Executive chef Ryan Collins (right) teamed up with Oakhart Social’s Tristan Wraight and Ben Clore to open Little Star, coming to West Main December 30.
Photo: Amy Jackson Smith
Little Star, the sophomore dining venture by Oakhart Social’s Ben Clore and Tristan Wraight, is slated to open its doors December 30, when its warm hearth and welcoming vibe should be a respite from the chill.
Joined by third partner and executive chef Ryan Collins, the team has put together a restaurant they hope will make patrons feel right at home, complete with bright, Spanish-style tiled walls, large but cozy booths, and warm lighting throughout.
“The theme we liked was more based upon being a kid, harkening back to a time when we didn’t have fears and worries,” Collins says. “It’s like what our hospitality is: Come in, we got you, we’ll take care of you…there’s good food, a little smoke, and a big hearth.”
Collins, who spent eight years working for renowned Spanish-American tapas chef and Nobel Peace Prize nominee José Andrés, says his menu will reflect his affinity for both Spanish- and Mexican-influenced fare, as well as some unexpected takes on barbecue.
Much of this food will come from the hearth, the centerpiece of the open-plan kitchen, where they’ll be burning through a good cord of oak hardwood each week.
“In the smoking oven, a lot of prep will get done in there—even desserts, like a smoked milk custard with charred orange,” he says. “We’ll have roasted vegetables for escalivada—which are roasted and charred, then steamed with their own heat, peeled, cleaned, and all the juices from being steamed go to make the dressing.”
Little Star will offer a shaved pork loin with a mole manchamanteles—a fruit mole with pasilla chilis, plantains, raisins, pineapples, onions, and nuts, topped with crispy sweet potatoes. Also featured: pork short ribs, marinated and slow-cooked in spices and herbs then pulled off the bone (reminiscent of barbecue but without the sweet sauce); hand-cut ham; patatas bravas in a ranchero sauce; and a sweet, tangy salad of barbecued sunchokes with caramelized onions, mojo picón, and shaved apples.
Collins says Andrés and his primarily Spanish team strongly influenced his cooking style, as did working with famous chefs whom his boss brought in as guests, including Diana Kennedy, a renowned authority on Mexican cooking.
More recently, Collins was the chef at Early Mountain Vineyards, and collaborated with Wraight and Clore on some side events, including a hugely popular taco pop-up at Oakhart in the summer of 2017. They’d discussed opening a restaurant, and happened into the former Threepenny Café site, just across the street from Oakhart, before the general public knew it was for rent, nabbing it before anyone else could get it.
They retrofitted the spot to showcase the oven, with greater visibility from outside to give it a high impact from the street. While the space at Oakhart is tighter and more intimate, they wanted Little Star to be more spacious and comfortable, Clore adds.
“We wanted an open kitchen—we want it to be a show,” he says. “When you’re walking down the street, we want you to say, ‘oh—there’s a fire in there! What’s going on?’”
Manning the bar will be bar director Joel (pronounced Ho-el) Cuellar, who’s spent the past 14 years as beverage director at Brandy Library in Tribeca. He’ll be taking over the bar at Oakhart as well, as long-time bar manager Albee Pedone departs for a dream job in Maui. While Pedone’s departure leaves big shoes to fill, Cuellar has the bona fides to do so.
“He’s the real deal,” Clore says. “It’s like Scotty Pippin came to play for a local high school team. He’s going to be an amazing addition to the local bar scene.”
Collins said Cuellar will be managing and developing the cocktail program as well as educating the staff about cocktails, while he and Clore curate the wine list. Bar patrons will be treated to a gratis tapa—a small bite of something special cooked up by the chef. “We want to provide exceptional hospitality,” Clore says.
The team hopes the new space will appeal to diners of all stripes. “We want to have options for people to get in and out of here for a reasonable price,” he says. “But if you choose to, you can celebrate, get the high-end fancy bottle of bubbles, and enjoy the caviar service, the large dishes, the special mezcals, and sherries. We will give you all the tools you need to celebrate, big time.”
Hours: 5-10pm, Sunday-Thursday; 5-11pm Fridays and Saturdays.
Zocalo has undergone a number of major changes recently, with owner Ivan Rekosh buying out his longtime partner and then bringing in a new executive chef, Zynodoa’s Josh Hutter, who’s been shaking up the menu with a variety of surprising new offerings.
