Category: Knife & Fork

There’s something special about family-owned establishments. The storied buildings contain years of history, the owners are always hard at work alongside employees, and regulars come back year after year for recipes that are passed down and tweaked through the generations. 

In Crozet, Greenwood Gourmet Grocery has been a roadside staple since 1999. Owners Nina Promisel and David Atwell built the shop on the foundations of a traditional fruit stand, and they’ve worked hard to build it into the sandwich and wine emporium that it is today. 

The shop is bustling year-round with Route 250 roadtrippers looking for a snack, and regulars who stop by to grab fresh bread from Albemarle Baking Co., local produce, or a cold can of craft beer. On the weekends, the kitchen churns out sandwiches like the Blue Slate (smoked turkey, havarti, lettuce, tomato, and ancho lime mayo) and Italian (soppressata and Genoa salami, provolone, diced peppers, lettuce, and housemade Italian vinaigrette) faster than you can count.

Promisel and Atwell’s kids, Zeke, Amos, and Ella, have been instrumental in Greenwood’s success over the years—one of them could usually be found manning the register, managing the kitchen, or moving one of the many impressively large pots that live outside. 

Nowadays, the kids aren’t working in the store as much, and an ever-growing customer base meant Promisel needed to bring in some extra hands. 

Reggie Calhoun and Nathan Hatfield joined the Greenwood team as kitchen managers at the beginning of the year, and they’re helping usher the store into a new chapter of culinary creativity. Their journey to the Greenwood kitchen is almost unbelievably coincidental. Some might chalk it up to fate.

“I was in D.C. up until five years ago,” says Hatfield. “I moved here and was working at Mount Ida until November of last year.” 

After leaving Mount Ida, Hatfield was hired at former West Main Street restaurant Little Star, where Calhoun had been working for four years. Before Hatfield’s first day of work, Little Star closed.

So the two went job hunting, and both landed at Greenwood. Hatfield started just after Christmas in 2022, and Calhoun soon joined him. 

“Nina asked if I would be okay if Reggie came on, I was like hell yeah,” says Hatfield. 

They’ve been tag-teaming Greenwood’s kitchen ever since. Their easy collaboration is obvious watching them move about the space, and their new items fit in perfectly alongside Promisel’s tried-and-true favorites. 

Calhoun’s pizza Sunday special is a big hit for customers looking to grab-and-go, and on the weekends, the limited Reggie Burger appears on the menu, featuring local in-house ground beef, housemade pickles, a relish spread, bacon, and havarti. 

One of their largest undertakings, though, is the Supper Club, a $45 dinner that feeds two people. The menu changes every two weeks, and you can add desserts, sides, and wine pairings. Calhoun and Hatfield collaborate on the menu, with Calhoun usually tackling the savory side and Hatfield making the breads and desserts.

Past Supper Clubs include the Greek Goodness dinner, which featured housemade pita and hummus, with grilled mushrooms and a black-eyed pea stew and a grilled half chicken with lemon, garlic, and za’atar. The Breakfast for Dinner meal had a bacon and potato tortilla española with tomato jam, biscuits, and house sausage gravy, chickpea cakes, and a panna cotta with granola and a fall fruit compote. 

“It’s going awesome. It’s the first time we’ve done anything like this,” says Promisel. “They’ve mastered the stuff that we are already doing and they’re building on it and enhancing it. It’s a great way for these guys to do more interesting and creative stuff than we can offer out of the deli case.”

Hiring two kitchen managers might seem unconventional, but Promisel says it’s been the best decision she’s made. 

“It wouldn’t have worked with other people,” she says. “But between their personalities it’s worked out beautifully and really well.”

The KMs have a ton of ideas up their sleeves that they can’t talk about yet, but in the meantime they’re enjoying sharing their ideas with the Greenwood community. 

“I’m mostly just trying to preserve [the legacy] and add my touches,” Hatfield says. “Nina is open to all of it. I know almost everyone who walks through that door has been here before and I want to make it a good experience for them.”

As the holidays wind down, many of us start to question our copious alcohol consumption. For some, the best way to counter a wet holiday season is with dry January—a month-long hiatus from drinking alcohol. If the thought of giving your body and mind a break from alcohol appeals to you, but you’re worried about missing out on the yummy libations all your friends will be imbibing when you go out, fear not. Charlottesville’s bar scene has developed a surprisingly broad menu of NA cocktails and beer. And guess what? Taking a break from alcohol—even if only for a few weeks—can help improve your body and mind almost immediately. In addition to a clearer head (alcohol consumption is linked to memory trouble, slowed reaction time, difficulty controlling behavior, poor concentration, and even long-term depression and anxiety), you may notice clearer-looking skin, more sound and restful sleep, and better-fitting pants. As you dive into a dry January, try one of these.

Sidle up to the bar at Public Fish & Oyster House for mocktails made with Lyre’s NA spirits. We love the Spritz N’ Giggles because it’s really fun to say and, with its mix of Lyre’s NA Campari, seltzer, grapefruit cordial, and lemon, it’s a tart and tantalizing treat.

