Category: 2021 Best of C-VILLE Staff Picks

Tiffany Rosales is not one to shy away from a challenge. She taught herself to be a professional baker. She started a business when she had four young kids at home. And she built that business, Commonwealth Cake Company, with very little advertising. Instead, she credits her success to good relationships and the fact that, as she says, “I’ve done a really good job.”

You’ve got to love that confidence. Rosales has never been to culinary school; her first baking lessons came at her grandparents’ side when she was a child. “My grandfather was a chef in the Navy,” she says. “I was always in the kitchen watching and learning.” Beyond that, she says, “Everything I’ve learned has been trial and error, and a whole lot of passion.” Her cakes are showing up on an awful lot of #charlottesvillewedding posts lately. Browse them on Insta and you’ll find yourself wondering how the heck someone could make a cake look like an abstract painting, or what exactly is the secret of edible silver leaf.

Rosales got into baking cupcakes nine years ago, as a way to make some money at home and involve her children. “One day, one of my kids’ teachers asked me to make her wedding cake,” she remembers. It was an aha moment: a “romantic at heart,” Rosales found she loved being part of couples’ celebrations. (“I’d rather sit in my house and watch Hallmark movies all day long, even though I know what the outcome will be,” she says.) 

With a background in art, Rosales realized a wedding cake was a much bigger canvas than a cupcake. “It gives me more space to tell a story,” she says. She always interviews clients about how they met and what sweet treats they love to share, then makes colored-pencil or digital drawings to show them what their dream dessert could look like. One couple brought her a pint of honey lemon lavender ice cream from their favorite date-night shop. “We sat there and tasted, which was a first for me,” Rosales says. “I was able to turn that into their wedding cake flavor.” 

Caterers and planners send a lot of couples Rosales’ way—but so do other bakers. “I’ve been fortunate enough to make friends with Anita [Gupta, of Maliha Creations], Rachel [Willis, of Cakes by Rachel], Paris [Levinovitz, of Passionflower Cakes], and Kathy [Watkins, of Favorite Cakes],” she says, referring to other local cake mavens. “If they’re booked, they send business my way.” That’s a small-town vibe, for sure. “I have friends that do cakes in bigger cities, and they don’t have that same camaraderie,” she says.

This year, she tested her chutzpah again when, after a year of baking small cakes for downsized pandemic weddings, she made her first-ever five-tier wedding cake. “Once you start stacking three or four tiers, it’s very heavy,” she says, explaining that a cake that tall needs to be supported by dowel rods. 

“I stressed,” she confesses. “But when I got to the venue and set it up, it was perfect.”

It was helping her mom sell a collection of vintage owls that prompted Marangelie Caballero to open her first Etsy shop. But she quickly discovered the practice felt almost therapeutic. 

“I started to fill the shop with my own finds and it slowly developed into what it is today,” Caballero says. That is, Otherwise Shoppe, which Caballero envisions as a place for forgotten pieces to have a chance at a new life. The Etsy vendor aims to show the value of objects that already exist.

“In the settings in which I find them—cluttered shops and musty antique stores—they are often overlooked,” she says. “By presenting them in a lovely way I hope to inspire people to view antiques differently.”

Caballero stocks everything from drinkware to bookends, always focusing on earth tones, natural materials, and well-made, heavy pieces with interesting shapes and textures. “Truly, I’m just looking for pieces that inspire me,” she says.

Caballero, who has a degree in fine art that she says informs her shop’s aesthetic, admits she’ll occasionally hoard pieces for herself, but loves seeing something she’s sold go to “a loving home,” and applauds people who shop vintage.

“It can often take patience and persistence, but you can truly find amazing pieces that make your home feel unique to you,” she says. “Just keep going and try to find joy in the searching.”

“One to two to three to two to one, and now two. And I’m never going back to three.” That’s Suzannah Fischer, eyes closed, recounting the number of O’Suzannah shops she’s owned at one time since she first opened her eclectic boutique in 1996 on the Downtown Mall.

