to create a recipe for you, the readers of Knife & Fork. Here’s to you, and to summer, and to one great bartender.—Joe Bargmann

Using inventive ingredients and techniques, Rebecca Edwards approaches making cocktails like a chef creating an elaborate and refined dish. Photo: Tom McGovern

Most beautiful words: a cocktail for the summer

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz. basil and cucumber infused Tanqueray 10 gin

3/4 oz. Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur

2 oz. watermelon juice

1/2 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 oz. 1:1 simple syrup

1 oz. prosecco

Basil and cucumber infused Tanqueray 10

1 cup fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup diced cucumber

1 750ml bottle Tanqueray 10

Combine ingredients in a tightly sealed container, such as a large jar with a screw-on lid, and let sit overnight at room temperature. Save gin bottle.

Fine-strain mixture to remove solids. Discard solids and use a funnel to return the liquid to the original bottle.

Watermelon juice

Blend 4 cups of chopped watermelon on high until liquified. Strain through cheesecloth. Pour liquid into sealed container and refrigerate.

The cocktail

Combine infused gin, Domaine de Canton, watermelon juice, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a metal shaker. Add ice cubes and shake thoroughly. Strain into a coupe glass, top with chilled prosecco, and garnish with fresh basil, a thin slice of cucumber, or a cube of watermelon—dealer’s choice!

Bartender’s notes

• Regular Tanqueray will work for this recipe. I just particularly enjoy the extra citrus notes of Tanqueray 10.

• If short on time, instead of infusing the gin, you can shake the cocktail with three slices of cucumber and four basil leaves for a similar effect. Just be sure to fine-strain the mixture when you pour the cocktail.

• The cocktail name comes from the Henry James quote: “Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”