Duck into Maya and choose from five different mocktails including the Fleur de Nie. We loved the combination of elderberry syrup (yay, immunity booster!), lime, and soda. Maya’s menu also features Heineken Zero beer, a good near beer option for those craving the hoppy refreshment of a cold lager. 

Further down West Main Street, grab a nonalcoholic margarita at Continental Divide (extra salt, please!) to go with your Red, Hot N’ Blues and Santa Fe Enchilada. 

Kanak Indian Kitchen at Fifth Street Station serves some of the best Indian food we’ve ever had stateside, along with a selection of nonalcoholic beverages to wash down your Sabjiwala. The Cacaowali Thandai mixes milk, cardamom, saffron, iris, and black tea for a spicy, satisfying sip.

At The Bebedero on the Downtown Mall, enjoy modern Mexican cuisine and let the bartender mix up a mocktail to suit you. When we visited, the bartender customized a mocktail for us (slightly sweet and tropical) that perfectly complemented our tacos al pastor.

Just off the mall, Tonic offers several zero-proof cocktails, like the Pom Pom Spritz, a zingy mix of pomegranate syrup, orange, lemon, and soda. (There’s also NA beer on the menu from local Three Notch’d Brewery.) 

Down in Woolen Mills, Selvedge Brewing offers two different mocktails, including one that’s perfect for cold winter nights: the Harvest Mule. The Mule combines apple cider, ginger beer, and lime for a spicy and interesting palate pleaser that’s as close as you can get to a Moscow Mule without the booze. 

Finally, pop into Firefly for a selection of mocktails and other nonalcoholic beverages including kombucha and Crunchy Hydration’s Om grapefruit sparkling water drink with an added 15mg of CBD. Come for the NA drinks, stay for the arcade and board games. 

Pleasing pints

In addition to the array of mocktails you can find in Charlottesville’s restaurants, many craft brewers have also started offering NA beer, or near beer. Three Notch’d brews some stellar NA options, while Random Row sells Athletic Brewing Company beer at its tap room on Preston Avenue. Kardinal Hall also offers NA beer and kombucha, as does Beer Run, where you can take a wide variety of NA beers in six-packs to go.

Chris Humphrey has paid his dues in local kitchens. So when he and restaurateur Stefan Friedman officially open their new seafood spot Bonny & Read, he’ll have earned the right to call the shots.

Humphrey has experience writing menus going back at least a decade to his time as executive chef at Rapture. But there have always been restrictions to his reign. Even when he bought Fellini’s and installed himself as executive chef in 2017, he “had to do Italian.”

Other career stops have been at Maya, Bizou, Metropolitan, Brasserie Saison, and The Whiskey Jar. That last, a soft landing space offered by friend and restaurateur Wilson Richey after Humphrey’s Brasserie travails, ended up being a shorter stay than he’d expected. Just months after going to work at the Jar, Humphrey began talking to Friedman about a concept the chef had been thinking about for 20 years: casual, modern Mid-Atlantic seafood. And just weeks after they started talking, Humphrey had a new job.

According to Humphrey, one reason the timeline was short was the need to jump on the Downtown Mall space Friedman found for the restaurant—namely, the one vacated by Brasserie Saison. Friedman, who bought Ace Biscuit & Barbecue earlier this year, saw in the old Brasserie dining room an opportunity to expand his own growing restaurant group, which he’s branded A Moveable Feast.

Bonny & Read held a soft opening for friends and family in mid-November, but Humphrey and Friedman aren’t ready to announce a formal opening date. According to Humphrey, when they do open, patrons can expect something other than “your classic seafood place,” with a local beef program running alongside features like flounder and crab.

“It’s not a raw bar,” Humphrey says. “A lot of seafood places don’t have many non-seafood options. Being on the Downtown Mall, we want to offer that.” Humphrey points to Public Fish & Oyster to help position Bonny & Read. “They do what they do really well,” he says. “There’s no need for us to replicate that.”

Humphrey, who’s been known over the years for creative southern dishes like Rapture’s Hillbilly Egg Rolls and Fellini’s Pimento Cheese Ravioli, said he’ll be true to his roots at Bonny & Read. Going down-coast to the Mid-Atlantic means he can capitalize on ingredients from below the Mason-Dixon and serve dishes like butter bean hummus, she-crab soup, and whole roasted fish. 

“Really what we are trying to do is modern-feeling but recognizable food in a casual setting,” Humphrey says. 

Humphrey promises the libations at Bonny & Read will be wine-driven but also feature craft cocktails. He and the Moveable Feast team have made some changes to the Brasserie Saison space, but “it was set up for success.”

In addition to the lack of creative restrictions, Humphrey hopes his latest career move comes with some much needed stability. During his three years at Brasserie, he engaged in a public exchange over lack of payment by ownership; that, followed by the quick in and out at The Whiskey Jar, have been difficult.

