Tag: Antwon Brinson

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Culture

Drooling over new pastries, steak, and wine tastings

The delicious smell of fresh-baked croissants will soon waft from Cou Cou Rachou bakery at Preston Plaza. Photo: Staff photo

Hello to Cou Cou

Charlottesville croissant connoisseurs and Danish devotees are buzzing about the debut of Cou Cou Rachou, the new bakery from Rachel De Jong. After receiving her pastry chef certification from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, De Jong spent the last 12 years refining her skills in expert kitchens, including Gearharts Fine Chocolates and the three-Michelin star-rated The Inn at Little Washington. After her 2020 bakery launch was thwarted by pandemic restrictions, De Jong began working as the executive pastry chef at The Wool Factory’s The Workshop, where she will continue to proffer her pastries at the boutique wine and coffee shop after her flagship location opens in early summer. We are particularly excited to try the French onion croissant and sourdough boule when Cou Cou Rachou opens at 917 Preston Ave., next to Sticks and Mona Lisa Pasta.

Dairy Market adds some sizzle

Dairy Market’s dining options continue to grow with the addition of South and Central from Ten Course Hospitality Group. The new upscale restaurant opened on May 20, and offers locally sourced, flame-grilled delights with thoughtful wine pairings and Latin-inspired entrées. Also new at Dairy Market is Manila Street, where you can get your fill of Filipino fare—and keep your eyes peeled for soon-to-open Citizen Burger Stand, the all-vegetarian GRN Burger, and Asian eats from Mashu Festival. 

Old concepts in a new way

In 2018, chef Antwon Brinson founded his mission-based company Culinary Concepts AB, which develops passions by teaching real-world skills through the language of cooking. Over the years, Brinson has established several culinary training programs, including one in the local jail. After being forced to adapt to the pandemic environment, Brinson discovered that he enjoys teaching online: Joining aspiring cooks through virtual lessons has allowed the Culinary Concepts team to help people rediscover the limitless possibilities available to them in their own homes. As a result, Brinson will continue his cooking school virtually for the foreseeable future. 

The classes are designed for all skill levels, and come with an hour of live training, a shopping list, a recipe, and a recording of the lesson. The best part? You can learn to make a dish like steak au poivre with as many people as you can squeeze into your kitchen.

Get out of the office again

Ready to get out of your makeshift home office? Devils Backbone Brewing Company is offering nature lovers the opportunity to win a full month’s stay in a vintage Airstream at its Basecamp Brewpub and Meadows. Along with spending September away from everyday life, the winner will receive a $1,000 DB gift certificate, four passes to the DB campground, and weekly Slow by Nature experiences. These include tours of the property, a chef-curated picnic and hike, horseback riding, and an “elevated” dining experience at DB’s Arbor & Sheath restaurant, all surrounded by the beautiful scenery of the Blue Ridge Mountains. More details at dbbrewingcompany.com.—Will Ham

Categories
Culture Living

Turning the tables: Supper at the Superette, Bashir’s Taverna closing

Bashir Khelafa says he will close his Downtown Mall restaurant in September. Image: Jackson Smith

When Brasserie Saison reopened for dinner service in late July, it did so with a new general manager: Stephen Kelly, who came to Charlottesville from the highly acclaimed New York City restaurant Eleven Madison Park (see the August 12 C-VILLE issue for more on Kelly).

Along with the reopening news, Champion Hospitality Group and partner Reid Dougherty, the original bar director at Brasserie, announced that takeaway market Superette Saison is set to open next door in the former Verdigris retail space. CHG principal and Brasserie owner Hunter Smith says, “The time is perfect for the Superette, which will allow customers to get a nice bottle of wine and a sandwich to go, while takeout is the order of the day, and beyond.”

Survival mode

Since mid-March, local restaurants have felt the staggering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the fallout continues to reverberate throughout our community.

The latest casualty is Mediterranean favorite Bashir’s Taverna, which will close its Downtown Mall doors in September, after being in operation since 1996.

