Tag: Lost Saint

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Living

The best local bars for each drinking decade

C&O’s barnwood-paneled downstairs bar is like a speakeasy without the secret knock. Photo by Stephen Barling

By Pen + Knife bloggers
eatdrink@c-ville.com

For generations, authorities have buried the lede when warning us about alcohol killing brain cells. Omitted from the tired mantra is the truth that some of our deepest seeds of wisdom are sewn at watering holes and colored by booze. Bars are like classrooms, just more practical, and the life lessons enduring. No matter our demographic, we’re still learning in our 20s, 30s and 40s from a barstool perch. Thankfully, the local scene is abundant with venues for every age bracket. Let’s bar crawl through a few of our favorite decade-appropriate spots.         

Your 20s: Parallel 38

Get your first round at Parallel 38 on West Main Street—a reasonable distance from the Corner and college days (because you’re an #adult now), while still close enough for security blanket purposes. Your new booze cravings are thoughtful cocktails with carefully selected ingredients that your mom’s herb garden would approve of. The downstairs bar at Parallel is perfectly low-lit, has an intimate, sophisticated NYC vibe and is ideal for drinks with the gals or a first post-grad Bumble date. Chat up owner Justin Ross if he’s buzzing around for rich stories of his past life in Washington, D.C., training under internationally acclaimed restaurateur José Andres and the renovation work that went into the recently relocated P38 space. If temps are in your favor, head to the back porch for some open-air imbibing, Mediterranean small plates and to people-watch Amtrak passengers below.

“Um, a cranberry vodka?”: Stop that. You’re past cranberry vodka and ending your drink orders with question marks. Try instead the Akrotiri Heat (Espolòn blanco tequila, piri piri syrup cinnamon berry, hibiscus soda, citrus), a multi-layered cocktail we’ve come to crave, and a P38 staple.

Grape expectations: Wine it up here. Ross, a certified advanced level sommelier, has assembled one of the most extensive and unique by-the-glass wine lists in town, which will allow you to explore your emerging adult palate without breaking the bank.

Alternatives: The Whiskey Jar, Oakhart Social

Your 30s: The Alley Light

This is the decade when you should enrich your cocktail game with sophistication and nuance. Duck into The Alley Light, a clandestine speakeasy nestled in an alley off the Downtown Mall, designated only by a lantern over the door. Dig the mysterious vibe as you ascend stairs to the cozy dark space and behold a wonder wall of obscure spirits. Nervous? Don’t sweat it, because affable AF barman Micah LeMon has mastered the art of baptizing newcomers to the craft. (This cat literally wrote the book on it—The Imbible.) Trouble can’t find you here, so sit back and submit to the spellbinding white noise of booze and ice dancing in the shaker and know that whatever he’s pouring will spike your night with intrigue.

Prime time: Show up pre-dinner rush (5ish) to score a stool and charming conversation with LeMon—it’s basically a TedX talk on mixology.   

Nosh away: Some of the best food in town is right here, and LeMon excels with pairings. Our go-to is foie gras brûlée with The Doctor’s Orders.

Alternatives: Lost Saint, Brasserie Saison, Mas

Your 40s: C&O

By your 40s, if you’re doing it right, you know what you like and don’t bother much with trends. This lands you in the cozy confines of the C&O’s bistro bar. Down a set of creaky stairs, this rustic barnwood-paneled room has harbored sophisticated imbibers for 42 years with a soulful charm achieved through slow, honest evolution. Permeating the scene is a secret society vibe that grips you immediately as you settle in. Behind the stick, clad in dope vintage gear, you’ll find some of the most thoughtful, kind booze-slingers in the business, who will happily guide you through a treasure trove wall of spirit options or their spot-on list of house cocktail creations. We are partial to the Jota Jota, a jolting riff on a drink near and dear to us, the Boulevardier. Whatever your poison, raise that glass to the next 40—yours and theirs—alongside friendly ghosts of patrons past in this landmark watering hole.

Discovery zone: Barman Anthony Restivo curates an eclectic playlist you’ll want to poach from.