“I’ve been cooking the same food for 15 years, and it’s great to have another mind and set of skilled hands in there to collaborate with,” Rekosh says, adding that he plans to step away from regular kitchen duties except during peak times of the year. “For the most part, Josh can handle it–he’s a professional and I couldn’t be happier with him.”
Rekosh says he was long reluctant to revamp the menu, but the time was finally right for some modifications.
“The biggest complaint I get is that the menu never changes and is stagnant,” he says. “The problem was everything is somebody’s favorite.” So Zocalo is maintaining its core menu, but Hutter is adding an extensive specials list every week that will change frequently. “He really understands the flavor profile of Zocalo and has modernized it,” says Rekosh.
Hutter, an Albemarle High School graduate, spent 10 years at a succession of notable D.C. restaurants like Taco Bamba Taqueria, Sonoma Restaurant & Wine Bar, and The Riggsby, Michael Schlow’s restaurant in the Carlyle Hotel. But with a growing family, Hutter yearned to escape the crazy commutes and crowds and return to a place where he’d prefer to raise his children. He and his family settled in Staunton after he landed the job at Zynodoa. Now, he’s enjoying working back in Charlottesville, where he cooked at Downtown Grille, Blue Light, Bang, and Metropolitan earlier in his career.
“I really love the central Virginia area, especially Charlottesville, and the lifestyle,” he says. He’s pleased about the collaboration with Rekosh, and the chance to brainstorm new menu offerings that blend with Zocalo’s South American/Mexican style.
“We’ve kept the core entrées on the menu and now offer a different side menu with two to three appetizers and entrées, depending on seasonal availability,” he says. “I’ll come up with a dish and bounce it off Ivan, and if it’s really nice, we might keep it on for a few more days, but we’ll try to keep things moving and keep them fresh.”
Some recent specials included a grilled filet mignon with chipotle-roasted portobello mushrooms and roasted fingering potatoes with a black garlic crema, as well as a pan-seared rockfish with piquillo pepper and saffron risotto and roasted broccolini with chorizo vinaigrette. Last weekend, he offered a lobster empanada with aji amarillo crema and arugula salad.
“There’s been a lot of change with Ivan buying out his partner, then taking over the place for himself and realizing he wants to step back from the kitchen and take an owner role and see the bigger picture,” Hutter says. But he and Rekosh have hit upon a recipe of collaboration that works well, they say.
“Customer response has been awesome,” Rekosh says. “We’re selling a lot of specials.”
caption: Zocalo’s new executive chef, Josh Hutter, worked at a number of D.C. restaurants before returning to central Virginia.
Charlottesville native Angelic Jenkins is selling crave-worthy fried fish from her new food truck.
Photo: Amy Jackson Smith
Angelic’s Kitchen On Wheels food truck has taken to the streets, a mere four years since owner Angelic Jenkins began cooking professionally, after her husband urged her to find a hobby other than shopping.
“I love cooking for people and always wanted to sell fried fish at a festival,” Jenkins says, “So I started off doing a tent set-up at Washington Park, at the African American Culture festival.” The event was so successful that before she knew it she was working festivals as far away as Virginia Beach, selling her fried fish, wings, hush puppies, and onion rings to a rabid fan base who love her exclusive fish fry breading, which she sells to customers interested in frying at home.
Cooking under a tent was too weather-dependent, hence the transition to a food truck, which Jenkins purchased in August. And as the Charlottesville native prepared for her restaurant-on-wheels, she attended two years of culinary classes at CATEC, even winning a bread contest while enrolled.
Jenkins has her hands full, working full-time as HR director at the Doubletree and operating her food truck on evenings and weekends. But she loves to keep busy.
“I’m the Energizer Bunny. I keep going. And I love to cook–my house is the come-to house for the holidays because everyone knows I’m going to cook up a feast,” she says. “I love bringing a smile to people’s faces when they try my food!”
No doubt her husband is smiling as well, now that her new hobby has become a business.
“My daughter said, ‘Mom, you haven’t shopped in a long time!’” Jenkins says. “Now we’re just shopping for fish and fries and hush puppies.”
Information on where to find the truck, which maintains a home base in Pantops at the intersection of Rt. 250 and Long Street, can be found at www.angelicskitchen.com
Souper stars
Just over a year ago we were touting our local connections to the highly-anticipated opening of (former TEN Japanese kitchen staff member) Douglas Kim’s Jeju Noodle Bar in Lower Manhattan.
