Tag: Rapture

Categories
Arts Culture

Virginia lovers

Kendall Street Company hits the road for 20 shows in February, all of them in Virginia. Publicity photo

What’s with the “company” in Kendall Street Company? If you know anything about the local band, an 8- to 9-year-old jam-rock outfit with a dedicated regional following, you know these guys are anything but stuffed shirts. Business casual for frontman Louis Smith and his colleagues doesn’t even come with socks and shoes.

No, Smith says the “company” in Kendall Street Company refers to the company the band keeps, the folks who follow the rockers from show to show and know the words to every song on their eponymous 2014 debut EP, as well as those who’ve shown up more recently.

Over the next three weeks, the band stands to learn a lot about its Virginia-based faithful. Smith and his mates have launched a five-city, 20-concert, in-state tour. In addition to shows in Blacksburg, Harrisonburg, Roanoke, and Richmond, the tour includes four shows at Charlottesville’s Rapture on the Downtown Mall. KSC will start its week on Tuesdays, and wind its way to C’ville on Friday nights, before concluding the state circuit in Richmond on Saturdays.

“We were thinking, we don’t want to plan this giant tour that is going to be going out to places hundreds of miles from home and potentially have cancellations,” Smith says. “We decided, let’s play in our home state, let’s put on some awesome shows for all these people in the state of Virginia.”

Playing four concerts in the same city in as many weeks isn’t without challenges. The big one? Filling the venues. Bands try to space out their bookings in individual locations to keep demand up—play too many times in the same place, and you’ll stop attracting crowds.

But the tour venues were selected with that in mind, and Smith’s confident in his band’s ability to pull off the weekly engagement over the next month. The KSC website says “no two shows [are] ever the same,” and those aren’t just corporate buzzwords. The band’s thick catalog of originals and covers is impressive for an act that’s only been formally touring for five years, and with lengthy improvisations dotting its setlists, Kendall Street Company knows how to keep it fresh.

The group is coming off a nationwide fall tour, which served as a proper promotional effort for 2021’s COVID-driven The Year the Earth Stood Still double LP. But even if fans caught one of the shows on the swing, which included highlight reel performances in Denver, Virginia Beach, and NYC, they’re in for at least one surprise. KSC’s original keyboardist, Price Gillock, will play the 20 shows alongside the band’s five current members: Smith (acoustic guitar, vocals), Brian Roy (bass), Ryan Wood (drums), Ben Laderberg (electric guitar), and Jake Vanaman (saxophones, keys).

So what can Charlottesville audiences expect during the weekly Rapture shows? Intimacy is the watchword, with the smallish venue bringing the band and its company close together. What’s more, KSC has dubbed the in-state tour “Kendall Street Is for Lovers,” and will play songs at least tangentially in line with the theme. That means, in addition to crowd-pleasers like “Wasted” (“your love is tearing me apart”) and on-the-nose title tracks like “Lady I Love,” showgoers will get “Rocky Raccoon,” The Beatles’ ballad about an ill-fated love triangle.

“We learned a bunch of covers and rehearsed over four days before the tour,” Smith says. “We are diving deep into the catalog.”

The band has come a long way in developing that catalog since its 2014 debut. Early on, it might have been easy to dismiss the group as a DMB knockoff. Horns, raspy lead vocalist, jazzy/folky Americana, jams/improvisations. Check, check, check, check.

And while Smith admits it was in part his love for Matthews that brought him to Charlottesville (to study architecture, physics, and music at UVA), KSC has evolved into something more. A Phish-like whimsy, a Widespread Panic-like sense of desperation—all mashed up to make the band one of a kind.

According to Smith, it’s driven by the music his parents listened to when he was growing up—Miles Davis, Talking Heads, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Herbie Hancock—and inflected by modern curios. Think Aussie indie rockers King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, soul singer D’Angelo, and former Roots drummer-cum-late night star Questlove.

Which brings us to where Kendall Street Company is today:  a tight jam band, dependent on its members being closely in sync, quickly recovering from a brief pandemic-induced period of alienation.

“Like the first year or nine months, we didn’t get together at all really,” Smith says. “We did a livestream series on YouTube…those were fun, but it was definitely like grasping at something to do and keep creating the art and be the band we wanted to be.”

Smith thinks one of the upsides of playing Rapture and the other statewide venues once a week for four weeks is that KSC will get better and better. And with any luck, the band’s company will also start to feel it.

“We’re hoping the people at the shows are going to meet each other and bond over a love of jam music,” Smith says. “I feel like in Charlottesville, it’s been hard to find the scene, like what is going on? I’m sure it is similar in other cities, coming back and going to see shows. I just want to see live music flourish.”

Categories
Culture Living

Something to Grouse about

The Pink Grouse’s Chef de Cuisine Dennis Merritt says he was inspired to become a chef after watching a seed grow into a plant and became something nourishing. Publicity photo

Foodies rejoice! Charlottesville’s high-end dining circuit just got a little larger with the reopening of The Pink Grouse, the signature restaurant at the Quirk Hotel. Initially unveiled along with the hotel in March of 2020, The Pink Grouse’s launch was short-lived due to widespread shutdowns in April. The extra time was used to fine-tune the restaurant’s vision and bring on Chef de Cuisine Dennis Merritt. The result is a contemporary take on American food, driven home by a modern dining room, open kitchen, and creative platings.

