Back 40 – C-VILLE Weekly

On to greener pastures?

Was it really only a year ago that Timbercreek Market in the old Coca-Cola building on Preston Avenue was revamped, split into a retail farm store on one end and Back 40, the farm-to-fork restaurant manned by chef Tucker Yoder, on the other? Both spots have closed, and there’s no word yet on what’s next for owners and sustainable farmers Zach and Sara Miller or Yoder.

“Back 40 was a project that I felt deeply committed to and I am sorry to see it go,” Yoder says, adding, “I can’t wait to get back behind the stoves and make great food with great local products.”

In the meantime, Yoder, a lifelong cyclist, is gearing up for a big bike ride: He’ll bike 300 miles over three days in September for the 2018 Chefs Cycle: No Kid Hungry ride.

“I was approached by [acclaimed Napa Valley chef] Philip Tessier about forming a team to tackle the 300-mile Charlottesville ride,” says Yoder. “Knowing a bit about the organization and their goals, I felt like it was a no-brainer for me to want to help out this organization in any way I could, so the first logical step was to sign up for the ride. We hope to organize a dinner or two in the coming months.”

Rise and shine

The Pie Chest’s Rachel Pennington will spend the upcoming weekend at Flavored Nation in Columbus, Ohio. The annual event is an expo-style festival in which attendees purchase tickets to sample iconic dishes from all 50 U.S. states.

Pennington’s scrumptious ham biscuit—which has a loyal following at The Whiskey Jar—was selected to represent Virginia at this year’s expo.

“I was honored! I put a lot of work into perfecting my biscuit after the Jar hired me in 2012,” says Pennington. “Much of it comes down to the flour we use—we purchase it locally milled in Ashland [from Patrick Henry at Byrd Mill]. I think it’s a perfect complement to a slice of Kite’s ham.”

More Mochiko, please

Plans are underway for Riki Tanabe’s popular Mochiko Hawaiian food stall at City Market to have a more permanent home at The Yard at 5th Street Station. Tanabe, a native Hawaiian who worked as a pastry chef at Albemarle Baking Company for 17 years before returning to his gustatory roots, says the time was right for the business expansion.

“I’ve been seeing the popularity of the food I grew up with taking over the West Coast and parts of the Northeast, and I realized there was nothing here, so I thought maybe there was interest,” says Tanabe.

Customer demand for a storefront nudged Tanabe along, and he plans to design the primarily takeout shop like an authentic Hawaiian deli. He eventually plans to include popular Hawaiian deserts as well, such as malasada (Portuguese fried donuts), lilikoi (passionflower) cream pie, and coconut chocolate cream pie.

Tanabe expects the restaurant to be open by wintertime, and will serve lunches and dinners. He says the plate lunch—a classic Hawaiian meal that harkens back to the 1970s, when food trucks delivered to construction sites—consisting of a serving dish with meat, rice, vegetable, and a side of Hawaiian macaroni salad, will be the mainstay of the restaurant.

A welcome return

The Villa Diner has hung up its shingle at a new spot, having moved when UVA took over the property where the restaurant previously stood. The popular breakfast and lunch spot re-opened mid-June in the busy Emmet Street North corridor, in the former Royal Indian restaurant location at 1250 Emmet St. N.

“We love our new location,” says Ken Beachley, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Jennifer. “It’s been very convenient for our regular customers and we’ve seen a lot of new faces.”

A tart farewell

With the Monticello Dairy Building facing redevelopment this fall, Three Notch’d Brewing Company ended its five-year run on Grady Avenue on July 29. After the brewery moved most of its operations to IX Art Park last year, the space became Three Notch’d Sour House, which focused on funkier beers that aren’t always easy to brew alongside other types of beer.

But lovers of sour beer, have no fear: Three Notch’d brewmaster Dave Warwick promises that his most popular sours will still be available at the IX location.

Truffle shuffle: Know what you’re going to get in this box of chocolates

My Chocolate Shoppe on the Downtown Mall has closed, but owner and chocolatier Mary Beth Schellhammer isn’t giving up candy for good—she’s started Clean Conscience Chocolates, a line of paleo, vegan, organic, non-GMO, gluten- and dairy-free sweet treats.

