Tag: Food & Drink

As tightly knit as Charlottesville is, newcomers are likely to feel intimidated—especially so in our food world, which is as inextricably linked an industry as any. Evermore daunting would be taking the helm of a restaurant that’s collected a massive following in the five years it’s been open. But more now than ever, the connections between farmers and chefs are crucial, so when there’s a new chef on the block who’s unwaveringly committed to sourcing locally, he’s welcomed with open arms.

Tommy Lasley came in July via upstate New York to take the executive chef post at Orzo after Bryan Szeliga moved to Philadelphia. A North Carolina native, Lasley attended the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park (graduating in 2007 and meeting The Rock Barn’s Ben Thompson along the way), then stayed in the area to work at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. This particularly ambitious farm-to-table restaurant that’s also a year-round working farm crystallized Lasley’s desire to be a seasonal chef taking Mother Nature’s lead, and a local chef buying farmers’ products.

Getting a hard sell on Virginia every time he spoke with Thompson led the earnest 31-year-old chef here—and diners are only beginning to experience what Charlottesville has gained with his arrival.

Respecting the loyal customer base built by owners Charles Roumeliotes and Ken Wooten, Lasley’s been gradual and studied in his approach to change. He spent the first month working with his staff and Szeliga’s menu. By early September, he began running his own dishes as specials, and even though the menu’s now his, he gauges the interest (and resistance) of guests at every service. Comforting pasta dishes had always been a cornerstone of Orzo’s menu, and since Lasley recognizes the potentially mutinous implications behind taking away a regular’s beloved baked penne, he’ll happily make the old favorites by request.

On the other hand, we eagerly accepted Lasley’s invitation to leave us in his hands. And, welcoming the opportunity to abandon all decision-making, we even asked Roumeliotes to pair our wines.

Piquing our palates with cava and baguette dipped into lemony hummus, we noticed that while the scene on a chilly Wednesday night was as warm and lively as it always is at Orzo, the diners seemed decidedly more focused on their food—admiring, discussing, and Instagramming. And then a slate dotted with petits fours-like canapes stole our attention. Smoked trout on farro flatbread anointed with roe and chives and a pork croquette dipped in beer mustard were both glorious. Olive oil cornbread with squash and goat cheese looked like macarons, and the square of pork terrine between two crackly chocolate crisps looked like fluffy nougat.

Butternut squash soup with hazelnut oil and toasted hazelnuts arrived piping hot from just enough time spent in the oven to melt the cranberry marshmallow on top. It invoked (yet far surpassed) the sweet potato casserole that’s a requisite on Thanksgiving.

Roumeliotes came by with a tropical and briny Albariño to accompany seared scallops with sweet potato, Brussels sprout leaves, and a golden beet emulsion. And a crispy farm egg atop porcini, chickpeas, pecorino, and roasted rapini leaves was a Scotch egg gone gourmet.

We hadn’t looked up once—and the delights just kept on coming. Crispy rounds of chicken mousseline took to a plate strewn with roasted baby beets, walnuts, arugula, and ginger yogurt; and satiny discs of butternut squash joined fried cubes of squash, mizuna, and pumpkin seeds. Variations on an earthy theme that sang between sips of white Burgundy.

Pasta was next, and though the butternut squash ravioli with crispy amaretti, pear mostarda, crispy sage, and brown butter was far more refined than Orzo’s former pastas, it was no less comforting. Half moons packed with peppery, prosciutto-braised greens and mascarpone then studded with crispy chicken sausage met their match with an herbal and juicy Ruché from Piemonte.

When the black wine of Cahors was poured, we were warned that the end was in sight. And the grilled octopus with merguez, potato gnocchi, chili oil, and crème fraîche, plus the Rock Barn pork with Brussels sprouts, apples, and rutabagas, made for quite a finale.

We were still digesting the sheer glory of it all when Lasley came by. We couldn’t help but gush. While he hasn’t had time to dine around town much, he visits local farms every day. It will be a while before he can cook his locavore heart out, but he’ll still work with plenty of farmers throughout the winter, because as he puts it: “We only cook what we can get.” Well, we’ll take it.

