Lampo co-owner Loren Mendosa says the auctions are a great way to give back to the community. Photo by Rammelkamp Foto
By Meg Irvin
Brewing a Charlottesville beer with Champion. A holiday party for 50 at Duner’s. The ultimate tailgate party from Maya. These experiences and many more will be available to the highest bidder in a series of restaurant auctions, which kicked off June 17 and benefit the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.
Simon Davidson, an attorney (and occasional C-VILLE contributor) who runs local food blog Charlottesville 29, first held the auctions in 2016, a result of wondering what would happen if the 29 restaurants he highlights each year could give back to the community in some way. That “what if?” surpassed Davidson’s wildest expectations, and ultimately raised approximately $80,000—the equivalent of about 320,000 meals—for the food bank.
The auctions paused for two years, in part because Davidson was sensitive to the fact that many of the items were a big ask for restaurant owners. But this year, several of them expressed interest in bringing the campaign back to life. “The restaurant industry is known for pretty tight margins,” Davidson says. “The fact that restaurants would be so generous in creating these experiences speaks to how special the food community in Charlottesville really is.”
Special scarcely begins to describe Lampo’s contribution—the brick-by-brick construction in the winner’s backyard of a pizza oven designed like the one at the restaurant. When the installation is complete, sometime in 2020, the Lampo team will provide all the ingredients and on-site cooking for a pizza party. The value of the package is about $30,000.
“This seemed like a cool way to be able to share our knowledge of pizza ovens and give back,” says Loren Mendosa, co-owner of Lampo. “I’m excited about the materials and working with Corry Blanc from Blanc Creatives.” (The company has been recognized for its excellence in creating hand-forged iron cookware.)
Other partnerships can be found throughout the auction. A Szechuan Corkage Dinner for 10 at Peter Chang’s will include custom wine pairings selected by Erin Scala, owner of Keswick’s In Vino Veritas. “I’m honored to be involved and to team up with such a great restaurant to raise money for the food bank,” Scala says.
Though bids can run high—one has already reached more than $12,000—group bidding is encouraged to make the extravagant experiences more accessible. In that spirit, Bodo’s Bagels wanted its addition to the auctions to reflect its “everyone is welcome” philosophy. The result? A raffle, where for $5 a pop one lucky winner could win the opportunity to chow down at Bodo’s every day for a year.
“The auctions provide a wonderful financial boost, and the awareness is tremendous,” says Millie Winstead, director of development for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. “Our clients are one illness or a really harsh weather month away from not being able to get food on the table. I’m just blown away by those who are so willing to share their skills and their connections so more people can eat.”
Ready to bid? One auction is announced each day on charlottesville29.com, and stays open for at least 30 days. With events like a margarita party at Al Carbon, an Indian feast for 50 at Milan, a Super Bowl bash at Oakhart Social, and “the wine dinner of a lifetime” at Fleurie still available, the incentive is pretty strong.
Carpenter Anne Lassere working on a project last year for the
Building Goodness Foundation.
Photo: Eze Amos
Anne Lassere is the very model of a young woman whose career is about to take off. Competent, confident, poised and well-educated, the daughter of a doctor and a lawyer, she’s studied sculpture and anthropology and has lived in France, where she worked as a translator. She’s recently left her job to launch her own firm, at age 32.
The business? Construction.
Lassere is a skilled carpenter with a brand-new contractor’s license, and on the first project for her new company—renovating a house near downtown Charlottesville—she’s handling everything from replacing the flooring to moving the staircase to updating the bathrooms, with a little help from her friends:plumber Kristi Williams and electrician Chelsea Short.
An all-female construction crew is pretty unusual—women still represent only 3.4 percent of the construction trades workforce, says the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. Yet the skilled construction trades offer covetable jobs: wages are from 3 percent to 22 percent higher than the median in Virginia, according to the Associated General Contractors of America, and most don’t require a college degree. Through apprenticeship programs, tradespeople can even get paid as they learn the job. The gender pay gap is also lower: Women in the construction industry earn 95.7 percent of what men do, compared to the overall national wage gap of about 80 percent. So, at a time when women have become well-established in traditionally male professions ranging from medicine to finance to law, why aren’t we seeing more women plumbers, roofers and masons?
It’s not for lack of jobs: the industry is begging for skilled workers. Construction in Virginia has rebounded, and 92 percent of construction firms report difficulty finding both salaried and hourly craft employees, according to AGC. It’s projected that Virginia’s demand for trade workers, including in construction, will create almost 218,000 jobs between now and September 2020. And many current workers are soon-to-retire boomers.
In response to the shortage, federal, state, and local programs have proliferated to encourage more women to join the field, and they may be making inroads. But the barriers are high.
Why women don’t take the trade route
A CATEC student works on a class project, a modular house that will be auctioned off as a fundraiser. Photo: Amy and Jackson Smith.
