Tag: Food and drink

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Culture Food & Drink Living

Fresh fare and spring specials are on the menu this month

Shadwell’s Restaurant is shuckin’ things up through Sunday at Oystravaganza. file photo

Setting new tables
Ivy Road House is a new restaurant that focuses on familiar comfort foods while taking inspiration from a wide variety of cuisines. The menu includes everything from tzatziki-laden lamb meatballs, to roasted chicken with onion jam and maple glaze, to a veggie-based lasagna. Created by Christian Kelley, co-owner and executive chef at Maya, and realized in the kitchen by Chef de Cuisine (and Albemarle native) Malek Sudol, Ivy Road House is open for dining in and takeout.

The Ridley—named for Walter N. Ridley, who had to persevere through years and layers of resistance to earn his doctorate in education from the University of Virginia in 1953—opens on April 1. Hospitality partners Warren Thompson and Ron Jordan aim to provide a city dining atmosphere complemented by a sophisticated combination of Southern and coastal cuisines.

Located in The Draftsman Hotel at 1106 W. Main St., The Ridley will add to the growing number of local Black-owned businesses, and a portion of profits from the restaurant will go to the Ridley
Scholarship Fund, which supports diversity and equity in education.

Following a successful preview weekend in February, Broadcloth, the fine-dining addition to the Wool Factory complex, is set to debut March 26. The eatery features locally sourced seasonal fare with options of four and six courses, plus the ultimate chef’s tasting menu, with up to 10 dishes. Chef Tucker Yoder has been rustling up grub in Charlottesville for over 20 years, and he plans to use his decades of experience to wow the limited number of guests the restaurant will serve each night. Tables are by reservation only.

Shell out for this
Shadwell’s Restaurant, located on Pantops, hosts its annual Oystravaganza through March 28. The Charlottesville fave will serve up oysters on the half shell, plus oysters stewed, stuffed, and fried. Cast a wide net and get your fill with a three-course sampler for $44.

Spring for this
The Catering Outfit is offering takeout Easter dinners for about $50 a head. Order by March 30 for rosemary-crusted rack of lamb, deviled eggs, and hearty spring vegetables cooked with a locally sourced honey glaze. Á la carte dishes and kosher versions of the meals are available too.

Beer with me
Dairy Market continues to grow in popularity and size with the opening of Starr Hill Brewery’s new taproom this month. Starr Hill Downtown offers a curated selection of beers brewed in-house, including well-known classics plus limited-run specials, so there will always be something new to try.

Crust this one
Luce is expanding its housemade gelato menu this week with two new flavors: caramel banana bread and almond biscotti, and fans of the Italian take-away spot will be relieved to see both stuffed-crust pepperoni pizza and spaghetti carbonara returning to the Luce lineup. —Will Ham

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Culture Food & Drink Living

Zen years

If not for the current pandemic, Now & Zen chef/owner Toshi Sato would be planning a party to celebrate the restaurant’s 10th anniversary this month. Instead, he and his staff will continue to offer limited, socially distanced indoor dining and takeout. Photo by Zack Wajsgras

By Will Ham

Just 10 days after opening Now & Zen in 2011, chef/owner Toshi Sato’s hometown on the east coast of Japan was struck by a devastating tsunami. The disaster in Kesennuma was dubbed the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the seismic activity destroyed large parts of the region, spilling fuel from the town’s fishing fleet, which caught fire and burned for four straight days.

“It was such a chaotic moment,” says Toshi, “I couldn’t reach anybody for multiple weeks, and, as the restaurant had just opened, I was having to work day and night. Fortunately, all my family and friends were okay and they still live there in Kesennuma.”

It was a difficult and uncertain time for Sato, but he persevered by focusing on his new restaurant and connecting with the community by creating food that he loved. A decade later, Now & Zen is a successful, beloved Charlottesville restaurant, and Sato finds himself once more calling on his resilience during another disaster—the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite unexpected challenges, Sato considers himself fortunate to have realized a lifelong dream of bringing his culinary creativity to his own restaurant. The chef was in graduate school studying constitutional law when he realized that wasn’t his true calling, so he transferred to a Japanese cooking school. After a few years apprenticing in Tokyo restaurants, he emigrated to Charlottesville in 1987 and, through a mutual friend, was introduced to Ken Mori of Eastern Standard Catering. Together they opened Tokyo Rose, where Toshi spent seven years refining his skills. Sato then joined the kitchen staff at Keswick Hall, where he stayed for 17 years before striking out on his own to open Now & Zen.

