Tag: Food & Drink

For this year’s Drink Issue, we asked local bartenders what wets their whistles at the end of a shift, queried winemakers on their favorite brews, and raised a toast to the time-honored drinks we’ve featured over the years.

Negroni from The Alley Light

.38 Special from The Local

B. Moss from Bang!

Murano from Maya

Where the pros go

Drinking with friends after a long shift

Bartending shifts are long, physically demanding, and often psychologically draining. So it makes sense that there is a deep camaraderie that develops between co-workers and across the industry. Going out for a drink is both an opportunity to relax and a chance to swap stories and connect with bartenders at other spots. So where do some of your favorite bartenders head when not delighting you with their latest concoctions?

“My favorite place to drink after a bar shift, or on a day off, is anywhere where the crowds have cleared out and you can walk in and be a breath of fresh air for a colleague who’s just been through the weeds,” says Drew Kuechler, who spreads his time behind the stick working at Smyrna and consulting at the newly opened Crozet rooftop spot, Bar Botanical.

Andrea Rouillard, assistant bar manager at The Alley Light, doesn’t venture out with the same frequency as she did in years past, but when the mood to hit the town strikes, she has some favorites. “I like to pop by Lost Saint and see a whole bunch of my friends,” she says. “Nicky and Niko there usually have some playful cocktails with good puns or jokes that make me giggle.”

In a state where drink programs are often limited by brands and ingredients, it can feel more difficult to be innovative, so it’s not uncommon for bartenders to swap advice on fixes for impossible to stock products or share specs on a rediscovered classic. Having recently returned to the Charlottesville bar scene to take the helm as bar manager and assistant general manager at Café Frank, John Higginbotham is viewing things with a fresh perspective. After spending the last two years digging into San Diego’s cocktail culture, Higginbothom is eager to put his learnings to work. “I got to work with some of the absolute best in the business, working in and around incredible bar programs and having access to ideas, techniques, and ingredients I hadn’t experienced previously,” says Higginbotham.

He also finds himself in an era of life where nightly bar outings are a thing of the past. “I don’t go out nearly as much as I used to, but when I do make it out I really dig sitting at the bar at Oakhart chatting with the staff, or the patio at Guajiros, anywhere that has a solid daiquiri and mojito on the menu is calling my name.”

Often when their evenings have been spent crafting the perfect cocktails for thirsty patrons, asking for the same experience from another in the trenches isn’t the look, rather bartenders keep it quick and simple when patronizing other spots. Kuechler says the best part of a post-shift drink—or any drink on a day off—is just chatting with whoever is behind the bar, and “a beer and a shot of fernet, or a rail bourbon, depending on the day” hits the spot.

Rouillard agrees. “I’m a huge fan of all the Miller’s bartenders. And a place that serves me shots of tequila or fernet (depending on the night I’ve had), cold Coors Light, and chicken tenders or pretzel bites until 1am is sure to find a way into my heart. And I have a soft spot for Dex over at Brightside, with his Miami Vices and pimento dip.”

As the long days of summer set in, and much of the Charlottesville service industry sees the pace slow, look for your favorite bartender on the other side of the bar, enjoying a cold drink, whatever their go-to may be.—Carrie Meslar

Original WJ Moonshine Punch from The Whiskey Jar

Espresso Martiki from Vitae Spirits

Big City Blues from Public Fish & Oyster

Beer before wine

Local winemakers share their brewery favorites

“It takes a lot of beer to make good wine” is oft repeated among winemakers, though the saying’s origin remains unknown. After a hot and tiring day working in the vineyard, a cold refreshing beer is often the beverage of choice. Curious as to what local brews area winemakers are enjoying, we asked for their recommendations.

Emily Hodson Veritas Vineyards and Winery

Hodson names the Baby Bask from Basic City Beer Co. as her current favorite. She finds the New England-style IPA to be “a balanced IPA with great freshness and citrus quality.”

Ben Jordan Common Wealth Crush Co.

Jordan also includes a Basic City beer among his favorites. The Te Reo, which the brewery describes as a “New Zealand pilsner,” is a distinct lager, dry-hopped with hops sourced from New Zealand. (Jordan’s recently established winery is located immediately adjacent to Basic City in Waynesboro.)

Stephen Barnard Delfosse Vineyards and Winery

Barnard, who recently took over winemaking at Delfosse after leaving Keswick Vineyards, points to the Home Run Hefe from Patch Brewing Co. as his current favorite. Barnard describes the beer as “cloudy, fruity, and full of that yeasty character” that he loves.

AJ GreelyHark Vineyards

A self-proclaimed “sucker for Belgian-style Tripels,” Greely appreciates complexity not just in wine but also in her beer. She finds the Tripel Note from Starr Hill Brewery to be a great example of the style, specifically appreciating the “hints of fruit and spice” that it brings.

Kirsty Harmon Blenheim Vineyards

Harmon favors the Helles Lager from Fine Creek Brewing Company, located in nearby Powhatan. She describes it as a “light and crisp, no-nonsense beer that is refreshing and perfect in hot, humid weather.” Harmon has sampled numerous Fine Creek brews thanks to an ongoing professional collaboration between Blenheim and Fine Creek.

Rachel Stinson VroomanStinson Vineyards

The Raspberries on Acid from Blue Mountain Brewery currently sits at the top of Vrooman’s list. Although she clarifies that she isn’t seeking this flavor profile in her wine, she finds a “high alcohol sour beer so refreshing in the summer.” She also applauds the fact the beer is aged in used barrels from Michael Shaps Wineworks.

Michael Shaps Michael Shaps Wineworks

Speaking of Wineworks, Shaps offers two recommendations. For everyday consumption, he likes the Three Notch’d 40 Mile IPA due to its “slightly richer style,” and notes the West Coast-style IPA has just enough hop character. However, during harvest, he opts for a lighter, thirst-quenching beer and favors the Hardywood Park Craft Brewery Pils, a classic German-style Pilsner.