In July, the owner’s of Littlejohn’s Delicatessen on the UVA Corner launched a GoFundMe, noting that the sandwich shop may not return without raising the necessary funds to keep weathering the storm.

Now, more than ever, it’s important to support local restaurants: dine outside, order takeout, or buy a gift card. It may be the thing that keeps them going.

In the spirits

Earlier this month, Lovingston-based Virginia Distillery Company released its fourth annual Charity Cask Virginia-Highland Whisky, with this year’s batch benefiting the Nelson County Community Fund, Inc. The coffee-finished whisky is a collab with cold brew coffee company Snowing in Space, and  fewer than 300 bottles were produced. The distillery is still closed to visitors, but the Charity Cask is available exclusively to Virginia residents for shipping or curbside pickup. For more details, go to vadistillery.com.

Greenberry’s Coffee Roastery is also getting into the hard-coffee-drink market. The local chain recently launched a new line of products, Nitro Cold Brew with Spirits. Six different canned varieties are available with flavor notes like honey vanilla, salted caramel, and coconut chocolate. Find ’em at Whole Foods or email roasters@greenberrys.com to place an order for pick up.

Pair up with Chef Antwon

While you’re socially distancing at home, why not learn a new skill? Local chef Antwon Brinson is offering a variety of cooking classes to suit your taste buds. Options range from group and private classes to a cooking and wine pairing with a guest sommelier. Recipes, grocery lists, and instructions are all part of the package. For more details and the current menu, visit culinaryconceptsab.com.

Categories
Living

Back to school: New owner, new focus for Charlottesville Cooking School

Chef Antwon Brinson’s culinary training program focuses on life skills and career development. Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Gleason.

With chef Antwon Brinson’s recent takeover of Martha Stafford’s popular Charlottesville Cooking School, the institution is becoming a destination for aspiring restaurant cooks—a place to learn professional and life skills for long-term culinary careers.

Brinson originally launched Culinary Concepts, his “culinary boot camp,” in partnership with the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, and operated it out of the Charlottesville Albemarle Technical Education Center. The intention of the five-week training program was to help people establish and achieve professional goals in the culinary arts.

Now, he’s bringing that vision to the Cooking School, which formerly offered classes geared primarily to home cooks and kids looking to learn new skills. Brinson is keying in on workforce development, something he learned this town was sorely in need of when he came to Charlottesville as the executive chef at Common House. It was hard to find kitchen staff who had skills and staying power, he says.

Brinson says he encountered lots of people who stumbled into culinary work without any career goals. “They find themselves in restaurants, but because no one has taken the time to develop these individuals, they don’t know what they want,” he says. “They hop from job to job for an extra dollar, and five years later, it’s a career. By then they have kids and need to move up, but five years in the industry doesn’t translate into understanding of overall kitchen knowledge.”

His program, he says, is less of a cooking program and more of a life skills program. “The goal is to help them identify the difference between a job and a career. I want them to find a job where they can continue a mentorship and grow to have a successful career in the culinary arts—the big picture is retention and helping them to understand the value of investing in their future.”

Brinson has had 11 students go through the program so far, with 100 percent job placement. They earn certificates from Culinary Concepts, GO certificates (from the GO Cook city program he’s affiliated with), ServSafe food sanitation certificates, and cooking certification from the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute.

Brinson, who trained at the Culinary Institute of America in New York, has spent the past 15 years working as a chef at high-end resorts around the world. He poured what’s he learned into the training program.

“I didn’t realize how passionate I was about it till I started writing [it] down,” he says.“The next thing you know I had written a curriculum by accident.”

Stafford, whose career in cooking includes studying under noted chefs such as Marcella Hazan and Nick Malgieri, is moving on to focus on nutrition and health, Brinson says.

“She’s extremely passionate about helping people form healthy habits,” he says, adding that she’ll continue to help out occasionally at the school, and he’s honored for her commitment to his cause. “I can’t believe she believed in this program that much to hand it over to me.”