Sato says that in Charlottesville he’s found an encouraging and vibrant culinary community that helped him foster his talent and passion for traditional Japanese cooking. “I love my job and living near nature,” he says. “I didn’t even think about moving to another place.”

And foodies keep coming back to Sato’s place for his adventurous signature dishes, such as the tuna carpaccio, a green salad topped with thinly sliced tuna, and a citrus-wasabi vinaigrette, and the aburi salmon, a sweet and spicy seared salmon nigiri prepared with maple-soy glaze, cracked black pepper, and fresh jalapeños.

“Our menu is so different compared to other Japanese restaurants,” says Sato. “I hope I can keep creating interesting and original dishes.”

Employee Brian Moon, says it’s Sato’s life experience that makes him, “the best boss I’ve ever had, a great person. …From coming to Charlottesville from Japan decades ago, working in various restaurants, to eventually starting a successful establishment, I think his story is wonderful.”

And clearly, Sato is on a roll.

Categories
Culture Food & Drink Living

Students grab healthier options, and the Downtown Mall faces French paradox

Smoke in our eyes

A new Q joint started smoking last Friday. Vision Barbecue is pioneered by co-owners Mike Blevins and Gabi Barghachie, who came up with their “vision” for the restaurant while working together at Maya. These barbecue boys are on a mission to add their own take on authentic smoked meats and sides to the downtown restaurant scene. “We are using local wood and a match,” Barghachie says. “No chemical starters, no gas, no electric. Everything done the way it’s supposed to be done.” The menu offers meats by the pound, traditional sides with a spicy variation on pimento cheese, and Little Pig- and Big Hen-sized sandwiches for all appetites. Be sure to grab the wet naps when you pick up VB’s signature sammie, The Hot Mess, loaded with 10 ounces of brisket, pork, and chicken, and topped with pickled onions and jalapeño plus housemade cheese and pepper sauces. Vision Barbecue is located next to The Shebeen at 249 Ridge McIntire Rd., and is open Thursday through Monday.

Crammin’ the good stuff

While we can’t imagine students completely ditching Gusburgers, donuts, and Chinese food delivery, it’s exciting to see UVA’s commitment to healthy, sustainable eating through a new partner­ship with Harvest Table. A subsidiary of Aramark, Harvest Table specializes in bringing locally sourced, high-quality food to institutional dining. Throughout the fall semester, the company tested its “immersive culinary movement” with pop-ups inside Runk dining hall, before fully integrating to bring Hoos a fresh, eco-friendly alternative.

All Runk food now comes from within a 150-mile radius of Charlottesville and is prepared entirely in-house—no premade hamburger patties, no packaged desserts. Through the initiative, students can choose non-GMO, antibiotic-free, and grass-fed as well as plant-based proteins, and there are options for those with food allergies and sensitivities.

Peter Bizon, executive chef for Harvest Table at Runk, says that university dining halls provide an excellent opportunity to bring local businesses together. He’s teamed up with Shenandoah Joe’s for coffee and Blue Ridge Bucha for on-tap kombucha.

“Some farms have the necessary licensing to do business with us and some don’t,” says Bizon. “We specialize in connecting the ones who don’t with the ones who do in order to foster cooperation among local producers. It means a lot when you can work with local farmers. You can get others involved and create a strong community.”

Harvest Table is also partnering with Babylon Micro-Farms, an organization founded by UVA alumni that helps restaurants grow produce in-house with systems that are remotely climate controlled and can support a wide
variety of plants, from lettuces to herbs, and even some edible flowers.

The university hopes to extend Harvest Table’s services to its other two dining halls in the future.

Frites on hold

While many local restos have pivoted creatively to stay open safely, using igloos, outdoor heaters, blankets, and stepped-up takeout offerings, Brasserie Saison has opted to close temporarily for the winter. The official statement from the popular Euro-pub says, “The health and safety of our restaurant family and community come first and we feel that the risk is too great for indoor dining during these winter months.” Owners say they plan to reopen in the spring, after the majority of the restaurant staff is able to receive vaccines. Then we can finally get back to enjoying the moules frites.

