An event space will take over the former Rooftop restaurant in Crozet. Photo: Jack Looney
Farewells and silver linings
The Rooftop in Crozet has shut its doors. The news came in a statement earlier this month from owners Kelley Tripp and Justin Van der Linde, who also own Smoked Kitchen & Tap. They announced that the restaurant—known for its Blue Ridge views, Parmesan fries, and an all-you-can-eat Sunday brunch—was closed effective immediately. A new event space will take over the location in Piedmont Place. If there’s a silver lining here, it’s that it’s business as usual downstairs at Smoked Kitchen & Tap, where some of the best barbecue around still awaits.
Speaking of transitions, we have sad news for crepe-lovers: The Flat announced its closing in a social media post on February 10. We reported back in May that after going through several owners, the space was reopened by Elise Stewart after being offered for sale via tweet. The upside? Vu Noodles is already planning to move in, anticipating a spring opening.
Cheers to three!
That’s the number of Charlottesville bartenders that are included in the Top 100 World Class of 2020, an annual competition where bartenders fight for the title of best bartender in the country. Congratulations to Kerrie Pierce of Brasserie Saison and Rebecca Edwards and Steve Yang from Tavola.
Camp is not in session
Following vocal opposition from a number of residents, Champion Brewing Company recently abandoned plans to build a small brewery, called Camp Champion, at an empty church on Earlysville Road, citing struggles working with Albemarle County. Champion is looking for other sites for the brewery, this time outside the county. In other brew news, Skipping Rock Beer Co. will open in April in the former Hardywood Pilot Brewery & Taproom on West Main Street.
New restaurants at 5th Street Station
The new year brought a number of new restaurants to 5th Street Station: local eatery Kanak Indian Kitchen, and outposts of national chains BurgerFi and Wing Zone are all now open, bringing new flavors and options for guests. And that’s not all—several more restaurants are anticipated to open at 5th Street in the coming weeks and months.
Jazz and grits
Common House is welcoming guests on Saturday, February 22, from 10am-2pm for its Big Fat Jazz Brunch, where the Big Easy feeling will come to life with live music (starting at 11am) and festive fare served prix fixe, including fried okra Benedict, flaming bananas foster, and barbecue shrimp and grits. Reservations are required; adult tickets cost $25, and kids can join the fun for $12, plus tax and gratuity. 206 W. Market St., 566-0192
Fat Tuesday fixins
Wondering where to celebrate Mardi Gras? On Tuesday, February 25, from 5-11pm, Beer Run will feature a menu filled with classic New Orleans-inspired dishes like gumbo, po’ boys, muffulettas, and king cake. 156 Carlton Rd. Suite 203, 984-2337
The ham biscuit at JM Stock is a favorite. Photo: Tom McGovern
From bagels to biscuits to burritos, we dig in to the best meal of the day (and where to find it around town).
BY: Brielle Entzminger, Ben Hitchcock, Laura Longhine, and Erin O’Hare
Ace Biscuit and Barbecue. Photo: Amanda Maglione
Best in biscuits
Biscuits are a breakfast staple around here-—but which one is the best? We rounded up our favorites (with top honors to the ham biscuit at J.M. Stock), but biscuits are personal, so feel free to disagree–we know you will!
Bluegrass Grill & Bakery: With a mix of white and whole wheat flour, Bluegrass’ biscuits are denser than most, and slightly sweet—almost muffin-like, but weirdly satisfying.
Blue Moon Diner: Your basic biscuit: pale, soft, and flaky, best with eggs or sausage gravy.
Fox’s Cafe: Delightfully light and fluffy, Fox’s homemade biscuits are the perfect foil for salty country ham or bacon.
The Pigeon Hole: In addition to egg biscuits (avocado is optional) you can get a biscuit basket with honey butter and strawberry preserves.
J.M. Stock: Though they’re only served one way (as a ham biscuit), Stock’s biscuits are head and shoulders above the rest. Made with both butter and lard (from the same local pigs that supply the ham), the Stock biscuit is perfectly golden, buttery and flaky, firm enough for a sandwich, and has a nice salty kick. Add the country ham and a dash of hot sauce and honey, and you’ve got an unbelievably delicious breakfast.
Tip Top: Tender and satisfying, Tip Top’s biscuits stand up to their flavorful sausage gravy—at only $4.10 an order, it’s a steal.
The Pie Chest: Rachel Pennington makes a damn good biscuit: salty, generously sized, and so buttery and rich it’s liable to crumble through your fingers. They’re sold one to an order, with a (stellar) housemade pear butter.
Ace Biscuit & Barbecue: Fans swear by the Ol’ Dirty Biscuit, which turns the classic biscuits and gravy up a notch (or 10) with a fried chicken thigh, pimento cheese, and pickles.—LL
When it comes to breakfast potatoes, The Villa Diner is firmly on team hash browns, while Blue Moon Diner comes down on the side of home fries. Photo: Tom McGovern
The great debate: hash browns vs. home fries
We’re not ones to fabricate a starch—er, staunch—rivalry between two delicious potato-based breakfast side dishes, but we’ve noticed that most restaurants tend to offer either hash browns or home fries, rather than both.
What’s the difference, anyway? And is one better than the other? Hash browns are potatoes, grated or shredded, and pan-fried. Home fries are potatoes, diced or wedged, and pan-fried. Hash browns tend to be crispy, while home fries tend to be soft. Both have plenty of potential to be extremely delicious.
Each cook has her own way of seasoning and preparing her hash browns and home fries, and there’s plentiful offerings of each dish around town. The Villa Diner, The Cavalier Diner, IHOP, and Waffle House are team hash browns; Blue Moon Diner, The Nook, Bluegrass Grill, Tip Top Restaurant, and Moose’s By the Creek are team home fries. (We couldn’t find a local spot that offers both.)
There’s a reason why Georgia-based chain Waffle House has a cult following, and we’re pretty sure the hash browns are a big part of it: You can order them 10 different ways. Get ’em plain (good ol’ potatoes alone), smothered (sautéed onions), covered (melted cheese), chunked (hickory smoked ham), diced (grilled tomatoes), peppered (jalapeño peppers), capped (grilled mushrooms), topped (with the chain’s proprietary Bert’s Chili), or country (sausage gravy). Or, order them “all the way”—with all the toppings—for $5.
For Bluegrass Grill owner Chrissy Benninger, that sort of flavorful hash browns option seems like a rarity. “I get the appeal [of hash browns], but they seem a bit bland to me. It doesn’t seem like people season hash browns. Maybe I’m wrong, but it just seems like French fries in a different form.” For her, it’s all about the home fries: “Chunky, perfectly spiced, onion-laden, crispy potatoes. What’s not to love?”
Interestingly enough, the debate over what to call Blue Moon Diner’s breakfast potatoes has continued for more than a decade. When Laura Galgano and her husband took over the diner in 2006, the menu called the dish—which is cubed potatoes roasted with peppers and onion—”hash browns.” The couple spent more than a year explaining to customers that while they were called hash browns, they were more like home fries. “We changed the name on the menu and thought that would be the end of that.” They were wrong; people still had questions.
But Galgano’s come to an extremely logical conclusion in this debate: “It sure doesn’t matter what you call them, as long as you enjoy them!”—EO
Shenandoah Joe
Who’s got the best cup of coffee in town?
The good news is, every local coffee purveyer seems to have its fans: Our call
on social media brought up everything from Guajiros Miami Eatery to the mobile popup JBird Supply. Here’s how the finalists stacked up in a Twitter poll:
Lone Light 18.3%
Mudhouse 23.7%
Shenandoah Joe 58.1%
Breakfast burrito breakdown
Tia Sophia’s, a diner in Santa Fe, claims it coined the term “breakfast burrito” in 1975. But it seems impossible that no one dreamed up such a simple combination before then. Eggs, cheese, maybe potatoes, maybe some sausage, wrapped up in a tortilla—it makes too much sense to have been invented as late as 1975.
The breakfast burrito is a twist on a twist, an Americanized, breakfast-ified version of a food that was already informal and customizable. As such, a modern breakfast burrito isn’t bound by any strict set of culinary rules. If it’s got eggs in a tortilla, it’s a breakfast burrito. The rest is up to the person with the pan.
Even so, breakfast burritos are deceptively difficult to execute well. If the eggs are too wet, the tortilla can get soggy. With nothing to provide some crunch, the whole thing can turn to mush. Too much filling can overwhelm a fragile wrap. In Charlottesville, plenty of places do it right—and they all do it differently. Here, the breakfast burrito’s delicious versatility is on full display.