Matthieu Finot King Family Vineyards

“I was drinking a lot of IPA 10 or 15 years ago, but I have to say with my old age that I am not drinking as much … I need to watch my dad bod!” This is how Finot humorously explains his preference for beers that are, in his words, “everything that is not trendy.” Finot proffers the “light, crisp, and refreshing” Vienna Lager from Devils Backbone Brewing Company as a great example that aligns with his tastes.—Paul Ting

As temperatures rise, wine enthusiasts naturally adjust their drinking preferences. Besides the desire for something chilled, lighter, and more refreshing in the glass, the culinary options tend to be lighter as well. Seafoods, salads, grilled chicken, and similar dishes pair better with lighter-bodied wines with higher acidity. 

Opting for a red wine, instead of white or rosé, is considered an unconventional choice in the summer. Red wines are typically served at room temperature to allow their depth, body, and complexity of aroma and flavor to shine. However, as it heats up outdoors, so does the temperature of wine in the glass, which can amplify the perception of alcohol, often already high in bigger-bodied red wines, making it heavier and less refreshing. 

Warmer temperatures also intensify the higher amount of tannins in red, resulting in a more astringent and drying sensation on the palate that’s unappealing when seeking out a thirst-quenching beverage. What is often overlooked is that some red wines benefit from a slight chill. They may even be intentionally crafted in a style best served at a lower temperature. These wines offer an interesting and often delightful alternative for warm weather enjoyment.

In general, chillable red wines possess characteristics that allow them to retain the allure of red wine while providing a pleasurable experience when chilled. Look for reds that are lighter bodied, lower in alcohol, higher in acidity, and lower in tannins.

To produce these lighter wines, producers turn to grape varieties such as pinot noir or chambourcin. Harvesting fruit earlier, at slightly lower ripeness levels, helps retain acidity and can result in lighter-bodied wines with lower alcohol levels. Limiting skin contact before pressing the grapes will decrease tannin levels. And some winemakers blend white grape varieties with red grape varieties, reducing body and tannins.

When served chilled, wines of this nature often reveal vibrant fruit flavors and refreshing acidity, in addition to exhibiting great versatility when it comes to food pairing. Keep in mind that even red wine meant to be chilled is not typically served as cold as white wine, and overly cold temperatures can mask the flavors in wine. By experimenting, you might find the best of both worlds—a chilled and refreshing drink that still retains the complexity and flavor associated with red wine.

Play it cool with these local reds

Early Mountain Vineyards 2022 Young Wine Red ($24)
The hybrid grape chambourcin grows consistently in Virginia, and provides a unique combination of good color extraction and low to moderate tannin levels. The 2022 Young Wine is 58 percent chambourcin blended with 42 percent vidal blanc, which is a white hybrid grape. This is intentional winemaking that creates a highly approachable, lean-bodied wine with minimal tannins, low alcohol content, and refreshing acidity.

Lightwell Survey 2022 Between the Light and the Dark ($25)
A collaborative project with Troddenvale Cider, this intriguing blend combines 67 percent grapes including chambourcin and vidal blanc, with 33 percent Ashmead’s Kernel apples. Flavors of citrus, cranberry, green apple, and blossom finish with a hint of gentle tannins. With a modest alcohol level of only 10 percent and refreshing acidity, this blend is light on the palate and very easy to drink.

Bluestone Vineyard 2022 Half Bubble Off-Center ($27.50)
Bluestone characterizes this as rosé, but it has enough color to be considered a light-bodied red wine. Made with 100 percent chambourcin, the bubbles were created utilizing the pétillant naturel method. In short, the wine was bottled just prior to completing fermentation, allowing the naturally occurring carbon dioxide to remain as it finished fermenting in the bottle. The result is a playful wine that delivers red fruit flavors accompanied by a rolling effervescence on the palate.

Ankida Ridge 2021 Pinot Noir ($58)
Pinot noir is suitable for chilling. The grape thrives in cooler conditions, which help preserve its acidity and keep alcohol levels moderate. Additionally, the grape has thin skins, resulting in lower extraction and tannin levels. This example from Ankida Ridge features flavors of bright red cherry and cranberry, complemented by notes of dried leaves and spice. Wonderful without chilling, but a light chill makes it an excellent option for a summer evening.

Spring has brought us a burst of foodie news, and we can hardly keep track of what’s new, what’s gone, and what we can’t wait to try.

Taco the town

Brazos Tacos has officially opened a second location at Barracks Road Shopping Center. The Texas-style taqueria is open from 11am–8pm daily, with a menu Brazos enthusiasts know and love, sans boozy beverages—for now. While the taqueria waits on its ABC license, enjoy your lunch break in style with a juicy NA watermelon marg and munch on an I Willie Love You or This is My Yam in the newly renovated interior, or on the sunny outdoor patio. 

New orders

The arrival of The Forum Hotel at UVA brought two new restaurants to the scene. Birch & Bloom is a modern, farm-to-table steakhouse. For a more casual night out, visit The Good Sport, a welcoming craft beer bar with tavern fare. 

Black Cow Chophouse, a new eatery from the team at Public Fish & Oyster, has been serving up quality cuts from its wood-fired hearth in the former Little Star space.

Up route 29, the much anticipated Seoul Korean BBQ & Hotpot is now open for business. And in Belmont, Tavola expanded by four seats, with the Piccola—a cozy private dining room featuring upscale, chef-curated prix-fixe.

Sip on this

Devils Backbone Backyard, the brewery’s first urban location, opened May 23 at 1000 W. Main St. The space has housed multiple breweries in the past, including Hardywood Pilot Brewery & Taproom.