The first hurdle: a huge bias towards a college education. Pam Haney, general superintendent and safety director for Charlottesville construction firm Martin Horn, sees this attitude in her work with the Central Virginia Apprenticeship Council: “All these kids hear is ‘college, college, college,’” she says. “College isn’t for everyone. We have to change this mindset.”
In Charlottesville, one of the biggest players working to promote the trades is the Charlottesville Albemarle Technical Education Center. Operated by the Albemarle County and Charlottesville public school districts, CATEC serves nearly a dozen high schools in the region, and works in partnership with local community colleges and employers to offer workforce education programs for both high school students and adults. Shannon Tomlin, CATEC’s career coordinator for high schools, says, “Some people think our kids aren’t going to go to college. But many do continue their education, and they can use their skills to earn their way.” Many students choose to go on to apprentice programs; others use CATEC courses to earn college credits in the skilled trades program at Piedmont Virgnia Community College, or as elective credits in a degree program. Whatever their choices, all CATEC students graduate with a marketable skill that can start them earning money right after high school.
For the construction trades specifically, girls may count themselves out because they think the jobs require massive muscle power. But nowadays, the trades are as technological as they are manual—and that includes the attention to detail and planning skills in which females, especially in high school, often outpace their male peers, notes Debbie Gannon, CATEC’s apprenticeship and adult programs coordinator. Besides that, Gannon says, “Sometimes the girls feel they have more to prove—and that makes them work harder and smarter.” Other stereotypes, however, still exist: Tomlin says one female student applied for a skilled trade position, and the interviewer started talking to her about a job as an administrative assistant.
Another, even more basic barrier: many girls don’t get exposed to working with tools from a young age the way boys do. Gannon notes that many schools are now trying to put more emphasis on ‘making’ as a way to give children, of any gender, the chance to create with their hands. Lassere says her first exposure to tools was working for a luthier (a person who makes stringed musical instruments) after high school. “I found out that I really liked the ability to make things.” A few years later, an internship in California working with cob (clay, sand, and straw), adobe, wattle-and-daub, and other natural building materials set her course toward construction.
Earlysville native Williams had tried a range of jobs, from working on a horse farm to day care to housekeeping. She happened to be helping a friend on a plumbing project when she found herself thinking, “This is something I could do every day.” (Most girls, she notes, “turn up their noses at plumbing— they think it’s only about poop.”)
Daisy Dejesus Maine, a historic masonry specialist at UVA, can recall the specific day in 7th grade when she found herself staring at a brick wall and wondering how it was constructed. The following week, her class had a tour at CATEC. She remembers being intimidated at first, but she worked up her nerve to talk with the girl who was taking the masonry class and thought, “Yeah, I can do this.”
Getting more girls to think trades
The women who are involved in the skilled trades—as educators, as workers, as employers—are committed to getting the word out to others. Tomlin says CATEC’s efforts to get kids thinking about trades as a career starts in the local elementary schools, with outreach promoting training programs in skills from computer programming and auto mechanics to carpentry, electricity, and firefighting. And they make an effort to include females in the mix, either bringing tradeswomen from local employers along on CATEC’s school visits, or having girls already enrolled in the skilled trades classes present on CATEC tours so that students can see female role models. Even when a girl is attracted to skilled trades work, Tomlin says, attitudes can be hard to change; she knows at least one student who was interested in masonry training and had to convince her parents to let her pursue it.
National organizations like Build Your Future and SkillsUSA offer resources and support for anyone interested in a skilled trades career, and while they don’t have recruiting programs specifically geared to girls, they do try to highlight female participation. Lisa Witt, assistant project manager at Canterbury Enterprises LLC in Chester, runs the carpentry competition for SkillsUSA’s Virginia chapter; in the last five years, she says, it’s become more common to see females involved in the construction trades programs.
The National Association of Women in Construction represents “everyone from women on the site to women who own the company,” says Wendy McQuiggan, president of the Richmond chapter (who herself manages and owns a construction contracting firm.) NAWIC works both sides of the equation, with outreach programs to colleges, trade schools and public education starting as early as 4th grade promoting “the idea of building something, and what goes into that.” NAWIC also educates and encourages employers to actively recruit and train women for the trades jobs they need filled. “A lot of companies offer apprenticeship programs as a good way to both teach skills and mold the kind of workforce they’re seeking,” she says.
Still, women account for less than 10 percent of those participating in apprenticeship programs nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. To support efforts to recruit more women for such programs, last year the department began offering grants to community organizations that get women into apprenticeships or nontraditional skills training programs and provide support groups to improve retention.
Here in Charlottesville, at the city’s largest employer, UVA Facilities Management actively recruits women for its four-year apprenticeship, which covers the cost of training for state certifications (often through courses at CATEC) while providing a paycheck and full employee benefits; this year they had 16 women out of 200 applicants, an increase over previous years. To encourage women to think about the trades, UVA FM has begun sponsoring “Empowering You” Toolbox Workshops, in which a volunteer group of female employees teach women age 16 and older how to DIY. At the March session, the skills demonstrated included upgrading a thermostat, building shelves, and patching drywall. (The next toolbox workshop will be held at the Building Goodness Foundation this Saturday, June 22.) And for the last four years, UVA FM has held a Girls Day for girls ages 10-16, to give them a taste of what tradeswomen can do.