Blue Moon Diner’s burrito is a vegetarian dish. Just eggs, cheddar, and beans,served in a spinach wrap, it’s on the healthier end of the eccentric eatery’s Southern-style diner menu. Don’t let that dissuade you—the eggs are fluffy, the cheddar is soft and melty, and the black beans provide some important textural contrast. Add a little of the tangy, flavorful salsa to kick the whole thing up a notch.
The En Fuego at Ivy Provisions. Photo: Cramer Photo.
Ivy Provisions takes the opposite approach. Its breakfast burrito, called the En Fuego, is a decadent, salty, fatty hangover cure. Take a bite, and the En Fuego will send a squirt of orange grease trickling down your hand from the back of the wax paper wrap. Jammed with chorizo and potatoes, everything inside melts together into a piping hot mess, propelled by the spice from the sausage. The En Fuego is transcendent, though not for the faint of heart.
Breakfast burritos can also be quick, on-the-go fast food. That’s what you’ll find at Nuestra Cocina in the Marathon Station at the Rio-Greenbrier intersection. Charlottesville’s gas station food has a well-known reputation at this point, and like the other humble, hidden kitchens in town, this place doesn’t disappoint. Its burrito is rich but not overwhelming; the eggs are scrambled withonions and green peppers, balancing well with potatoes and greasy chorizo.
Quality breakfast burritos can also be found at Bluegrass Grill, Grit Coffee, Firefly, Beer Run, and plenty of other local eateries both on and off the beaten path. Be sure to let us know if we missed any great ones—we’re always hungry.—BH
Something special
Looking for a special occasion splurge? The Clifton’s acclaimed 1799 restaurant serves an elegant breakfast daily, from steel-cut oats with Virginia apples to smoked salmon and roe with a roasted garlic pancake and charred onion crème fraiche. Sunday brunch adds more savory dishes, like escargot and North Carolina trout. Sit on the sunny veranda or enclosed patio, take in the gorgeous view, and start your day off in style.—LL
Juicin’ it: Where to grab a healthy breakfast
Want to wake up on the right side of the bed? A healthy breakfast is the perfect way to start your day. Whether you decide to take in your nutrients via liquid form at a nearby juice bar or partake in a bowl or platter is up to you, but thesefour spots will put a little extra pep in your morning step.—MI
Corner Juice
What you need to know: Corner Juice has two locations: the original on the Corner and another on the Downtown Mall. At both, cold-pressed juices made in small batches are the focus. Beyond juice, the selections include toasts, sandwiches, smoothies, and bowls. Power shots and nut milks round out the menu.
What you should order: With just four ingredients—organic orange, pineapple, lemon, and ginger—the Dr. J juice is a good place to start. The Blue Ridge Berry smoothie is a customer favorite, made with blueberries, mango, banana, avocado, flax powder, and almond milk.
Essentials:cornerjuice.com, two locations at 201 E. Main St. and 1509 University Ave.
Farm Bell Kitchen
What you need to know: Consider this a public service announcement: Farm Bell Kitchen offers brunch every single day of the week from 8am-2pm. The weekday menu and the weekend menu offer some differing selections, but no matter the day, guests will find omelets, salads, and bowls.
What you should order: On the weekday menu, the farm omelet (egg whites, spinach, tomato, sweet potato, cheese) and the grains of truth bowl (tofu or chicken, quinoa, kale, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, peppers, pecans, and avocado dressing) are your best bets for lighter fare. Come the weekend, order the power bowl, served with kale, tofu, and sweet potato with roasted red pepper vinaigrette and a poached egg.
What you need to know: First Watch opened its Charlottesville doors at Barracks Road Shopping Center last April. With more than 200 locations throughout the country, it’s fair to say the restaurant has breakfast, brunch, and lunch down to a science. Dishes range from health-conscious to decadent, and a kid’s menu ensures the whole family is taken care of.
What you should order: In the mood for something savory? The avocado toast is topped with extra-virgin olive oil, lemon, and Maldon sea salt. Steel-cut oatmeal is on the sweeter side, made in-house and served with berries, sliced banana, and pecans. On the seasonal menu, million dollar bacon may not be healthy, but topped with brown sugar, black pepper, cayenne, and a syrup drizzle, there will be no judgment if you can’t resist!
Essentials:firstwatch.com, Barracks Road Shopping Center
The Juice Laundry
What you need to know: Founders Sarah and Mike Keenan started The Juice Laundry in 2013. Today, there are three locations of the cold-pressed juice shop in Charlottesville, one in Richmond, and one in Washington, D.C. The menu goes beyond juice, with smoothies, acai bowls, nut milks, and other healthy goodies in the lineup.
What you should order: The Waterboy, which can be ordered as a smoothie or acai bowl, is the philanthropic choice. It’s made with pineapple, mango, blue majik (an extract of spirulina), and coconut water, and $2 from every one goes to Chris Long’s Waterboy Foundation. On the juice menu, the Gentle Green combines kale, spinach, cucumber, grapefruit, and apple.
Essentials:thejuicelaundry.com, 1411 University Ave.; 722 Preston Ave., Suite 105; 450 Whitehead Rd. (inside the UVA Aquatic & Fitness Center)
Craving pork chops and eggs at 2am? The Waffle House is open 24-7, and the grill is always hot. Photo: Eze Amos
Midnight breakfast
Breakfast for dinner was novel when you were a kid, and it’s no less delicious when you’re an adult. Plenty of diner-type spots in town keep bacon and eggs on the griddle until close—Blue Moon Diner, The Nook, Tip Top Restaurant, to name a few. But sometimes the breakfast craving hits before morning can come again, and that’s when we thank our lucky stars that we live in a place that has Waffle Houses (on Route 29 South and Fifth Street) and an IHOP (at Rio Hill Shopping Center), two iconic 24-hour breakfast spots with extensive menus. And there’s Sheetz on the Corner, too, where you (and plenty of intoxicated undergrads) can get bacon croissants, hash browns, and the Walker Breakfast Ranger sandwich at all hours. —EO
Photo: Morgan Salyer
A local classic
Bodo’s Deli-Egg isn’t just delicious. It also solves a problem.
“You get to a point where you’re slicing deli meat, and you have an undersized heel you don’t want to use for a sandwich,” says Scott Smith, co-owner of the venerable bagel vendor.
Bodo’s didn’t come up with the idea—it’s an old New York Jewish deli trick—but Smith and his team have taken it a step further. Because they’re not kosher, they’ve added ham, capicola, salami and Swiss, muenster and provolone cheese to the traditional deli egg mixture of pastrami and corned beef.
The result is one of Bodo’s most popular items. Indeed, the sandwich shop sells so much deli egg, they end up using far more cured meat than just the stuff that comes from the unused ends.
Smith says most folks are straight down the middle with their egg sandwich orders—Deli-Egg on an everything bagel is most popular. But some add more meat and cheese, usually bacon and cheddar, or balance out the richness with some punchy pepper spread.
Smith’s pro tip? Try the Deli-Egg a couple times before you make up your mind about it. The meat and cheese contents can vary depending on what’s available to chop on any given day.
Don’t forget the donuts
Spudnuts and now Sugar Shack may be gone, but there are still a few spots to get your morning sugar fix.
Carpe Donut: Organic, local, and delicious, Carpe makes what may be the perfect apple cider donut, rolled in cinnamon sugar. In recent years they’ve added a range of other toppings, from maple bacon to blueberry. 715 Allied Ln., and at City Market
Duck Donuts: A fresh donut is a good donut, and this North Carolina chain delivers with made-to-order cake donuts you can customize with your choice of coating, topping, and “drizzle.” The Shops at Stonefield
Dunkin’ Donuts: Homesick New Englanders can get their Dunkin’ fix off 29 North. The donuts? They’re fine. Rivanna Plaza
Krispy Kreme: For a classic old-school glazed, Krispy Kreme is still the king. Get one hot or follow their advice and microwave for eight seconds—you won’t be sorry. 5th Street Station
Savory breakfast pies at The Pie Chest. Photo: John Robinson
Breakfast on a budget:
Five vegetarian morning options—$5 and under
Last November, my boyfriend suggested we go on a pescaterian diet together. He had done his research, and thought it would be a great way for us to eat and live healthier in the new year. And with relationship weight gain being a very real thing, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.
So when it comes to grabbing breakfast in the morning, I’m looking for something vegetarian. This isn’t that difficult, with all of the juice bars, coffee shops, and such around town. But what can be hard is finding something delicious and filling on a budget—I certainly can’t afford to buy $7 avocado toast on a regular basis.
Thankfully, there are plenty of spots in town that have vegetarian options priced at $5 or less, for whatever breakfast mood you happen to be in. Here are some of my favorites. —BE
Something classic
For an affordable breakfast, you can never go wrong with Bodo’s. Made-from-scratch bagels are just 85 cents each (75 cents if you buy a dozen or more), and there are an array of spreads, from plain cream cheese ($2.05) to cinnamon sugar or honey and butter. For a little extra change, get the flavored cream cheese—I recommend the cinnamon-raisin bagel with honey pecan cream cheese ($2.40).