Monticello got back into the wine business when Jefferson Vineyards was acquired by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation in February. It’s a full circle acquisition that traces back to 1773, when Jefferson convinced Italian vintner Philip Mazzei to plant a vineyard on a plot of land down the road from Monticello. Their enterprise wasn’t as successful as they’d hoped, but 250 years later Jefferson Vineyards is dedicated to crafting outstanding wine, including the 2023 Virginia Governor’s Cup award-winning Petit Manseng 2021.

Moving and shaking

There’s a lot cooking out in Crozet. A flood in Piedmont Place forced early goodbyes to Morsel Compass and Blue Ridge Bottle Shop, but Crozet Creamery is still serving up scoops. Smoked Kitchen made it to higher ground, moving into the former Taste Shack space at 2291 Seminole Ln. Slated to top things off this summer is Bar Botanical, a rooftop concept with mountain views, craft cocktails, and small plates from vegan eatery Botanical Fare.

The Yellow Mug is serving coffee and pastries in the old Green House Coffee space, and up the road Praha Bohemian Bakery & Cafe is open for business. Snag a freshly baked bagel sandwich or kolach from 7am–5pm daily. 

Greenwood Gourmet Grocery brought back its weekly supper club—talk about elevated takeout. The $35 meal feeds two people, with optional dessert, wine pairing add-ons, and a new menu dropping every two weeks.

Dairy tales

At Dairy Market, Angelic’s Kitchen has closed up shop, but it’s not goodbye forever. Owner Angelic Jenkins still serves up her soul food for catering, and says she hopes to land at another brick-and-mortar spot soon. Bee Conscious Baking Co. has also moved out of the food hall. The husband-and-wife duo now offer their delightful baked goods at Ix Farmers Market, and launched their first CSA this year. Flaky pastries will be back soon, once Paradox Pastry moves into the empty stall. Meat-free eaters can find GRN Burger in a new location next to Citizen Burger Stand with new menu additions like the Chik’n Mocknuggets.

Passing the apron

Market Street Wine founder Siân Richards was ready for a new adventure, and turned the keys over to wine aficionado Erin Scala. Ace Biscuit & BBQ closed its doors, before opening again thanks to fan-turned-owner Stefan Friedman. Jennifer Mowad is the new owner of Firefly Restaurant & Game Room. Mowad, who owns Cocoa & Spice in York Place, says “the Firefly you know and love is here to stay … maybe with a little extra sweetness added over time!” She takes over from longtime owner Melissa Meece.

Let’s get dranks

Drink your way through downtown at the Spring Stroll, currently underway through the month of May. The bar crawl features cocktails, mocktails, and specialty drinks at various bars spots including Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar, The Alley Light, and Quirk Hotel. For more info, go to friendsofcville.org

The sips continue with a Pride Bar Crawl on June 3–4. The self-paced bar hop starts with a party at Dairy Market, before moving to Starr Hill, Random Row, Umma’s, and more. Get more deets at @cvillebarcrawl

Finally, enjoy a nightcap during daylight at the Virginia Spirits Expo on June 3. Visit with, learn about, and sample from over 20 award-winning Virginia distilleries. Learn more at virginiaspiritsexpo.com

Pie praise

Help yourself to a piece of pie at Cville Pie Fest (cvillepiefest.com) on June 10. The fundraiser for WTJU includes a tasting, judging, and live music. Got your eyes on the pies? Register your own pie by May 31 to compete for first.

To call Michael Carter, Jr. a farmer would just barely scratch the surface. He does raise crops, but mostly what he grows are connections—to history, to other Black farmers, to markets and opportunities. It’s all encompassed in the term Africulture, also the name of the nonprofit he heads. Sitting in a farmhouse in Orange County, on land his family has owned since 1910, he begins his story by connecting the present moment back to events that took place decades ago.

The land had gone into probate and nearly left family hands, but during the 1940s, Carter’s great-grandmother and her children committed to paying off the debt. “Her three oldest sons were drafted to go into World War II, and they all sent back $29 a month Army pay for two to three years,” he explains. “And her daughters worked as domestics.” They pooled their income and saved the land. “She wanted to make sure she had a place for her boys to come back to and call home,” he says. “It really came close to us not being able to sit here [today].”

It’s not just this visit from a reporter that might never have happened; in a very roundabout way, Carter’s entire life’s work seems to flow from this land.

Surrounded by relatives who farmed and taught agriculture, he says he was “inundated” with the subject as he grew up, but resisted joining the tradition. “I wanted to be an investment banker or a street cop,” he says. “I was in 4-H and FFA and never found it attractive because I never saw Black people in those activities. As I got older the racial bias and cultural differences become much more glaring. There’s guys walking through with Confederate flags on their belt buckles. I stopped participating.”

Yet he majored in agricultural economics in college and, after becoming an African Hebrew Israelite in 2003, found himself farming on an Israeli kibbutz. Growing food took on spiritual importance.

“One of the first things in Genesis, Adam is placed in a garden, aka a farm, and he’s given instructions to till and keep the garden,” Carter says. “That gave me a different type of outlook on agriculture” as an honored, ancient occupation.

More travels followed: to Kenya and especially to Ghana, where he lived for five years in the mid-2010s, working on various agriculture initiatives—like helping conventional farmers transition to organic methods. Living in Ghana’s capital, Accra, he began supplying familiar American vegetables to the African American expat community there—things like kale, broccoli, and lettuce. Though growing those crops was a challenge in the Ghanaian climate, the project “planted a seed of creating a niche,” matching specific foods to specific customers. Yet he still wasn’t connecting all these experiences to his family legacy.  “I could not see the foundation I was standing on.”