Before going out on her own, Fischer worked retail for years, everywhere from Barr-ee Station on the Corner to Bath & Body Works at the Fashion Square Mall. And when the opportunity to buy an existing business in the current Corner Juice spot presented itself 25 years ago, she pounced. But before the place officially became hers, Fischer and her mother “went to Virginia National Bank in Barracks Road during a freak snow storm, so my mom could cosign a loan for $30,000 so I could buy it.”

Success came quickly, something Fischer credits to her persistence, a strong work ethic, and a knack for curating. “I love the whole process of finding goodies, putting them together, and selling them to cool people,” she says, adding that it’s important to balance high-end items—a handcrafted backpack made by Pennsylvania artisans or a sterling silver poppy-seed pod necklace—with things that children can afford to buy their moms for Mother’s Day. 

And when it comes to displaying it all, Fischer says “colorizing” is the key to making it work. “A theme—the cookbooks and candles all in one place—would look nauseating to me,” she says. “You can really make something out of so many different colors and shapes and price points in one place. It actually can take on a theme too, if it’s about a certain color.”

A quick spin around her Second Street space (her other store, devoted to all things babies and children, is on the Downtown Mall), confirms this. Various shades of beautifully displayed red merchandise are on white shelves near the cash register. Books look just right next to bags, which are near tea towels and scarves that share space with wrapping paper, puzzles, water bottles, socks, soaps, journals, and cards. A few feet away is a section full of black, white, and gray bowls, candles, pencils, stationery, umbrellas, lotion, mugs, vases, and more books.  

“Books are what I like the most,” says Fischer, who places “these crazy-large book orders” the moment she gets home from the various markets where she finds much of her stock. “It’s my very favorite thing when they come in. Books make every section of the store make sense; they bring a cohesiveness and make the whole thing look so tempting.”

Over the past year, however, she’s been all about puzzles. “I bought puzzles up the watoots” during the pandemic, she says. “And cookbooks and chocolate bars.” The shift to online sales was difficult (“I didn’t know what I was doing when I wasn’t greeting people at the door and helping them find cool stuff”), but she’s still here, and business is steady—on a recent rainy Wednesday afternoon there was a stream of customers who were looking for everything from hostess and birthday gifts (yes, she’ll wrap them for you) to items with the word “Charlottesville” on them. 

“I wouldn’t trade doing business in Charlottesville for anything,” Fischer says. “I was born here, my mother was born here, her mother was born here. I know Charlottesville, and I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”

If you know exactly what you want and plan to ask for it by name, don’t go to Melody Supreme. You can’t walk into the small shop on Fourth Street and find whatever you’d like on the shelves. It’s not Amazon.

So what is it? Melody Supreme is the passion project of a man who’s been trying to spread his sonic enthusiasm for more than a decade.

“I am selling records because I love it,” owner Gwenael Berthy says. “I don’t think I could sell socks or shoes. I am going to carry the stuff I like and the used stuff I have found—the random stuff.”

Berthy opened Melody Supreme in 2010. At the time, lots of folks still collected records the old-fashioned way, he says. They’d come in with no set goal in mind, content to browse the collection, hoping to discover something new and interesting.

Times have changed, and records are everywhere—even Target, Berthy laments. But Melody Supreme hasn’t changed.

“It is a question of generation. I am not sure the young generation has the same feeling about records,” Berthy says. “The Apple or iPhone generation, they are not patient. They want everything right now. So, some people enjoy it, some people don’t get it at all.”

When Ghana native Charity Malia Dinko won a Diversity Immigrant Visa lottery and moved to the U.S., she knew that, as soon as she was able to start earning money, she’d try to send some home. In the beginning, that meant offering micro-loans to Ghanaian mothers who wanted to start businesses. Then, after two years at Reynolds Community College, Dinko transferred to UVA. 

“Because of how hard it was to hold a job and attend UVA, I had to find a better solution to continue helping women when I was not working,” Dinko says. She went back to the drawing board.

The solution came in the form of shea butter—a natural vegan oil extracted from the shea nut, which grows almost exclusively in her home country. She co-founded Northshea soon thereafter, aiming to lift women from poverty by cutting the “exploitative middlemen” out of the supply chain. She partnered with women from her village already making shea butter—a tedious eight-step process—and began paying them a higher rate than they’d been earning. 