Clifton Inn makes a Beer Run
Tucker Yoder of the Clifton Inn teams up with Beer Run on a collaborative “Winter Beer Dinner” on Monday, December 3. Five inventive courses will be paired with unique beers inspired by winter from Bells, La Chouffe, Victory, 21st Amendment, and Liefmans breweries. Festivities and canapés begin at 6pm, with dinner seated at 7pm. For more information and to make reservations, visit cliftoninn.net.

Fresh off the bottling line
The long awaited 2011 Painted Red—a blend of Cabernet Franc, Syrah, and Malbec—and Painted White—a blend of Viognier, Rousanne, and Marsanne—wines from Blenheim Vineyards are finally bottled and ready, with label illustration by owner David Matthews.

The pre-sale of these wines runs through Sunday, December 2. This is the only opportunity to try these wines before they are available anywhere else, and at a discounted price. Each purchase also includes a limited edition, screen-printed, numbered handbill. Order online at blenheimvineyards.com, or purchase in the tasting room at the winery.

Wine and cheese, please
Join Keswick Vineyards on Saturday, December 8 from 1-4pm for a wine and cheese pairing. Keswick staff will lead a sensory adventure in the Barrel Room with cheeses from Caromont Farm and Keswick wines. The cost is $15 for wine club members and $20 for nonmembers. Walk-ins are accepted, or reservations can be made by calling Sandy at 294-3341.

New brews
It takes a champion to run the sales and marketing for family-owned winery Afton Mountain Vineyards, build-out an empty building in Belmont, brew hand-crafted beer, and raise a family. Somehow, Hunter Smith has managed to accomplish all of these feats, and the doors of Champion Brewing Company should open later this month. The soft opening was on November 17, with the first batch of beer brewed, kegs filled, and guests happy. For now, Smith will focus primarily on on-site sales, and some distribution for special releases. The opening lineup will include beers like Bavarian Hefeweizen, Russian Imperial Stout, and a dry-hopped American IPA. Smith will brew every couple of weeks to meet the much-anticipated demand. Find him at 324 Sixth St. SE.

Farm fresh
The Farmhouse at Veritas Vineyard & Winery is the latest addition to the gorgeous compound at the base of Afton Mountain. Since April, executive chef Jonathan Boroughs and chef de cuisine Joel Walding have been cooking up inventive breakfasts, which can be enjoyed either at the farm table, breakfast bar, formal dining room, or al fresco. Dinner on Friday and Saturday nights may be attended whether staying at the inn or not. Diners can nosh on a prix-fixe four-course menu with wine pairings from Veritas Vineyards for $85 per person.

The Farmhouse is already ranked a top inn around the world based on traveler reviews on bedandbreakfast.com, so now’s the time to get your foot in the door. Reservations can be made at veritasfarmhouse.com or by calling (540) 456-8000.

If every restaurant in the world served only pho, that would be fine by me. Pho is the Vietnamese beef noodle soup sensation that has been sweeping the nation the last 10 years or so. Charlottesville has been a latecomer to the pho scene, but there is one place doing it exactly right. Saturdays and Sundays from noon until 5pm, Lemongrass (at 14th and Wertland streets NW) serves the best pho in central Virginia.

Using a West Coast style beef broth as the basis for the beef pho (1) recipe, Saigon native Hiep Pham and his wife Mai, proprietors of Lemongrass, can manage to put the complex concoction on the menu for only 10 hours a week because of the huge kettles and two-day preparation required to brew this wondrous ambrosia in their small kitchen. Serving it only on weekends “is the only way we can maintain a certain quality,” said Hiep, an inspired pho enthusiast. The broth, anchored by beef knuckle, star anise, cinnamon, ginger root, cloves, onions, and scallions and filled out with slices of lean angus beef and rice vermicelli, is an aromatic and sublime blend and goes for under $8. You can pile on basil leaves, bean sprouts, lime, and jalapeño slices at your discretion. And a healthy dose of sriracha sends the whole thing into orbit. There’s also a chicken version.