Then, in July 2017, something changed. Carter was home in Virginia for a visit, intending to go back to Ghana, but his father had begun to press him to take over the family operation. At a cookout with his relatives here on the farm, he says, “The land started speaking to me.” Reveling in family camaraderie—and seeing his four sons on the land that his ancestors had sacrificed for—awakened a connection. Even in the days when legal barriers and the KKK tried to put Black land ownership out of reach, Carter’s family had held onto these fields and woods. Now, he felt it was time for him to take up the reins. By September, he’d relocated his family to Virginia, and in November, he founded a new business called Carter Farms.

“I contacted the owner of a restaurant in D.C. called Swahili Village,” he remembers, “and inquired about growing managu”—a leafy green that’s eaten in Africa. “We’re in the second largest area of African immigrants in the country, the D.C. metro area. [Those immigrants] usually don’t have access to their traditional foods. I did some more market research and found 15 African grocery stores between Fredericksburg and Alexandria. [I said,] ‘Uh oh, that’s a market.’” He started selling crops like managu and taro leaf wholesale, and found he couldn’t keep up with the demand. “I would take stuff to [the stores] and before I got to 95 from Route 1, they called and said they sold out. It was exciting but frustrating.”

Meanwhile, he began to think about a broader mission. “Carter Farms pivoted to growing farmers versus growing produce,” he explains. “We structured Carter Farms to be much more of a business that also farms. We received a beginning farmers grant in 2019 to help out farmers as an incubator and have grown that ever since.” His focus became the larger community of African American farmers. In 2020 he founded Africulture, a nonprofit arm that supports farmers and promotes the history and culture around Black farmers and African crops.

He had already been involved in getting Black farmers connected to customers—including a big one: Aramark, the contractor that services UVA Dining. Aramark’s regional vice president, Matt Rogers, says he met Carter in 2018 through a partnership with the Local Food Hub and 4P, organizations that do support work for local farmers. “We were starting conversations about how to improve our local supply chain purchases and understanding what the barriers are,” Rogers says. Carter became a voice for BIPOC farmers—a group that Aramark, in conversation with UVA’s Working Food Group, had targeted for greater spending.

“This is a demographic that has been well underserved and is a little bit distrusting of large institutional food systems,” Rogers says. “He is of that community and they trust him.” The barriers for small farmers can be as simple as where to park on UVA Grounds when making a produce delivery.

But Carter says he was concerned about the financials, too. “You need to pay a retail price but buy a wholesale volume,” he remembers telling Aramark. “I’m dealing with vegetable farmers, not commodity farmers that can make up for their low margins with volume.” He saw the African vegetables he’d been encouraging farmers to grow as a niche with both economic and cultural value: “We’re going to be growing some things you can’t get anywhere else.” If there was nutritional and educational benefit to Aramark serving ingredients like Nigerian spinach or callaloo, then Black farmers growing those crops could earn a premium.

Carter secured promises from Aramark to pay well and help out with the food safety certification process, which can be burdensome for small growers. The company also offers up-front guarantees to buy farmers’ produce. “I was shocked they had come to this,” Carter says frankly.

His approach wasn’t just to make demands. He also tried to get people excited. “The [Aramark] chefs came out here [to the farm], and we provided them some ethnic vegetables,” he says. “The chefs were inspired and started to create recipes.” He in turn went to UVA to give a presentation about the ingredients, sending students home with recipe cards in their pockets.

One of the crops Carter highlights is already familiar in the U.S.: good old sweet potatoes. But he’s been spreading the word that the leaves, not just the tubers, are delicious and full of nutrients.

It was news to Clif Slade, one of the many Black farmers in Carter’s network. Slade is a third-generation farmer who grows sweet potatoes on 15 acres in Surry County. For years, he’s been selling “slips”—baby sweet potato plants that other gardeners transplant into their plots in spring. He ships half a million of these around the U.S. every year between May and July, but he’d never considered the leaves to be a crop in their own right.

“I have an acre of plants that basically is worthless come July 15; I can’t sell them anymore,” he explains. “In comes Michael Carter and he says ‘Let’s see if we can sell them.’ We cooked [the greens] and they were very delicious. If it can turn lucrative, we can have these sweet potato greens right on up to Christmas.”

He says that Carter’s marketing savvy adds something important to his operation. “Mike’s a very enterprising young man,” he says. “This is like a byproduct, but it’s very scrumptious. I’m more of a grower than a marketer, and I’m 69 years old. He knows how to use all the social media. If it wasn’t for Mike I wouldn’t even try this.” He’s exploring the possibility of supplying both UVA and William & Mary with sweet potato greens, and says that Carter has plans for a public event at Slade Farms with food trucks and chefs.

According to Rogers, Aramark is already buying from eight or nine BIPOC farmers to supply UVA Dining. It took a few years to get there. “That was fall last year, really having this thing off the ground,” Rogers says. “Everything to that point was more capacity-building.”

Meanwhile, Carter continues to expand the scope of his mission. He sees his support of Black farmers as the preservation of an endangered way of life. “In 1925 in the state of Virginia, there were approximately 50 to 52,000 Black farmers,” he says. “[By] 2017 there were 1,333 Black farmers. That’s a 98 percent decline. This is an extinction-level event. In any situation where you have extinction you have to change the environment. I’ve sought to change the environment.”

As ever, that means attending to culture as much as to the business side. “I learned in Ghana that everything is connected,” he says. He keeps on finding more links: between the African-derived banjo and the gourds it can be made from; between young kids of color and the natural world; between American weeds and the African plants they sometimes resemble. The farm continues to act as a base for Carter to share these moments of expansion with all kinds of visitors. “When people leave here I want them to leave full, not with bellies, but with knowledge and soul being full,” he says.

Carter is teaching an Africulture course at UVA—bringing the connections to an audience on Grounds, even at a moment when diversity initiatives at the school are under attack. “I never expected someone would ask me to consult with a major corporation or teach at a university,” he says.