If you’re in the mood for a sandwich, there are multiple vegetarian options for under $5, including egg, veggie patty, three cheese, and PBJ, and all will hold you over till lunch. Everyone has their own Bodo’s order: My favorite is the three cheese (muenster, cheddar, and American) on whole wheat.
Something sweet
While MarieBette Bakery & Café does have a breakfast menu, most of the options are over $5. But no worries—if you’re looking for a sweet breakfast treat, its wide selection of authentic French pastries are a step above your standard coffee shop muffin. I recommend the pain au chocolat for $3.25. But if you’d prefer something salty, try the pretzel croissant. At $4, it’s a little pricey, but it’s fairly big, tastes exactly like a pretzel and a croissant (at the same time!), and will fill you up.
Something (a little) spicy
Here’s something to get you out of bed: From 7-8am at Brazos Tacos, tacos are buy one get one free! But if you’re like me and hate waking up early, make sure to stop by on Tuesday, when tacos are $1 off all day. With either deal, you can get a Flora (sautéed spinach, scrambled eggs, refried black beans, queso fresco, and roasted tomato salsa) and an I Willie Love You (scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, sliced avocado, roasted corn pico, and queso fresco), and still get out for under a Lincoln.
Something cheap
If you’re on the run and want something cheap (but still tasty) for breakfast, head over to Market Street Market for a $1.99 egg and cheese biscuit, which you’ll find wrapped in foil near the checkout. The biscuit is light and fluffy, while the egg has the perfect amount of cheese melted on top. And don’t miss the array of fruits, yogurts, and other breakfasty items available to get the most bang for your (five) bucks.
Something savory
The Pie Chest may be known for its delectable desserts, but it certainly does not slack on savory pies. A selection of hand pies for just $5 is available all day, and includes those of the breakfast variety. On some days, the vegetarian breakfast pie is stuffed with salsa, egg, and cheese. Other days, there’s a spinach and feta pie. With a flaky crust and cheesy filling, both are equally delicious.
During hot chocolate month at MarieBette, you can indulge in a different flavor every day. Staff photo.
We’ll admit it, February isn’t the most exciting month of the year. Cabin fever has set in and the anticipation of spring is running high. Enter MarieBette Café & Bakery, with its fourth annual hot chocolate month. Both locations will offer a special hot chocolate flavor each day from Saturday, February 1, through Saturday, February 29, including peanut butter (February 4), s’more (February 26), and even a “love elixir” on Valentine’s Day. Don’t forget the housemade marshmallows! mariebette.com
Snuggle up
In the spirit of all things cozy, IX Art Park is hosting its second annual Hyggefest on Friday, February 7, from 8-11pm. There will be live music, board games, and, yes, more hot chocolate, although this time of the spiked variety. (And in case you’re wondering, it’s pronounced “hoo-gah.”) Tickets are $5, $8 at the door. showclix.com/event/hyggefest
Getting vertical
Afton’s Valley Road Vineyards is partnering with l’etoile Catering for a vertical wine tasting and pairing from 2-4:30pm on Saturday, February 15. What is a vertical tasting, you ask? It’s an opportunity to try one bottling over multiple different vintages. This particular event will highlight Valley Road’s meritage and petit verdot wines. $85 per person, advanced purchase required. valleyroadwines.com
Spring into action
Get your green thumb ready for warmer weather with these two indoor gardening events:
Air plants, succulents, mosses, oh my! Charlottesville Parks & Recreation is hosting terrarium arranging on Friday, February 7, from 5:30-7:30pm; attendees will take home their arrangement and a hanging basket. Ages 14-plus, $32 for city residents, $44 for non-residents. Carver Recreation Center, tiny.cc/terrarium
Fifth Season Gardening Co. is the place to be for a seed-starting workshop on Saturday, February 15, from 11am-12:30pm. Tickets are $20, and include a flat of organic gardening starts. tiny.cc/seed starting
King Family Vineyards 2016 Loreley is produced from 100 percent petit manseng, and dried in oak barrels, which gives it additional aromas and flavors. Staff photo.
Some “serious” wine drinkers malign sweet wines. It’s understandable, because most are mass-produced simply by adding sugar to a red or white base that doesn’t have much character to begin with. True connoisseurs stop short of condemning the whole category, knowing that some are made with great care and skill (and without added sugar), and considered among the greatest wines in the world (Sauternes, from the Bordeaux region in France, is the best-known example).
Local sweet wines may not rise to that level, but many are of very high quality, produced using methods followed for centuries by European winemakers. The essential task is twofold: Naturally increase the sugar content of the grapes, and then stop the fermentation process before the yeast converts most of the sugar into alcohol.
There are several ways to achieve greater sugar concentration: Let the fruit ripen longer before picking (to make so-called “late harvest” wines), dry the grapes after picking, allow or cause the fruit to freeze (water exits in the form of ice), or, in very specific conditions, let the fungus Botrytis cinerea poke tiny holes in the grape skins before harvesting, which causes the fruit to dehydrate (commonly known as “noble rot”).
While conditions in Virginia are not conducive to noble rot, the other techniques mentioned are indeed utilized by local winemakers to produce sweet wines of notable character. These wines can be paired with confections (layer cake or chocolate-covered strawberries, anyone?), but a small glass can also stand alone as a liquid dessert. Certainly, these wines should not be reserved only for Valentine’s Day, but they are high-quality, delicious wines that should help you win over anyone’s heart.
Here are some that I recommend:
2017 R.A.H Series 1 (by Maya Hood White)
$35 per 375ml bottle
Maya Hood White, associate winemaker and viticulturist at Early Mountain Vineyards, utilizes a technique known in Italy as appassimento, where grapes are dried on straw mats after harvest. R.A.H are the initials of White’s beloved grandmother, and the wine is clearly something from the heart. This wine is 75 percent petit manseng and25 percent malvasia, which adds some delicacy on the palate and enhances the aroma, which is honeyed with scents reminiscent of dried tropical fruits and melon. The wine is luscious but not too heavy, with flavors of dried apricot and honeysuckle, stewed banana, and pineapple. Only a very small quantity of this was made, and it is well worth seeking out. Available at The Wine Guild of Charlottesville and In Vino Veritas.
2013 Michael Shaps Raisin d’Être White
$25 per 375ml bottle
This dessert wine from Michael Shaps made it into the Virginia Governor’s Case in 2019, just as the 2012 vintage did in 2015. It’s made from 100 percent petit manseng that has undergone drying. However, in a unique nod to Virginia’s history, Shaps has repurposed old barns once used to dry tobacco leaves to “raisin” the grapes. The wine presents aromas of white raisins and tropical fruits. The flavor initially is very forward, with lots of dried and candied tropical fruit, but transitions nicely into fresh acidity that brings to mind fresh pineapple and tangerine. The finish is long and complex.
2016 King Family Vineyards Loreley
$29 per 375ml bottle
Although there is no vintage designated on the bottle, this is the 2016 vintage of Loreley. A previous vintage was included in the 2017 Governor’s Case. Produced from 100 percent petit manseng dried after picking, this wine also ages for a time in oak barrels, lending additional aromas and flavors. On the nose, apricot and orange predominate, with a floral hint, and the wine fills the mouth with orange, vanilla, honey, and roasted-nut flavors.
2015 Barboursville Vineyards Paxxito
$32 per 375ml bottle
Yet another appassimento wine, hence the name Paxxito, a variation of passito. Moscato ottonel and vidal blanc grapes are harvested early in order to capture the natural acidity in the grape. Early harvesting, however, means lower sugar levels. Drying offsets this deficit, and the formula clearly works—the 2014, 2013, and 2008 vintages have all been included in Virginia Governor’s Cases. The aroma is floral and fruity, which might lead you to anticipate a light-bodied wine. However, it is of medium weight on the palate, with flavors of honey, apricots, toasted almonds, and background notes of peach and fresh mint.
2015 Rockbridge Vineyard V d’Or
$25 per 375ml bottle
This blend of vidal blanc, vignoles, riesling, and traminette is made in the style of an ice wine, meaning the grapes are frozen and the ice removed before fermentation, which concentrates the flavors, acid, and sugar. The 2010 vintage was featured in the 2015 Governor’s Case. On the nose, there is a distinct lemon-lime character. The wine is relatively light-bodied and shows loads of acidity and a flavor like fresh lemonade made with honey. A hint of citrus peel bitterness adds complexity to the finish.