Frites on the go

Meanwhile, just up the mall, there’s another new restaurant from Ten Course Hospitality (the group behind Brasserie Saison, Revolutionary Soup, The Alley Light, The Pie Chest, The Bebedero, and most recently The Milkman’s Bar at Dairy Market): Café Frank, with an original menu from Chef Jose De Brito, whose resume includes Fleurie, The Alley Light, and The Inn at Little Washington. The new café is located in the former home of Splendora’s Gelato (we miss you!), and promises casual, French dining on the Downtown Mall (plus a robust daily to-go menu). The café’s bar program is by Mike Stewart, and Will Richey will curate the bistro-style wine list. We are excited to try the Royal Paella-for-Two with lobster, mussels, shrimp, and chorizo, but the hidden gem of this new foodie magnet might be the 4pm aperitif hour, when De Brito creates unique bites to pair with a prosecco bar-style sparkling wine list and cocktails. Café Frank is accepting takeout orders, and will be open for in-house dining Monday through Saturday beginning in March. —Will Ham

Categories
Culture Food & Drink Living

PICK: History in a Glass

Wine diplomacy: If you’re interested in celebrating presidents, pairing them with wine may be the way to go. In a nod to Presidents’ Day, the second installment of Monticello’s History in a Glass series explores Thomas Jefferson’s passion for wine and the influence it had on diplomatic relations and social entertaining at the White House. Author Fred Ryan will discuss his book, Wine and the White House, in a virtual presentation that includes special guests. Participants will also receive a curated selection of Jefferson-era recipes from Monticello’s Farm Table Chef David Bastide.

Wednesday 2/17, $25, 6:30pm. monticello.org.

Categories
Culture Food & Drink Living

PICK: Greens Cookoff

Slow cookin’ to victory: As every child knows, there’s more than one way to eat your greens (or accidentally spill them to a pet under the table). Lucky for all of us, the chefs at the annual Greens Cookoff know how to tantalize taste buds with greens and two other ultimate homestyle comfort foods: mac ‘n’ cheese and pound cake. Cook along while you watch the pros from Angelic’s Kitchen, Pearl Island, Royalty Eats, Soul Food Joint, Chimm, Bizou, Blue Moon Diner, Maya, and The Whiskey Jar battle for the crown in a virtual competition.

Saturday 2/20, $5 suggested donation, 3pm. facebook.com/JSAAHC.

Categories
Culture Food & Drink Living

Jeanetha Brown-Douglas provides a kindness with Free Meal Friday

When JBD Event Catering & Soul Food owner Jeanetha Brown-Douglas saw a need in the community, she filled it with her own homecooked meals. As others witnessed her generosity, contributions came in to support her Free Meal Friday program. Photo by Tom Mcgovern

If times of hardship reveal the character of a person, then Jeanetha Brown-Douglas is a testament to kindness and charity. In the middle of the pandemic, facing a slowdown in her own business, the owner of JBD Event Catering & Soul Food teamed up with her family to feed community members in need.

Brown-Douglas, her daughter Dejua, and sister Ruth Turner created Free Meal Friday to provide gratis meals and desserts once a week at JBD’s new location in the former Wild Wolf Brewery spot at 313 Second St.

“When COVID hit, we had to shut down for months, and we had to find a space that was able to conform with all of the safety guidelines,” says Brown-Douglas. “We were fortunate to find that in our new location, our space is large enough for social distancing and also has a large patio for outside dining.”

This setup also allowed her to invite those who needed a hot meal to come in from the cold to eat, or grab some food to take away.

“The idea for Free Meal Friday was born out of the love for our community,” says Brown-Douglas, who had been delivering meals to the Salvation Army and UVA students in the early months of the pandemic through St. Paul’s church. When that stopped, she joined forces with Dejua and Turner, whose business, Hands of Favor, creates customized wigs and provides hair therapy for people in need. “We decided to continue feeding and protecting the community. We also offer masks and hand sanitizer for everyone who comes in to get our free meals.”

Since starting Free Meal Friday, the team has averaged 25 meals per event. Brown-Douglas says food options include baked spaghetti, cheesy mac, and sandwiches. She pairs these with desserts made by her daughter and a bottle of water.

As word got out, others have come forward to help make Free Meal Friday happen. “I am so thankful for the heartfelt donations that have been offered to our cause,” says Brown-Douglas.

She says they’re planning to continue the program at least until the end of March. “Hopefully we will be in a better place with the pandemic, but if not, we will continue offering our help to the community.”

As for her business, which Brown-Douglas says is a “concept of restaurant-event space and catering combined” it’s getting by. “Though business is up and down, we still manage to do okay,” she says.