“I don’t claim to be an overly great farmer in terms of produce, but I grow farmers. And my greatest commodity is my story.”

Now growing

At Carter Farms, Michael Carter, Jr. plants many vegetables that are native to Africa, and are popular ingredients for immigrant communities in Virginia.

Managu

Common in Kenya and surrounding regions, managu leaves are often cooked with other greens.

Taro Leaf

Poisonous before cooking, the leaves of the taro plant are a staple in Africa and Asia.

Nigerian Spinach

This is an African green that’s used in soups and stews in many countries across the continent.

Callaloo

A rich leafy green that is frequently made into a popular Caribbean dish of the same name.

Sweet Potato Greens

The classic sweet tuber’s leaves have plenty of nutrients and flavor.

Michael Ketola

Chef and general manager
Mas Tapas, mastapas.com

A steak in the biz

Without formal training, I entered the world of professional cooking in 1996, when some college friends from JMU mentioned that the steakhouse they worked at was looking for a cook. So, eager to try something new (and not move back home) I began working at Claiborne’s. I remained there for a year before moving to Charlottesville, where I made it a point to pick up ways to improve myself over the course of working in a variety of kitchens, from Bodo’s to Rococo’s to Starr Hill restaurant.

Chaos and passion

For me, professional cooking has always checked a variety of boxes that I enjoy:  I love the exhilaration I get from being part of a team,  “locked in” with one another in the midst of the (semi) controlled chaos of a busy dinner service. I love the delicate balance of precision and artistry that goes into every plate, and the creative outlet provided by designing new menu items. I love the variety of unconventional and passionate co-workers I interact with, plus interacting with local farmers and purveyors and feeling like I am expanding community bonds by doing so. But at the root of it all, I have always found immense joy in making people happy.

Smoke it

I’m always happiest cooking-wise when I’m able to incorporate the process of smoking into anything I prepare. A great example of this is our Smokra (above), a dish composed of smoked okra, roasted sweet corn, onions, peppers, and herbs. The smell of that dish coming off the line is simply intoxicating! Be on the lookout for it later this summer, when all of those wonderful things are in season.

Recipe to rock

Somehow, even with all of my work and family responsibilities, I find time to play music in a few different projects: Peen (a local Ween cover band), and I also play guitar in a classic, Southern country rock band called Campbell Road Band. We’re playing Fridays After Five on June 9, with the Chickenhead Blues Band.

For our ongoing series Why Do You Cook?, C-VILLE Weekly asks area food and drinks folks what motivates them to clock in every day. If you would like to be considered for this column, please email tami@c-ville.com.

By Carrie Meslar

Whether you’re a visitor from out of town or a local restaurant regular, there’s significant pressure that comes with the query, “Where should we go to eat?” The answer is reliant on any number of personality quirks, dietary restrictions (both real and imagined), and the experience you are seeking. Those in the know usually rely on a few standbys, and a good recommendation becomes a great one when you, with a wink and a nudge, add the insider knowledge of an item they absolutely must order.

The following list is a rundown of side dishes that have loyal followings, some have been area favorites for years, while others are newcomers that have quickly made an impression on diners.

Charred carrots at Oakhart Social

Carrots, yes carrots, have been the subject of enthusiastic conversation among friends who have had the chance to dine at Oakhart. Once they were even the subject of an ice breaker during a job interview. These charred carrots sit on a bed of buttermilk ranch, and are complemented with seasoned pecans and delicate pea tendrils. They are proof that vegetables can be complex, flavorful, and memorable. 

Red hot blues from Continental Divide

There’s never been a trip to Continental Divide when I did not order the Red Hot Blues. There is something about this glorious plate of spicy blue corn chips, thickly coated with goat and jack cheese and red onion, then shoved under a hot broiler until perfectly done, that satisfies multiple cravings. It doubles as a recovery food that brings you back, and the dish sustains you through that ill-advised second or fifth margarita. If sharing with more than one person, a second order is advisable to keep friendships intact, and family feuds at bay.

Bacon-wrapped dates at Mas

It is a universally accepted phenomenon that magic occurs when things are wrapped in bacon. At Mas, the once-geriatric snack that is the date transforms into a culinary craving when it gets dolled up with a sizzling strip of bacon. The Mas version of this snack that originates from Victorian England is so beloved that, when working for a local catering company, I was asked by multiple couples if it was possible to recreate it for their wedding.

Fried oysters at Siren 

The level of enthusiasm for Siren’s take on fried oysters makes it clear that Laura Fonner and her team are on to something. Described to me as “one of the most perfectly constructed bites of food in recent memory,” the fried oysters have received the kind of praise that will propel them to iconic status. They get their moment in the spotlight fried in panko, and dressed with herb aioli, lemon pearls, pickled fresno peppers, and shallots. 

Polpettine al forno at Lampo 

“Bring me back some meatballs!” is an expression this vegetarian never expected to hear, let alone multiple times when announcing I was headed to Lampo for dinner. Housemade mozzarella melted atop these meatballs makes for an elevated spin on the classic comfort food, and allows for maximum cheese pull. With the rise of Lampo2Go, Charlottesville residents are now able to enjoy this staple from the comfort of home. While which pizza to get might be the subject of intense debate, the meatballs come with a more simple question: How many orders are enough?

Cinnamon roll at Belle

To leave Belle without a cinnamon roll is to exhibit significant willpower. Perfectly positioned in the bakery case, these jumbo-sized rolls can play any number of roles in your day—as a treat-yourself breakfast, the perfect way to finish a meal, a balm for your sadness, or joy in the craftsmanship that is the bread at Belle. These sourdough-based indulgences have a perfect softness on the inside and just the right amount of icing coating the top.