2014 Veritas Vineyard and Winery Kenmar
$20 per 375ml bottle
Also made ice-wine style but from 100 percent traminette, a hybrid grape derived partly from gewürztraminer. Like its parent, traminette is full of spicy and floral aromas, and a distinct perfumed character. All of this comes through in this wine. The nose is very forward, with the floral, perfumed scents joined by white pepper. Like other ice wines, it is lighter on the tongue than one might expect, and high acidity provides lift for the flavors of flowers, honey, dried mango, candied pineapple, and citrus.
2016 King Family Vineyards “7”
$31 per 500ml bottle
In Portugal, the grapes made into port barely begin fermenting before brandy is added. This increases the alcohol level and halts fermentation, preserving the freshness and sweetness of the fruit. King Family adopted this process, letting a crush of petit verdot reach the desired sweetness and then introducing Virginia brandy. The wine is aged in old Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels. This unique combination of methods and ingredients produces a deep-red wine with aromas of plum, blackberry, fig, and vanilla. The flavor follows along with a rich, sweet flavor of red fruit and hints of smoke and leather.
Year after year, traditions are often what lead us through the holiday season. They mark everything from the place settings—a favorite heirloom tablecloth or a fine china set that has been passed down over the years—to the meal itself, from pie recipes scribbled in old family cookbooks to a particular way of carving the meat. We asked some local chefs, restaurant owners, and producers to share their own holiday memories—and a few cherished recipes.
In praise of eggnog
Scott Smith, co-owner of Bodo’s Bagels
Between Thanksgivingand Christmas, besides the stuff we all do during the holidays, I celebrate six close family birthdays and my anniversary. It’s a gauntlet of occasions run too close together to savor (the whole reason to celebrate), and Christmas is the finish line. I cross it exhausted, grateful, and relieved.
A few years ago, about halfway through, I read a piece about Charles Mingus’ secret and legendary eggnog recipe, which he left to his biographer, Janet Coleman. It’s everything you’d want his recipe to be: prodigious, improvisatory, excessive, and sweetly easy to overindulge in before you know how far in over your head you’re getting.
The article described it as a velvet-gloved gorilla.
It seemed the perfect way to celebrate the crescendo of the year’s celebrations and obligations, and I’ve made it and shared it every Christmas afternoon since.
Photo: Morgan Salyer
Fine kettle of fish
Matthew Brown, wine director at King Family Vineyards
Being from an Italian-American family, food holds a special place in our lives the whole year, however there is no doubt that we really turn up the heat around the holidays. Inspired by the classic feast of the seven fishes, traditionally enjoyed on Christmas Eve by Italian Catholics, my family gathers every year for a much simpler take on this tradition: shrimp scampi and linguine. Like most good home-cooked meals, there is no recipe.
The ingredients are simple: fresh shrimp, lots of garlic, lots of butter, and lots of lemon. The secret is to share a bottle (or two) of Champagne while cooking the meal. Once finished, the dish is best served with homemade linguine and topped with plenty of freshly grated Pecorino Romano. We always enjoy white Burgundy or aged Virginia chardonnay with our meal and then finish up with a generous splash of old vintage Madeira. The people at our Christmas Eve table change every year, but the meal is always the same!
That’s the stuff(ing)
Jason Becton, co-owner of MarieBette Café & Bakery
Photo: Keith Alan Sprouse
My grandmother was an excellent baker and a really solid cook. When I was a kid, she would make all of the food on Thanksgiving start to finish and we kids would help her prep. The centerpiece of the whole shebang was, of course, the turkey. Ours was usually a Butterball with a simple bread stuffing. Every year it was predictably the same.
When my grandmother passed away, my mother, who had always been intimidated by making the turkey, passed the responsibility on to me. I tinkered with the roasting process, the brine, the bird itself, and the gravy, but one thing that was sacrilege was to change the stuffing.
I don’t know very many people who actually cook the stuffing in the bird. There are lots of folks who think it’s not safe, it makes the bird dry, or is just completely a pain in the butt to do. I agree with the last part but the stuffing made with six ingredients—breadcrumbs, butter, eggs, onions, salt, andpepper—is remarkably tasty and never makes the meat dry. In fact, I’m proud to say that my simple roasted turkey has turned many turkey haters into believers.
Photo: Tim Gearhart
Go with the dough
Tim Gearhart, owner of Gearharts Fine Chocolates
One of my favorite treats as a kid was something amazingly simple. As a lot of food memories can often be, it of course goes deeper than its basic four ingredients: pie crust, cinnamon, butter, and sugar. It evokes childhood, holidays, and family to me. As I look back, it also helped start a lifelong passion.
My mom would set out to make maybe a pecan or pumpkin pie for Christmas dinner, but all I could think about was the buttery and flaky cookies she would make with the leftover dough. They were perfect—just simply rolled out bits and pieces of dough, slathered with butter, and finished with a generous coat of cinnamon sugar. She would then roll it up, slice and bake until a light brown. I waited and waited, watching the sugar bubbling up as it caramelized. Without a doubt, I was more excited about these cookies than whatever the main attraction was going to be!
I think in the end, whether it’s a 15-course gourmet meal or a cookie made with leftovers, it’s about making something special for someone.And sometimes, four ingredients are just enough.
Magic in a Mason jar
Hunter Smith, owner of Champion Brewing Company
Photo: Amy and Jackson Smith
Many years ago, long before I knew of the relaxing and invigorating effects of alcohol, I took notice of a particular seasonal increase in neighborly traffic to my childhood home’s kitchen door. Many came bearing their own holiday treats, such as Pat’s sweet, soft sourdough bread, or the other Pat’s delicious monkey bread that we always ate, through Herculean restraint, before opening presents on Christmas morning. The majority of these seasonal visitors, however, came wide-eyed in pursuit of their Mason jar of The Recipe.
Despite plenty of annual light-hearted—and dead serious—offers to pay for The Recipe, my mom was as stern a gatekeeper as ever. The Recipe is of old Albemarle County origin, passed to my mom by family friend, grandmother figure, and legend in my memory, Marty, whose home we always visit in Earlysville. When I returned from college in Boston one Christmas and we all gathered around the tree, I found myself teary when opening a boxed Pyrex set that included a lined index card detailing the legendary Recipe, written in cursive in my mom’s signature blue ink. My fiancée at the time, Danielle (now my wife of 10 years), and I reveled in the opportunity to take a stab at making our own at home, with no limit on our allocation from mom.
The stuff itself is so rich and intense that you always find yourself amazed by how quickly and smoothly it goes down—and even a stout, seasoned drinker like myself can be taken unawares by the empty glass and light-headed sensation. The Recipe itself? A combination of sugar, eggs, cream, and heaps of dark spirits that aren’t bourbon—and that’s surely as far as I can go without facing excommunication. Served cool in a pewter Jefferson Cup, a traditional gift in our family, it’s a perfect fireside sip or Christmas morning fuel for tolerating all of the new family traditions—like noisy electronic toys, iPads, and Disney Blu-Rays for this era of Smiths. We’ve always joked in our family of booze producers that it would be legendary to take this magic in a bottle to market—but that would defeat the purpose of the special treat we know as The Recipe.
Photo: Morgan Salyer
Breaking with tradition
Courtenay Tyler, co-owner of Tilman’s
When I was living in Chicago, I worked at a small mom-and-pop neighborhood butcher and grocery store, a lot like the ones we have here in Virginia, where we made family-style food. Our Thanksgiving dinners were hugely popular, and each year I roasted over 25 turkeys, and made all the traditional sides to go with them. We were open until noon on Thanksgiving day for neighborhood customers to come and pick up their dinners. It made for a very long week, and by the end of it, I hate to say it, I was sick of Thanksgiving and couldn’t even look at turkey.
One year, I had already invited a group of friends over for Thanksgiving, but I couldn’t bring myself to cook another turkey. I had to come up with Plan B. So I took a look at our meat counter, spied a bone-in pork roast, and knew what our dinner would be. I had the butcher tie up a massive crown roast of pork. It was glorious.
As a nod to the Thanksgiving that I knew my friends were expecting, I stuffed it with caramelized onion and apple stuffing. That year, a tradition was born. I’m a huge fan of Friendsgiving, and we never have turkey. But we do a wink and nod to the traditional sides.
Photo: Tom McGovern
Lefse with Lila
Kate Hamilton, co-owner of Hamiltons’ at First & Main
My grandmothers were both of Scandinavian heritage. My mother’s mother, Lila, was Norwegian-American, dad’s mother, Garnett, was Danish-American. Food traditions ran strong with them, and I treasure their recipe boxes and hand-sewn aprons. My grandmothers instilled in me a love of baking that still binds the generations together each Christmas. I may know their recipes by heart, but reading them is half the fun. Smudges and spills. Notes in the margins. “Take butter the size of an egg and cream in small bowl with sugar,” or “Lard is the secret for flaky rolls,” in Lila’s small, loopy writing. “Calls for oleo-—sub. butter when avail,” in Garnett’s spiky script.