Hands on learning
This year’s Girls Day, held last week, was the largest yet: 90 girls in matching turquoise T-shirts being bussed around campus to go “behind the scenes” at the UVA FM cabinet and sign shop, the University Hospital expansion, and the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers—fully fitted out with hard hats, safety goggles, and fluorescent vests at each site. Crowd favorites: Seeing how the elevator being installed in the hospital expansion really works, exploring the emergency helipad, and checking out the cool tools in the sign shop. After lunch (another crowd favorite) in the restaurant at Darden came the vendor fair, with representatives from local companies as well as all aspects of UVA FM’s operations: carpenters, electricians, plumbers, masons, police, environmental specialists, sustainability experts—and, just for fun, some of the UVA women’s basketball team players and coaches.
While some girls were following diagrams to complete an electrical circuit, others were trying their hand at brick-laying, nail-pounding, fire-extinguishing, and model-building. Hands-on activities were, of course, stressed—from building structures out of Dots candies and toothpicks to taking the “get your safety gear on in three minutes” challenge, or putting together PVC plumbing pipes in a way that would stand up to the hose test.
At UVA’s fourth annual Girls Day on June 13, historic preservation project manager Sarita Herman gave girls a tour of the Memorial for Enslaved Laborers project site. Photo: Jane Centofante/UVA Facilities Management
Molly Shifflett, a UVA FM employee, said her daughter Haley “has been to Girls Day three out of the four times we’ve held it—she would come even if I didn’t work here.” Haley, 15, is interested in architecture and interior design, so learning how things work and what skills are used in construction fits her interests. Other girls said they came because it was interesting to learn about how things work, or because a friend had come the year before and said it was “cool” and “fun.”
Girls Day, an idea suggested by one of the women apprentices, has grown in popularity each year. In addition, the female construction workers at UVA FM have started an informal group called UVA Tradeswomen that puts on the “Empowering You” workshops and other community projects to provide role models of women working in the construction trades. There’s been discussion about starting a local chapter of NAWIC, as an additional way to spur interest and organize the women already in the field.
The skills of a tradeswoman
What does it take to succeed in this industry? The women who’ve done it mention several key qualities:
A strong personality:Whether you’re working on a job site or in the construction office, a tough skin is job requirement number one. Construction crews often become a tight-knit group, like a team, and new members of any gender get tested. Lassere described work sites as “definitely a macho culture—but once I show them that I can do the work and that I will work hard, then they are fiercely loyal as a crew.”Williams admitted it often took time to win over her male co-workers: “with some of them, it took months.” Even at the management level, says Haney, “there’s this old-boys’ club—when I first started dealing [as superintendent] with contractors and subcontractors, they’d say, ‘Who are you?’ But with more women coming into construction, that is changing.” Both discrimination and actual sexual harassment can be an issue, but that can be the case in almost any field.
A taste for hard work:No question the work is physically demanding—outdoors rain or shine, winter and summer—and there’s definitely a learning curve.When Maine goes to workshops for young girls, she says “I tell them it’s awesome, and they shouldn’t be discouraged by what other people say. But I also tell them you’re not going to be perfect from the start, these are skills that you have to work to learn.” Jalisa Stinnie, who was working as a Charlottesville City Schools janitor when she saw the poster for UVA FM’s apprenticeship and is now a first-year electrician’s apprentice, says it straight: “You have to be a team player. If you’re lazy, this is not the place for you.”
Confidence: Females who want to learn a construction trade have to believe in themselves, say these successful tradeswomen. Electrician’s apprentice Stinnie says: “There was nothing in my background at all—I could change a light bulb, that’s about it. You need to be self-driven. You have to ask the questions, and not be afraid to ask.” On the flip side, mastering a skill builds self-confidence and self-respect; Haney, who comes “from a construction family” and does her own projects at home, says there’s nothing like “the accomplishment you feel when you build something.”
Lassere, right, works with plumber Kristi Williams on a renovation managed by Lassere’s new company, Artio Contracting LLC. Photo: Eze Amos.
So what do these women tell girls considering entering a trade? Many of them cite the real-world benefits. Electrician Short, now a licensed journeyman, says, “School was not my forte—I wanted to get out of high school and start life. My apprenticeship paid for my education, and paid me while I was doing it.” Maine, who had started her own business when a teacher from her CATEC classes called her about apprenticing at UVA FM, says, “I’m the only one of my high school friends that didn’t go to college. And they all say now, ‘You’re so smart,’ because I don’t have any debt.” Williams (who has taken full advantage of UVA’s employee benefits to take courses in engineering and construction management) likes the sense of self-reliance: “I don’t have to fork out the money to get things fixed,” she says, “and I don’t have much of a ‘honey do’ list.”