One upshot is Humphrey and Friedman are content to take it slow with Bonny & Read. Humphrey says Moveable Feast has a few other projects in the works (that he’s not free to divulge), and as Friedman works on those, he’s hoping to set a hard opening date and be cooking at least four days a week by early next year. Humphrey’s in the process of hiring a front-of-house manager, sous chef, line cooks, and bar manager—all the while working on the part of restaurants he loves: menu writing.

“I’ve got this dessert I’ve been playing around with that I’ve never had the right audience for,” Humphrey says. “It’s an old forgotten dessert I discovered 10 or 11 years ago—think key lime pie but made with lemon, and instead of graham cracker, it has a slightly-sweet saltine cracker crust.”

Humphrey’s seen a lot in his decades as a Charlottesville chef, and he says he’s hopeful for the future—and not just his own. He sees the restaurant industry continuing to improve and other kitchens around town bustling.

“You know, the last couple of months, I haven’t done a lot of cooking,” he says. “I’m sort of out of the loop, but all my friends keep telling me how tired they are ‘cause they’re so busy. I think Bonny & Read can fill a spot that needs to be filled downtown. There are a lot of great restaurants and variety, but I think we’ll be unique.”

If it weren’t for the Blue Ridge Mountains, restaurateur Ryan Becklund might not have brought her downtown vegan eatery Botanical Fare to Charlottesville.

A seasoned food service worker with eight years under her belt, Becklund was working at a vegan restaurant with locations in Washington, D.C., and Virginia Beach when the pandemic began. 

“[The restaurant] was starting to grow and it became a much more full-time role for me,” says Becklund. “It was a career path that I wound up loving. And then COVID hit and it gave me time to reprioritize and think about what I really wanted to do long-term. I decided I wanted to do my own thing.”

Becklund had been vegan for years, so she knew she wanted her menu to be entirely plant-based. The challenge was deciding where to go. Becklund and her partner wanted to be on the East Coast, and eventually they were deciding between Charlottesville and Asheville. 

“The decision to come here was the mountains. That was a big draw,” says Becklund. “I could see in Charlottesville that there was a lack of a fully vegan place. There are some great options in a lot of the restaurants here, but I knew there wasn’t a fully vegan one. So I figured it might be a little easier to get in and hopefully excite all the customers here.”

After its March 2022 opening, Botanical Fare quickly solidified itself as one of the city’s most popular new joints, for vegans and carnivores alike. The Crunchy Cauliflower Bowl, a savory dish with sticky rice and garlic ginger cauliflower nugs, has a cult-like following, the seasonal specials are always worth a try, and every now and then the unsuspecting space is transformed into a drag venue. You never know when you’ll see queens dancing between the tables and showing off their moves on top of the coffee counter.

It’s no surprise that Botanical quickly outgrew its kitchen, so talk turned to expanding, and this past summer, its sister concept, Bar Botanical, opened in Crozet. 

Bar Botanical offers the same from-scratch, healthy vegan food that flagship regulars have come to know and love. 

“It’s very similar in terms of the style of food,” Becklund says. “We do a little more ‘bar-style’ food. In Botanical we don’t use meat substitutions, but we use some impossible meats in Bar Botanical. It’s a little more approachable, casual.”

Located in Piedmont Place’s coveted rooftop space, Bar Botanical serves up delectable dishes like loaded hash browns, popcorn chicken bites, and wonton nachos alongside craft cocktails, draft beers, and wine. 

Inclusivity is at the core of Botanical’s mission, so it was always the plan to bring the drag shows out to Crozet, and the performers have even more room to strut their stuff thanks to the larger space. In a small town with little to no nightlife, the drag shows have been a hit. 

Even without performances, diners can still enjoy dinner and a show thanks to the rooftop views, which perfectly capture the sun setting over the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Aris Cuadra’s been racing around the local restaurant scene for more than a decade, from The Clifton to Tavola, Pasture, and Cafe Bocce. But these days, he’s content just to loaf.

That’s right, the Puerto Rican native went all in on sandwiches when he opened the Wich Lab in the CODE Building a few months ago.

“I’ve been a chef my entire adult life,” Cuadra says. “I wanted to do something simple using great ingredients and my experience as a chef.”

At the Lab, that means carefully crafting hot and cold sandwiches running the gamut from the traditional to the outside-the-breadbox. Cuadra’s got classics like Reubens, Cubans, Italians, and chickens, but they’re all done his way. The one-time New York City chef prides himself on technique—little things like making sure his buns are always buttered and toasted just so.

Cuadra says the Wich Lab’s Reuben is popular, along with his breakfast sandwiches and the best-selling Gobble Gobble, featuring turkey, bacon, avocado, everything spread, tomato jam, and arugula on homemade focaccia. Cuadra buys ciabatta and rye from Albemarle Baking Company; the focaccia is his chance to flex.

The Wich Lab’s Cubano is a Tampa take, with salami added to the traditional toppings and grilled focaccia providing the base. Cuadra makes bread every day, but he says day-olds are actually better for the pressed sandwich. “I’ve had people say it was the best sandwich they’ve ever had in their life,” Cuadra says. “That’s not my goal, but it’s nice to hear.” 