Lefse is a Norwegian flatbread made primarily of potatoes, and was a staple in Lila’s Christmas kitchen. Hot from the griddle, slathered with butter and a bit of jam or cinnamon sugar, then rolled up like a crepe, it is among my favorite taste memories from childhood.
Every Norse family swears by its lefse recipe and I’ve tried many of them. I’ve used russet potatoes and the wrong potatoes. I’ve mashed them and I’ve riced them. I’ve even tried instant potato flakes. But when making lefse with Lila, we simply used up the extra mashed potatoes from the previous night’s supper. These were boiled russets, mashed with warm milk and butter, then lightly seasoned with salt. In the morning, we’d knead flour and a little sugar into the chilled leftovers, put the sock on the rolling pin and roll the dough balls into circles. Then we’d cook them on a dry pancake griddle one at a time, using a flat spatula to flip them when the desired brown spots appeared. We had a stack of damp tea towels nearby and layered the lefse and towels on a platter until meal or snack time. A simple but delicious treat and memory.
Photo: Morgan Salyer
The slice is right
Angelo Vangelopoulos, chef and owner of The Ivy Inn
My favorite family holiday tradition is my dad’s homemade pita with a coin hidden inside served on New Year’s Day. Some years it’s made with spinach and feta (aka “spanako” pita), and other years it’s made with ground pork and pine nuts and brushed with lard.
We eat it for lunch after we’ve placed it in the middle of the table, spun it around a few times, sang a holiday song or two, and my dad has offered a blessing in Greek. Our savory pita “pie” is then cut into pieces for everyone present, and extra pieces are designated for any missing family members who couldn’t attend. We then dig in, and eat the pita while carefully making sure we don’t swallow the coin inside. There are annual jokes about whether or not my dad remembered to put the coin in (yes, that happened once), and plenty of arguing over which piece is which. I can hear family members saying, “Once it’s on your plate, it’s YOURS!”
The “winner” is the family member whose piece contains the coin. The coin is said to give a year of health and wealth, and it’s considered bad luck to ever spend it. This celebration is rooted in Christianity in celebration of St. Basil, who died on January 1. It’s a similar concept to King Cake, just without the baby inside, because that’s just weird!
RECIPES:
Caramelized onion, apple, and sage stuffing
from Courtenay Tyler of Tilman’s
Ingredients:
1 loaf of crusty day-old bread. Any will do, but I use a French country loaf, roughly cut into small 1-inch cubes. Note: I like to cube and leave these overnight to stale for best texture, but you can also speed the process by drying them out in a low oven, set to 250 for about 30 minutes, if you did not plan ahead.
2 onions, diced
3 Tbs. olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper to taste
2 apples, peeled and diced
2 ribs of celery, minced
Fresh sage, about ½ bunch or tbsp., chopped
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 cups chicken broth
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a baking pan. In a large skillet, sauté the onions, salt and pepper in about two tablespoons of olive oil until browned and caramelized. This takes patience, and frequent stirring. Give yourself 15-20 minutes to get to the proper golden brown color. Once golden brown and caramelized, remove the onion to a large mixing bowl. Add one tablespoon of olive oil to your skillet and sauté the celery, diced apple, and fresh sage. Once soft, remove and add to the mixing bowl with the onions. Stir to combine.
Add your cubed bread, beaten egg, and broth. Stir to combine. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, until the top is lightly browned.
Lefse
from Kate Hamilton of Hamiltons’ at First & Main
Equipment needed:
Potato ricer or food mill
Flat pancake griddle or electric lefse griddle
Rolling pin or grooved lefse roller
Wooden spatula or lease stick
Damp towels
Ingredients:
6 large russet potatoes of similar size
3/4 cup melted salted butter
1-2 Tbs. cream
2 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. sugar
4-5 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions:
Peel, halve, and gently boil potatoes until centers are fork tender. Drain water and briefly replace pot on the stove to let some steam off. Push the hot potatoes through a ricer into a mixing bowl—you should have about eight cups of riced potatoes. While still hot, stir in the melted butter, salt, and sugar. Spread the mixture on a baking sheet and allow to cool, then shape it into a ball and refrigerate, covered, overnight.
The next day, preheat your griddle to 400-500 degrees. Because you want to add the flour right before baking, you should work with half of the riced potato mixture at a time, keeping the rest chilled in the fridge.
Place half the riced potato mixture in a bowl, add about two cups of flour, and mix in well using a stand mixer or your hands. If dough is sticky, add a bit more flour. If dough is too tough, work in a tablespoon of cream. Divide the dough into golf ball sized balls and keep in the refrigerator, removing one at a time to roll out and bake.
Dust your rolling pin and rolling surface with flour, then roll the lefse dough ball into a circle as thin as you can without it tearing. Using the wooden spatula or lefse stick, transfer to the hot, dry griddle and cook until light brown speckles appear, then flip. Bake until larger brown spots appear, then place on platter and cover with a damp towel. Continue in that way, layering lefse and damp towels until you’ve used up the first half of the dough, then repeat the process with the remainder of the refrigerated riced potato mixture.
A cooking partner will make the work go faster—one of you rolling and one of you baking. This recipe makes about 16 lefse.
Lefse is traditionally eaten rolled up with butter and jam or cinnamon sugar at Christmas. It’s also delicious with savory fillings. Enjoy!
Charles Mingus’ eggnog (in his words)
a favorite of Scott Smith of Bodo’s
Separate one egg for one person. Each person gets an egg.
Two sugars for each egg, each person.
One shot of rum, one shot of brandy per person.
Put all the yolks into one big pan, with some milk.
That’s where the 151 proof rum goes. Put it in gradually or it’ll burn the eggs, okay. The whites are separate and the cream is separate.
In another pot—depending on how many people—put in one shot of each, rum and brandy. (This is after you whip your whites and your cream.) Pour it over the top of the milk and yolks.
One teaspoon of sugar. Brandy and rum. Actually you mix it all together.
Yes, a lot of nutmeg. Fresh nutmeg. And stir it up.
You don’t need ice cream unless you’ve got people coming and you need to keep it cold. Vanilla ice cream. You can use eggnog. I use vanilla ice cream.
Right, taste for flavor. Bourbon? I use Jamaica rum in there. Jamaican rums. Or I’ll put rye in it. Scotch. It depends. See, it depends on how drunk I get while I’m tasting it.
Notes from Smith on making the Mingus his own way:
After a year or two, I settled into a process. I beat the egg yolks with the sugar (one teaspoon per egg) in a stand mixer, like Alton Brown. Leaning on his recipe, I put a couple of cups of whole milk and a cup of heavy cream or so (for four people) into a saucepan with a lot of fresh nutmeg and bring it just to a boil, whisking. I take it off the heat and slowly whisk it into the eggs and sugar before putting it all back in the saucepan. Before it goes back on the burner, I clean the mixing bowl and beat the whites into stiff peaks so they’re ready. I set them aside and cook the mixture, whisking over medium heat, until it reaches 160 degrees (thanks Alton). As it’s coming up to temperature, I add the 151. I pull it from the heat and add the brandy and some dark rum (one shot each, per person). Then I put in a pint (I have another on hand in case) of softened Ben & Jerry’s vanilla ice cream. It melts in and cools things down before I fold in the whites. Looking good? If it’s pretty and sweet, no more ice cream. Taste, like Mingus. I’ve never not added bourbon. Sometimes I add some Scotch. I’ve used Irish whiskey too. This is the fun part. I don’t measure these, just use them to adjust the flavor.