Lassere, who’s already looking ahead to hiring her first employee (a carpenter’s assistant—female, of course), can’t imagine any other way to go. “I tell [young women] this will be the most rewarding thing they have ever done,” she says. “It’s a skill you’ll always have. And, you know, I can build anything, I can fix anything, and I love it.”
Sometimes it’s fun to be a tourist in your own backyard. The Clifton—a top-notch boutique hotel that deftly pulls off the traditional-meets-modern thing—is offering a package that might be tempting enough to keep you close to home. Book a room on a Monday or Tuesday night through August 31, and receive a $100 food and beverage credit at the elegant 1799 Restaurant. A quick check of the clifton-inn.com shows room prices ranging from $149 to $299, and ample availability.
Seeing red
At most of our local wineries, we’re accustomed to tasting vintages that range from three years old to born yesterday. So, when the opportunity arises to sample older wines—in this case, by highly regarded winemaker Michael Shaps—it’s time to jump in the car and head out to the country. From noon to 5pm on Saturday, June 22, Michael Shaps Wineworks will pour six vintages, dating back to 2007, of Shaps’ meritage red Bordeaux blend. This is an aficionado’s wine—dry, high in tannins, and complex. Because just one variety will be poured, this is what’s known as a vertical tasting—which is also apt beause it will take place while patrons stand in the winery’s tank room. The cost of $35 per person may seem a bit steep, but six samples plus special prices on three-bottle packs add up to a pretty good deal. To register, visit virginiawineworks.com/events. 1781 Harris Creek Way, 529-6848. Corrected at 5:37 June 19 to reflect the proper number of wines to be tasted—six.
Nice packaging
This isn’t a local story—yet—but the first area brewery to catch on gets a gold star. Plastic six-pack rings—or worse, those black polyethylene harnesses found on canned beers like Basic City’s 6th Lord IPA—are not only bad for the environment and oceanic wildlife, they are either too flimsy or frustratingly rigid. Invented by a Mexico-based company, the plant-based E6PR, shorthand for Eco Six Pack Ring, falls somewhere in the middle texture-
wise, and is now in use by a handful
of breweries from Florida to Washington. While the can carrier is technically edible, the manufacturer’s CEO
advises against it (and reportedly says
it has no taste or nutritional value). Whether properly disposed of (composted) or tossed into the wilds, the E6PR breaks down in 200 days or less.
Check it out at E6PR.com, and call your local brewer!
New England travels south and arrives in the form of the happy-hour lobster roll at Public Fish & Oyster. Photo: Tom McGovern
By Meg Irvin
Certain dishes and meals around town are elusive—available only during particular hours, on a specific day of the month, or exclusively by request. But with a little planning—and some insider info—you can indulge in these delicious off-the-radar items, from a New England staple to a belly-filling hangover cure.
Most regulars at Ace Biscuit & Barbecue know about the chicken and waffles, the sausage gravy, and the fried green tomatoes. The Dirty Waffle, though, is another story. Not listed on the regular menu, the only way to know about it is, well, to know about it. The dish adds sausage gravy, pimento cheese, and pickles to the standard chicken and waffles. “There’s a lot happening with The Dirty Waffle,” says Andrew Autry, the Ace Biscuit manager who’s also known as Wolf. “It’s the best secret hangover cure.”
Every Saturday starting at noon, cult-favorite butcher J.M. Stock offers a different sandwich selection. Most make a one-time appearance, but a few, like the Italian and the Smoked-Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad, have been popular enough to be brought back a time or two. Sometimes, the weekly special can be found on social media, but calling or showing up is the easiest way to find out what the team is making. Sandwiches are available until they sell out, which can be as early as 1pm, but usually the goods are available until 2pm or later.
The Hellboy Pizza at Lampo is on the specials menu about 80 percent of the time, but its absence doesn’t go unnoticed—the restaurant regularly fields questions about the availability of this particular pie. Spicy, sweet, and salty, the Hellboy pays homage to Paulie Gee’s in Brooklyn, where Lampo got the inspiration for the pizza that brings the heat. Soppressata and housemade mozzarella top the inventive pie, which is finished with a generous drizzle of honey infused with scorpion pepper oil.
“It’s rough to source soppressata, and it’s hard to keep up with the demand we have for the Hellboy, which is why it’s not always available,” says Loren Mendosa, co-owner of Lampo. No Hellboy when you visit? The next best bet is to ask for that special honey on top of the Diavola pizza.
On the last Sunday of every month, Mas tapas opens its doors for brunch from 11am-2pm. You’ll always find something sweet, like French toast or orange rolls, alongside Mas favorites like the papas bravas and chorizo. Selections change with the seasons—new dishes pop up as local produce becomes available. Since Mas doesn’t take reservations and there’s often a line for the regular dinner service, the once-a-month brunch is a great opportunity to indulge with less risk of a long wait.