One change Cuadra’s already made to his menu is eliminating stuff he thought he had to have. And while the obligatory vegan option got the hammer, the Lab still cooks up an off-the-wall vegetarian option with charred broccoli, pine nuts, pecorino cheese, potato chips, roasted garlic aioli, and pickled cranberry.

“We had a group of older people come out, and they were blown away with potato chips on a sandwich,” Cuadra says. “I have fun with menu writing. I’m creative in every aspect of what I do, from menu writing to the menu itself, the atmosphere, the music.”

The self-anointed CVille Sandwich King would rather not tell you his name. But he’s happy to tell you—not to mention listeners to his “Sandwich Minute” on WTJU and 1,000-plus Instagram followers—where to get a good sammie.—Shea Gibbs

Knife & Fork: How did you ascend to the local sandwich throne?

CVille Sandwich King: I’ve lived here for four years—I came down from northern Virginia. I’m originally from Philadelphia, a great spot if you like sandwiches. So when I moved to northern Virginia, I thought sandwiches were kind of a blindspot. I would be frustrated by people willingly eating at Subway. My affinity for Charlottesville sandwiches started in 2006 when I visited my girlfriend (now wife, known as the Queen on Instagram) and tried a different Littlejohn’s sandwich on each visit. When we moved here, I started trying other places and keeping a diary. My wife said, “You should start a food Insta.” I kind of rolled my eyes but started doing it, mostly as a joke. Then it gained momentum.

How often do you eat sandwiches, and how do you choose?

I don’t go out as much as I’d like, but recently as I’ve gained more followers, I’ve tried to keep them coming. I try to get out twice a week, once during the week and once on the weekend. If you look at my feed, there are places I go time and again for convenience—a lot of Dürty Nelly’s and The Market at Bellair. I’ve also started to get inbound recs from people.

What are your favorite local sandwiches?

One place that I think is just incredible is Chickadee. They make their own brioche and these amazing hoagie rolls. The steak frites is sort of a glammed-up cheesesteak: shaved beef, sharp provolone, caramelized onions, garlic aioli, and demi glace, then they take these thinly fried potatoes and call it a “nest.” Another one—La Michoacana. They have a bunch of tortas, and I love the classic Torta Michoacana; it’s steak, chorizo, and smoked sausage all on a huge roll. At Dürty Nelly’s, my favorite is the Blue Ridge, with roast beef, beer cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and horseradish on a kaiser roll. I guess I’m a steak and beef kind of person. Oh, here’s a tip: Mona Lisa Pasta has some really good sandwiches, and most people don’t think of it.

I see you go to Bodo’s often. What’s your order? 

I love Bodo’s, but who doesn’t? I had a follower recommend what’s become my go to: a breakfast bagel with pastrami. Pastrami didn’t register with me at first for breakfast, but I guess it’s just another fatty meat. The way they do it—I think they put it on the flattop—it comes hot and charred a little. I get the pastrami with a deli egg and cheddar on everything, but I mix it up from time to time. If you like breakfast, Multiverse Kitchens has a pancake sandwich that’s sort of a gourmet McGriddle, and I love the tasso ham biscuits at JM Stock.

Know of any healthy sandwich options?

I don’t know if they’re healthy, but for healthier sandwiches, I try to eat some vegetarian options. Greenwood Grocery has a sandwich called the Beauregard with grilled sweet potatoes and kimchi on sourdough with cilantro-chili spread. It’s super delicious and not one of those vegetarian things where you’re still hungry afterward. I’ve only been to Botanical Fare once, but I had the chickpea “tuna” sandwich, and it was really good. I don’t naturally seek healthy options out. If I’m in that mood, I just pop for a salad.

You’re from Philly. Any good cheesesteaks around?

There are a few places that call sandwiches “cheesesteaks,” but they’re not what we would call a cheesesteak. The one place that does it is Lucky Blue’s Bar; they basically do what we call “Whiz with”—just beef, grilled onions, and Cheese Whiz on an Amoroso’s roll. But honestly, I don’t like to be a guardian of the cheesesteak. I can appreciate something outside the traditional.

What is it about sandwiches?

For whatever reason, sandwiches seem to sort of shape a lot of people’s perceptions of a geography. They give them a culinary connection to where they live or where they’re from. With sandwiches, there’s this appreciation and connection that people have with one another, and I don’t know why that is. But every time I post, I have people message me and say “you should try this” or “get it this way.” People just want to chat about sandwiches and connect.

When Mason Hereford opened Turkey and the Wolf to widespread critical acclaim in the city of New Orleans, it was like a butter knife to Charlottesville’s back. It was like Dave Matthews saying he got his start in Nashville.

Hereford, a Charlottesville native and University of Virginia graduate, has won scores of awards for his playful Big Easy sammie shoppe. Charlottesville, meanwhile, couldn’t score a fried bologna sandwich stacked with potato chips (Hereford’s specialty) to save its life.

