Finally, a real Jewish deli in town
It’s about time, right? After a soft opening on January 26, Modern Nosh will be fully up and running at 111 Water St. on February 5. Owned by Stephanie Levin, a Norfolk native who graduated from UVA in 1990, the restaurant will serve corned beef and brisket cooked in-house, pastrami imported from New York, and other traditional Jewish fare, such as tongue, latkes, and homemade matzo ball soup. A specially selected marbled rye made in Baltimore will be trucked in every day the restaurant is open (Tuesday-Saturday, from 11am to 8pm).
Levin is pulling a Paul Newman, and donating 100 percent of Modern Nosh’s profits to local charities. “Our tagline is ‘you dine, we donate,’ and it’s combining two important things in my life—giving back to the community and food.”
Kidding around
Equally famous for its artisanal cheeses and baby goat-snuggling events, Caromont Farm will host a summer program bringing 8- to 12-year-olds together with their kid counterparts—you know, goats. The Field-to-Fork Day Camps will provide instruction on local food and sustainability, and include activities such as cheesemaking, vegetable gardening, foraging, and cooking.
“Kids should have an opportunity to see the whole picture,” says Caromont owner Gail Hobbs-Page, who will hold the four-day camps at the farm in Esmont, Virginia, this June. “There are so many teachable moments in farming.”
Hip-hop with your BBQ?
In what may be a first for a Charlottesville restaurant, Ace Biscuit & Barbecue has posted a parental warning. It’s for Wu-Tang Wednesday, a weekly event featuring classic hip-hop and rap. “Due to the nature of the music, there may be language which may offend you or your kids,” the posting says. “Unless, of course, you take parenting advice from Ol’ Dirty Bastard, in which case, WU-TANG IS FOR THE CHILDREN.” (That’s a tongue-in-cheek reference to rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s declaration at the 1998 Grammy Awards.)
“Every Wednesday we play unedited hip-hop music, anything of lyrical value, nothing that’s ‘drug use, drug use, drug use,’” says Ace Biscuit manager Andrew Autry, who’s better known as Wolf. “We’re trying to get back to ground level—we want fun customers in here.”