The lobster roll at Public Fish & Oyster (market priced, but usually around $25) is one of the best things on the restaurant’s menu, but the item is only available during the daily happy hour from 4-6pm, alongside other specials like raw Virginia oysters for $1.25 apiece. The special sandwich is made with a fresh supply of Maine lobster, served on a buttered split-top brioche roll, and offered both Maine style (chilled, with mayo) or Connecticut style (warm, with butter). Lobster rolls aren’t known for being a steal, but it’s a treat that’s well worth the price tag. Don’t dilly-dally, though. “Because we only use fresh lobster, there are days where we run out,” says owner Daniel Kaufman.
Vitae Spirits’ tasting room has the precise, clean look of a laboratory, but its wood finishes and smart design make it comfortable, too. Photo: Andrea Hubbell
Vitae Spirits just added another accolade to its pile of awards, but this one is for its design, not for its excellent craft liquors. A converted schoolhouse, Vitae’s tasting room and production facility on Henry Street is half laboratory and half chic cocktail lounge. This combination earned Vitae’s design/build contractor, Charlottesville’s Alloy Workshop, the award for best commercial interior of 2019 from the National Association of the Remodeling Industry. Pitted against 350 other contestants, Alloy took the top spot in NARI’s southeast region. Vitae founder Ian Glomski praised Alloy for “creating a space with clean contemporary floating lines transfused with the welcoming organic warmth of wood and botanical art.”
On the grapevine
Local wine power couple Will and Priscilla Martin Curley have purchased The Wine Guild of Charlottesville, where they were both already on staff. In fact, Will had been running it since his recent departure from Brasserie Saison on the Downtown Mall, where he was the general manager and wine director. Priscilla, a certified sommelier, is the wine director at tavola in Belmont. Also located in Belmont, at 221 Carlton Rd., the guild is a small wine and craft beer shop that’s open to the public, but where members ($200 a year) enjoy a 20 percent discount and other perks.
Nice to meade you!
Skjald Meadworks, Charlottesville’s first and only meadery, celebrated its grand opening on March 30 with a birthday bash for meade-maker Jerome Snyder, who co-owns the business with his wife, Gwen Wells. After operating for five years in Altavista, south of Lynchburg, Skjald joins a downtown food-and-beverage boomlet, opening its doors (and tasting room) at 1114 E. Market St. Local meade heads are already familiar with Skjald’s honey-based brews, which retail at Market Street Wine, Beer Run, and Rebecca’s Natural Food, and are served at Firefly and Renewal.
In the mix
Rebecca Edwards of tavola’s cicchetti bar has advanced to the regional finals of the prestigious USBG World Class bartending competition, placing her among the top 50 mixologists in the nation, and one of 10 in the contest’s Southern region. That group faces off April 28 in Minneapolis, where “we will be competing in a series of challenges judged by technical skill, style, creativity, hospitality, and product knowledge,” Edwards says. The ultimate goal is to reach the 11th annual global finals, in September in Glasgow, Scotland, where a single winner will be crowned. Speaking of crowns, Charlottesville’s top bottle slinger will earn one at the Tom Tom Festival’s inaugural Bartender’s Ball, on Monday, April 8. For more information, go to tomtomfest.com.
Recently arrived from France, chef Bernard Guillot has worked at Michelin-starred restaurants for more than three decades. Photo: Levi Cheff
Rumors had been circulating for months that a major talent would take over the kitchen at Gordonsville’s Restaurant Rochambeau. He was coming in from France, where he had worked at two Michelin-starred restaurants. His sublime culinary skills had carried him around the world, from Portugal, to Tokyo, to Corsica, and to the United States, where in the early ’90s he cooked for world leaders as personal chef for then-UN secretary general Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
The rumors morphed into reality two weeks ago with the arrival of Bernard Guillot, 60, whom the State Department granted an O-1 visa, which is reserved for individuals who “demonstrate extraordinary ability by sustained national or international acclaim.”
Art on the plate: Seared filet of striped bass with spring vegetables, a la Guillot. Photo: Levi Cheff
Born and raised in Brittany, on the northwest coast of France, Guillot lived most recently in Reims, 90 miles northeast of Paris. He will now live in Gordonsville with his wife, whom me met in Portugal, and three children, ages 5, 8, and 12.
“We are all very happy to be here,” Guillot says, sitting in a dining room at Rochambeau in a crisp white chef’s jacket. “For me, to cook in a small town in the country, is a dream come true.”
Rochambeau occupies the quaint storefront space that was once home to the highly regarded Pomme, which put Gordonsville on the radar of food critics nationwide. In 2017, Pomme made the Los Angeles Times list of the 100 best brunch places in the United States. But after the chef passed away, Pomme’s reputation flagged.
“The people in the street said we need another great restaurant,” says Jacqueline Gupton, who co-owns Rochambeau with her husband. “Pomme and its French chef had set the precedent. That’s why I felt I needed another French chef.”
The Guptons worked with a restaurant consultant whose top recommendation was Guillot. Frankly, it was kind of a no-brainer. Guillot had worked for France’s renowned Troisgros family, whose restaurants—Les Freres Troisgros, later renamed La Maison Troisgros—have held three Michelin stars since 1968, and at Girardet, in Switzerland, also a Michelin three-star.
