Chainbreaker
With several new barbecue places popping up in the past year, C’ville might seem to be getting a bit saucy, and a new-to-town couple is now joining the smokeout with a franchise of the hot national chain Moe’s Original BBQ, which is set to open in July.
Ashleigh and Mike Abrams are Moe’s veterans, originally from Virginia and most recently hailing from Asheville, North Carolina, who moved to town last summer to set up shop in an Ivy Road location they figure is ideal for the 41st Moe’s BBQ outpost.
“We wanted to move back closer to our family, but we also wanted to bring Moe’s,” Ashleigh Abrams said.
The couple has been looking at Charlottesville locations for a year and a half, she said, and with help from restaurateur and real estate mogul Stu Rifkin they learned the previous owners of Osaka Japanese restaurant would be closing up shop on April 29. The Abrams began transitioning the space’s Asian décor to Moe’s country-rustic aesthetic the very next day, and are now awaiting delivery of their smoker.
When they do open, expect relatively straightforward ’cue with remnants of Moe’s beginnings—a roadside stand in Alabama launched back in 1988. Abrams said the restaurant’s signature sauce is a ’bama white sauce, which is ideal for its smoked whole chicken, wings and turkey. They’ll also offer a traditional tomato-based sauce that’ll highlight their pulled pork (also ’bama style), St. Louis ribs and traditional Southern sides.
Mike Abrams will take his passion for the pit to the back of the house while his wife works the front.
“[Mike] has worked very closely with the owners,” Ashleigh Abrams said. “He has over 15 years of experience in the kitchen, and he does have a passion for barbecue. In the past year and a half, he has been kind of going crazy not having a restaurant.”
So how will a chain BBQ joint stand out in Charlottesville’s growing pig-out scene? “Alabama style is different,” Abrams said. “We want to be a part of the community, a family-friendly hangout spot.”
She said the restaurant would be affordable and feature full bar service with several small televisions, and she and her husband will try to capitalize on their proximity to the John Paul Jones Arena and Scott Stadium, making things “as convenient as possible for tailgaters.” No word yet on if they’ll change the name to Moe’s Original BB-Hoo.
Say cheese
It’s about to get easier to get your hands on locally made raw-milk cheese. The guys at Twenty Paces dairy and creamery, in their second year of making and distributing sheep and goat cheese on leased land at Bellair Farm in Albemarle County, just received a grant of $22,000. The farmstead has mostly been producing ricotta and ricotta salata, but according to co-owner Kyle Kilduff, ongoing expansions, and especially the government-funded grant, will allow them to start producing aged raw-milk cheeses.
At a small ceremony last week with Virginia first lady Dorothy McAuliffe, Kilduff and the owners of Twenty Paces received an $11,000 grant from the Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID). The fund is a collaborative effort between Virginia and rural counties to contribute to the growth of farm businesses in the Commonwealth, and Albemarle County will match the $11,000 from the state.
Kilduff said this area makes sense as the location for a small farmstead like Twenty Paces because of its already established agricultural and food scene.
“It takes a lot of that one thing you’re looking for to create a scene,” he said. “You’ve got a great music scene in Nashville because there are so many record companies and artists, and you see that here with breweries, wineries and restaurants.”
The difference between Twenty Paces and some of the other ag businesses in the county, though, is that you won’t be able to pop in for a tour of the creamery or a cheese tasting.
“It’s a round-the-clock type of job,” he said, noting that they milk the animals at 6:30am and 5pm every day, and everything else happens in between. “Our objective is to make the best cheese we possibly can and have healthy animals and pasture.”
You can, however, find Twenty Paces cheeses on the menus of local restaurants. Kilduff said he and his cohorts all have experience working in the restaurant world, and they’ve been eager to work with local chefs who understand their products and highlight what they do. Keep an eye on the menus at local favorites like Ivy Inn, Mas, and tavola, plus retail markets like Feast! and Flora Artisanal Cheese.
And what goes better with cheese than…turkey? The governor and Albemarle County also awarded an AFID grant of $58,000 to Kelly Turkeys USA, a producer of free-range, hormone- and antibiotic-free KellyBronze turkeys that originated in the UK. The new poultry operation will be located near Crozet, according to last week’s announcement from the governor.