Until CroZeli Sandwich Shop opened on August 14.

Service industry lifer Chase Rannigan and his wife Paige created CroZeli with the intention of doing “fun takes on classic sandwiches with well-sourced ingredients.”

“Mason has set the bar. I would never compare myself to him—he has a James Beard Award,” Rannigan says. “He was definitely on my radar when we were opening. That was the inspiration for a lot of the menu.”

Rannigan, who’s done stints at Pizza Bella, Shebeen, Fardowners, and private catering outfits, got the James Beard part somewhat wrong. Hereford was a 2019 semi-finalist, not a winner. But he’s getting the whimsical sandwiches part totally right. That starts with CroZeli’s bestseller, the Turkey Crunch, featuring turkey, provolone, shredded lettuce, potato chips, pickles, onions, and dill aioli on a sub roll, and folds right into the Italian Fried Bologna, with mortadella, provolone, shredded lettuce, mustard, mayo, and—you guessed it—potato chips.

“The menu is fairly small, but we’ll revise it and add stuff, look at the numbers and see what has sold and what hasn’t,” Rannigan says.

The limited menu is by design. Rannigan and his wife decided to open CroZeli when they saw the old Morsel Compass space in Crozet come available. The building had suffered a flood and was gutted, but the remaining facilities were serviceable. A small, seasonal sandwich list is the best way to use the space, Rannigan says.

CroZeli keeps it interesting between menu changes with inventive specials. One of the most popular was a chopped cheese with Big Mac vibes. Rannigan’s also done a chicken chopped cheese, a take on a cordon bleu, a turkey Rachel, and a Sloppy Jersey with turkey, Swiss, and cole slaw on marble rye. Apparently, that’s what Jersey folks call a “sloppy Joe.” 

“Google it,” Rannigan says. “We couldn’t label it as a sloppy Joe because no one would’ve known what it was.” 

Other top CroZeli sellers are the cheesesteak, festooned with both Cheez Whiz and provolone, a traditional Reuben, and a muffuletta with mortadella, ham, salami, provolone, and olive tapenade towered on ciabatta from Carter’s Specialty Breads.

CroZeli also keeps it simple with counter service and no dining room, so your Kitchen Sink with turkey, salami, ham, Swiss, and hot peppers will have to be to-go. “There’s definitely no one else in Crozet doing what we’re doing,” Rannigan says. “We’re a specialty sandwich shop. There’s not really anything to compare it to.”

We know, we know: Ice cream? For summer? Groundbreaking. But there’s literally no better time to write about one of our favorite treats than the hottest season of the year, cliché or not. It’s practically a requirement: Before the summer’s over, you must try one of these hot (cold?) spots. And for those of you who’d rather not sweat it out with the masses in line for a sweet scoop, we’ve rounded up a DIY kit of sorts. All you need is a recipe. (Hey, we can’t do all the work.)

By Shea Gibbs, Caite Hamilton, and Maeve Hayden

SWEET TREATS

Chaps still serving up frozen goodness

Strolling the Downtown Mall with a post-dinner Chaps ice cream cone is like a rite of passage. 

You’ll know you’re where you want to be when you see the blue awning, teal booths, neon signs, and longtime employee Brenda “Granny” Hawkins serving up scoops from behind the counter. 

On warm summer nights, it’s not uncommon for the line of dessert seekers to wind out the door, but Granny handles it like a seasoned pro, which is no surprise seeing as she recently celebrated her 25th Chaps anniversary. 

Chaps has been a mainstay on the Downtown Mall since it opened in 1985, standing strong through mall turnovers, increasing rent, and a pandemic. Tony LaBua opened the Downtown location, taking over for his uncle who ran a Chaps in a different part of town, before selling to new owners in 2022. 

Today, manager Rhys Aglio and employees like Granny keep the good scoops rolling. 

“We make ice cream at least three or four days a week right now,” Aglio says. “It will probably go up to five days a week in the summertime. We make somewhere around 25 flavors.”

Ask any Charlottesvillian their Chaps order, and they’re sure to have a ride-or-die recommendation. Flavors with cult followings include butter pecan, cherry vanilla, black raspberry, Four Cs (chocolate cherry chocolate chip), and pistachio. 

Even more popular than the fun flavors is the tried and true trio of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. 

“They’re our most ordered flavors,” Aglio says. “And vanilla shakes are surprisingly popular.”

Chaps also incorporates seasonal flavors, like peach and peppermint, into its menu, and the kitchen is always messing around with some new flavor. 

“We’re always trying out random other things,” Aglio says. “We recently made a test batch of maple bacon ice cream. Last time we made it it was too much bacon and not enough maple syrup, and this time it was too much maple syrup and not enough bacon. So we’re working that out.”

One of the most exciting new additions to the menu are cake cups. The cups layer together ice cream, cake, and crushed Oreo, sprinkles, or chocolate chips, depending on the flavor. Other offerings include custom ice cream cakes, and, for furry friends, pup cups loaded with banana and peanut butter. 