Guillot, who had been cooking at Rochambeau for only a week when we interviewed him, says he plans to change his menu with the seasons and offer prix fixe choices at three price points: $35, $55, and $120. The most expensive option comes with a wine pairing for each course. Rochambeau will also offer Sunday brunch, from 11am to 3:30pm, at $75 including wine.
Guillot says he plans to work with local purveyors; his first menu included a dish made with pastured lamb from Retreat Farm, in Rapidan. “I am only now getting to know a few producers,” Guillot says, taking a deep breath and sighing. “I will need a little more time, you know?”
One sure source of local ingredients is the herb garden in raised beds just outside the kitchen at Rochambeau. But Guillot will use some imported goods, including his proprietary blend of 21 spices that he has collected by trading with other chefs during his world travels.
“I make this all by hand,” he says. “It has been many years in the making.”
And for Gordonsville, Guillot may just turn out to have been worth waiting for.
Restaurant Rochambeau, 115 S. Main St., Gordonsville. (540) 832-0130, restaurantrochambeau.com
A craft distillery is coming to the former Clock Shop space on Water Street. Rendering: Sage Designs LLC
A newly formed company—so new that it hasn’t gone public with its name yet—is looking to get into the spirits business with a craft distillery in the former Clock Shop building at 201 W. Water St. The working title for the project is Vodka House, according to Clark Gathright, the civil engineer and site planner who ushered the building’s new design through the Board of Architectural Review approval process. The initial idea had been to create a distillery and tasting room similar to Vitae Spirits, on Henry Street, and even to offer outdoor seating.
“We started out with that in mind,” Gathright says. “But we got smacked down.” Evidently, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau was not enamored of the tasting room idea.
Gathright says the distillery project is moving ahead, though he’s unsure what form it will ultimately take. Black Bear Properties LLC, which bought the building in 2016 and has ties to big-bucks developer Hunter Craig, had previously proposed to demolish it and build an eight-story luxury apartment building. The Charlottesville Planning Commission nixed that use of the site in November 2017.
In other news…
Potbelly Sandwich Shop, which has more than 500 locations in the United States and abroad, has opened at 853 W. Main St., in The Standard at Charlottesville apartment building…The Crozet Trolley Co. is up and running, ferrying tippling tourists to the area’s wineries, breweries, and distilleries in an old-timey looking bus. Tour prices start at $39 per person…Waynesboro-based Blue Ridge Bucha is touting its use of reusable bottles as evidence of its commitment to sustainability. “Since 2010, more than 933,750 bottles have been saved by customers choosing to refill their Bucha bottles on draft,” a recent company blog post stated…On March 31 at Junction, chef Laura Fonner of Duner’s joins Junction chef Melissa Close-Hart to create a four-course meal, benefiting the Sexual Assault Resource Agency. Cost is $40 per person; $55 with wine pairing. For more info, call 465-6131.
Gee Whiz! A Potbelly Sandwich Shop (home of the cheesesteak with Cheez Whiz sammie) is open for business on West Main Street. Supplied photo
From Charlottesville to Staunton, Amtrak’s Cardinal provides a beautiful one-hour ride through the countryside. Photo: Ben Schumin
Three days a week, an Amtrak train called the Cardinal rolls through Charlottesville on its way from New York to Chicago. Unless you’re planning a long trip to a city along the route (Indianapolis, anyone? Cincinnati?), you may not look twice at the train. But it’s more than a means of transport. For a family, the train can be an outing in itself.
I have a longstanding romance with trains, from the battered freight cars I saw snaking along the Pittsburgh rivers of my childhood, to the coaches I rode through Switzerland and Greece as a college student, to the BART light-rail cars that carried me to work in San Francisco. I love them all, and I consider a train journey to be a special window in time, when one’s only job is to gaze at the fascinating world crawling past.
Wanting to give my two girls a taste of that magic, I had eyed the Cardinal for a while. They’re still rather young, so I didn’t feel they were ready for a more ambitious trip, for instance, to Washington, D.C., (which would entail staying overnight, in any case). But I noticed that we could ride from Charlottesville to Staunton in the mid-afternoon, giving us about one hour on the train. All we’d need would be a driver willing to pick us up on the other side of the mountain.
I told my kids I had a surprise for them and didn’t reveal a thing until we pulled into the parking lot at the Amtrak station on West Main Street. It was a Friday afternoon. When they realized what was happening, they bounced around joyfully, just as I’d hoped they would. We waited on the platform in a state of high anticipation, gazing east down the tracks, and when the Amtrak engine finally slipped into view, the girls’ eyes grew wide. The three of us squeezed into two seats, and soon the train lurched into motion and the city started rolling past us.