“We have our regulars that stay with us, which is a blessing. We currently offer indoor dining and takeout.
And we’ll offer small events as the governor allows.”

JBD Event Catering & Soul Food is open 12:30-8pm every day but Monday and Wednesday. The donated meals are available at its storefront on Fridays from 2-4pm, with extended hours as needed. Brown-Douglas welcomes donations to defray the cost of the meals. Checks made out to JBD Event Catering can be dropped off at the restaurant.

Categories
Culture Food & Drink Living

Take us out

The Corner Juice’s PSW Smoothie and California sandwich are a healthy, tasty takeout option. Staff photo

In an ongoing effort to support local dining establishments during the pandemic, our writers have been enjoying a variety of takeout meals from some of their favorite restaurants. Contribute to this ongoing series by sending your own delicious experiences to living@c-ville.com.

Mas Tapas

While carryout can’t quite compare to dining in, to me it’s nothing short of a civic duty to support my favorite restaurants by ordering to-go, in the hopes of helping them weather the pandemic storm and survive till “normal” resumes. Mas has long been one of my go-to restaurants in town, and I feel lucky to still be able to enjoy its food. Online ordering is easy, with pick-up in designated parking spaces behind the restaurant.

My Mas must-haves did not disappoint, starting with the warm, smoky, rich Tomates Asados—tender, Roma tomatoes smoked with herbs and sea salt in olive oil. I can eat these straight up or atop a slice of Pan Casero—a wood-fired, hearth baked bread I could never replicate at home (I order extra to have the next day). The Queso y Alcachofa, a warm roasted artichoke and goat cheese spread blended with onions, garlic, and herbs is the perfect tangy, creamy garlicky accompaniment on bread as well.

I can’t order Mas without getting a Bocadillo, the simple yet perfect sandwich of air-dried, cured Spanish serrano ham and manchego cheese, smeared with a garlic aioli on a crusty roll, and I save the best for last: Gambas a la Parrilla, Catalan-style shrimp grilled in the shell with garlic aioli and gray sea salt. A mess to eat, but every bite is simply divine.

In the before times, getting a table at Mas could require one to be a little cutthroat—especially once it got too cold to dine on the patio. I’m going to take the optimistic view that takeout is the next best thing to being there for the time being: the chance to eat some of the finest food in town, in the comfort of my home, minus the wall of bodies all waiting for the rare table opening. —Jenny Gardiner

Milan Indian Restaurant

In this foggy and raw pandemic winter, my household has returned again and again to a restaurant with food that is indulgent and comforting, but also fresh and zesty enough to blast through the haze—Milan Indian Restaurant on Route 29.

The Charlottesville staple offers a wide variety of vegetable dishes, and the Chana Masala is a standout. The chickpeas have a satisfying bite, and they’re served in a tangy tomato-based sauce with a gentle sweetness and layers of spice.

I am also particularly fond of the Baingan Bahaar, a melty eggplant-based vegetable stew. Eggplant is a delicate flavor but this is not a delicate dish; the mixture is oily and rich, and the vegetable’s flavor comes through with plenty of authority.

The chicken Tikka Masala is lighter and less creamy than at some other Indian restaurants. The flavorful sauce, rather than the meat itself, is the star of the show here. It’s especially tasty with a dollop of roughly chopped mint chutney on top. The cool clarity of the herbs multiplies the warmer flavors of the main course.

Milan is a popular spot, and its to-go pickup operation isn’t quite as seamless as some other local restaurants, so it’s wise to order a little before you plan to tuck in.

When the food arrives, it’s plentiful—all the more important in these times of takeout, when there’s special joy in leftovers. I love to follow an evening Milan dinner with a daytime Milan lunch, dumping all of the quarter-tubs of this or that into a pan and sliding the stew onto a bowl of rice. The flavors blend together, but the mixture loses none of its components’ sharpness or fragrance, and the afternoon’s work is always easier after a warm midday meal. —Ben Hitchcock

Corner Juice

Corner Juice is like Bodo’s healthier, trendy sister, and I find myself craving it almost as much as a bagel these days. The menu offers a variety of light, fulfilling options, and provides more than the name suggests: Corner Juice offers sandwiches, toasts, coffee, and oats in addition to cleansing juices, smoothies, and smoothie bowls. Both locations (the Corner and the Downtown Mall) aren’t allowing customers inside due to COVID concerns, but they offer online ordering for pick-up.