It’s easy to get lost in the fun of ice cream flavors, but one of the best parts of Chaps is plopping your scoops on top of one of the homemade waffle cones. They’re perfectly flavored and crisp, yet chewy. In this case, the answer’s always cone.—MH

What’s the scoop?

Cup or cone?

Rhys Aglio: That’s a hard question. Cones are more fun but cups are easier.

How do you get the perfect scoop?

Very minimal wrist movement, it’s more shoulder, it’s pulling and turning. Get your whole body in there and pull it out. Some of them are softer, some get a lot more dense, they’re colder. And it does help to know the technique.

OLD-SCHOOL SCOOPS

The OG of local ice cream shops, Chandler’s remains a hot spot

Chandler’s Ice Cream, a small stand tucked off Long Street and cherished by many, literally rolled into town on the bypass a quarter century ago.

The trailer that now houses Chandler’s began its life as Willy’s Ice Cream in Waynesboro. Jon Lee, a young family man working in the hospitality industry, was a friend of the owner, who told Lee he was building more permanent digs. 

Lee quickly snapped up the creamery-on-wheels. He drove it to Charlottesville with help from friends and family and set up shoppe.

The Lees leased space fronting River Road next to Tractor Supply, anchored their newly acquired trailer, arranged a few picnic tables and whiskey barrels, and started serving up no-frills chocolate and vanilla soft serve. It was a hit.

“We like to keep it simple,” Lee says.

Chandler’s also offers some hot food, but it’s become known for its generous portions of fully loaded sundaes, creamy milkshakes, and huge banana splits. “The banana boat is the biggest seller,” Lee says. “We buy our bananas by the case, so it’s hard to say how many we go through. But people definitely look at me like I’m crazy when I buy them all.”

Chandler’s is now in its 26th year of selling “real ice cream,” Lee says, and he doesn’t expect to change things up any time soon. His eldest son, Chandler’s namesake, helps out around the business, as do two of his daughters. His wife, a local schoolteacher, provides emotional support.

Lee says Chandler’s business fluctuates with the weather, but it’s resilient during tough economic times. He’s always looking to draw customers by making the place more visible from the bypass, but he figures his low-cost treats put a smile on folks’ faces no matter how well they’re doing financially.

When he’s not at Chandlers, Lee cooks for the Dominican priests at St. Thomas Aquinas University parish and spends time with his family and beloved dogs. He loves to see customers eating their cones with their canines, and Chandler’s offers free pup cups—whipped cream in a Dixie—to all four-legged friends. That even goes for the cloven.

“Today, our first customer pulled up in his old pickup, and he had a goat in the back,” Lee says. “I handed the ice cream cone to him, and he turns around and starts to feed the goat.”—SG

PEACHY KEEN

Is it really summer if you haven’t had an ice cream treat from Chiles Peach Orchard? The juicy fruit shows up in mid-June and lasts through the middle of September, which gives you plenty of time to sample the soft serve in all its splendor: in a waffle cone, as a milkshake, or (our personal favorite) topped with a donut, aka a dondae.—CH

SMALL TOWN SCOOPS

Crozet Creamery serves up big flavors

On Christmas day in 2022, disaster struck Crozet.

Piedmont Place, a multi-use building at the heart of the small town, experienced a water main break. The businesses inside were forced to close while the damage was reversed, and, unfortunately, many of them decided to shutter their doors for good. It was a big blow to Crozet, which lost a taco shop, barbeque joint, and gym, in one fell swoop. 

Crozet Creamery, however, is here to stay. The little shop that could reopened in early March, ready to get back to business serving up small-batch, handcrafted ice cream in a variety of rotating classic and creative flavors. 

The ice cream joint has been a fixture of Piedmont Place, and a must-visit for daytrippers from Charlottesville, since the building opened in 2017. Manager Erik Schetlick joined Crozet Creamery shortly after it opened. 

“[The owners] called me and asked if I wanted to run an ice cream shop,” Schetlick says. “Before this I had done some light ice cream work at restaurants, but I’ve always liked ice cream and eating ice cream …so I got excited at that prospect.”

Before Crozet Creamery, Schetlick had worked at local joints like Harvest Moon Catering, The Virginian, Michael’s Bistro, and The Ivy Inn. Now, he’s responsible for all of the fun, creative flavors found on Crozet Creamery’s menu.

The classics—vanilla, chocolate, java chip, birthday cake, cookies & cream, and mint chip—always have a place on the menu. While certainly deserving of a scoop or two, it’s the rotating selection of seasonal and one-off flavors that make Crozet Creamery special.

It’s hard to pick just one flavor to fill your cone or cup. 

Banana Chocolate Puddin is one of the most popular flavors, alongside birthday cake and cookies & cream. The limited-run flavor is made with roasted bananas, vanilla wafers, and dark chocolate. Peanut Butter Swirl is another adult favorite, and features vanilla ice cream and creamy peanut butter, with Reese’s Pieces folded in.