One of my favorite things about train travel is that it can reveal a new side of places you thought you knew well. We drive between Charlottesville and Crozet all the time, but to see that part of Albemarle from the tracks offered a totally different perspective. It was exciting to shoot through downtown Crozet at high speed. I felt as if we were strangers in these parts again, wending our way past the unknown fields of Greenwood and beginning the long climb up the Blue Ridge. And once the train dove into the tunnel that carries it under Rockfish Gap, we entered a new realm. I felt a bit disoriented, and the girls fell silent, as we descended toward Waynesboro.
Though I’d brought along things to do—books, sketchbooks, snacks—we really didn’t need them. The girls were enchanted to be able to ride without seat belts, to feel the motion of the cars, to hear about how far these tracks could take us if we were to keep on riding. My older daughter pulled out a little notebook and wrote me a note: “Dear Mom, Thank you for this.”
When we pulled into the Staunton station, we were by no means tired of the train. But we had a new adventure before us—to explore Staunton, sans car. A block from the train station, we caught the trolley and rode it to Gypsy Hill Park, Staunton’s large (big enough to have its own golf course) and pleasantly old-fashioned greenspace.
Named for the nomadic people who frequented it in the 1800s, Gypsy Hill is highly programmed. It reminded me a little of New York City’s Central Park, with amusements from horseshoes to skate ramps and ball fields around every turn. After sprawling under a beautiful tree to nosh some snacks, the girls and I were drawn first to the large pond, where you can buy pellets to toss to the ducks and swans. Later we drifted toward the big playgrounds at the park’s other end, passing along the way another train, the Gypsy Express—this one a child-size railroad that tootles around the park on weekends.
After a while, my husband heroically appeared to drive us back to Charlottesville in an ordinary car. It was the end of a legendary day, one we’ll talk about for a long time to come.
If you go
Amtrak’s Cardinal route runs between New York and Chicago and passes through Charlottesville, heading west, on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday at 1:52pm. Tickets to Staunton cost $12 for adults, and for each adult, one child gets a half-price fare (Amtrak.com). Gypsy Hill Park is located at the intersection of Churchville and Thornrose avenues.
Wine in a can may seem déclassé, but it’s “practical on the golf course!" says winemaker Matthieu Finot. Photo: Max March
Sommeliers may take offense, but canned wine is a booming business. In January, Crozet’s King Family Vineyards popped the top on this trend by rolling out its first cases of canned Crosé, its popular rosé wine.
As winemaker Matthieu Finot explains, King’s been making a dry, fruit-forward rosé since 2003, and now harvests Merlot grapes specifically for the Crosé. After the crush, the juice rests briefly on the red grapes’ skins, resulting in a pale-pink wine with “less alcohol and more freshness,” Finot says. The King Family website describes “notes of grapefruit, lime, watermelon, and a light grassiness on the nose…and flavors of bitter cherry, peach, and rose petal” on the palate.
“We went from producing 100 cases [of bottles] in the first year to over 4,000 cases in 2018,” Finot says. “The demand for [Crosé] keeps increasing, along with the rosé consumption in the United States.” So it made sense to King and Finot to capitalize on the rising popularity of canned wine, especially among younger drinkers.
After all, wine and portability generally don’t mix. If you want to savor a glass of grape on the go, you’ll need to lug around a heavy glass bottle, a corkscrew, and glasses (unless you want to swig straight from the bottle). And once you’ve opened a bottle, you’ll need to finish it promptly to keep the wine from losing its freshness—a strategy more advisable at home than while you’re out and about. Each can of Crosé, in contrast, is roughly the size of a generous glass of wine, and a four-pack has the same volume as a bottle at the same price.
“Also, canning is better for the environment,” says Finot—lighter, more recyclable, and with less waste. King canned its first 500 cases of 2018 Crosé the same week it bottled the rest of the vintage, with help from a mobile canning company that came to the vineyard.
Cans are sold exclusively at the vineyard, and Finot says they’re planning on more cases of cans for the 2019 vintage to meet the rising demand. “Most of the customers like the convenience of it,” Finot says.
And what would Finot say to wine snobs who can’t bear the thought of aluminum-clad vino? “They can still buy Crosé in bottles,” he says, “but it is less practical on the golf course!”
King Family Vineyards, 6550 Roseland Farm, Crozet; 823-7800; kingfamilyvineyards.com
The comfy booths, long banquette, and open wood-fired hearth transform
a former auto-service garage into a warm, inviting dining room. Photo: John Robinson
A rosy glow shone through windows high on the façade of the former service station. As my dining companion and I approached the building, the oaky smoke aroma grew stronger. We turned the corner onto West Main Street and the source of both the light and the smoke revealed itself through tall walls of glass—big sliding doors that once enclosed car-service bays.
Little Star—the Charlottesville restaurant that people were buzzing about even before it opened nine weeks ago—creates atmosphere even from a distance. And after the frosted-glass front door swung open, a sense of warmth and comfort greeted us like a hug from an old friend.
