You can never have too many sandwich options, which is why Morgan Hurt and Gabe Garcia, the team behind Kitchen Catering, opened KITCHEN(ette), a sandwich shop in their catering facility and event space at 606 Rivanna Ave.
The menu, divided into four sections—sandwiches with meat, vegetarian sandwiches, salads and sides—is reasonably sized without being overwhelming, and includes classic sandwiches like chicken salad, an Italian sub and two kinds of muffulettas (New Orleans-style and vegetarian). Each sandwich comes with a side of either curried chickpea salad or Mediterranean white beans, and will cost you $7-9 (though muffulettas are a bit more). You can pick up a KITCHEN(ette) sandwich or salad from 11am to 3pm, Wednesday through Friday.
Chicken out
Fried chicken fiends who head out to the fifth annual Gordonsville Fried Chicken Festival at the Gordonsville Fire Company Fairgrounds on Saturday will get more than a belly full of cluckin’ awesome food from a place that was dubbed “The Fried Chicken Capital of the World” in the 1800s. They’ll get a taste of history.
When the Civil War broke out, Gordonsville was the main stop on two railroad lines and it was a major hub for produce coming from the Shenandoah Valley. At the time, the railroad was still new and trains didn’t have dining cars. Enterprising African-American women living in Gordonsville would make fried chicken, biscuits, pies and other treats and head to the train platforms to sell their goods to the train passengers.
This year’s rain-or-shine event will take place from 11am to 5pm on Saturday, May 20, and will feature, among other things, cook-off contests for fried chicken and pies.
Unparalleled options
Parallel 38, which closed its Shops at Stonefield location in January, will reopen next month at 817 W. Main St., the space most recently occupied by Mezza and best-known as the former L’etoile spot. Parallel 38 is beloved among Charlottesville foodies for its small plates based on what’s found along the temperate, middle latitude of Parallel 38, which passes through Napa County and Anderson Valley, California; Portugal’s Setubal Peninsula; Melbourne, Australia; Alicante in Spain; Italy’s Calabria; the Greek Ionian Islands; and our very own Charlottesville.
Chow champs
As the saying goes: Where there’s beer, there’s a sandwich craving. Lucky for Champion Brewing Company patrons, they’ll soon be able to get their food fix at the taproom, located at 324 Sixth St. SE, when its commercial kitchen opens the second week of June.
According to a press release issued by the brewery, the kitchen will offer chef’s specials and raclette sandwiches like those served at Brasserie Saison, Champion’s collaboration restaurant with restaurateur Will Richey (The Alley Light, The Whiskey Jar, Revolutionary Soup), located on the Downtown Mall. Champion has not yet hired a chef for the kitchen.