Moto Pho Co. on West Main Street opened its doors in August and I ran there. The place looks and feels great, emits pleasant aromas and has cool outdoor tables. But after a few visits, giving it ample opportunity, there are a few vexing issues: inconsistent broth; an overpowering and salty fish sauce; and, inconceivably, on my last visit, the chicken pho came lukewarm.

As the chilly night air bears down, you’re going to need some mid-week options and hot soup variety. Bangkok art school graduates Kitty (who grew up in her family’s Bangkok restaurant) and Pooh, both formerly of Tara Thai, took over Monsoon Siam, at Market and Second streets NW, last July and offer a passel of steamy noodle broths. They serve basic chicken and beef noodle soups, but they really let their stride out with their Tom Yum (2) and Guay Teaw Moo. Both soups have very similar stocks based in chicken, vegetables, and fish sauce. The Guay Teaw Moo is spiced with ground and blended Thai red pepper and galangal root—something like a more pungent ginger root—and has an explosive hot and sour thing going on. They lay in nice cuts of lean pork, meatballs, bean sprouts, and a dusting of ground peanuts. This stuff is supreme and goes for $8.95. The Tom Yum is distinguished by the addition of a sweet red curry paste, which makes it a tad, well, sweeter. It’s topped off with cilantro, scallions, and mushrooms. The Tom Yum comes with chicken or tofu at $8.95. And, if you’re ready to drop $13 for soup, the Tom Yum has a seafood option.

Café 88 on Preston Avenue serves a simple, hearty, and very solid beef noodle soup (3) Fridays and Saturdays. There’s bok choy, a heaping helping of roast beef chunks and hefty egg noodles in a zesty beef broth. It’s basic, and nowhere near the flavor adventure of the above-described servings, but comfort food at its finest, nonetheless.

Worth the drive is Pho So 1 on Rigsby Road in Richmond’s West End. Its broth is as good as I have tasted anywhere and I’ve slurped up enough pho—from Seattle to Southern California, from London to Houston, Texas (regrettably not Saigon—not yet anyway)—to float a cruiseliner. Pho So 1 really ramps up the fragrant elements of the broth and offers umpteen varieties, including tendon, tripe, and a chicken pho, Pho Ga. But it’s closed on Tuesday, which I have forgotten twice already.

Nothing makes a wine columnist feel the freakishly swift passage of days more than the realization that it’s Thanksgiving wine recommendation time yet again. Every year, I consider taking a different approach—or even skipping it entirely, hoping that no one will notice the omission of what’s become an annual expectation. (Especially tempting after our beer columnist, Hunter Smith, proffered some mighty fine beer suggestions last week.)

It’s not that I don’t enjoy Thanksgiving as much as the next starch-loving, gluttony-welcoming American; it’s just that with a meal that’s such a patchwork of flavors, there is absolutely no right wine answer. And what’s the point of having a pulpit if I can’t be right?

I jest, of course, because there’s plenty of merit in debating the reds and whites of the matter. After all, having drinkable wine on your turkey table benefits everyone. It ought not cause undue stress though. Just follow these few basic guidelines, buy what you like (and plenty of it), and you’re in store for a happy, happy holiday.

Part of the utter joy (and oddity) of Thanksgiving is that, unless you are the host, you’re in for an entire day with absolutely nothing to do except yell at the television, brainstorm at least one thing you are thankful for in case you get called on at the table, and consume inhumane quantities of food and drink. Since pre-feast nibbles tend to be fatty and salty (as most good appetizers are), you’ll want to start with a drink that’s thirst-quenching, not palate-fatiguing. Think of lithe, zippy little numbers with bubbles and/or high acid and low alcohol. Our area’s artisanal ciders offer all three qualities and pair beautifully with everything from a cheddar cheese nut ball to bacon-wrapped anything.

Wines for the table should be easy and ambidextrous. Most families have at least one trashy dish at their spread that they’re mildly embarrassed by, yet would be loathe to ever give up. Whether it’s the sweet potato casserole covered in marshmallows, or the mushroom soup-canned green bean casserole, it’s part of what makes Thanksgiving so loveable. This same kind of open-armed, free-for-all acceptance should apply to the wines too. Set a smattering of reasonably-priced bottles in white and red on the buffet table and let guests help themselves. Since the meal is traditionally served as one giant feedbag—I mean, course—there’s no need to pour in courses either.