It should have a dessert taste with a kick that doesn’t begin to telegraph the absurd amount of alcohol in each glass. Use small glasses. Settle in. Mingus, the article said, also used to fire his shotgun in his apartment, so go easy.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation; Warner Home Video
Feliz Navidad
The 12 days of Christmas take on a whole new meaning with The Bebedero’s mezcal challenge, December 12-23. “It’s like an advent calendar with booze!” declares the restaurant’s listing. If you and your liver survive the shot-a-day contest (yes, there is a scorecard), you’ll win a free ticket to Bebedero’s rare mezcal tasting on January 15. 225 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, check bebedero.com for hours
Plum crazy
Vitae Spirits celebrates its once-a-year release of damson plum gin, a cousin of sloe gin, on December 12. Sloe plums—the currant-sized fruit of the blackthorn bush —grow only in the wild, and mostly in England. So, Vitae owner/distiller Ian Glomski substitutes damsons grown at Dickie Brothers Orchard in Nelson County. Clever fellow, he is. 2-9pm, 715 Henry Ave., 270-0317, vitaespirits.com
This beer tastes funny
We know you can’t be in two places at once, so if you’d rather take in some improv comedy on December 12, head to Decipher Brewing. 7:30pm, 1740 Broadway St., 995-5777
Fortunate Friday
Who says Friday the 13th is bad luck? Red Pump Kitchen’s annual holiday luncheon counters the superstition with a charmed Mediterranean- and Tuscan-inspired three-course menu. Among the offerings: risotto with hen-of-the-woods and oyster mushrooms, rack of lamb with marble potatoes and winter squash, and toffee carrot cake. noon, $39 per person plus tax and gratuity. December 13, 401 E. Main St., Downtown Mall, 202-6040, redpumpkitchen.com
Hurry up and shop
Crozet’s holiday pop-up craft market serves your gift-shopping needs on December 14 with works by a dozen local artisans. You’ll find jewelry, ceramics, furniture, wreaths, and more. 11am, Piedmont Place, 2025 Library Ave., Crozet, piedmontplacecrozet.com
It’s cookie time
Champion Brewing Company’s annual holiday cookie sale is perfect for the person with a sweet tooth on your gift list. All sales from the December 15 event benefit Cville Timebank, a service-exchange cooperative (it’s a good but complicated idea; look it up at cvilletimebank.com). Beer, cookies, and philanthropy—we’ll drink to that. 1pm, $15 advance tickets (recommended), cookies $12 per box, 324 Sixth St. SE, 295-2739
Sew then
When? 10am-noon, December 17 (and most Tuesdays, for that matter). Beginners to experts can all learn from sewing instructor Erin Maupin. Machines are available but if you have one, bring it with you. $15, 1747 Allied St., Suite K, 253-0906, bit.ly/sew-hive
Table settings that include the color blue, like these from The Market at Grelen, in Somerset, are a good match for the neutral hues of fall. Photo: Courtesy of The Market at Grelen
After the harvest rain-out of 2018, this year’s Virginia wine vintage brings especially welcome news: a healthy, plentiful crop of ripe reds and whites, now bubbling merrily away in fermentation tanks before their long winter’s rest. Wineries are preparing to celebrate with harvest parties scheduled for the weekend of October 19, including events at Valley Road Vineyards, Courthouse Creek Cider, and Veritas Vineyard & Winery, among others.
“We kicked off the harvest party theme last year as a way for wineries, retailers, restaurants, and the public to help celebrate October as Virginia Wine Month,” says Annette Boyd, director of the Virginia Wine Marketing Office. “The concept has really taken off. This is an event we want to build each year to celebrate the bounty of all products grown in Virginia, in addition to Virginia wines.”
We loved the idea, so we asked local experts for some tips to help you plan your own harvest party this month.
Harvest wine and food pairing
Priscilla Martin Curley
Co-owner, The Wine Guild of Charlottesville; general manager, Monticello Farm Table Café
“I think a great way to celebrate the Virginia harvest would be to pair a Virginia wine specialty, such as dry petit manseng, with a fire-roasted pork loin served with paw paw jam. The sweet-tart quality of the paw paws married with the smoky char of the pork will bring out the subtle tropical honey notes in the petit manseng while contrasting with the bitter qualities. Plus, it’s an impressive but simple showstopper for any harvest party meal! You can even use the unique-looking paw paw fruit as part of your centerpiece along with some beautiful fall foliage.”
Where to find it: “Try Horton Vineyards’ 2015 Petit Manseng ($25)—it won the 2019 Virginia Governor’s Cup. I’d also recommend Michael Shaps Wineworks petit manseng ($30). Shaps was one of the first to make a dry version of this wine.” Curley forages for her paw paw fruit, but it’s also available seasonally at farmers’ markets. Horton, (540) 832-7440; hortonwine.com. Shaps, 529-6848; virginiawineworks.com
A fresh take on tableware
Tabatha Wilson
Manager, The Market at Grelen
“When creating your fall tablescape, don’t be afraid to mix up the traditional for something a little more fun—adding color is a great way to spice up your tabletop. Blue is one of our favorites because it is such a versatile color, and when paired with neutral hues it can be very elegant. Colored glassware is a beautiful way to add color to your table. Also, little seasonal touches, like a simple feather in a napkin ring, can make a big statement.”
Where to find it: The Market at Grelen, Somerset, (540) 672-7268; themarketatgrelen.com
Breezy centerpieces
Jazmin Portnow
Owner, Anyvent Event Planning
“My key to a good table setting is to incorporate quirky and unexpected seasonal elements as part of your centerpieces. A wedding trend that will make an appearance in my seasonal and holiday centerpieces is pampas grass. It’s wild, fun, and has a wheat-like aesthetic that’s perfect for fall.”
Where to find it: Pampas grass is readily available at local florists, including Colonial Florist, in Gordonsville. (540) 832-3611; colonialfloristantiques.com
Bring on the fire
Casey Eves
Founder and owner, Casey Eves Design
“For festive events, nothing is better than a supervised fire pit and a s’mores station! The secret ingredient to killer seasonal s’mores? Peppermint bark instead of Hershey bars.”
Where to find it: Feast! co-owner Kate Collier vouches for the peppermint bark personally—it’s made by her mom, Maggie Castillo, of nearby Hunt Country Foods. 244-7800; feastvirginia.com
Blue is a good choice for fall tablescapes because it’s “such a versatile color, and when paired with neutral hues it can be very elegant,” says Tabatha Wilson, manager at The Market at Grelen.
More food and wine pairings
The hearty, savory dishes of fall lend themselves well to wines like gewürztraminer, barbera, and cabernet franc. Mulled wine (heated and spiced with cinnamon, cloves, and other typical fall spices) is another great option for outdoor harvest parties. And don’t forget Virginia’s meads, the original party wine. Here are our recommendations; available at the wineries listed.
This aromatic, slightly sweet wine originally hails from Germany, but for a fun food pairing, think more exotic: coriander-spiced roasted chickpeas, garlicky grilled chicken wings, or cinnamon-laced chili. (540) 456-8667, aftonmountainvineyards.com
2017 Barbera Reserve, Glass House Winery, Free Union ($30)
This high-acid wine is a perfect match for a high-acid food like tomatoes, so try heirloom tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and balsamic, or spaghetti squash with a sauce of late-season crushed tomatoes and basil from the garden. 975-0094, glasshousewinery.com
One of Virginia’s top wines for 2019, this cab franc stands up to strong herbal flavors, so how about surprising your guests with some surprisingly easy Cornish game hens roasted with plenty of herbs like thyme, rosemary, and sage? 244-3341, keswickvineyards.com
This blend is perfect as mulled wine—ready to heat and drink. The winery adds natural flavorings of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice, anise, orange peel, and lemon peel to their Rivanna Red, and sells it by the bottle. 960-4411, burnleywines.com
Voyage, Hill Top Berry Farm and Winery, Nellysford ($22)
Made from 100 percent fermented honey, this is Hill Top’s version of the mead that the Vikings drank. It pairs with hunks of crusty bread, hard cheese, and cured meats. Pick up a bottle of Cyser (apple mead), Lavender Metheglin (spiced mead), or Hunter’s Moon (spiced pumpkin mead) and treat your mates to a mead taste-off. Hilltop Berry Farm and Winery, 361-1266—N.B.
A panel of experts and enthusiasts tasted eight local brown liquors—bourbon, single malt, and one rum. Photo: Max March
Whiskey goes way back in Virginia. In 1620, English settler George Thorpe made the first batch of spirits in Jamestown using corn—not barley, as was the tradition in Europe—obtained in a trade with the indigenous Powhatan people. George Washington added to the commonwealth’s whiskey heritage, distilling a rye mash in Mount Vernon in the 1770s. Of greater relevance today is Culpeper’s Chuck Miller. He rescued an abandoned 3,000-gallon copper pot still from a hillside in Nelson County, and, with his wife Jeanette, became the first licensed craft distiller in Virginia in 1988. “I feel like I started a revolution,” says Miller.
In the decades since, a growing number of new distillers have followed the small-batch path in Virginia. With the cold weather blowing in, we decided it was time to sample some of those local efforts. So we gathered a few experts and enthusiasts to try two of Miller’s Belmont Farm creations and six other brown liquors made in and around Charlottesville. See our tasting notes below, and then find your own favorite to warm up the chilly nights ahead.
Belmont Farm Virginia Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Culpeper
92 proof. Aged two years in charred white oak barrels.
Notes: “Good, young bourbon.” “It’s a little like candy your grandmother would give you, in a good way.” “Interesting late-night sipper with some ice.”
Virginia DistillingCompany, Prelude American Single Malt Whiskey, Lovingston
92 proof. Aged three years-plus in sherry, cuvée and bourbon casks.
