Tag: Monolith Knives

Categories
Culture Living

Share the (common)wealth: A guide to local gourmet gifts

With 16 flavors to choose from, Gearharts Fine Chocolates are best purchased in large assortments. Photo by Eze Amos

Many of us are eagerly anticipating the chance to turn the page on what has been a unique and challenging year. However, at least one challenge remains before we can put 2020 behind us—shopping for holiday gifts. 

There is perhaps no better time to shop local. Not only can you avoid possible shipping delays, but putting your money to work in our community and supporting small businesses in desperate need of every dollar can make a huge difference this year. If you have area artisans, makers, crafters, or restaurants that you treasure, give them a boost!

Wine lovers are easy to please—especially if the gift recipient isn’t from Virginia—by sharing some wine from any of our area’s producers. One high-impact option is the 2017 Rise from Early Mountain Vineyards (earlymountain.com). This concentrated and complex red blend, from the excellent 2017 vintage, is the winery’s flagship offering , and should age well for many years to come. Plus, a beautiful custom wooden box is included.

Another option for the wine enthusiast is a unique and beautiful wine stopper. Kirk McCauley (kirkmccauley.com), a woodturner from North Garden, handcrafts wine stoppers and other products (vases, bowls, furniture, chess sets, etc.) from local wood. The result is a one-of-a kind, breathtaking piece that anyone would be pleased to receive.

Fans of distilled products are lucky that two small-batch, craft producers are located in Charlottesville. Vitae Spirits (vitaespirits.com) makes a wide range of products including rum, gin, orange liqueur, and more. Its coffee liqueur, produced in collaboration with Mudhouse Coffee Roasters, is a favorite. Spirit Lab Distilling (spiritlabdistilling.com) produces single-malt whiskey, gin, brandy, grappa, etc. in small batches with an intense focus on local ingredients. Spirit Lab’s single-malt whiskey pays homage to traditionally produced Scotch whiskey, while simultaneously blazing a bold trail for a true expression of Virginia.

For the sweets lover on your list, something from Gearharts Fine Chocolates (gearhartschocolates.com) is always appreciated. Founded in 2001 in Charlottesville, the shop has been a mainstay for artisan chocolates, and with a signature line consisting of 16 tempting flavors, an assortment box is the way to go.

For someone who prefers caramel to chocolate, look no further than La Vache Microcreamery (lavachemicrocreamery.com). The caramels are available in traditional flavors such as fleur de sel and double espresso, and seasonal flavors that vary depending on the time of the year. The molasses ginger is particularly well suited for the holidays. These little packages of pleasure are crafted by hand, in small batches, without preservatives, and with ingredients sourced “as locally as possible.”

The Little Things Shortbread from FOUND. Market co (foundmarketco.com) has developed a bit of a cult following among those who have been lucky enough to taste it. In addition to the classic honey recipe, there are six flavor options, ranging from chocolate chip to cinnamon chai to salted rosemary. 

JAM according to Daniel (accordingtodaniel.com) started as a weekly stand at City Market over a decade ago. To say that Daniel Perry is obsessed with jam would be a true understatement—he offers what seems like a hundred different seasonal jam recipes, all made from local fruit sourced from farms within 60 miles of Charlottesville. In addition, he now offers gift boxes that combine some of the most popular jam flavors with herbal teas grown on Fairweather Farm in nearby Nelson County, where Rachel Williamson runs a “one-woman, one-acre” farm.

A different sort of farming is happening in Batesville at Elysium Honey Company (elysiumhoney.com). Like many wine producers, Elysium is focused on how the  environment (soil, climate, type of flower, etc.) influences the taste of the final product. The Virginia Wildflower honey is harvested from and around Albemarle County, and represents the sweetest taste of the Virginia Piedmont area.

Two local producers can help with the cooks on your list. Blanc Creatives (blanccreatives.com) has earned national recognition for its line of carbon steel pans. In addition, it offers products such as handmade wooden kitchen tools, serving boards, and barware. Monolith Knives (monolithknives.com) hand forges one-of-a-kind steel kitchen knives that are designed to last a lifetime. Monolith will work with customers to customize every detail of the knife from the type and intended use, to the length, materials, and look of the handle and blade.

