Keep the doctor away
Celebrate “dem” apples with Vintage Virginia Apples/Albemarle Ciderworks on Saturday, November 3 from 10am-5pm at the 12th Annual Apple Harvest Festival. Take a hayride, taste the orchard’s diverse bounty of apples, and learn about our area’s history of apple growing and the old-fashioned methods of turning them into tasty treats like cider and apple butter. Entry to the event is free, but bring your wallets to buy some local eats and, of course, a bottle of cider to go with them.
Second time’s a charm
Caffe Bocce, the Italian spot that fed patrons in downtown Scottsville for a decade before it closed at the end of 2004, is giving it another go—this time in Charlottesville. Glasses and dishware line the windows of the old Carlton’s spot on Market Street and owners Chris Long and Joy Kuhar are shooting for a November 5 opening, pending an ABC license. Long’s in charge of the kitchen, with the help of Terry Col, and will cook up rustic Italian favorites for guests to enjoy at the bar, the dining room, or the charming garden patio.
A kitchen in the haus
The X-Lounge, which closed in mid-October, is making a quick turnaround to Glass Haus Kitchen under the same ownership, but with a new chef. Ian Boden, who won over palates at Staunton Grocery for five years and then at Blue Light Grill for a shorter stint, is hard at work creating a menu of “inspired American cuisine” that will take full advantage of our local best. The bar will be a focus—not in the way it was at X-Lounge, but as a place to drink artisanal cocktails and eat delicacies like pickled oysters over goat milk panna cotta with sea beans and finger limes for $14 and under. At tables on the wood-enclosed patio and in the water-themed dining room, both à la carte and tasting offerings are bound to delight.