Palate: “Spice.” “Fresh wood shavings.” “Heavy wheat, less oak presence.” “Expansive.” “Smoother than the [Ragged Branch] Signature Bourbon, but still a little hot.”
Notes: “Hot on the palate at the beginning but slightly mellows at the end.” “A little on the sour side.”
Belmont Farm Bonded Virginia Whiskey, Culpeper
100 proof. Aged six years in apple wood and Virginia white oak.
Nose: “Rice pudding.” “Cinnamon-raisin oatmeal.”
Palate: “Cinnamon and smoke.” “Caramel.” “Sorghum.” “Orange creme brulée.” “Smooth, slow release of flavors.”
Notes: “Needs a drop of water to open it up. After that, you get the apple wood right away.” “Another complete whiskey.” “Has a lot of depth.” “+++!”
Vitae Spirits, Barrel-Aged Rum, Charlottesville
90 proof. Unspecified aging period in bourbon and wine barrels.
Mochiko Hawaiian Food and Deli at 5th Street Station is a staff favorite—and a unique spot in Charlottesville. Photo: Paul Whicheloe
The only thing better than working in the C-VILLE Weekly newsroom is leaving it to get a drink and a bite to eat. The paper’s writers and editors are just like you: Our pockets aren’t very deep but we love the city’s vibrant and diverse food scene. Here are a few of our favorite places and things.
Laura Longhine, editor
Recent find: El Salvadoran and Mexican food at the Marathon gas station on Rio Road (by Greenbrier Drive). Cheap, authentic, and delicious. Try the sopes al pastor or pupusas.
Cheap eats: Bodo’s!
Go-to spot: Bizou for lunch, Oakhart Social for dinner and drinks. For an ex-New Yorker, Oakhart’s dining room feels like home. The sausage pizza is reliably great, plus they usually have a lovely salad and a funky natural wine or two on the menu.
Splurge: C&O. Even after all this time, there’s nothing more satisfying than a slow-paced dinner here by the wood stove, with delicious cocktails and classics like the trout amandine and steak chinoise. Plus, I love a restaurant that still gives you a bread basket.
Go-to brew: Mosaic Pale Ale at Random Row is my absolute favorite beer in town.
As the name suggests, the la familia chicken dinner is a family favorite at Al Carbon. Photo: Tom McGovern
Family meal: La familia chicken dinner to go from Al Carbon—a whole bird plus three sides and two salsas for $21.50. We also love to get a table at Milan—friendly service, a kids menu, and naan to keep everyone happy.
Food with friends: Beer Run—get the nachos!
Guilty pleasure: The old-fashioned layer cake at MarieBette; almost too pretty to eat.
Local place I’m dying to try: Comal, the new Mexican place in Belmont.
Out-of-town restaurant: Una Pizza Napoletana, in NYC. Take the Amtrak. It’s worth it.
Max March, editorial designer
Recent find: Lately, I’ve been enjoying cocktails with bitter aperitifs like Campari and Aperol. I like the interplay of sweet and bitter of the 23 Skidoo at Brasserie Saison. My go-to these days is a boulevardier—a bourbon drink with Campari—at the cicchetti bar at Tavola.
Best meal ever: Restaurant Week 2014, at C&O. This wonderful dish stands out in my memory: braised beef and potato gnocchi and some kind of wine sauce (with mushrooms, I think). Along with the soft lighting and good friends around a long table, eating a stick-to-your-ribs meal like that really made a regular weekend meal feel like a holiday.
Cheap eats: Something needs to be said about Maya’s $12 menu on Tuesday. Maya serves that classic nouveau-Southern cuisine that is so satisfying, and a good portion of the menu is pretty affordable that night.
Splurge: Our special-occasion spot is Tavola. The food is always amazing. I often end up ordering too much because there are so many must-haves. Gotta have the mussels. Burrata is non-negotiable. More wine? Yes, please. Carbonara. Bolognese. They serve their steak with agrodolce and gorgonzola that provides this sweet/tangy/funky combo you won’t find anywhere else. Beet risotto equals best risotto. Oh yeah, they have an amazing cocktail bar in the back! Just…maybe bring friends and share to help out your wallet.
Go-to bar: Champion Brewery. Location is perfect for me. People are great. Love the beer (some of my favorites in town). They have really solid bar food (J.M. Stock hot dogs, burgers, pretzels with beer cheese), and I’d put their nachos up against Beer Run’s any day (fight me). I also love that on any given day you might stop by to find some off-the-wall event happening. Ballet on the patio. An astronomy lesson from a UVA prof. Game nights. My fave is Tuesday night, when “Jeopardy!” is on, they turn off the music and turn up Trebek and the whole bar shouts out answers (questions) together. There aren’t a lot of bars in town that create an atmosphere of easy community like this one does.
Food with friends: This is where Mas really shines for me. My tip is to order a large sangria and quickly realize you’re all a little tipsier than you thought you’d be. Go-to dishes are the roasted tomatoes, and carne asada. Obviously you’ve got to order tapas staples like papas bravas and bacon-wrapped dates. Try the boquerones if you’re nasty (I am).
Brunch: Most underrated brunch in town is Miller’s. Chicken & waffles, a great biscuit and gravy, eggs benny, with all the boozy breakfast cocktails you could want. And it doesn’t break the bank.
Joe Bargmann, living/special publications editor
Recent find: Early Mountain Vineyards has a new chef and a carefully curated menu with a focus on local ingredients—delicious stuff, especially the pork
belly with shredded red cabbage. Also, the vineyard setting in the rolling hills of Madison is beautiful.
Go-to bar: Jack Brown’s Beer & Burgers. My girlfriend objects because of the gratuitous and sexist chandelier of bras (and I don’t disagree with her), but I like the smashburgers, dive-bar vibe, and friendly staff.
Late night: Miller’s on the Downtown Mall. Dark-wood saloon atmosphere, dim lighting, and amazing mac ‘n’ cheese (finished in a skillet and served folded-over, like an omelet, with a crisp shell).
Guilty pleasure: A good cut of beef from J.M. Stock. Pricey, for sure, but always worth it.
Happy hour: Tilman’s. Good deals and a sweet little tasting menu. I love the bruschetta with melted brie, prosciutto, and fig preserves.
Local place I’m dying to try: Prime 109, if my GoFundMe reaches its goal.
Out-of-town restaurant: En Su Boca, in Richmond. Killer margaritas and modern Tex-Mex food in a funky space where everyone has at least one tattoo.
Susan Sorensen, copy editor
Cheap eats: The Villa Diner. Breakfast is served until 4pm, portions are generous (and tasty), and nobody makes a better toasted pecan waffle (for $6.95, people!).
Go-to spot: Citizen Burger Bar for sweet potato fries and the “red” vegan burger. I know, I know: Who in the hell eats vegetarian at CBB?! I do—and it’s delicious.
Splurge: The Farmhouse at Veritas. The four-course menu (with wine pairings) changes every week, and costs $85 (plus tax and tip) per person.
Go-to bar: The Timberwood Grill. It’s pretty much in our Earlysville backyard, the beer menu is immense and well-curated, and it’s a swell place to watch UVA sports surrounded by lots of other Hoos fans.
Brunch: Boylan Heights on the Corner. Our daughter’s a UVA second-year, and if we promise to pay for brunch (after noon, of course!) for her and her three adorable roommates, we get proof of life every couple months or so.
Late night: The Whiskey Jar. A mess of sides—mac ‘n’ cheese, corn bread, pimento cheese, ham biscuits, French fries—is perfect for soaking up a long night’s worth of alcohol. Last call is at 2 a.m. on weekends.
Guilty pleasure: Four scoops (dulce de leche, hazelnut, gianduia, and milk and cherry) from Splendora’s.
Happy hour: Rapture. Cheap cabernet, right across from our office on the Downtown Mall. ’Nuff said.
Out-of-town restaurant: Founding Farmers in Washington, D.C. The food’s terrific (try the chicken and waffles or the chicken pot pie),
and most of it comes from a bunch of family farms in North Dakota.
Erin O’Hare, arts reporter
Cheap eats: Vita Nova Pizza’s bell pepper and onion slice is hands-down the best bang for my four bucks.
Go-to spot: Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar—specifically, for the Goatherder plate, and for the amazing and delicious variety of teas hot and cold. Also, the milkshakes.
Brunch: Bluegrass Grill, where my favorite is the Hungry Norman, the perfect savory-sweet breakfast plate. When I have visitors in town on a weekday, I always take them here, because it’s the only time there’s no wait for a table.
Late night: C&O, because ’round midnight is the best time to nom a gooey grilled cheese soaked in tomato soup, a belly filler for $10.
Out-of-town restaurant: Kuba Kuba in Richmond! The paella options and the tres leches cake are so delicious, I don’t even know what to say about them except that you should go get them, but if you’re in my way, I’ll probably try to cut you in line.