Northshea’s line—everything from raw shea butter (a bestseller) to plush lemon whipped body butter (Dinko’s personal favorite)—answers the call for soft skin, feet, and hair, as well as a balm for minor injuries.

As Dinko says, “Everyone should have a jar of shea butter on their shelves at home.” 

Find it at northshea.com, Darling, Rebecca’s Natural Foods, and The Elderberry.

We’ve all had moments—maybe this year more than ever—when we wish we could escape reality and fly off into a fantasy realm full of wizards, dragons, ogres, and magic. Who would you be in this mystical world? An adventurous hero with a legendary sword? A powerful witch who shoots fire from her fingertips? A wise elf with an enchanted bow? 

To answer that question, head to The End Games in Seminole Square for board and card games that get your creative juices flowing. They’ll get you set up with everything you need for Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: the Gathering, and more. (The End Games also has plenty of more down-to-earth board game options on offer, too.) The store holds regular evening game nights, both in person and online, giving game-lovers of all stripes a chance to meet up with fellow adventurers. Let your quest begin!

With long lines out the door most days before noon, Bodo’s Bagels was already a popular, fast, and convenient way to cure a hangover or grab lunch to go. As COVID necessitated social distancing, the shops on Emmet and Preston streets were uniquely qualified to make adjustments: Both stores were already equipped with drive-thru windows; the Emmet Street shop was originally a Bob Evans and the Preston location had been a Rob Roy. “We are literally the only restaurant in the city that had an unused drive-thru,” saysco-owner Scott Smith. 

Bodo’s quickly began funneling cars through a touchless drive-thru system complete with handheld credit card scanners and radio headsets. The staff braved all kinds of bad weather, and no Charlottesvillian had to miss their Deli Egg or Cleo salad. 

While it seemed like the new model would be a keeper, Smith says it was always temporary. “I know that a lot of people love the drive-thrus, but we’re told that our by-right use of them lapsed years ago with changes to zoning law, and we’ve been running them on the basis of an agreement with the city that we would return to our in-store model soon after all COVID restrictions have been lifted in the city.”  

Smith promises that it’s better on the inside, and he sees his customers as more than just a number on a printed ticket. “We are simply faster and better inside, but we also really just miss having people in,” he says. “Seeing people is part of the idea.”

Many know the Downtown Mall for its upscale restaurants, high-end boutiques, and luxury apartments. But tucked a few blocks away from the glitz and glamour lies a refuge for those left behind by our city’s prosperity.

Located in a 19th-century church on First and Market streets, The Haven has served people experiencing homelessness—as well as those with extremely low incomes—for over a decade. A low-barrier day shelter, it welcomes everyone who walks in, even if they are drunk or high. And it is open every single day of the year.

Early each morning,  kitchen managers and trained volunteers cook up a fresh, hot breakfast for anyone who shows up. Afterward, guests can stop by the front desk, and get soap, shampoo, towels, razors, clothes, and other supplies before taking a shower. They are also able to do their laundry, pick up mail, make phone calls, and use the computer until the shelter closes in the evening.

“All of this is important to meet basic necessary needs,” says Executive Director Stephen Hitchcock. “But it’s all really with a view towards helping people get formally connected with our system of care.”

The Haven staff work one-on-one with guests to determine their needs, and connect them with a range of resources, including mental health services, substance abuse treatment, job training, and medical care.

Guests who need a place to sleep are referred to The Salvation Army emergency shelter, or People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry, which now runs a permanent shelter at the former Red Carpet Inn on Route 29. Through a combination of private and public funding, the shelter also offers several rental assistance programs, helping people experiencing homelessness—and those on the brink of homelessness—find and keep a permanent home.

“It’s a mix of basic resources for people who are literally homeless, and helping them move quickly and humanely through the system of care, and supporting them so that they stay housed,” says Hitchcock. “And also on the front hand, preventing folks from entering the system.”

In addition to these critical services, The Haven rents out its sanctuary for a variety of events, including meetings, weddings, and concerts.