Earlier this month, Kim landed a coveted Michelin star for his elevated Korean comfort food, making Jeju the first-ever Michelin-starred noodle bar in the U.S. and one of only 16 new restaurants added to NYC’s prestigious list.
The guide credits Jeju Noodle Bar as an approachable Korean restaurant in the West Village specializing in ramyum, the Korean version of ramen. Inspectors not only found Kim’s food fantastic to eat, but also backed by solid technique.
BBQ coming downtown
Moe’s Original BBQ is expanding to a second location at the old Mono Loco building, according to co-owner Ashleigh Abrams.
“We’ve been looking to expand in Charlottesville for a while, and the opportunity to take over such an iconic space in Charlottesville got us really excited,” she says. “We’ll be serving up the same made-from-scratch BBQ and sides, but will be staying open later for the bar crowd and have live music on a regular basis.”
Abrams and her husband Mike are partnering with Megan Abato and Riley Garvin, who’ve been with Moe’s Ivy Road location for two years. The soon-to-be newlyweds will run the downtown site, with doors slated to open by March.
Junction chef Melissa Close-Hart has been eating at Mel’s for 20 years.
Sometimes the good stuff is hiding right under your nose.
For decades, Mel’s Café has sat near the center of town on West Main Street, with a bright blue sign that is impossible to miss. Yet, even some of my most food-loving friends have never set foot in the place. As a longtime fan, this puzzles me. And many top chefs would share my view: They love it, too.
Take Junction’s Melissa Close-Hart, one of Charlottesville’s most decorated chefs. A native of Mobile, Alabama, Close-Hart calls Mel’s her “go-to place for a taste of home,” and has been eating there for 20 years. I recently tagged along with her at Mel’s to see what keeps her coming back.
Part of it is feel. Genuine Southern hospitality meets everyone who walks through the door. “No pomp and circumstance,” said Close-Hart. “Just go to the counter, order your food, get your own drink, wait for Mel to personally cook your order, and then enjoy.”
But the real hook is owner Mel Walker’s soul food.
Walker first learned to cook in the late 1960s, while working as a dishwasher at The Virginian. One evening, when the cook didn’t show, the owner asked Walker, who was only 14 years old at the time, to fill in. He must have been a quick study: when the owner returned the next day, Walker recalls, he said: “Mel, you’re the cook now.” Walker has been cooking ever since, and Mel’s is a showcase of thehomestyle Southern dishes he has honed over the years.
Close-Hart and I shared a feast of some of Walker’s best, starting with Close-Hart’s standard order, which she rattled off like a child reciting a rhyme: hamburger steak with gravy and onions, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, two rolls, and sweet tea. For the steak, Walker grills a fresh eight ounce hamburger patty, which he smothers with grilled onions and gravy made from beef broth, his own blend of spices, and a roux. “Never underdone or overcooked,” Close-Hart said of the steak.
You can taste the love that goes into Walker’s food, Close-Hart said: “You have to love the food to give it soul.” For me, nowhere in great soul food cooking is the love felt more deeply than in the vegetables, cooked with patience and care, gently coaxing their flavor. Walker’s green beans, “nothing fancy,” he insisted, were “cooked properly”for a Southerner like Close-Hart, she said: slowly, with onions and an end of country ham, until dark olive in color and nearly falling apart. “That’s the way my mom and granny cooked them,” Close-Hart said.
She assembled a bite of hamburger steak, gravy, onions, green beans, and mashed potatoes on her fork, held it in the air, and admired it. “Aside from Thanksgiving,” she said, “this is my favorite bite of food in the world.”
There was also love in our plate of fried chicken. Patience, too. “Many places cook chicken ahead,” says Walker, “but not here.” Once ordered, about 14-16 minutes is the time Walker needs to dip the chicken in egg wash and seasoned flour, and then deep-fry it. “No one minds waiting the extra time for properly cooked fried chicken,” said Close-Hart.
We had to have a Meta’s burger, a Mel’s legend. Pronounced “meet-ah’s,” the burger is named for a customer who ordered the same thing almost every day at an Earlysville place where Walker once worked called Charlie’s Cafe: a burger with Swiss cheese and grilled onions on rye toast. A sum-is-greater-than-its-parts combination, it is one of the most crave-worthy foods in town.