I ordered from the Corner shop, which has a QR code to scan to view the menu, so you can order without contact, and I felt immensely safe getting my takeout.

I chose a PSW smoothie, with pineapple, mango, spinach, mint, and coconut water. This was a first, as I usually opt for the Corner Colada or the Green Bowl. I realize there are greens in these smoothies, but I promise you can hardly taste the vegetables. I also added the California sandwich to have for lunch later in the day. It’s a combination of avocado, hummus, carrot, cucumber, red onion, and alfalfa sprouts on organic wheat Pullman bread. Most of Corner Juice’s sandwiches are made on MarieBette bread, which has had my heart for a while, so I was really looking forward to this one. It was a bit dry, so I would recommend adding the herb mayo or basil pesto to it, but other than that, it was fresh and filling, without making me feel sluggish. The coffee with house cashew milk is another great energizer. Overall, Corner Juice helps you get past those early morning or midday blues—in a healthy, delicious way. —Madison McNamee

Categories
Culture Food & Drink Living

Baking connections

The Pie Chest owner Rachel Pennington misses the days when customers would sit and relax in her shop, chatting with friends over coffee and a slice. Photo by Amy and Jackson smith

By Julia Stumbaugh

In 2018, Charlottesville residents Jessica Niblo and Samuel Kane met for a first date at The Pie Chest. But they were both too nervous to eat the shop’s signature dish. Instead, they sipped coffee.

Three years later, in January 2021, Kane proposed to Niblo at the same spot where they’d first met. But like many of Charlottes­ville’s bakery/cafés, The Pie Chest had changed drastically. It was forced to pivot from the kind of community gathering spot where Kane and Niblo gazed at each other over cups of coffee to a purely commercial exchange of money for take-away boxes.

“I think a big part of The Pie Chest’s identity was the space we provided for people…it would get full pretty quickly, and a lot of people would end up talking to people they didn’t know,” says Rachel Pennington, baker and owner of the shop. “Losing that, going to fully carryout and takeout, it’s just heartbreaking. I think of it every time I’m up at the shop now. We’ve lost the buzz that can happen in the room, the connections that can happen…the whole social component is mostly gone.”

The Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville told NBC29 in December that COVID-19 had sliced business revenue in half through the 2020 holiday season. Even places that have been able to remain open have felt the sting, both from the loss of income and the loss of a place to gather.

In Charlottesville, a town defined by its love for food and drink, bakeries and coffee shops are a core part of the town’s social fabric.

“We’re able to stay open and survive, but it’s become more about commerce than community, which is kind of sad,” says Jason Becton, who opened MarieBette Café & Bakery with his husband, baker Patrick Evans. “Eventually, one day, we’ll come back to that.”

With the current closure of MarieBette’s dining room, what Becton misses most is the conversations and connections he used to find with regular customers. But like Pennington, he knows the changes are necessary to keep the business around.

“I think any business that’s been able to stay open is a comfort to people in our community, just because we crave that normalcy,” Becton said. “Even though it’s not quite normal, we try to be able to keep it as normal as possible.”

Thanks to an endless series of stay-at-home orders, home bakers across the United States have turned to their kitchens for comfort, trying viral recipes to make everything from sourdough bread to whipped coffee. But for bakers like Evans and Pennington, who have spent the last year baking to keep their shops afloat, the art is more about sustenance and less about fun.

Even so, their influence has led other local bakers to discover their own love of the craft. Pennington held a series of baking classes in 2019; now, she can turn to social media to see her students reap the benefits. One student displayed her fresh-made biscuits, still golden from the cast-iron skillet. Another posted an album featuring her Pie Chest-inspired veggie pot pie.

“Before I did it for a living, baking at home was absolutely comforting, not just in the process but in knowing that I was able to do something for other people and give them something that they would enjoy,” says Pennington. “So I still know what that feeling feels like.”

The search for that feeling helped spark a new addition to the Charlottesville bakery scene—Pear, a stall at the IX farmers’ market that opened in January 2021, is a local collaboration by two strangers whose only connection was that they both love to bake for people who love to eat.

Myo Quinn, co-founder of Pear, moved to Charlottesville from New York City this summer. Lonely and homesick, the Food Network test kitchen cook headed to the farmers’ market for a sense of normalcy. There she met Holly Hammond, who was working at the Whisper Hill Farm stall.

Quinn is a culinary school-trained chef, Hammond a farmer from Arizona. This winter, they opened their own bakery stall at the market where they met.