“We certainly desire to be a community space,” says Hitchcock.

In fall of 2021, The Haven plans to reopen its lunch café, which is run by guests at the shelter. It also hopes to restart its community garden in the near future.

And as Charlottesville works on rewriting its zoning code—a product of the city’s racist history of segregation, redlining, and housing covenants—The Haven will continue to be a part of the fight for more affordable housing and a more inclusive, equitable future, Hitchcock says.

“The pandemic has shown so clearly that ending homelessness is a public health response, and that housing is health care. If you do not have a place to go, you cannot shelter in place,” he says. “We’re aware more acutely than ever that this is a basic need and human right.”

“It puts the question to this wonderful and very affluent community: How are we going to care for our most vulnerable?”

Luke Ramsey learned to clean brick and de-nail old lumber as a kid. His dad would move the family into an old house that needed to be brought back to life, and they’d work on it for four or five years before moving on to the next one. “Every house I’ve ever lived in was an old house being restored,” Ramsey says. He loved it. 

When his dad passed away about 15 years ago, Ramsey took over the family business: Lewis Ramsey Construction Company became Ramsey Restoration. 

The Lovingston-based company does the kind of restorations too technical and time-consuming for most builders. It’s become best known for work on 19th-century log cabins—rebuilding them in place or even dismantling them and moving them somewhere new. But the team also works on towering plantation houses, idyllic barns, and grandiose mansions. “A lot of times they’ll be falling down, in terrible shape, and they’ll have a few people looking at them saying they can’t be saved,” Ramsey says. “Then they’ll hear about us.” They might have to jack up the entire structure to level it out again or rebuild a roof. It can get dangerous. But they get it done.

“So many people want to modernize the old buildings,” Ramsey says, “but I really try to make them the way they originally were.” 

He’s a kind of architectural archivist, having inherited a deep love for old architecture and the craftsmanship of earlier eras from his dad. He talks excitedly about turn-of-the-century plasterwork and parquet wood floors, about old staircases and even older tobacco barns. From the places that can’t be saved, Ramsey has built up a warehouse of old parts and materials that he can use in future restorations.

His most recent projects have been in Danville, Virginia, on a strip called Millionaires Row, which has posed a new set of challenges. “All architect-built Victorian homes, each completely different from the other,” Ramsey says. “I didn’t have a lot of experience with the Victorian houses before coming to Danville—I usually work on Federal style, early 1800s stuff—but it’s really starting to grow on me.” 

He even bought one of the old places to fix up himself: a 6,000-foot brick house he picked up for $10,000. He’s been working on it for a year, and he imagines he’s got another year to put in it. 

Clearly, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

When you’re short on time, or keeping close to home, these services on wheels are super convenient.

Good Waffles & Co. 

Good Waffles & Co. is committed to discovering every possible way to ingest waffles, from chicken ’n’ waffles, to ice cream cones, to waffle pudding. goodwafflesco.com

sliced. Cake Bar 

This family-run food truck is the home of the trademarked cake flights,™ which the operators aptly describe as “like a beer flight, but with cake!” slicedcakebar.com

Ace Bicycle

When your wheels can no longer wheel you around, Ace Bicycle’s got you covered. Its “ace” technicians can fix your bike at your place, or bring it back to their shop. acecville.com

The Go Bar

Any celebration gets an instant upgrade when a renovated vintage horse trailer pulls up serving beer, wine, and cider. mobilegobar.com

Muddy Paws Mobile Grooming Spa

Skip the drive and let Muddy Paws Mobile Grooming Spa swing by and wash your best (canine) friend. Your pet even gets a photo sesh afterwards with a spiffy bandana! facebook.com/muddypaws mobilegroomingspa

Maggie Massage

What’s even more relaxing than a professional massage? A professional massage in the comfort of your own home. maggiemassage.com 

The Store Truck

No summer is complete without an ice cream truck winding its way through our streets. Luckily, Charlottesville’s got the sky-blue, sticker-coated Store Truck serving up ice cream, snow cones, and cotton candy. facebook.com/thestoretruck