Last but not least was sweet potato pie, which Close-Hart orders on every visit, and says she could eat every day. “I make a pretty good sweet potato pie,” said the four-time James Beard Award semifinalist, “but Mel blows mine out of the water.” The recipe comes from Walker’s grandmother, with sweet potatoes, milk, and just little bit of sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. “Sweet potatoes have a natural sweetness and complexity,” said Close-Hart, “and do not need to be doused in a ton of sugar and spice to taste good.” The result is a pie that has become so popular that, around the holidays, people order it by the dozen.
What Close-Hart likes best about Mel’s food is the comfort it brings. “My husband knows he could bring me my favorite Mel’s meal and it would cheer me up more than flowers and chocolates,” she said. But there is one thing about Mel’s she admits she does not like: the name. You see, Close-Hart, who sometimes goes by Mel, has always wanted to open a soul food restaurant of her own, and call it Mel’s.
She can’t do that in Charlottesville, though. There’s only one Mel’s.
Ivar Aass of Spirit Lab Distilling. Photo courtesy Spirit Lab Distilling
When Ivar Aass moved to Charlottesville six years ago, he had one purpose in mind: distill high quality spirits. And at Spirit Lab Distilling, the distillery he runs with his wife, he does just that. From a bare bones warehouse facility on 6th St. SE, Aass distills tiny batches of spirits that already have a following not just here in Charlottesville, but beyond. With characteristics of both Scotch and traditional American whiskey, for example, his flagship Single Malt Whiskey forges a new style: American Single Malt. Bottles of it and other creations have earned spots in the bars of acclaimed D.C. restaurants like The Dabney and Rose’s Luxury.
As much as Aass loves distilling, though, he has fallen hard for another crush during his time here: Charlottesville itself. In 2012, Aass and his wife had grown weary of life in New York, and were ready for a change. At the suggestion of a friend, they visited Charlottesville. After just a weekend here, Aass and his wife were smitten. So smitten that they signed a lease two weeks later and have been here ever since. “I am continually blown away by how awesome Charlottesville is,” says Aass, citing a combination of small town benefits with the cultural amenities of a big city. The “coolest part,” Aass says, is how nice everyone is. “It’s kind of easy to be a nice person in Charlottesville,” Aass says.
His latest spirit, then, is a tribute to Charlottesville: a bitter apertivo called Charli, similar to Campari. [To learn more about this new homage to Charlottesville, read on at The Charlottesville 29.]
Williams Corner Wine co-founder Nicolas Mestre travels three months of the year, to places like Italy and France. Photo: Amy Jackson Smith
We’d imagine the life of a wine importer to be nothing but romance—all long nights, barrel laughs, and plates of beautiful food in good company. Turns out, we were wrong: It’s better than that. We asked Williams Corner Wine co-founder Nicolas Mestre to recount a recent wine-tasting trip to Spain. The CEO spends about 12 weeks per year in France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Spain, drinking in what’s on offer (and what could end up in local retailers and on restaurant menus). Here’s his story:
“Our fourth night in Spain found us in an elegant restaurant in the ancient town of Toro in the province of Zamora. Our server had just laid down half-kilo veal steaks in front of each of the diners in our party with an enviably dexterous aplomb. The table grew quiet for a moment as we mentally digested the sheer scale of flesh we were expected to consume. Our host, an energetic Frenchman-turned-Spaniard and winemaker named Jean-Francois, wore a beatific smile that hinted at equal parts self-satisfaction, mischievousness, and inebriation. Into the three empty glasses before me he poured consecutive vintages of the inky, heady, and age-worthy Tempranillo-based wine for which the region has been renowned since at least the 13th century. I picked up each glass in turn, swirled, sipped, and tasted, then dutifully turned my attention toward the almost 17 ounces of beef steaming on the plate before me.
“My colleagues and I had arrived in Malaga, Spain, four days earlier and had holed up our first night in the center of Granada, the medieval Moorish city in the far southern region of Andalucia. Having arrived around lunchtime on a red eye from Washington, D.C., we decided to have a simple lunch at the hotel, then nap, then head to our first appointment with a winemaker based in Marchal, a short drive east of Granada on the northern slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. A simple lunch turned into a several hour, multi-course affair at the excellent El Claustro restaurant in what was formerly the refectory of the Santa Paula convent, complimented by the delicious but unusual skin-fermented ‘orange’ wines of one of the area’s pioneering natural wineries, Barranco Oscuro.