Sneaky legit: Hiding out on the late-night menu (after 10pm) is one of the best burgers around for only $6.

Alternatives: Tavola’s Cicchetti Bar, Common House, The Coat Room

Pen+Knife is a blog that celebrates the bounty of food, drink and life in Charlottesville.

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Living

Cheers for charity: Drink up during Negroni Week

Five local bars, including Tavola, which will offer four versions of a Negroni, are participating in Negroni Week from June 5-11. A portion of proceeds from each Negroni sold at participating bars goes to charity. Staff photo.

Ordering a classic aperitivo Italian cocktail will give you a new buzz starting June 5: a chance to donate to charity. Negroni Week, a fundraising event from June 5-11 revolving around the bright, bitter citrus drink, has Charlottesville bars signing up to give a portion of their sales of the drink to a partner charity of their choosing.

Steve Yang, Tavola’s bar manager, plans to donate $1 to $2 of each cocktail sold to No Kid Hungry.

“No Kid Hungry is more in line with what our owner likes to do and what we like to do,” Yang says, adding that he wants to raise “as much as possible” for the charity, which works to end childhood hunger in the Commonwealth.

And Yang has conjured up four unique spins on the classic beverage.

“We have our classic Negroni, we have our boulevardier, which traditionally is going to be a bourbon version of a Negroni, but we do one with our own housemade bitter orange instead of Campari, and we use more of an after-dinner dessert-y vermouth,” Yang says.

You can also donate your dollars with drinks at The Alley Light, Brasserie Saison, The Whiskey Jar and Lost Saint, which was the first area bar to participate.

Negroni Week has raised about $900,000 since its founding in 2013, and Charlottesville is stepping up to add to that sum.

-Alexa Nash

Kitchen confidential

The concept for Underground Kitchen was brought to fruition by Richmond’s Micheal Sparks, who merged mystery with community. The Underground Kitchen’s members, called “Foodies,” get on an email list that promotes a themed five- to seven-course meal in an undisclosed location with a local chef who develops a completely unique menu; all of the details are kept secret until the last minute.

Locations are chosen first and then paired with a chef, who is set loose to create a mouthwatering menu.

“They all come with an idea, and we want them to do what they’re passionate about,” Sparks says. “We give them the opportunity to cook outside the box, so we leave that up to the professionals.”

Only 25 to 40 tickets are sold, which covers the meal, wine pairings and gratuity. The process is first come, first serve, and at $125 to $500, tickets go fast.

Sparks focuses on conversation, and encourages guests to get to know their neighbors.

“We’re responsible for two weddings, three engagements and a lot of people dating,” Sparks says, along with countless friendships. “It’s a powerful thing, what happens between food and wine.”

The next dinner will be held June 5 with the theme “From the Cast Iron to the Plate,” which will highlight Virginia’s Colonial-style cooking with a twist. Sign up to get pop-up dinner alerts at theundergroundkitchen.org.

-Alexa Nash

Plan ahead

Food blogger and chef Lynsie Steele has launched Vie, a meal-planning service based around what’s on sale at local grocery stores—Whole Foods, Harris Teeter, Kroger and Wegmans—each week and designed to help home cooks save time and money.

Customers can choose from various plans, including annual, three-month or one-month mega or mini plans. Each plan includes recipes and instructions, shopping lists, video demonstrations, online recipe tips and access to Vie team members for specific shopping and cooking questions. Pricing varies—for instance, a one-month mini plan is $19 plus a $1 sign-up fee; an annual mega plan is $399 plus a $1 sign-up fee. Full pricing information is available at getvie.com.