For whites, stick with young, bright wines with plenty of acidity, aromatics, and, if not a touch of residual sugar, at least lots of mid-palate fruit. Austerely dry or overtly oaked wines become positively punishing with cranberry sauce and downright dehydrating with sausage-studded stuffing. Best bets include Albariño, Chenin Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Grüner Veltliner, Petit Manseng, Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Viognier, all of which have the body to stand up to the big bird himself, but also the acidity to cut through those butter-laden mashed taters.

Versatile choices for reds include lighter-bodied, fruit-focused reds with invigorating acidity. Barbera, Dolcetto, Cabernet Franc, Chambourcin, Frappato, Gamay, Grenache, Pinot Noir, and Zweigelt will all wash down that lumpy gravy and have you reaching for more. Tannic wines like Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz are best saved for steak night.

Thanksgiving isn’t the time to bust out your cellar’s treasures either. The funk and evolving complexity of age-worthy wines require more serious food (and drinkers) to be fully appreciated. You don’t want to pull out a 2001 Puligny-Montrachet just to have your Aunt Velma make a goblet-sized white wine spritzer out of it.

Save any polarizing wines (Pinotage and Norton come to mind) for another occasion. You’re bound to get enough vehemence with the in-laws and “that guy” who always brings up politics at the table.

Finally, since the drinking starts early—sometimes once the whites of Al Roker’s eyes appear on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade—steer clear of any wines above 14 percent ABVs unless you want a man down in the pumpkin pie. Zinfandel, a favorite Thanksgiving recommendation among retailers and wine writers because of its all-American heritage, often clocks in at 15-16 percent alcohol. Those almost port-like proportions are more likely to put you under the table than at it. Save the high-octane stuff for dessert, when you can sober everyone up with coffee or a swift kick out the door.

So you see that while there’s no one answer to what to pull the cork on this Thursday, there’s more than a caseful of solutions, all of which should make you very, very thankful.

WHAT WILL BE ON MY TABLE THIS YEAR
Foggy Ridge Serious Cider, Feast!, $18
Patrick Janvier’s Jasnières Cuvée Silex 2010, Tastings of Charlottesville, $28.95
G.D. Vajra Langhe Rosso 2009, Wine Warehouse, $15.99
Broadbent Madeira, Market Street Wineshop, $16.99

Wine Tasting, Olde Dominion Wine Shoppe, Occoquan, VA

434-823-8615

www.whitehallvineyards.com

Beer and Thanksgiving. The words conjure fond memories: an uncle asleep in the La-Z-Boy with a pile of cans on the end table; the Lions game on TV; a semi-interested crowd of family gathered around the set, making small talk. Tradition is great, but the days of discarded cans of Coors and sleepy football fans may be drawing nigh. Craft beer has earned its place on the table alongside everyone’s favorite dishes, and it has some history with the richly traditional holiday.

Despite the Puritan convictions of Pilgrim settlers, it is a somewhat-known fact that the Mayflower and her pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock as a result of a shortage of beer. In sea-faring days, beer was (and still is) a safe source of water, due to the fact that it is boiled in the brewing process, driving off microorganisms that can cause sickness, infection, and dreadful off-flavors in the finished beer. Many of the ship’s passengers became sick as the casks ran dry, and although this progression of illness was disconcerting, the decision to land, we’re told, took place when the death toll rose and the scurvy found its way into the captain’s crew.

Given beer’s presence on the Mayflower and its role as a potable water source in those early times, it’s safe to assume that it also had a place on that fabled first Thanksgiving table. In keeping with tradition, it’s time for beer to reclaim its place amongst the spread, enjoyed alongside our favorites, rather than reserving it solely for post-meal pounding.

The cornucopia of the Thanksgiving meal provides an exciting canvas for beer pairing, with a multitude of beer options matching the equally diverse selection of food items. With foods ranging from vegetables, roasted meats, heavy starch sides, and rich desserts, someone like this writer could just as easily fill a grocery cart with beer. With that in mind, here are some options for your Thanksgiving table, all of which are available at Beer Run.