“I cannot continue to contribute to our obese society, and I cannot continue to sell gummy bears with Red Dye 40 in them,” Schellhammer says. My Chocolate Shoppe’s last day was July 15.

“I’m just trying to provide a better option,” Schellhammer says, and Clean Conscience is “about my conscience being clean of producing these things.”

Schellhammer’s new line of truffles include four healthified flavors: toasted coconut, almond espresso, maca cinnamon turmeric and raw cacao. All are made without refined sugars, and Schellhammer emphasizes that “chocolate is food, not candy.” She will also offer a new version of her peanut butter cups that aligns with her clean-eating values, along with her paleo almond joyfuls, nut and seed bark and butter toffee bark, which is one of two products with refined sugar.

Some of My Chocolate Shoppe’s more popular candies will still be available at Baggby’s Gourmet Sandwich Shop, and Schellhammer’s Clean Conscience treats will be sold there and at Rebecca’s Natural Foods beginning July 19.

She’s also working on a line of chocolates made with spices aimed to heal each chakra, and hopes to sell them in yoga studios. Beginning in September, Schellhammer will teach clean eating and chocolate-making classes at The Happy Cook.

Noodling around

The owners of Monsoon Siam are moving a Thai fusion restaurant called Urban Bowl into Cardamom’s old spot in York Place…and they’re bringing noodles.

Urban Bowl, open seven days a week from 11am-3pm and 5-9pm, will serve Thai- and Vietnamese-inspired fare, including noodle bowls and noodle soup with a choice of beef, pork and shrimp. It will also serve crispy and fresh spring rolls, with plenty more options to come.

Urban Bowl owner and manager Saydee Aut and owner and chef Kitty Asi say that they’ve been eyeing the space for a while. Cardamom owner Lu-Mei Chang (who also ran Monsoon once upon a time) approached Aut and Asi when she decided to close and asked them to bring the space (and their vision) to life.

“It’s been my passion to open my own restaurant,” says Aut, whose family comes from Vietnam and Thailand. “I love cooking.”

Aut says she’s excited to start serving customers the food that she grew up cooking.

“I would love for everyone to come in and check it out and leave comments,” Aut says. “I am here to serve, because that’s what I do.”

Beefing up

Timbercreek Market will offer more responsibly farmed options with its recent remodel. Half of the current space in the old Coca-Cola building on Preston Avenue will house a USDA-certified meat processing area, which allows for in-house butchering and increased distribution to wholesale customers, and the other half will hold a new full-service restaurant called Back 40, with executive chef Tucker Yoder at the helm.

Once Timbercreek hired Norman Engelhardt, formerly of The Rock Barn, the expansion happened quickly.

“With Norman on board of an already killer team made up of Adam Lawrence and Rodrigo Mejia, the decision was easy to start butchering [on our own] for our wholesale needs,” says Sara Miller, who co-owns Timbercreek with her husband, Zach.

Back 40 is the brainchild of Yoder, who says it’s inspired by seasonal, local ingredients, which the current market already uses in its café.

“It will be his menu, his creations and his inspiration that he brings to our followers,” Miller says.

While the Timbercreek Market storefront is closed until Aug. 1, its products will still be sold at Farmers in the Park at Meade Park on Wednesdays, and at the Market Street Market and Crozet Great Valu. Timbercreek will also offer butcher boxes to fill the void until opening day.

Tune in

The Charlottesville edition of “Cheap Eats,” in which Cooking Channel show host Ali Khan has 12 hours and $35 to find the best deals in a city, airs at 10pm July 19. Restaurants featured include Bodo’s Bagels, Red Hub Food Co., Firefly and Oakhart Social.

Minute Man triumphs

Three Notch’d Brewery’s Minute Man IPA was named No. 10 on Draft Magazine’s list of the best 50 IPAs in America. Out of the more than 387 total beers submitted, Three Notch’d was the only Virginia-based brewery to place, and the magazine said that imbibing Minute Man, a New England-style brew, is like drinking a glass of boozy OJ.