Griddled mac and cheese at Miller’s

It’s something of a Charlottesville tradition to sit on the expansive patio of Miller’s, particularly in the summer months when the trees offer significant shade and the Downtown Mall is at peak people watching. When diving into the menu, a seasoned veteran knows the griddled mac and cheese is not to be missed. Crispy exterior and gooey cheesy interior? That’s when a staple side goes from a good choice to a can’t-resist one.

Menus, particularly entrées, can change frequently to reflect seasonality, availability, and the chef’s creativity or whims. It’s a game of chance, and something that captures your fancy vanishes as quickly as it arrives (I’m looking at you, ramps). However, when the ingredients are accessible and the masses throw their collective weight behind a dish, its existence can be tied to the restaurant in an inseparable way. 

Did we miss your favorite dish? Tell us about it. living@c-ville.com

Brewing beer is about control: controlling ingredients, controlling processes, controlling product. 

But it’s also about deciding when to let go.

Take Three Notch’d Brewing Company. It started small, with brewmaster Dave Warwick, supported by a team of four administrators, making a few hundred barrels of craft beer per year at their Preston Avenue home.

At the time, in 2013, Warwick controlled a lot of what was going on. He brewed the beer and helped with market research, administrative tasks, marketing, and accounting. 

As his company grew, Warwick had less control over the Three Notch’d brew-niverse. He began delegating responsibilities, and the change seems to have worked to the brewery’s advantage. 3NB now has a full accounting department, HR director, six-person marketing department, chief growth officer, VP of sales, and VP of retail. “That allows me to focus just on the liquid,” Warwick says. “Not wearing as many hats is great for both me and the company.”

Today, 3NB is the largest beer producer inside Charlottesville city limits by a wide margin. In-town brewers produced about 17,500 barrels of beer last year, with Three Notch’d accounting for roughly 15,000. At 31 gallons per barrel, that’s 542,500 gallons of beer produced in 2022—enough to fill 85 percent of an olympic-size swimming pool. Or enough to send 4.34 million pints sliding over the bartop.

The production number should tick up in 2023 to 23,500 barrels, with most Charlottesville breweries increasing production numbers and at least one small brewer expected to go online. 

In other words, that olympic-size swimming pool will overflow by 60,000 gallons by the end of the year. Charlottesville drinkers will have access to nearly 6 million pints within a 10.3-square-mile area.

“There’s something really special about being able to go to a neighborhood brewery and drink a beer that was packaged literally an hour before you’re drinking it,” says Josh Skinner, director of brewing operations at Selvedge Brewing, Charlottesville’s nano-est craft operation. “I think people recognize the value in that, and it’s why our industry has enjoyed continued enthusiasm and support from the community we serve.”

Dialing in 

Can craft beer makers control their production numbers? Sure, to a certain extent. But they’re also beholden to market demand and, increasingly, supply chain and distribution issues.

Craft beer production and consumption totals are projected to increase substantially nationwide in the next year. This prediction is inconsistent with recent trends, according to Keith Clark, central Virginia sales director for Virginia Eagle Distributing Co.

Clark says the past several years saw craft beer slowly leak its “share of throat” as new drinks percolated. That doesn’t mean craft beer is shrinking, but it’s not growing at nearly the clip it did over the previous decade. 

Hard seltzers were first to encroach on beer’s share, then it was ready-to-drink cocktails in cans, with seltzers taking a slight dip downward. “That’s not to say seltzers aren’t still doing extremely well,” Clark says. “It’s just not the hot new thing anymore.”

Brewers Association national beer sales and production data indicate craft beer continued its “long and unsteady recovery in 2022,” with retail sales back to pre-pandemic levels but “draught beer … still recovering.” In 2021, the last full year for which the association has comprehensive data, total U.S. beer sales were essentially flat, but craft volumes ticked up by 8 percent, raising small and independent brewers’ market share to 13.1 percent. Production volume showed similar 2021 growth, with overall beer ticking up 1 percent and craft growing 7.9 percent. Craft beer’s retail dollar sales also grew in 2021, to $26.8 billion. Analysts, though, say the increase was mostly due to consumers paying more for brew in bars and restaurants than they did in stores in 2020.

The Brewers Association reports 9,247 breweries operated nationwide in 2021. Five hundred fifty opened in 2022, but at least 200 closed. Brewery openings topped off in 2018, while closings reached a head in 2020, largely due to COVID-19. Even so, closure rates had increased every year since 2013, regardless of the C-word’s effect.

Charlottesville wasn’t immune to the trend, and after years of industry expansion, a well-regarded local shop, Reason Beer, closed its doors. Reason’s closing came about in no small part due to a star-crossed merger with Champion Brewing Company. “Our facility merger at the beginning of last year was so snake-bitten from the start when it comes to lead times and supply chain issues out of our control,” says Champion owner Hunter Smith.

Defying the openings trend locally was Rockfish Brewing Company, which launched a second nano-brewery and taproom last year on the Downtown Mall. This year, Neon Culture Brewing has a chance to launch a two-barrel system capable of brewing 500 barrels annually—though owner Corey Hoffman says he will likely continue operating at a low level out of the Decipher brewhouse—and SuperFly Brewing Co. expects to get off the ground and pump out up to 400 barrels.

“Without having been open, there already seems to be some enthusiasm in town for it,” says Ed Liversidge, SuperFly owner and operator. “I certainly think there is a town full of people willing to come and try new beer. I know that’s how I feel about it. I’ll always go check out the new place.”

Liversidge says he plans to carve his niche in the local taproom market as he goes, using consumer feedback to find the beers that resonate most. It’s a move that gives away a lot of control to beer drinkers.

But maybe central Virginia beer lovers are special, and maybe Charlottesville can support more breweries per capita than most small towns. After all, Richmond has the fourth-most breweries per capita in the country (25 breweries, for 10.77 per 100,000 residents), according to Move.org.