-Erin O’Hare 

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Living

Cookie-focused company settles into new home

Found. Market Co., which doubles as a remade furniture workshop and bakehouse, specializes in cookies as well as farmhouse-style baked goods such as muffins and tea cakes. Photo by Tom McGovern

Calling all cookie monsters: Found. Market Co. at 221 Carlton Rd. (the former Kathy’s Produce spot) is here for all of your cookie needs. In addition to functioning as a gathering space and remade furniture workshop, Found. is a bakehouse specializing in cookies—pick up some salted rosemary shortbread, a batch of classic cookies or frozen cookie dough to scoop and bake at home whenever a cookie craving strikes—as well as farmhouse-style baked goods such as muffins and tea cakes, plus comfort foods like Bavarian pretzels, chicken salad and pub cheese.

If that salted rosemary shortbread sounds familiar, it should—Found. started as a wholesale bakery under the name The Bees Knees Kitchen, and it’s been selling shortbread-style cookies at Feast! and Blenheim Vineyards for a few years. The Bees Knees Kitchen eventually grew out of its certified home kitchen and into this larger, industrial-sized space and new name, says co-owner Kelsey Gillian.

Having managed an organic farm for the last 16 years, the Found. team’s “nature is to cook and bake from the field, gather for family dinners and share good food with friends,” says Gillian, adding that it’s all about creating homegrown, handmade “tasty food, imperfections and all.”

New food pairing

Charlottesville has plenty of cuisine options—Mexican, Italian, French, Indian, American—but even in our chock-full-o-restaurants city, it’s rare to find two very different cuisines under a single roof.

Vu Noodles and Pearl Island Catering have teamed up to serve lunch at the Jefferson School City Center café at 233 Fourth St. NW from 11am to 2pm Monday through Friday. (Don’t worry—Vu Noodles will still be served at The Spot/Greenie’s, and Pearl Island isn’t abandoning its catering.)

The menu is a relief for those who can’t decide on just one type of cuisine for their midday meal (or is that just us?). Vu Noodles’ spring rolls, the banh mi sandwich, tofu caramelized onions and various noodle dishes are on the menu alongside Pearl Island dishes such as the Caribbean-seasoned, slow-roasted pulled pork, Haitian-inspired sweet and spicy chicken with gravy, Creole beans and fried plantains.

One more Reason to love beer

In a town where breweries rival Starbucks in numbers, yet another place to imbibe in new brews will open in June.

Childhood friends and Charlottesville natives Patrick Adair, Mark Fulton and Jeff Raileanu are teaming up to open Reason Beer in a warehouse space next to Costco. Adair, director of sales, says the more breweries the better.

“Charlottesville is getting a reputation as a beer town, and that’s awesome,” he says. “We are fortunate enough to be at a time when craft beer seems to sell itself these days.”

To understand the brewery is to understand head brewer Fulton’s background as former head brewer at the venerable Maine Beer Company. In the early days of craft beer there was a focus on making IPAs as bitter as possible but breweries like Maine Beer Company were pioneers in producing beers with balanced hop and malt profiles. Fulton will bring this perspective to Reason, where they will focus on low-alcohol, fresh, hoppy beers.

The brewery is installing a 30-barrel (that’s 930 gallons) brewhouse and will also put in a bottling line that will package 16.9-ounce bottles, a format Adair says is just the right size for drinking by yourself, but also big enough to share.

“I think our focus on balance, approachability, innovation and food pairing will be what distinguishes Reason Beer,” says Adair.—Derek Young

The toast of Tom Tom

Six of Charlottesville’s top chefs went head-to-head in the Iron Chef City Market competition for which each had to create a 100 percent locally sourced dish with a budget of $50, 20 minutes to shop and 30 minutes to cook. Chef Chris Jack of Wild Wolf Brewing Company took the title with a dish of pan-seared duck heart, spicy chocolate granola-crusted duck liver and sautéed oyster mushrooms with purple scallions, wilted arugula and spicy strawberry rhubarb jam.

In the craft cocktail competition at the Tom Tom Founders Festival, Patrick McClure of Lost Saint won over the judges with his Lil’ Rhuby Fizzle, made from sweet strawberry juice from Agriberry Farm, tart rhubarb juice from Radical Roots Farm, Boar Creek Appalachian whiskey and Homestead Creamery cream and egg white. The Flora, a Baker’s gin, strawberry shrub, mint and basil syrup, lemon, cava and cracked pepper cocktail concocted by Oakhart Social’s Brendan Cartin, was the crowd favorite.