Matt Weyrich, news reporter
Recent find (food): The Nook. The All The Way breakfast with a couple pieces of toast has quickly become my go-to.
Recent find (drink): South Street Brewery. The mystery beer that doesn’t yet have a name is fantastic and was easily the highlight of the flight I tasted.
Cheap eats: Brazos Tacos. If I had to have one meal item every day for the rest of my life, it just might be Brazos La Tia taco (picadillo beef, mashed potatoes, corn pico, white onion, queso fresco, and cilantro).
Go-to spot: Asado Wing and Taco Company. I love the wings and always seem to have good interactions with other people sitting at the bar.
Go-to bar: Draft Taproom. Sixty taps and more than a dozen TVs make for an awesome combination if you’re looking to watch sports with a beer in your hand all night.
Go-to brew: Three Notch’d. I pass by it on my way home from work every day, and sometimes I just can’t help myself.
Food with friends: The Whiskey Jar. I’m a big burger guy and my favorite in Charlottesville so far is definitely the Crunch Burger.
Brunch: Bodo’s. I’ve been to Bodo’s 19 times since I started at C-VILLE Weekly in June, and I have absolutely no shame in admitting it.
Late night: Jack Brown’s Beer & Burgers. I went to college at JMU and the vibe is exactly like the location in Harrisonburg, so it feels like home to me.
Happy hour: Random Row. You can’t beat the $2 happy hour on Thursdays.
Out-of-town restaurant: O’Neill’s Grill in Harrisonburg. I’m not much
of a dessert guy, but I cannot go there without having the cookie skillet.
Brielle Entzminger, news reporter
Recent find (food): Mochiko Hawaiian Food and Deli. It just opened at 5th Street Station.
Recent find (drink): The amazing sweet wines at Barboursville Vineyards.
Cheap eats: Any bowl at Poke Sushi Bowl with the coconut cream sauce.
Splurge: Sakura Japanese Steakhouse, about $60-70 with tip for two people.
Go-to bar: Skybar because of its nice view of the city.
Brunch: The Shebeen. Amazing mimosas and moderately priced South African food.
Happy hour: Guadalajara’s $7 jumbo margaritas on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Out-of-town restaurant: Bottoms Up Pizza, in Richmond. Pizzas are huge, thick, delicious, and come in all kinds of unique combinations.
Early Mountain Vineyards has steadily elevated the quality of its wines, in part, with the acquisition of high-quality existing vineyard plots. With the recent arrival of chef Tim Moore, the intention is to offer outstanding food as well. Photo: Tom McGovern
Just off of Route 29, about 25 miles north of Charlottesville, a two-lane road gently rises and falls with the rolling terrain, leading west toward Shenandoah National Park. As you approach the distant mountains they appear to grow bigger. It’s an ethereal scene, relaxing and more than a little distracting, so you might have to hit the brakes pretty hard to avoid racing past the unassuming entrance to Early Mountain Vineyards.
That’s exactly what happened to me on a recent Thursday, as my girlfriend and I headed to the winery for lunch. The scene inside the barn-like main hall is also quite grand, with soaring ceilings trussed by massive wood beams and large windows that always keep the farmland, neat vineyard rows, and muscular mountains within view.
Chef Tim Moore brings more than seven years of kitchen experience at the three-Michelin starred Inn at Little Washington to his new position at Early Mountain Vineyards, in Madison. Photo: Tom McGovern
Our expectations were running high for the meal. I had enjoyed a quick preview of chef Tim Moore’s cooking a couple of weeks earlier, and now I was returning for a fuller experience of the menu, which is offered from 11am-6pm daily except Tuesday, when the winery is closed. Moore’s arrival at Early Mountain this summer was much anticipated. He was taking over the dining program that had been established a few years earlier by Ryan Collins, a protégé of renowned chef José Andrés and now head of the kitchen at Charlottesville’s Little Star. Collins set a high bar, but Moore, like his predecessor, entered with an impressive professional pedigree, having spent more than seven years at the Michelin three-star Inn at Little Washington, in Rappahannock County.
We were seated at a banquette table beneath a window, fortunate to be on the shady side of the dining room, because the sun was blazing that day. The vines were bare, with the harvest recently completed, and the grass was brown due to the drought and persistent summer heat.
The furnishings and table settings are rustic, and the new cuisine‚ like this beet salad with Asian pears and foraged black walnuts, is refined. Photo: Tom McGovern
This is a story about a chef and a restaurant at an excellent winery, so I will dispense with the scene-setting (I know, it’s about time, right?) and describe the food and wine. We started with two, four-glass flights—one with a white, a rosé, and two reds, all from Early Mountain, and another with four reds (“Tantalizing Tannins,” per the list), two of which were from the vineyard and the others from Jefferson Vineyards, in Albemarle County, and Walsh Family Wine, in Purcellville. Early Mountain is the first vineyard in the area to offer a wine program with labels other than its own. The goal is to showcase the best the region has to offer, and thus raise its profile to the national level.
This may sound a tad too ambitious, but the winemaker, managers, and owner of Early Mountain (Jean Case, wife of AOL founder Steve Case) not only believe it can happen but are also taking strides in that direction. They’ve been quietly making trips to high-end restaurants in Washington, D.C., and Manhattan, and some have begun listing Virginia wines—and Early Mountain’s, in particular. Case, who spent more than 20 years leading marketing and branding efforts for AOL, is keenly aware of the importance of public perception. In the world of fine wine and hospitality—just as in any business, I suppose—that means hiring top talent. Moore is an ace pick, for sure, and so is winemaker Ben Jordan, who cut his teeth in the Sonoma Valley and later worked as general manager and winemaker for Michael Shaps. Born in Switzerland, CEO Peter Hoehn has 30 years experience at hotels around the world, including stints at Quail Lodge & Golf Club, in Carmel, California, and the Boar’s Head Resort (it was just an “inn” back then, but a very good one, for sure!).
So, about the food. In a word, sublime. The menu had just 12 items, with 10 priced from $6 to $16, plus a foie gras dish and charcuterie and cheese board that cost $26 and $24, respectively. We steered clear of those and eased into the meal with simply prepared crostini with sweet shallot confit balancing the saltiness of quickly sautéed prosciutto and comté cheese. A heartier dish—housemade focaccia with tomato jam (I call it coulis, but whatever) and a generous portion of burrata—stood up well to the rich reds I was drinking. (The 2017 Early Mountain Vineyards Shenandoah Springs cabernet franc was particularly lush, with deep notes of plum and dark berries.)
We moved on to a light transitional dish of local roasted beets, fromage blanc, black walnuts, and triangles of crisp Asian pear. This assemblage was also a study in balance and contrast: earthy beets, milky cheese, semi-sweet pears, and complex foraged black walnut sauce. I also detected a background citrus flavor, which added another note to the layered composition.
I was beginning to wonder if and when chef Moore would falter, but the goodness just kept coming. One dish—chilled shrimp with chimichurri flavored with coriander, dill, and parsley, and dressed with a vinaigrette that had tiny cubes of fresh lime—was bright and mouth-filling. My scribble next to the item on the menu reads simply, “outstanding.”
On the menu: Icelandic Arctic char with chanterelle mushrooms and mustard cream. The fish is dusted with crispy “pebbles” made by boiling, crumbling, and pan-frying potatoes. Photo: Tom McGovern
Moore is committed to buying local whenever possible, and he chose pork belly from Whiffletree Farm, in Warrenton, for the heartiest plate we tried—three slow-cooked slices finished in a frying pan and served with poached Virginia apples, braised red cabbage, peanuts, and a dark brown reduction of sorghum molasses, apple cider, and veal jus. I was surprised by the peanuts—I mean, by how well they went with the pork. Our fish dish was decidedly not local, made with Icelandic arctic char, chanterelles, puréed potato (with veal stock added, for richness), and grainy mustard cream.
I thought Moore had outdone himself, but then came a local pear poached in wine with fall spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, perhaps some allspice), spicy/sweet whipped cream, and a lacy brown crisp made of sorghum.
Moore’s menu is small but complete, and it changes at least weekly, based on seasonal ingredients and the chef’s imagination. By offering fine dining, Early Mountain is signaling its intention to create an elevated food and wine experience. The winery is also rather remote, so visitors tend to spend more time there than they would if they were touring several vineyards, a common practice in areas west or south of Charlottesville. A leisurely afternoon meal makes good sense for guests who carve out hours—or even a full day if they have kids, who can play outdoors on the expansive grounds—to soak up the atmosphere at the property. It’s also worth noting that Early Mountain is one of a growing number of central Virginia wineries placing more emphasis on dining. After all, if it’s within your means, grazing and sipping wine is not a bad way to spend an afternoon.