Want to feel really good about your gift? Go with a gift card. There is an extra benefit right now to purchasing gift cards at local restaurants. Whether redeemed now for takeout and delivery or saved in anticipation of gathering again, the immediate income is something that independent restaurants need.

And you can give a gift to the restaurant industry by writing to your Congressional representatives to tell them to support the Restaurants Act, which provides needed financial aid and relief for independent restaurants. This will help ensure that our favorite establishments will be here in the future—a gift we all want.

Categories
Living

The Salad Maker opens on Market Street

Jacie Dunkel opened The Salad Maker last week to provide fresh and quick salad options for customers seeking a sit-down spot for lunch or dinner. Photo by Tom McGovern

In The Big Salad episode of “Seinfeld,” Elaine asks George to get her a big salad from the coffee shop. “What’s in the big salad?” George asks. “Big lettuce, big carrots, tomatoes like volleyballs,” Jerry deadpans.

You won’t get enormous salads with gargantuan vegetables at The Salad Maker at 300 E. Market St., but you will find dozens of fresh salad options. Owner Jacie Dunkel, who also owns Tin Whistle Irish Pub and Fellini’s #9, says that while the Blue Ridge Country Store on the Downtown Mall has a great lunchtime make-your-own salad bar, there aren’t many places downtown to get a quick salad for lunch or dinner, and she wanted to give customers another option, especially one with seating.

Tin Whistle chef Karen Fiedler started developing the salad recipes before handing things over to Allison Campbell, previously of Zazu’s and Revolutionary Soup.

Salads are ordered via paper menus available at the door—once you’ve snagged one, write your name on the line and circle your special or classic salad of choice, or select your own components from a hefty list of greens, proteins, cheeses, housemade dressings and more. Then, take your paper to the Create counter, and pick it up and pay—$8.95 for a special or classic, $6.95 and up for a custom—at the Produce counter when your name is called.

There’s the North Garden, with spring mix, spiced almonds, goat cheese, dried apricots, roasted red peppers and balsamic vinaigrette, as well as The Crozet steak salad with romaine and iceberg lettuces, blue cheese, marinated mushrooms, tomatoes and blue cheese dressing. There’s also a cobb, Greek, Caesar and spinach salad, and, if you’re feeling adventurous, opt for a Palmyra salad: in-season ingredients sourced from many local farmers and City Market vendors—it’ll never be the same twice. All salads come with a housemade rye cracker. And The Salad Maker also offers a daily soup, made at the Tin Whistle, and homemade brownies and cookies.

Strike while the waffle iron is hot

How do you like your waffles? With a pat of butter and a drizzle of syrup? Smothered in fruit compote and whipped cream? Scalding hot and crispy brown after a moment too long in mom’s toaster (I’m looking at you, Eggos!)?

Come winter, your preferred waffle consumption method may change with the opening of Iron Paffles and Coffee at 214 W. Water St. At Iron, a paffle—housemade puff pastry baked to flaky perfection on a waffle iron—is a bit richer and more flexible than a waffle, making it the perfect vehicle not just for syrup, caramelized cinnamon apples and whipped cream, but for sandwiches, too.

In February, owner Kathryn Matthews plans to start serving eat-in and take-out paffles such as the Made of Iron, with sausage, bacon, egg and cheese; the Rise ’N’ Iron with blueberry compote, local hickory syrup and whipped cream; the Iron Master, with Southern fried chicken and mac ’n’ cheese; and various vegetarian options. Paffles will cost around $6 each.

Tasty tidbit

Monolith Studio’s chef knives were recently named a runner-up in the Home category in Garden & Gun magazine’s seventh annual Made in the South Awards, which celebrate and encourage Southern craftspeople.