“That evening we visited Antonio Vilchez at his small winery and tasted through a dozen or so wines from tank, barrel, and bottle before returning to Granada for a meal at a small, family-owned restaurant in the Albaicin neighborhood. There, we ate plate after plate of jámon and washed it all down with rich but high-acid red wines made from Antonio’s altitudinous vineyards.
“We awoke early the next morning and headed for the Puerto de la Ragua pass through the Sierra Nevadas. The hairpin turns along the A-337 motorway through the mountains did little to soothe our hangovers and jet lag, though on the descent we were so overwhelmed by the splendid view of the Mediterranean before us that we temporarily forgot the indulgences of the previous evening. Just before noon we arrived at our next appointment at a winery on the southern slopes of the Sierras. There, we tasted through three dozen unfinished wines resting in various containers including stainless steel tanks, barrels, and amphorae, before sitting down to lunch around 2pm and tasting through another dozen or so finished wines from bottles during the meal. We explained to our hosts that we had a limited amount of time to spend with them as we were due in Almeria by dinnertime for another meeting. We were assured that lunch would be a short and simple affair.
Three hours later, we were back on the road.
The days passed one after another in similar fashion: a morning appointment to taste wines, a “short” lunch usually lasting between two and three hours, a long drive, an evening appointment to taste wines, and a dinner that lasted late into the night. By the time we arrived in Toro on day four, we had driven over 1,200 kilometers, tasted more than 200 wines, and eaten such indecent amounts of ham that we were starting to sweat swine through our pores.
Thus explains my dismay—and Jean-Francois’s mischievous delight—at the unveiling of our main course at dinner that night: the cartoonishly large half-kilo veal steak.
After four bites, I surrendered to my body’s revolt against swallowing any additional solid morsel and convinced my colleague, who, it should be noted (and give one pause), had already finished his own piece of meat, to finish mine.
Around midnight, Jean-Francois motioned to our server for the bill. Soon, I thought, I would be in bed recuperating from the day and getting the much-needed rest that would sustain me for the morning’s drive to the Rioja region. As we left the restaurant I started to say my goodbyes to our host, but Jean-Francois cut me off and half queried, half demanded, “one gin-tonic?” I looked pleadingly at my colleagues for the least sign of protest, but there was none.
Sometime after 3 in the morning I realized we had lost Jean-Francois. He wasn’t at the bar. He wasn’t on the dance floor. He wasn’t using the gents. I stumbled up the stone stairs of the nightclub and out into the frigid Toro night. I walked a short ways along the deserted cobbled street towards the church and the medieval ramparts. I heard him first, standing on one of the massive stone walls, shouting out into the night, hoisting his bar stool menacingly over his head as though trying to deter some unseen foe in the darkness.
I looked at my watch then and tried to calculate how much sleep I could still get before needing to be back on the road en route to Rioja. A couple of hours? I turned down a small side street leading back to the hotel, Jean-Francois’s furious shouts diminishing with each step.
At Tavola, family meal--the pre-service dinner for restaurant staff--is a chance to bond.
Photo: John Robinson
The family meal is a restaurant tradition, where chefs take turns cooking a meal for the entire staff to dine together before service. At an Italian restaurant like Tavola, you might expect that meal to be a fat bowl of pasta and maybe some garlic bread. But, in fact, one of the more memorable family meals was fried chicken and cornbread, courtesy of executive chef Dylan Allwood.
“I first went to Tavola because one of my very good friends from high school was sous chef,” says Allwood, referring to his friend Vinny Falcone. “We always wanted to open a fried chicken shack, and he was going to be moving to D.C., so Michael [Keaveny, owner] said, ‘You guys should do a pop-up.’”
To prep for the pop-up last Halloween, which they named Vindilly’s, they experimented for Tavola staff.
“We spent a solid three weeks or so just feeding everybody chicken,” he says.
For Tavola general manager and wine director Priscilla Martin Curley, family meal means a lot.
“Family meal is extremely important to me as a restaurant manager. Whether before or after the shift, it’s an opportunity for the entire staff to sit down together and have some bonding time,” she says. “The quality of the family meal is, in my experience, one of the best ways to improve morale in a restaurant staff. Think about it: You have an entire staff of people and their absolutely favorite thing to do is eat and drink.”
She says it’s a great time for chefs to showcase their skills, as Allwood did a few weeks ago when he made each of his colleagues a breaded and fried veal chop (“as large as a plate,” Curley says), covered in Marsala-creamed mushrooms. Or when sous chef Alicia Simmons made Philly cheesesteak pasta. Even Curley herself gets in on the act.