“All the small breweries here are quite different, and there are things I like about each of them,” says Liversidge, whose background and brewing lineage has taken him from the U.K. to the U.S. West Coast and now Virginia.

Taking on challenges

Smith opened the Champion taproom doors adjacent to downtown Charlottesville in 2012. Times were simple then. Get raw materials, make unique beer, sell it across the bar. But Champion grew quickly, and with rapid growth came control issues.

One solution? Retake control of the environment in which consumers enjoy beer. For Smith and Champion, that meant featuring restaurants in their expansion strategy. The approach sidesteps Virginia’s sometimes tricky distribution regulations and ensures the product arriving at a beer-lover’s table is the one the brewer intends.

Enter COVID. Restaurant closures meant folks could only consume beer in their homes. Restaurants like Champion Grill in The Shops at Stonefield and the brewery’s Lynchburg location closed in 2021. Then, late last year, Champion announced a major distribution move, shifting its ale allocation to Bevana, a North Carolina-based company launched by former Champion principal Levi Duncan.

The latest wave of Charlottesville breweries, including Random Row Brewing Co., Decipher Brewing, Rockfish, Selvedge, and the still-to-come SuperFly, have all sidestepped beer distro challenges by sticking to taproom-only sales. Each ballparks its packaged to-go brewshare at around 10 percent of overall sales. That includes only hand-bottled or canned offerings and growlers/crowlers filled at the tap.

“I don’t really have much of a desire to distribute,” says Peter McMindes, Rockfish owner and head brewer. “There’s legislation out there to allow small breweries to self-distribute; then we’d be able to put some specialty bottles out to local bottle shops. But we’re not dealing with economies of scale or volume that makes distribution worthwhile.”

Supply chain issues are another story. The pandemic and an industry-wide drift away from bottled beer set off a can shortage two years ago. Now cans seem to be back, but brewers face the same raw materials cost increases as business owners do in nearly every economic sector. 

“I’m getting emails from all our suppliers, from grain to hops to CO2, saying they have to raise prices, and we can’t just keep raising ours to the point that we price ourselves out of the market,” says Brad Burton, co-owner and head brewer for Decipher.

According to Skinner, sourcing malt from local malster Murphy & Rude has softened the blow of rising freight costs. Still, Random Row’s Kevin McElroy says he’s had to up prices due to hop cost increases. German and Czech hops in particular will be pricier and scarcer throughout 2023 after poor harvests last year. 

Staffing is another issue befuddling brewers, but Burton says properly run nano-shops are uniquely suited to combat inevitable HR issues. “We were in the best possible spot we could have been in the shutdown,” he says. “We didn’t have any employees or distribution. The brewers that had large distributions took the brunt of the hit, because there was zero beer going out in kegs and being sold to restaurants. Just managing growth—that’s what gives you a sustainable model.”

Burton doesn’t expect to see further contraction in the craft brewing industry—people have been talking about a “bubble” for a decade, he says—and other brewers around town tend to agree. Breweries are notoriously helpful to one another, and the taproom sales model keeps locations from competing for shelf space. Warwick, who does have to worry about shelf space constraints, also points out the lack of competition between 3NB and the nanos. “That’s why it’s easy to be friends, get along, and help each other grow,” he says.

Smith, whose distribution at its height reached farther than any other Charlottesville-proper brewery, believes the industry is finally beginning to stabilize. Brewers can now forecast raw material pricing and need, not to mention consumer demand, he says. “Keg sales came back, but it’s not the same, and it may never be the same,” he says. “There was a point at which every restaurant had to become a beer bar. Now bars and restaurants are saying they don’t necessarily need 20 taps to make their customers happy. It’s more competitive for those taps, but volume is climbing back.”

After all the chaos of the last several years, maybe some sense of control is back.

Tippling with trends

For his part, McMindes isn’t willing to give up control when it comes to flavor-of-the-week preferences. “We don’t do trendy stuff,” the Rockfish owner says. “We don’t even name our beers. And our logo doesn’t have anything to do with beer.”

McMindes says he went into brewing because he couldn’t find anything on the market as good and suited to his own taste as he made on his homebrew system. It’s a familiar hubris that has led to the downfall of many well-meaning hobbyists-cum-pros. But McMindes might be onto something by emphasizing personal taste. 

In McMindes’ mind, nano breweries have more control than anyone else in the beer biz. They aren’t beholden to growth or profits. They can listen to their customers right over the bar, taking the hard work out of market research.

For breweries that do follow trends, Clark says the one that stands out above all others is consumers looking to control themselves—by drinking non-alcoholic beer. “Our Anheuser-Busch rep showed me the NA numbers in Europe, and I was like, ‘There is no way,’” Clark says.

The trend has certainly spread across the Atlantic. Clark says Virginia Eagle ran out of its NA portfolio during the past Dry January, a now-annual tradition when sober-curious folks give up the alcoholic goods.

Smith notes that non-alcoholic beer has become tastier due to the ever advancing science behind it, and drinkers who would never before reach for an O’Doul’s or St. Pauli NA now select near beer over hazy IPAs, adjunct stouts, and fruited sours. 

These days, not only are the national guys getting into the NA game, but the locals are going buzz-free as well. 3NB looks to lead the mocktail barrage in Charlottesville. Warwick says the brewery doesn’t know yet how much NA will constitute its production this year, but he and his team launched the non-alcoholic Uncool brand in January with plans to expand.

Non-alcoholic drink demand is echoed in a trend several local brewers point out—a growing gusto for lagers at 4.0-range ABVs rather than IPAs in the 6s and above. Burton, for one, is all about that lager life. 

But NA fanaticism flies in the face of another trend that has the attention of local brewers: relatively high ABV cocktails in cans. Even though it ain’t beer, the big guys like 3NB and Champion are launching ready-to-drinks to grab a share of the latest drinking deluge.