Categories
Living

Seasonal drinks to keep you jolly

The Whiskey Jar’s Christmas cocktail menu includes drinks such as O the Weather Outside is Weather, Made in China and the Cotton-Headed Ninny Muggins, made with butter, bourbon and salted caramel whipped cream. Photo by Tom McGovern

Watering holes all over town are getting into the Christmas spirits—er, spirit—this week, decking the halls and pouring festive drinks galore.

The Whiskey Jar’s Christmas pop-up bar will feature an all-Christmas cocktail list created by bar director Leah Peeks and assistant bar manager Reid Dougherty. “We’re going to tacky the place up, play Christmas music, have Christmas food and go nuts,” Peeks says. Look for the Dancin’ In Your Head (moonshine punch, starfruit and sugar plum); I Don’t Give A Fig About All This (fig jelly, scotch, lemon and ginger); Cotton-Headed Ninny Muggins (butter, bourbon and salted caramel whipped cream); All I Want for Christmas is Booze (Tröegs Mad Elf Belgian-style strong dark ale and a shot of Angel’s Envy bourbon); and plenty of other heart- and belly-warmers.

Lost Saint, the bar below Tavern & Grocery on West Main, is also serving winter warmers such as an old-fashioned garnished with a cinnamon stick, homemade eggnog and mulled wine amidst snowflake and icicle lights hanging from the low ceiling.

The Alley Light will serve Micah Le-Mon’s homemade eggnog (sometimes with Virginia apple brandy); Tavola’s winter menu includes drinks such as the Pompeii, a savory/smoky sipper that includes single-malt whiskey, Oloroso sherry, tayberry and vegetable ash; and Three Notch’d Brewing Company has its Stocking Stuffer peppermint stout on tap.

If you need a bit of a caffeine kick to make it through last-minute shopping trips, Shenandoah Joe’s We 3 Beans holiday blend is back, this time with Costa Rica El Cidral, Guatemala Altos del Volcan and Ethiopia Sidamo ARDI, creating notes of chocolate, nougat, citrus and berry.

Bye, bye, Brookville

Brookville Restaurant served its final meal—brunch—last Sunday, December 18.

“Every restaurant has a lifetime and Brookville has come to the end of its,” chef Harrison Keevil wrote in an e-mail shortly after making the announcement. He and his wife, Jennifer Keevil, opened Brookville, known for its farm-to-table comfort food—egg dishes, biscuits, chicken and waffles, chocolate chip cookies, bacon, bacon and more bacon—on the Downtown Mall in July 2010.

The Keevils will continue to serve local food at Keevil & Keevil Grocery and Kitchen at 703 Hinton Ave. in Belmont. They opened the shop in July of this year.

Going forward, Keevil says they’ll expand sandwich offerings at the shop and offer take-away hot dinners beginning in January.

A return to Duner’s

Laura Fonner is back in the kitchen at Duner’s Restaurant on Ivy Road. Fonner worked there for eight years—four as executive chef—before leaving after the birth of her second child in 2012. During that time, she did some catering and occasionally worked the front of the house at Duner’s. About a month ago, she accepted an offer to return to the kitchen after chef Doug McLeod’s departure.

Fonner enjoys the flexibility of Duner’s menu and the creative control it affords her. “I’m not restricted to one ethnicity or one cut of meat,” she says, noting that on Duner’s menu, Korean barbecued grilled tuna with handmade local mushroom and bok choy dumplings can be found right next to a classic gnocchi dish. “There’s no boundary!” she says.

Categories
Living

Local artisan launches bitters company out of necessity

“The traditional recipes for a cocktail up to the late 1800s were all the same—bitters were a part of almost all cocktails,” says Kip McCharen, founder and owner of McCharen’s Bitters. “It’s a seasoning. It serves the same function as salt and pepper or lemon juice in a dish.” Photo by Matt Bonham

Bitters are back, baby, and one local is looking to get in on the action.