“I lived in Chicago, so one day I made Chicago-style hot dogs for everyone,” she says. “I had to wrestle the ketchup from the staff’s hands because that is not allowed on Chicago dogs. And when we have time we will make pizza dough from scratch and use all the pasta mise en place to make delicious sheet pan pizzas.”
While some kitchen staffs use the family meal as an opportunity to experiment, others, like Duner’s in Ivy, use it as a way to get their servers up to speed on new menu items.
“Since our menu changes so frequently, I try to prepare one or two of the new dishes for the pre-shift meeting,” says executive chef Laura Fonner. “It gives them a chance to taste what’s new on the menu and also a chance for me to perfect my plating of the dish and any last-minute adjustments I may need to make.”
Melissa Close-Hart, executive chef at Junction in Belmont takes the concept of “family” to heart.
“It’s very hard work, both physically and mentally, so if I can help keep the body and mind fueled by providing a staff meal, I am happy to cook for my ‘family,’” Close-Hart says. “Sometimes I have used family meal as a place to try new recipes, but more than not, I prepare what I’m craving to eat.”
For Tavola’s Allwood, sometimes the best family meal comes delivered. “If it’s really busy we’ll order Dominos or Chinese—which we like more because we don’t have to cook it. Anything we don’t have to make is always nice.”
Note: Tami Keaveny, C-VILLE’s arts editor, is a co-owner of Tavola.
Noah Comarovschi is among the local restaurant workers who can be found after hours at Oakhart Social, a favorite place to unwind after a long night in the kitchen or behind the bar.
After a long night of waiting and bussing tables, cooking meals, serving drinks, and washing dishes, most restaurant staffs are usually ready to unwind. But in a town in which the sidewalks tend to roll up after 10 or 11pm, where’s a hard-working, thirsty server supposed to go?
A regular haunt for those needing a drink and some downtime is Oakhart Social, with manager and bartender Albee Pedone manning the cocktail shaker. Pedone says Oakhart is a destination because it feels like home.
“Great products get them in the door, but ultimately it comes down to the personalities that interact with you—like Norm, walking into Cheers, and everyone saying, ‘Hey Norm!’” Pedone says. “I call one of my regulars Norm because he comes here all the time.” Oakhart’s late hours don’t hurt; the restaurant was originally open till 2am every day, though it now closes at midnight on weeknights. Pedone adds that there are many components to making a place a desirable go-to venue, including the lighting and comfortable seating, but the biggest factor is the person behind the bar. “If they’re friendly and make you feel like you’re welcome, then you’ll come back.”
Pedone should know—he’s been with Oakhart since it first opened, with brief stints elsewhere before returning. And he says he’s thrilled to get the industry folks inside most nights. He says he regularly sees friends from Tavola, Orzo, Maya, Public Fish & Oyster, The Local, Parallel 38, and Lampo, who stop by after work.
“Oakhart Social and Whiskey Jar are the after work go-tos,” says Tavola bar manager Steve Yang. “We can always see friends. We can always have a good time. And we can always wind down from a long work week on the patio (weather permitting).”
Oakhart Social's Tristan Wraight Photo: Amy Jackson Smith
Around here, the folks cooking your favorite foods are as close to celebrities as some of us get (unless you’re lucky enough to corner Dave Matthews on the mall). So, for this year’s annual Food & Drink Issue, we decided to take a look behind the scenes—beyond your pork belly tacos and pain de campagne—at where our chefs, sous chefs, bar managers, retailers, bakers, and brewers eat on their off-hours, how they source hard-to-find ingredients, and what they crave when no one’s looking. (No surprise there: They like fast-food as much as the rest of us—and some aren’t even ashamed to say it).
Here’s where the rubber meets the road on this whole “buy local” business: Go into a big chain store and the jewelry displayed before you is the same as the jewelry displayed before shoppers in Urbandale, Iowa, or Maricopa, Arizona. In other words, it’s nothing special. And, we’re willing to bet, the person behind the counter knows very little about each piece beyond what he’s recited to customers every day for the last year and a half. That’s why readers choose Andrew Minton, who helps them understand each facetof jewelry-buying, from diamondsand pearls to custom pieces madein-house. On Millmont Street, family-owned Schwarzschild offers more than 100 years of experience in luxury watches and estate jewelry.