“Once the summertime hits and the fruit season comes, a lot of people look forward to [our fruit flavors],” says Schetlick, who uses berries from Critzer Family Farm and peaches from Henley’s Orchard in flavors like strawberry and Critzers Cobbler, a blackberry ice cream with a butter folded in.

Skittles Sorbet is popular with the kids, the Arnold Palmer sorbet is one of the most requested flavors, and there’s always at least one dairy-free option on the menu. Other funky flavors that have made appearances in the past include Chai Tea and Sour Cream Blueberry Donut, which mixes sour cream ice cream, chunks of sour cream donuts, and a blueberry fruit swirl.

As for a specialty, it’s hard for Schetlick to say.

“Our specialty … I mean, obviously it’s ice cream, but I feel like it’s more than that. It’s such a great little community here, tons of families and kids. People come in here and have a great time. Our specialty is almost like happiness. It’s kind of what we do.”—MH

What’s the scoop?

Cup or cone?

Erik Schetlick: I think I’d go cone. … I think cone is better.

Favorite flavor?

Probably Banana Chocolate Puddin or Critzers Cobbler.

How do you get the perfect scoop?

Practice and have a good scoop. The key is not to dig down deep, you want to let it roll itself up. You don’t want to try too hard. Some people like to make a little “s” shape with their scoop and it kind of gets the thing to roll up on itself. Some people like to just kind of snowball it. It all depends on the ice cream too, some are a lot softer than others.

FRUITY FUN

La Flor Michoacana’s traditional Mexican treats

At some point in our lives, most of us have stood at the counter of an ice cream shop waffling over the choice of cup or cone. It’s an important decision that definitely impacts the ice cream-eating experience. At La Flor Michoacana, the answer is neither cup nor cone, it’s paletas. 

Paletas are a traditional Mexican frozen treat, like ice cream in popsicle form. It’s the best of both worlds—the perfect portion that’s easy to eat on the go and doesn’t drip.

It’s been nearly eight years since the owners of La Flor Michoacana brought the sweet treat to Charlottesville. While on vacation in Cancún, Claudia and Birza “Jamie” Polnia tried paletas for the first time. 

“I was so impressed, it was my first time having authentic and homemade ice cream in popsicles in Mexico,” says Jamie. “We started thinking, what about this business in Charlottesville?”

The couple came home, and Jamie started researching how to make this new dream a reality. He found a two-week course at a university in Mexico City to learn the recipes and technique, and back he went. 

“It was learning every day. I met people from Brazil, Canada…it was a fun experience,” he says.

Jamie bought the proper machinery while he was in Mexico, and once he was home, he and Claudia began making test recipes and samples in their home and giving the bars away to friends and family. Now, they’re working out of a storefront and a separate production facility, producing 3,000 bars a day. 

Every morning, they head out to the grocery store to buy fresh fruits, which they use to craft some of the 30 ice cream flavors and over 60 bar flavors they offer. 

The flavors that make use of those fresh fruits are some of the most popular—and for good reason. Colorful bars like guava, passion fruit, and avocado are unique for their fruity, refreshing taste while maintaining a creamy, ice cream-like consistency. 

Customers looking for a sweeter treat frequently order the blackberry cheesecake, Oreo cookie, and tres leches, and vegans can have their pick of one of the largest dairy-free menus of flavors in town. Occasionally, Claudia and Jamie will make some seasonal and fun one-off flavors, like pumpkin in the fall. 

“Once he made a spinach and pineapple bar,” says Claudia. “I joke and say it was my detox juice bar.”

Business is booming, and, in addition to running the store, Jamie and Claudia are busy catering across the city and supplying wholesale bars to places like Foods of All Nations. This is also the first summer they’ve set up at the Ix Farmers Market, and soon they’re adding a new packing machine to their set-up, making it easier for them to keep Charlottesville well-stocked with fun, fruity bars of goodness.—MH

What’s the scoop?

Cup or cone?

Claudia: Bar!

Favorite flavor?

Jamie: Blackberry cheesecake.

Claudia: Passion fruit.

As temperatures rise and the days get longer, wine lovers look for different options in their glass. Whether chosen to accompany a day by the water, an afternoon on the deck, or an evening gathered around the grill, most of us move away from big-bodied, high-tannin, and high-alcohol red wines and instead reach for lighter, brighter, and more refreshing alternatives.

While many already have a “go to” wine for the summer months, perhaps a favorite chardonnay or rosé that you turn to every year, look for these local, and perhaps lesser-known, varieties if you’re open to something new.

Sauvignon blanc

Perhaps a surprising choice to lead with, since sauvignon blanc is widely known and popular worldwide. However, you’re likely drinking options from France, where this grape originated, or from New Zealand, where examples have become known for their prominent expression of grassy aromas and flavors. It seems that, while sauvignon blanc has been produced for quite some time in Virginia, only recently have local examples started to receive greater attention and garner critical appreciation.