Petrus Aged Pale
This one is a bit of a curveball, so it may seem a strange first pitch, but it’s a great fit for an across-the-table pairing. The curve is that it’s bracingly sour, but its bubbling acidity cuts through the fat and weight of Thanksgiving dishes so well that it could easily replace your dry sparkling wine or cider.

Kasteel Donker
A dark, sweet Belgian ale, this one pairs best with the most unloved part of the table: dark meat. Try this raisiny, effervescent beer alongside a helping of the fattier turkey meat and consider yourself welcome to the darkside.

Allagash White
This refreshing white ale from Maine will do you a great service by providing a well-balanced and easy-drinking taste alongside a gut-busting spread. If you’re looking for a beer to carry you through the meal without getting in the way of flavor while contributing its own, this is for you.

Southern Tier Pumpking
Sometimes you want balance. Other times you want more pie with your pie. This supremely spiced, biscuity pumpkin ale will provide you with a great opportunity for the latter. Alternatives include Schlafly Pumpkin Ale and Dogfish Head Punkin’ Ale, if the shelves still have any.

Nowadays, restaurant menus are more likely to tell you where the chicken was raised than how it’s prepared. Four years running, the National Restaurant Association has voted locally sourced foods the top trend. But here in Virginia, where our soil takes a long winter’s nap, what’s a locavore chef to do when the growing season ends?

At Brookville Restaurant, Harrison Keevil fulfills his 90 percent locally sourced goal, no matter the season. He’s outspoken about his belief that a chef’s responsibility is to buy our farmers’ products first. “The flavor generated from these farmers’ hard work is second to none. And our money should be going into our community and into our great farmers’ pockets, rather than the big national distribution companies,” said Keevil.

Ian Boden, chef at the recently opened Glass Haus Kitchen, thinks that by now, sourcing locally should be a given for restaurants. “Today, if you are a chef in the United States, and not doing all you can to use local products, you are being irresponsible,” said Boden, who vows to get 90 percent of the menu from local and regional sources in the growing season. He plans to maintain a winter menu that’s 60 to 70 percent local by preserving, pickling, and freezing peak season produce, and by working directly with farmers with root cellars and greenhouses. “It’s just about being smart, not wasting anything, and training my staff to have the same respect for the ingredients that I do and that the farmers do,” said Boden.

While Keevil admits cooking locally year-round is no small feat, he believes it can be done with creativity and commitment. “[Chefs] have to have the mentality of not creating a menu and then looking for the ingredients, but rather looking for the ingredients and then creating the menu,” he said. He believes that diners also need to better understand seasonal eating, taking cues from Mother Nature herself. “To get through the hot summers, we need fresh plates of foods; in the cold winter, we need the warmth of braised meats and root veggies that stick to your ribs and warm you to your core for an entire day,” said Keevil.

Local Food Hub founder Kate Collier acknowledges that the pickings get slimmer come winter. “November to May is tough, but apples, squash, and potatoes store well and we start to distribute more meat,” she said. Last week, for instance, the Local Food Hub still had 50 active clients (compared to 120 in the height of the season) that had three pages of available products from which to choose. Outreach & Development Director Emily Manley estimates that 75 to 85 percent of their two dozen chef clients remain active throughout the winter. And a large part of the nonprofit’s efforts and resources go towards working with farmers to build greenhouses and high tunnels to encourage an extended season.

According to a recent USDA analysis, farmers producing for local markets generally provide 1.3 full-time jobs compared to 0.9 for farmers who sell through traditional wholesale markets. And the crops grown by local food farmers tend to generate higher sales per acre ($590 versus $304 for the average farm). It’s clear from the success of our own farmers’ markets that we’re willing to pay a higher price for food that’s grown by hands that we know. However, sticker shock sets in when dining out. And since the bottom line’s always there for restaurants too, is it economically feasible for chefs to cook this way?