“We’ve had a lot of recurring customers, including friends of Holly’s and customers of Whisper Hill, that keep coming over and over again,” says Quinn. “We had our third weekend and the faces started looking familiar.”

Sharing her baking with newly familiar faces has allowed Quinn to weave herself into the fabric of the Charlottesville community. She and Hammond have learned through Pear what the owners of The Pie Chest and MarieBette know well: Even in a pandemic that forces people apart, baking can bring strangers together.
But for now, most of Charlottesville’s professional bakers are left dreaming of a time when their work involves more leisurely connections with customers.

“I long for the first day I can go into a coffee shop and just sit at a table and read the paper,” says Pennington. “I think about it at least once or twice a week. I just want to be part of the food community.”

Categories
Culture Food & Drink Living

Shots that satisfy

It’s been a tough year for restaurants, and it remains a serious challenge for many to stay open. Sadly, we’ve already lost some local favorites, and there may be more to come. However, in the midst of it all, there are amazing stories of adaptation, re-invention, pivoting, and even new businesses opening against the odds. Here are some recent Instagram favorites that offer a glimpse of not just delicious eats, but the resilience and heart of our food community. —Paul H. Ting

@ironpaffles
The fried chicken and mac’n’cheese from Iron Paffles and Coffee is a must-try dish. The paffle is unique to Charlottesville, and an invention of resilient chef-owner Kathryn Matthews. During the last week of 2019, Matthews was involved in a serious car accident that left her unable to perform even simple tasks, and just one week after she returned to work, the coronavirus shutdowns began. Her dining room remains closed, but online ordering, delivery, and takeout are keeping the business going.

@little.star.cville
Little Star was really coming into its own as it celebrated one year in business at the beginning of 2020. With the onset of colder weather, tents have been installed over the restaurant’s outdoor patio. This monkfish, beans, and clam dish is representative of chef Ryan Smith’s food, which features unique ingredient combinations, sauces with impactful flavor, and beautiful plating.

@zynodoa
Zynodoa in nearby Staunton has installed heaters for diners who want to enjoy dishes like this one outdoors. Featuring a beautiful pork chop from Autumn Olive Farms (@autumn_olive_farms), a local farm best known for supplying high-quality products to many area restaurants. The farm went through its own pivot during the pandemic, and started selling directly to consumers.

@cville.foodie
Our local farmers’ markets and food trucks have provided many of us with a variety of delicious options. Two favorites are Sweet Jane’s Kitchen (@sweetjaneskitchen_va) and Tacos Gomez (@tacos_gomez). Sweet Jane’s offers freshly made crab cakes at markets in Charlottesville and Richmond, either cooked and ready to eat or ready to prepare at home. Tacos Gomez food truck has a devoted following, and looking at their Torta Cubana it’s easy to see why.

@sshanesy
As much effort and courage as it takes to keep a restaurant going right now, it takes perhaps more courage to open a new restaurant during a pandemic. In January 2020, brothers John and Scott Shanesy announced plans to partner in Belle (@bellecville), and move from coffee to a restaurant and bakery with a focus on breakfast and lunch. It’s truly heartening to see them go from selling baked goods out of a dining room that was closed before it even opened, to becoming a beloved Belmont neighborhood small business.

@rationsandoldfashioneds
The Wool Factory (@the_wool_factory) planned to open its multi-use space by hosting two weddings in April 2020. Despite the setback of having its first several events canceled, the property pressed on with a socially distanced opening of Selvedge Brewing (@selvedgebrewing) in the summer. The kitchen at Selvedge, helmed by chef Tucker Yoder, serves an elevated version of brewpub food. The Selvedge Burger is made with local beef and is as satisfying as it looks.

@coucourachou
Chef Rachel DeJong, who earned her diplôme de pâtisserie in Paris, and serves as the executive pastry chef for The Wool Factory, recently launched her own project, a bakery called Cou Cou Rachou, which will open soon. Until it does, her classic French breads and pastries are available at The Wool Factory, Grit Coffee, and Brasserie Saison. These perfect canelés are beautiful to look at, taste even better than they look, and, like all of her products, have received rave reviews.

@fowlmouthedchicken
Chef Harrison Keevil deserves special mention—and not just for his delicious food, like this boneless fried half chicken with black pepper honey. Keevil started a free meal program in response to COVID-19 to combat food insecurity and feed area residents in need. At last count, he has cooked and delivered over 31,000 meals locally. Bravo Harrison!