So it began, my first dining experience in Charlottesville meant to produce a review. Although I relocated to the area less than two years ago, I’m familiar with the city’s restaurant scene, having visited for more than 20 years to spend time with my sister, a UVA professor. I’m also experienced at writing about food, which has been a passion of mine since I was a kid, planting and tending the family vegetable garden in suburban New Jersey. As a teenager and throughout my college years, I worked in restaurants and catering.
When I became a writer, I covered food for daily and weekly newspapers, including the late, great Boston Phoenix, and magazines, including Food & Wine and the industry publication Plate. Now, I edit the Living section here at C-VILLE Weekly, along with magazines like Knife & Fork, and reviews feel like a natural fit. I believe a restaurant critic can and should be an important part of the local food culture. His or her role is to explore, explain, and ultimately elevate the art and craft of cooking and serving food.
That’s exactly what Little Star is doing for Charlottesville. Executive chef Ryan Collins arrived at the restaurant by way of Madison’s Early Mountain Vineyards, where he landed in 2016 and created a menu of small plates and sandwiches made with local ingredients. For Collins, Early Mountain was a waypoint between Charlottesville and Washington, D.C., where for eight years he was protégé of José Andrés, a Spanish-American and one of the more influential and acclaimed chefs in the world. Collins spent three of those eight years in the kitchen at Oyamel, where he learned to love Mexican cuisine. In Charlottesville, Collins teamed up with Oakhart Social’s Ben Clore and Tristan Wraight, whom Collins had met while at Early Mountain, to open Little Star. It is here that Collins expresses chef Andrés’ influences, blending Spanish and Mexican flavors.
After my dining companion and I objected to being seated at a table near the foyer and bar, the host graciously led us through the dining room to the long row of tall tables and a banquette along the east wall. The high perch provided a view, to the right, of the chefs preparing food in front of the blazing wood-fired oven, and to the left, of West Main Street through the big glass doors. On a Tuesday night, the room was packed and humming with conversation; old-school hip-hop provided a faint backdrop.
We started with cocktails. I thought I had heard incorrectly when the bar manager said the margarita ($16) would be served with the glass’ rim dusted with salt, red pepper, and smoked, ground gusano, a grub found in the roots of agave. It sounded gross, but tasted rich and earthy, playing off the brightness of the lime juice and the smokiness of the mescal. A second cocktail, the Star on Main ($14), was a twist on an old fashioned, with bourbon, Calvados, orange bitters, and a sweet touch of Lillet Blanc. Both drinks introduced complex, unexpected flavors, which apparently is Little Star’s mission.
The wait staff circulated throughout the room, stopping to attend to diners when necessary and then moving on. They knew when to be present and when to disappear, creating a relaxing rhythm to the evening. While our server said that most of the menu consisted of small plates, the portions turned out to be right-sized for the prices, from $8-24. (The outliers are a pork short rib and ribeye steak, at $70 and $100, respectively.) The price of a meal can escalate quickly, but two plates per person ended up being plenty of food.
Little Star encourages not only a leisurely pace (we spent two hours over dinner), but also the sharing of dishes. The bitterness of the charred endive ($10) was mellowed by a buttermilk-based dressing, and the dish gained complexity with a topping of poppy seeds, slivered scallions, chili, and bottarga, a salted, air-dried fish roe. Mojo sunchokes ($12) were served as a salad, with shaved apple, caramelized onion, and frisée. This was the only off note of the evening. The sunchokes—a sunflower tuber—were cooked to the point of mushiness, and traces of sand or soil in the dish brought an unwelcome grittiness.
Looking over the wine list, I was disappointed not to see more bottles in the $30-50 range. Out of 40 offerings, 31 were priced between $52 and $520.We ordered by the glass and, on the general manager’s recommendation, went with a Spanish white, Gramona Gessami ($12 glass)—a blend of sauvignon blanc, muscat, and gewürztraminer that had the body and ample fruit to stand up to our next two dishes, beef tartare ($14) and pork loin ($18).
Little Star pushes the tartare definition, with grilled cactus, tartar sauce, radish, whole-grain mustard, and a heap of freshly grated parmesan on top. Is it a salad or a meat dish? It’s sort of both, and it’s outstanding and inventive. Sourced from Autumn Olive Farms, near Waynesboro, the pork loin was a generous cut, more than an inch thick, presented with crispy sweet potato and mole manchamanteles, a reduction of pork and chicken stock infused with a paste of dried and fresh fruits (raisins, plantains, charred pineapple), toasted nuts, herbs, and chilis. It was a resounding note to finish the meal.
But wait—dessert! A traditional end to a very untraditional meal (at least for Charlottesville) seemed like a good idea, so we went for the apple pie ($8). It was actually more of a strudel or galette, served with little apple spheres poached with cinnamon, apple caramel sauce, and ice cream richly flavored with vanilla bean.
All in all, Little Star is a significant addition to the local restaurant scene and, hopefully, will provide a strong culinary anchor on West Main as it becomes a dense commercial and residential corridor.
Vitals
Monday-Thursday 5-10pm, Friday-Saturday, 5-11pm. 420 W. Main St. 434-252-2502. littlestarrestaurant.com