Keevil feels certain that local foods’ higher prices are a deterrent to chefs and he would like to see a tax credit or rebate for restaurants that can prove that they source a certain percentage of their food locally. Collier agrees that a government-sponsored incentive program would help, but in the meantime, she strives to applaud industry supporters the old-fashioned way. Every year, the Local Food Hub recognizes the devoted efforts of area farms, retailers, and institutions with its Community Food Awards. She also hopes that participating institutions will exert some positive peer pressure. With hundreds of mouths to feed and minds to educate each day, it’s institutional chefs that Collier believes have the best results.

Still, the small, independent restaurants are leading the chef charge in this grassroots movement with a massive impact. Keevil’s aspiration for Brookville to be an entirely local restaurant inspires him every day to find farmers who will help make that happen: “If they grow it, Brookville will cook it.”

Under construction 
Nothing says “holiday season” like decorating a gingerbread house. Just as it did last year, Sweethaus is offering a gingerbread workshop at its new West Main location. Drop in on Saturday, November 17 at 10am or Saturday, November 24 at 10am, noon, 2pm and 4pm, and for $25, get a pre-assembled house, a bag of frosting, and all the fixin’s. No reservations required, since the good folks at Sweethaus assemble the houses in advance. Check sweethaus.com/pages/happenings for December dates, too.

And, in other Sweethaus news, the candy shop and bakery is the new supplier of cupcakes for Para Coffee on Elliewood Avenue.

Friends old and new
Other media outlets have reported that Carmello’s, the once-beloved Italian restaurant on Fontaine Avenue (and formerly on Emmet Street) has closed due to unpaid rent. Looks like you’ll have to get your cannelloni alla Toscana elsewhere.

But, fear not. When one door closes, somewhere a Glass Haus Kitchen opens. The new restaurant from Ian Boden (formerly of Staunton Grocery in, er, Staunton) made its debut mere weeks after X-Lounge closed in mid-October. Expect an ever-changing menu (due to being locally sourced) and artisanal cocktails from Sally Myers.

Thanksgiving reminder
If you’re already stressed about cooking that holiday turkey, it might be a better option to leave it to the pros. Make your reservations now for a Thanksgiving feast at The Boar’s Head, Clifton Inn, The Pointe, Keswick Hall, and The Inn at Willow Grove, which are all offering a meal to be thankful for.

Editor’s Note: This story ran as a cover story in C-VILLE Weekly on October 4, 2011. We’re re-running it here in honor of the first day of Virginia Cider Week.

It is tempting to imagine that the resurgence of Virginia hard cider had its genesis in a single moment: Monticello’s Director of Gardens and Grounds Peter Hatch and Virginia gentleman Tom Burford kneeling together with their grafting knives to re-propagate the Virginia Hewe’s Crab apple tree in Thomas Jefferson’s north orchard.

While the image isn’t quite true to life, it represents the way Burford has used the return of Thomas Jefferson’s fruit trees to Monticello to spread his own message: People should be making cider out of obscure apple varieties, because a long time ago they were worth their weight in gold. Newtown Pippin, Harrison, Hewe’s Crab, Roxbury Russett, Ashmead’s Kernel, Esopus Spitzenburg, Red Limbertwig. The names evoke a world of abundance, specificity, and sophistication that characterized the apple trade when cider was king. Today, there are only three commercial cider producers in Virginia.

A modern day Johnny Appleseed, part philosopher and part planter, Burford wants to put hard cider back on the dinner table, and he thinks teaching people to grow the right kind of apples is the way to do it. “The barriers are access to cider making varieties. Demand is greater than supply. And here is another pitfall. If we begin to use less than appropriate varieties we are going to produce inferior ciders,” Burford said.

The beginning
Hatch came to Monticello in 1978 to help execute the vision of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation to restore the estate’s gardens and fruit orchards. The plan was to recreate Monticello’s missing landscape features within the second roundabout, about 200 yards from the house. Between 1979 and 1981, an archeological crew directed by William “Wild Bill” Kelso found 59 original tree stains in a grid pattern in the south orchard that matched Jefferson’s meticulous base drawings. Hatch used Jefferson’s orchard lists to set about obtaining original varieties and re-planting Jefferson’s experimental fruit orchard.

Tom Burford

“We bragged about it at the time, that we could make this the most accurate garden restoration that had ever taken place in this country. And in some ways, in terms of the bones and structure of the garden we were successful,” Hatch said.