Wait, bitters?

“The traditional recipes for a cocktail up to the late 1800s were all the same—bitters were a part of almost all cocktails,” says Kip McCharen, founder and owner of McCharen’s Bitters. “It’s a seasoning. It serves the same function as salt and pepper or lemon juice in a dish.”

McCharen launched his eponymous bitters company out of necessity—he got into making craft cocktails but couldn’t easily buy the ingredients he wanted. He made a batch of bitters in July. It turned out to be a large batch. At first, he thought he’d give bottles away as Christmas gifts. But he couldn’t wait that long to share them.

“I am terrible at keeping secrets, so I let some friends try them, and they really liked them,” he says.

Bitters have been around for more than 1,000 years, but they’ve been slow to catch on with the modern artisanal crowd. While there are thousands of craft breweries, cideries and distilleries, and more popping up all the time, the number of bitters makers in the U.S. is still somewhere around 50, up from only a few about a decade ago.

And just how many of those four dozen craft bitters producers are located in Virginia? Zip, zero—until now.

McCharen, whose education is in political science and economics and who currently works in finance, saw an opportunity, so he called up the Charlottesville City Market in early August and asked if they might, at some time in the future, have space for him to sell his products. They told him to come down that Saturday.

Kip McCharen is waiting for an ABC decision before he can increase production on his artisanal Virginia bitters. Photo by Matt Bonham
Kip McCharen is waiting for an ABC decision before he can increase production on his artisanal Virginia bitters. Photo by Matt Bonham

After several successful markets and finding his way into a handful of restaurants—Miso Sweet, Lost Saint, Citizen Burger Bar and The Bebedero—through personal contacts, McCharen is at the point where he’d like to scale up and buy commercial kitchen space. “I think he’s got a really cool angle on it, and it might be early enough in the game to catch lightning in a bottle,” says Lost Saint co-owner Patrick McClure, referring to the ability of small bitters producers to be successful on a large scale.

There’s one problem, though: The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Commission doesn’t know what to do with McCharen.

To answer why, you’ve got to understand a bit about how bitters are made. They are, essentially, booze infused with aromatics. You start with a high-strength spirit, steep with a bittering agent like gentian root or wild cherry bark, and flavor it with star anise, orange peel or mint. Sometimes you dilute the infusion with distilled water or sweeten it with syrup.

Where things get interesting is in the taste of the final product and how it’s marketed and sold. There’s no standard for perceived bitterness (international bittering units, or IBUs, are specific to beverages made with hops), so the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has to make a judgment call on every bitters-like product to decide whether it’ll be “potable” or “non-potable.” Potable bitters, like aperol, fernet-branca or even Jägermeister, are marketed and sold like any spirit. They’re a standalone drink. Non-potable bitters are what McCharen’s shooting for.

“It’s this weird fine line,” he says. “They take whatever it is and dilute it down…and depending on how it tastes, they can say it is non-potable. The point is there is no measurable way to do that.”

The fact that no one has produced bitters in Virginia in more than a century only makes things more complicated, McCharen says.

Even if the ABC doesn’t yet know what to make of McCharen’s Bitters, local tipplers seem to be on board. McCharen said before going into business he looked at Google traffic for several bitters-related keywords, and Charlottesville was among the most active areas in the region. Consumer response has borne that out—he’s been profitable through his farmers market and bar sales, and when he teamed up with Miso Sweet to introduce his products at a cocktail dinner in early October, the response was positive.

McCharen says he’s optimistic ABC will figure things out soon—there are about five other alcoholic beverage boards nationwide with rules in place for bitters—but there’s no timeline on his ramp-up. When he does go to full-scale production, he said his goal is to develop flavors that are quintessentially Virginian.

“You’ve got gin from England, rum from the Caribbean, whiskey from Kentucky, and I find it fascinating that there isn’t a flavor of Virginia in cocktails—it’s not represented,” McCharen says. “I’m just really focused on trying to expose Virginia history through flavors.”