Clark says he’s seeing some of today’s price-conscious consumers going to the extreme on lager love, rejecting the skyrocketing price of craft beer and rediscovering quaint macros like PBR. Warwick says he hasn’t seen the same.

“My favorite thing about craft beer is that the loyalty isn’t so much to brands as it is to style,” Warwick says. “Craft beer drinkers share the love … and everything I see is people will still gladly pay extra for flavor, quality, and to support local brewers and craft.”

McMindes notes that, locally, most breweries have gone the Champion route and try to control the downstream consumption environment by running restaurants instead of taprooms only. His approach? Stay on brand. Reject the trend.

Finding a balance

Even Charlottesville’s beer can’t be controlled.

Yes, we know citywide production should be about 23,500 barrels next year. But we also know that crouched just outside of town are major brewing industry tigers who stand to top that production by at least five-fold.

Starr Hill, opened by Mark Thompson in downtown Charlottesville in 1999 before craft beer was cool, can reportedly dump nearly 30,000 barrels annually from its Crozet and Roanoke brewhouses. Devils Backbone, purchased by A-B InBev in 2016 to the chagrin of beer nerds, boasts production of 84,000 annual barrels. And Blue Mountain, whose owner Taylor Smack also runs South Street Brewing downtown, makes almost 3,000 barrels per year.

Several other players dot the 151 corridor—Thompson’s Brewing Tree, WildManDan Brewery, Hazy Mountain—which has become a destination for beer lovers, many of whom have no idea what’s going on down the road in Charlottesville.

“That corridor is only getting busier and busier,” Warwick says—and 3NB is looking to get in on the 151 action; the team has purchased the assets of the former Wild Wolf Brewing Company and plans to run it under its own label. “It’s such a destination,” Warwick says. “It’s definitely the hub in Virginia for amazing alcoholic beverages, from wine to beer to hard cider to distilling, even mead.”

When Smith launched Champion, he in fact wanted his brand to be a foil to the big players right outside town. Starr Hill, Blue Mountain, and Devils Backbone had seen so much success selling lagers; he and Champion would carve their niche in unique ales and one-off releases. “We used to joke that we never needed to brew a single lager beer,” Smith says. 

That outlook has changed, Smith admits, as so many things have on the local beer scene. For years, Champion was the biggest brew producer inside city limits. The company pushed its Woolen Mills Missile Factory, named after the brewery’s flagship IPA, to a 15,000 barrel capacity in 2016, with lagers a major part of the mix. 

But last year, Smith and Champion moved the production site outside town. The new brewery was “essentially a construction site” most of the year, Smith says, brewing only 2,500 barrels in 2022. This year, Smith expects the number to be back up to nearly 7,000.

For Champion, other things over the last several years were beyond control. The closure of two Champion Hospitality Group restaurants was only the culmination of the group’s supply chain and consumer demand issues.

“Expansion through restaurants has always been something that we had hoped to do in partnership. We are a brewery. We are not restaurant experts,” Smith says. “But I have to laugh. Expanding through restaurants when we did was a stroke of bad luck.”

Smith says the future is under control, though, and it’s a sentiment that’s reflected by brewers all across the hamlet. 

“Last year was really tough,” Smith says. “But without going into great detail, keep watching. We are not done.”

Rachel Pennington

Owner: The Pie Chest, thepiechestcville.com

A spirit of togetherness

“I cook because I have to. I have no other choice. Deep within me resides the desire to please others through a soul-level-comforting pleasing of the palate. 

“Therein is the secret to a good life. Eating, drinking, and being merry. Through this we commune with one another in a spirit of togetherness, remembering the past, enjoying the present, and creating the future.”

Bye day

“I own The Pie Chest and have no formal culinary training. That is quite the story! Eight years ago we opened on March 14, 2015 at 9:26am (3.1415926), and this coming Pi Day will be our last day in the Fourth Street shop. I am very much looking forward to bespoke baking and transitioning away from the daily capitalistic slog.”

Something other

“When I was 6 years old, I learned that love tasted like strawberries. Specifically, strawberries freshly picked from Emmett and Lorene Coleman’s backyard patch in Oak Hill, West Virginia. Firm in my small hand, tugged and torn from the stem, smelling of the sweetness of fresh earth and the red heart-berry inside. 

“As an adopted child, the Colemans were my ‘pretend’ grandparents (the parents of my mother’s best friend). Along with my Nanny, Lois, I was granted my very first taste and scent memories: strawberries, honey, freshly baked cookies.

“Outside of baking cookies as a child, I did not have much culinary experience. Something ‘other’ has always been at work behind the scenes, a joining together of three grandmothers: an adoptive one, a pretend one, and an unknown one.

Tied together

“One of the first pies that I mastered for The Pie Chest was strawberry rhubarb. In the strawberry rhubarb pie, there is a triple-braided cord that cannot be severed. 

“When I was working on my pie crust recipe early in my baking career, I found Nanny’s version buried in a box, complete with grease stains and blurred ink. I used it as a template, a foundation, and each spring for the past eight years, I painstakingly make a filling with strawberries from local patches, joining them with fresh rhubarb grown in Appalachia.

“A few years ago, my birth sister discovered me via Ancestry.com after looking for me for her entire life. I have learned about my paternal grandmother, Dorothy, an avid and award-winning baker and cook, and I realize she has always been a part of me, the invisible ink, so to speak, writing words I have only begun to read.

“In this single pie, these three women come together, much the way a pie does—a foundation, a filling, a topping, baked together with the binding of butter and love.”

For our ongoing series Why Do You Cook?, C-VILLE Weekly asks area food and drinks folks what motivates them to clock in every day. If you would like to be considered for this column, please email tami@c-ville.com.