Categories
Arts

Artisans team up to craft Monolith’s handmade knives

Zack Worrell (pictured) works with Alan Bates and Nick Watson to create handmade knives in his home studio. Their open house is Saturday from 9am to 1pm at The Bridge. Photo by Brianna Larocco

Zack Worrell and his team at Monolith Knives are carving out a name for themselves in the handmade knives market. From a studio on Worrell’s Ivy family farm, once owned by Meriwether Lewis, Worrell, Alan Bates and Nick Watson create culinary and field knives. Recently, they have been “breathing life” into folding knives, as Bates describes the process.

“We have trained artists, we have trained mechanics, and we have people that are coming from all these different backgrounds in this little shop,” Worrell says. “It really is a Jeffersonian story, because we’re doing things the way he probably would have liked to have seen them done.”

The lifelong desire to work with their hands led Bates, a woodworker with a background in custom high-end carpentry, and Watson, a sculptor and metalworker who recently finished an Aunspaugh Fellowship at UVA, to join Monolith Studio.

“When I first told my parents I was making knives, they were like, ‘Oh, knives are scary,’” Bates says. “So I bring a knife over and they’re wincing. A knife is a weapon to them, but I make kitchen knives. So they’re coming around to it.”

The artistry makes it easy to come around to knives as an “object of beauty,” as Monolith’s business manager and Worrell’s wife, Carrie, says. Each piece has “soul,” according to Worrell and Bates. Knives and cutting boards are currently available for purchase on Monolith’s website and at Timbercreek Market, and Zack hopes to add more retail locations.

“There aren’t many handmade kitchen knives out there,” Watson says. “Ours are special and so far different from something that you pick up at Bed Bath & Beyond. They create your dinner—what your family gathers around every day.”

In addition to providing lifetime sharpening and repairs for every tool they create, Worrell, Bates and Watson carefully curate each knife’s materials. One blade incorporates reclaimed steel from an old Mustang. Another custom handle features walnut from a client’s farm in Kentucky, and several future knives will include wood from crotches, the part of the tree where branches meet and wood compresses. A gentleman who goes by “Wild Man” recently provided the trio with the crotches in exchange for a Monolith knife.

“The idea of taking metal and putting it in the fire, smashing it and doing this and that to it is super cool to me,” says Worrell. “[Knife- making] feels like you’re going on this exploration of material. You’re bringing design along the way for functionality and aesthetic, but at the end of the day, it has to work.”

Dave Matthews recently came by the studio to work with the guys on a custom mushroom harvesting knife for his wife—featuring hair from his family’s hogs. Worrell says Matthews was involved in the process from the start.

“[Matthews] wasn’t like, ‘Hey, call me when it’s done or send it to my secretary,’” Worrell says. “He went out and cut the hair off the hog.”

Though Monolith has already garnered awards and national attention while working with clients ranging from celebrities to professional chefs, the guys continue to operate as a close-knit team—embracing the constructive feedback and “show-and-tell” moments fostered in a studio environment.

“Almost every knife has been worked on in some way or another by all of us,” Worrell says. “There isn’t one guy that makes all the knives, one guy that’s on the computer and one guy sweeping the floor. We’re working in a capacity.”

It’s this vision of a business that builds partnerships and celebrates creativity and resourcefulness that Worrell calls his “childhood dream.”

“What I feel like we’re trying to build here is a little bit of our own community and culture,” he says.

On Saturday at The Bridge PAI, visitors can watch these knife-makers and other local artisans at work—“smashing steel and making a scene,” as Worrell says—at an event titled “Sharp & Shiny Things: A Metal Crafters Open House.”

Worrell says his experience as co-founder of The Bridge is what drove him to knife-making. “My experience working with artists and learning about working with artists is what gave me the confidence to say, ‘I want to go be an artist.’ I feel very lucky to have found [Bates] and [Watson].”

Carrie Worrell, chair of The Bridge’s board of directors, sees the event as serving the nonprofit’s mission to bridge diverse communities through the arts.

“[Knife-making] is an art form happening right here in Charlottesville,” she says. “People need to know about it and people cruising around town should feel free to walk up and find out what a UVA graduate and two Charlottesville guys learned to do. They created a company to make [knives]. It’s pretty cool.”