HOME STORE
HomeGoods
Runner-up: Circa
Honorable mention: The Habitat Store
Sometimes the best plan you can have is no plan at all, and that works out well for readers, who say that HomeGoods—that 29th Place mecca for pillows, pitchers, rugs and rustic outdoor furniture—is their go-to spot for a room refresh, even if they don’t exactly know which direction to go just yet. French country? Modern glam? The décor chain encourages keeping your options open. In McIntire Plaza, browsing Circa’s 10,000 square feet will always turn up a treasure.
CONSIGNMENT SHOP
Darling Boutique
Runner-up: ReThreads
Honorable mention: Kid to Kid
The secret to Darling owner Linnea White’s success? Besides a major sense of style (and consequently stylish inventory from clothing to locally made accessories), we’d wager it’s social media. The downtown shop owner shows off her #darlingfinds @shopatdarling on Instagram, as well as co-founded @bossbabes cville, a collective of local female business owners and entrepreneurs. Speaking of, Melissa Meece’sReThreads takes the second place spot with her robust collection of new-to-you pieces in McIntire Plaza.
PLACE FOR A DRESS
Belk
Runner-up: Anthropologie
Honorable mention: BitterSweet
Look in just the “dress” category on Belk’s website and you’ll find more than 3,000—that’s three thousand—options. Fit and flare, casual, bodycon, homecoming, cocktail, sweater… No wonder readers say Belk is best for everything from a LBD to a cotton shift. For the more creative dressers (with deeper pockets), runner-up Anthro stocks frocks with unique patterns, textures and silhouettes for women who are too cool for trends, but still want to look (and feel) beautiful.
PLACE FOR KIDS’ GEAR
Old Navy
Runner-up: Kid to Kid
Honorable mention: Shenanigans
Let’s be honest: Kids grow at such a rapid pace that what fits little Bowen-Arrow this week might not fit her in a few more, which is why readers refuse to pay more than a pocketful of loose change to outfit her in the latest trends. Old Navy, you say, is the go-to spot. The Barracks Road chain offers deep—and frequent—discounts on everything from onesies to knock-off Vans. At consignment chain Kid to Kid, parents stock up on everything their little one needs, cribs, clothes, toys and hair accessories included.
Photo: Stephen Barling
WINE SHOP
Market Street Wine
Runner-up: Wegmans
Honorable mention: Trader Joe’s
When Market Street Wineshop owner Robert Harllee announced in early 2018 that he was selling his downtown shop, local oenophiles shuddered to think that the charming store, with its Friday tastings and local bread and cheese offerings, might be lost forever. But true fans knew better: New owners and longtime employees Sian Richards and Thadd McQuade wouldn’t fix what wasn’t broke. They did make a few minor adjustments: Now called Market Street Wine, the store boasts new floors and a rearranged shelving system. Over at Wegmans, shoppers choose booze from all over the world. What pairs with kale-and-quinoa cakes?
LOCALLY OWNED GROCERY STORE
Foods of All Nations
Runner-up: Feast!
Honorable mention: Reid Super-Save Market
Whether you’re an expat looking for a taste of your home country or just a curious foodie hoping to surprise guests with an unforgettable treat, you agree that Foods of All Nations has what you’re looking for (and even what you’re not). Beyond dry goods from every corner of the world, the Ivy Road shop stocks fresh-made sushi, prepared foods to go and a full deli with some of the most reliable sandos in town. Runner-up Feast! has been doling out quality samples from Spanish manchego to country ham—as well as offering the best from local purveyors—from Main Street Market for more than 16 years.
CHAIN GROCERY STORE
Wegmans
Runner-up: Trader Joe’s
Honorable mention: Whole Foods Market
If we picture our former grocery store as a paramour, we can imagine that the day we left it behind for Wegmans was a tough one: We’re sorry, baby. It’s not you; it’s just that Wegmans makes it so easy to, like, be myself, y’know? Like my true self, the one who feels like Marathon bread is its own food group, and who doesn’t like chopping up veggies to make a mirepoix. We’vehad a really good run, but I just needto see where this goes. Of course we’dnever say that to Trader Joe’s, though, which comes in second for its Everything But The Bagel seasoning and affordable wine section (among other things).
INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE
New Dominion Bookshop
Runner-up: Blue Whale Books
Honorable mention: Read It Again Sam
The oldest independent bookseller in Virginia (the shop opened in 1924 and moved to its current spot on the Downtown Mall, a former shoe store, in 1926), New Dominion carries on a decades-old tradition of matching reader to reading material. Owner Julia Kudravetz does so by hosting regular events and continuing a tradition of thoughtfully curating the store’s collection of fiction, non-fiction, children’s literature and informative coffee table books. A few blocks down, at Blue Whale, find tomes on Thomas Jefferson, Virginia history and architecture, including rare hardcovers.
GIFT SHOP
O’Suzannah
Runner-up: The Virginia Shop
Honorable mention: Rock Paper Scissors
Since 1996, shop owner Suzannah Fischer has been stocking her shelves with a playful, joyful array of, well, just about everything you might want (or want to give)—scarves, candles, soaps, jewelry dishes, jewelry!, purses, books, stationery, figurines—each display after the next arranged by color to delight (if not mesmerize) you. To expand on her downtown shop’s offerings, in mid-2018, Fischer opened O’Suz For Littles on Second Street NE, so finding something for your best friend’s new baby is as easy as snapping a onesie (even easier, probably, if you factor in the squirming). Across town at The Virginia Shop, snag a postcard depicting Monticello or a tin of real Virginia peanuts.
NURSERY/GARDEN STORE
Ivy Nursery
Runner-up: Fifth Season Gardening
Honorable mention: Snow’s Garden Center
Owners Clare and George Carter have spent the last 43 years cultivating such a beautiful scene at their shop off Ivy Road that even novice gardeners feel compelled to give it two black thumbs up. The landscape architects opened the store shortly after graduating from UVA with three goals in mind: provide the freshest, most beautiful plants and flowers they could find; hire folks who knew what they were talking about and could advise those who didn’t; and provide helpful design and horticulture guidance. More than four decades in, they’re still the standout. Fifth Season Gardening, in the No. 2 spot, rules the garden scene inside city limits with garden fixins’, urban DIY equipment and landscape décor.
Photo: Stephen Barling
LOCAL SPORTING GOODS STORE
Blue Ridge Cyclery
Runner-up: Great Outdoor Provision Co.
Honorable mention: Mincer’s
Few shops do bikes like Shawn Tevendale and his team do bikes. Since 2010, the Preston Avenue and Hollymead Town Center retailer has serviced, sold and rented rides, not to mention led group road, dirt and gravel treks of its own. Needless to say, at BRC, it’s ride or die. Meanwhile, Virginia and North Carolina chain Great Outdoor Provision Co. helps get you outfitted for camping, hiking, fishing, paddling and more.
LOCALLY OWNED PET SUPPLY STORE
Pet Supplies Plus
Runner-up: Crate & Marrow
Honorable mention: Pet Food Discounters
We wouldn’t trade couch snuggles and slobbery kisses for anything, but we’ll admit that even the cutest, sweetest, smooshiest wittle wub-wub face can be a drain on the finances, not to mention—gasp!—kind of an inconvenience sometimes. Readers say Pet Supplies Plus is their go-to spot for easy shopping for food, health care and pet grooming. In Stonefield, Crate & Marrow offersall-natural, organic food and treats for your furry friend, plus collars, leashes and toys.
PLACE TO BUY A CAR
Umansky Automotive Group
Runner-up: CarMax
Honorable mention: Jim Price
As the woman in the commercials sings, “Brown, Brown, Brown, you’ll love the service.” And that rings true even after Dan Umansky, a Memphis-based dealership owner, bought the Brown fleet in fall of 2017. Umansky, who employs 850 people across 16 dealerships, hasn’t changed much about the popular car shop—prospective buyers are still greeted bythe same faces and still peruse the familiar selection of brands. And, of course, they can expect the samereliable service. On Pantops, powerhouse chain CarMax gives buyers affordable used and new options.
PLACE TO BUY A SUIT
The Men’s & Boy’s Shop
Runner-up: JoS. A. Bank
Honorable mention: Beecroft & Bull
Woe that good service is so missing from the modern-day shopping experience that a trip to The Men’s & Boy’s Shop feels like traveling back through time, but that’s part of its charm. The Downtown Mall store prides itself on attentiveness, consideration of details and reliability. And, if that’s not enough, the shop offers free alterations for the life of the suit you buy. In Barracks Road Shopping Center, runner-up Jos. A. Bank stocks suits, separates and design-your-own pieces.