A Michigan native who came to Monticello after starting the horticulture program at Old Salem, Massachusetts, Hatch realized that one of the challenges of restoring Jefferson’s orchards was keeping them healthy. Another was finding authentic versions of commercially extinct varieties, ones that hadn’t been corrupted, mislabeled or misrepresented in some way.

In the process he reached out to various local apple experts, like Dr. Ellwood Fisher at James Madison University and Tom Burford. Hatch doesn’t remember his first encounter with Burford.

“Tom just showed up one day in 1982 or 1983. We had actually gone to other people to initially find the historic varieties for the orchard. I had done a study, a historical study, of varieties that Jefferson documented in his orchards. We bought stuff and we grafted stuff and we collected stuff,” Hatch said.

Burford recalls their history more broadly, saying he was summoned to Monticello on the understanding that Hatch was having trouble locating authentic versions of some varieties Jefferson had cultivated.

“Thirty-one years ago, Peter Hatch, young punk, had come to Monticello. He’d been at Old Salem and did a lot of the garden design there. He called me and said, ‘Someone said the Burfords have many of the Jeffersonia varieties, do you have them?’ and I said ‘Yes, Peter, I believe I have most of them,’” Burford said.

Burford, whom Hatch has since dubbed “Professor Apple,” occupies a singular place in the apple world as a source of knowledge, an evangelist, and a raconteur of America’s first fruit.
“The consummate Virginia gentleman, font of traditional knowledge and the dean of American apples. I don’t know how else you’d describe him. He’s one of the most gracious guys I’ve ever met in my life,” Ben Watson, New England-based author of Cider, Hard and Sweet: History, Traditions and Making Your Own, said.

Burford and Hatch like to butt heads about things—like the origin of the Father Abraham apple, and Jefferson’s legacy with the land—but they are good friends and collaborators. Hatch values Burford’s ability both to appreciate the proper balance between sugar, acid, and tannin in a fine cider while grasping the practicalities of growing fruit. His old Virginia accent is a bonus.

“He’s a storyteller. He has real vernacular roots in this part of the world. He combines the elegance and cosmopolitan tastes he learned at the University of Virginia and through extensive world traveling with the down home roots coming from a tradition of farmers and apple growers. You don’t find many of those people anymore,” Hatch said.

Hatch thinks the Father Abraham was one of many varieties to be developed in Virginia in the early 18th century, a period he calls the dawn of American agricultural trade. Burford identifies Father Abraham, in his 1991 book Apples: A Catalogue of International Varieties, as an alternative name for the Danziger Kantapfel, a German variety.

Not lost in the argument is the point that nurseries were big business when cider was the drink of choice at American dinner tables and their catalogues were filled with hundreds of varieties of apples. How many grocery store varieties can you name? Ten? As part of his effort to understand Jefferson’s orchard, Hatch has documented the emergence of cultivated local varieties from the massive seedling orchards that sprung up along the James River in the early colonial years.

“If you look at the nursery lists in American newspapers before 1830, you see that in the big nurseries on the East Coast they’re importing English apples,” Hatch said. “But if you go to Pittsburgh or Fredericksburg or Lynchburg, you see in the advertisements these local varieties are emerging and that was the beginning of Virginia agriculture in many ways, this emergence of these accidental varieties that were suited to the climate here.”

The Fruits and Fruit Trees of Monticello, his book, offers an inside look at Jefferson’s life as an experimental horticulturist, but the restoration of the cider orchard has created a point of departure for the resurgence of heritage apple varieties in Virginia.

Hatch, the scientist, and Burford, the messenger, planted the north orchard with Hewes Crab apples in 1992. Burford provided grafting stock and consulted on the layout. He would walk side by side with fruit gardener Kerry Gilmer telling him how to care for the trees. The Hewes Crab was Jefferson’s premier cider apple (though the lost Taliaferro variety produced his favorite stuff). It was a Virginia apple, partial to Virginia soil and climate, that had emerged near Williamsburg around 1700.

“It was by far the most popular apple variety in Virginia in the 18th century, the most important variety of plant other than maybe some tobacco varieties for economic purposes,” Hatch said.