Some people may not like the distinctive aroma and green grassy notes of this wine, but the best examples balance those components with citrus, green apple, and sometimes peach flavors. The Stinson Vineyards 2022 Sauvignon Blanc and the Grace Estates Winery 2021 First Baron Sauvignon Blanc are two local examples of this balanced style. The natural acidity is crisp and refreshing on the palate. A great option for hot weather and natural pairing with salads, oysters, or fish.

Albariño

This grape variety originates from the Rías Baixas region of Spain, located along its southwestern coast. The climate there is humid with frequent rainstorms, which led many local winemakers to surmise that albariño might also grow well here in Virginia. The grape grows with an open cluster structure, increasing ventilation and reducing disease. It also features relatively tough skins, which helps resist damage from pests. 

Chrysalis Vineyards and Horton Vineyards are credited as among the first to plant albariño in Virginia. There still isn’t a lot of it locally in terms of acreage, but the variety is quickly becoming recognized by growers and winemakers as producing excellent results in both the vineyard and in the winery. As a result, more and more albariño is being planted and data shows it is currently the fastest-growing grape variety in the state. 

The resulting wine is extremely popular in Spain and in neighboring Portugal where it pairs well with the local tapas cuisine and ingredients such as smoked ham or anything from the sea. Stylistically, it is a crisp, white wine with high acidity featuring aromas and flavors of lemon, lime zest, honeysuckle, pear, and frequently a characteristic hint of salinity. Try two excellent examples produced nearby: the Blenheim 2021 Vineyards Albariño and the Afton Mountain Vineyards 2021 Albariño.

Vermentino

Vermentino is an Italian variety predominately found in Sardinia, an island located in the Mediterranean Sea with a maritime climate that is hot and humid. Like albariño, vermentino grapes grow in loose clusters and have relatively thick skins which helps to reduce disease and pest damage. Barboursville Vineyards deserves credit for championing vermentino in Virginia, and the success of this variety locally is almost entirely due to its efforts.

The Barboursville Vineyards 2021 Vermentino Reserve is a medium-bodied, high-acid white wine with notes of citrus, white peaches, green herbs, and wet stone minerality. Its intriguing complexity and slightly fuller mouthfeel pairs well with grilled fish, vegetable pasta, or even a seafood stew.

Various vintages of the Barboursville Vermentino Reserve have been included in the Governor’s Cup Case for five years in a row. The case recognizes the top 12 wines in the annual competition, so its consistent inclusion is a testament to the high quality and crowd- pleasing flavors of this wine.

It’s easy to miss a hole in the wall, and, well, that’s kind of the point. So we put our nose to the ground—wall?—and did the snooping for you, and discovered three smaller spaces that promise big fun, including cozy quarters to host an epic watch party, a new fine dining experience, and a quiet spot to grab cocktails.

The Speakeasy at Old Metropolitan Hall

Old Met has a secret. The building located on the Downtown Mall is perhaps best known for its spacious ballroom and elegant cellar, with stunning black and white diamond flooring. But hidden beneath the mall, behind seriously cool doors disguised as bookshelves, is The Speakeasy. The Speakeasy consists of two rooms—the coatroom, and the 101 Library. With wood-paneled walls, atmospheric lighting, and a 1920s aesthetic, walking into The Speakeasy is like entering a situation room, or a secret society’s headquarters. The space includes a private restroom, bar, and audio system, and comes furnished with your choice of chic sofas and lounge chairs, or a long dinner table, and can be rented for the morning, mid-day, evening, or all day. It’s perfect for a special birthday brunch, evening cocktail hour, or watch party. $180-650. oldmetropolitanhall.com

Piccola Stanza at Tavola 

Tavola’s Piccola Stanza is more than just a private dining room. It’s an experience. Wisps of conversation from the main floor of the Italian eatery follow you up the stairs to your own private room on the second floor, which overlooks central Belmont. The dining experience comes with your own waiter, and features a highly seasonal prix fixe menu curated by Chef/owner Michael Keaveny and Executive Chef Kendall Moore. If you’re looking for a fancy night out that requires minimal planning, choose the sample menu and add the wine pairing. If you’re planning a very special occasion, like an engagement or super-romantic dinner, the chefs and sommelier can work with you to craft your own customized experience. Up to four people can enjoy the Piccola Stanza, and the evening generally starts at $250 per person. tavolavino.com

Bobboo Bar at Quirk 

Walk through a nondescript door, head up a flight of stairs, and find yourself inside Bobboo Bar. Bobboo brings the old speakeasy aesthetic into the 21st century by blending touches of old decor with modern flourishes. The result is a bespoke cocktail lounge with a warm and inviting atmosphere, and a menu to match. The star of the show here is the hand-curated whiskey collection, which includes barrel-aged spirits from across Virginia and around the world. For a sweeter sip, Bobboo also offers hand-crafted cocktails and seasonal small bites, including delicious charcuterie boards. If you’re looking to have a low-key but classy night out, Bobboo fits the bill. The space is also available to reserve for private parties of 12-20 people. quirkhotels.com