Merritt got his start as sous chef at The Clifton, and has spent the last 10 years honing his craft at several of the country’s top restaurants, including Chicago’s Roister. When asked what he was most excited for, regarding his return to Charlottesville, Merritt says, “Being able to show my interpretations of both new and classic dishes.” One example that speaks to the avant-garde spirit of The Pink Grouse is the vivid White Stone oysters topped with coconut, passion fruit mousse, pickled mango, and calabrian chilis.

Keep the Kouign-amann coming

In August, MarieBette Café was awarded a $25,000 grant from Discover’s Eat It Forward program, which supports Black-owned businesses countrywide. It’s no secret that COVID-19 has put tremendous strain on the restaurant industry, especially in Black communities, and the Eat It Forward program aims to protect these “cornerstones of community” by offering awards based on customer nominations. On its Instagram, MarieBette writes, “To say that we are excited for how much this helps us in this difficult time would be an understatement. We are so proud to be part of the Charlottesville community.”

Meet me on the patio

Many of our iconic restaurants have begun to reopen after months of closure, adding or adjusting patio spaces, and dining outside never tasted so good.

Among them is Tavola,* now offering reservations (are pigs flying too?) for limited indoor, plus outdoor dining, where guests can enjoy a new patio along with the much-missed Italian food and wine. Paradox Pastry has repaved its patio into a larger and more accommodating space, and Little Star and Oakhart Social have both tented their spacious outdoor dining areas. Diners have also gained new appreciation for a long list of reopened al fresco spots on the Downtown Mall, including Rapture, The Fitzroy, Chap’s, and Fleurie (check out its beautifully appointed deck!).

New beginnings

Splendora’s, the Downtown Mall gelato café, closed its doors last month after 16 years of creating frozen masterpieces from imaginative ingredients. (We are still dreaming of the Strawberry Pink Peppercorn and the Miso Cherry.)

Owner PK Ross hopes to use this transition as an opportunity to focus on collaborating with other businesses, meaning we may see Splendora’s on some of our favorite menus in the near future. Splendy’s is still offering pickup and delivery through the rest of September, while Ross searches for a new location off the mall. More information can be found on Splendora’s Facebook page.

Bluegrass Grill & Bakery, a favorite brunch spot for locals in the know since 2001, was forced to vacate its downtown location when the pandemic struck. But never fear, the biscuit making will continue. Bluegrass recently partnered with Devils Backbone to operate a pop-up restaurant at The Summit, a repurposed train station on DB’s Roseland property. For the next three months, find BGB’s classic, Southern dishes served by familiar faces, now in the spectacular foothills of the Blue Ridge.

And sadly, BreadWorks Bakery & Deli, which has provided job training and employment to people with disabilities since 1967, will close its doors due to the economic fallout of the coronavirus.—Will Ham

*co-owned by C-VILLE’s Culture editor Tami Keaveny

Categories
Living

Small Bites: Juice boost and cocktails delivered

In mid-April, Governor Ralph Northam directed Virginia ABC to let restaurants and distilleries to sell mixed drinks through take out or delivery. Jeffery Gleason

Frontline feeding

Restaurants throughout the area continue to band together to nourish health care workers and other community members in need. Corner Juice is making bi-weekly drops of immunity-boosting juices to various UVA hospital departments. A $60 donation equals a case of juice for health care workers. Those in a position to give can do so on the Corner Juice website.

Others are teaming up to give back through Frontline Foods Charlottesville, a local organization partnering with World Central Kitchen, led by chef Josè Andrès, to support area restaurants and feed frontline workers and community members. The organization has already served thousands of meals locally.

Fundraising partners

We first covered the Charlottesville Restaurant Community Fund, an effort run by Kate Ellwood, former general manager at Citizen Burger Bar, back in March. Dollars raised are going directly to support local restaurant employees in need, and daily donations continue to arrive. Meanwhile, Ellwood’s launched a second fund that will stretch even further, thanks to a partnership with Charlottesville-based charity Blue Morning, which means fewer fees and faster distribution of grants. The effort’s raised more than $75,000 so far, and donations help a local restaurant employee afford a doctor’s visit or buy a week’s worth of groceries.

Until further notice

The open or closed status of restaurants is understandably in flux at the moment. Some have remained open with creative curbside offerings, some have closed only to re-open again, and at least one local restaurant, The Downtown Grille, has announced permanent closure after 21 years of business on the Downtown Mall. A sincere mea culpa is due to Rapture, which C-VILLE Weekly incorrectly announced as closed for good in a recent issue. Rapture joins a number of other area restaurants, including Brazo’s Tacos, Take It Away, and The Virginian, which are closed indefinitely with plans to re-open at some point. Our team has created an updated guide to area takeout and pickup options.

 

Is your pet a winner?

Last year, Devils Backbone Brewing Company received more than 6,000 entries from people who wanted to see their own furry friend on a can of the brewery’s Gold Leaf Lager. The contest is back for 2020, and new this year, pets of all varieties are eligible to compete. Through June, pet owners can submit a photo at dbbrewingcompany.com that highlights an adventure of any kind, even one from the couch. In addition to the bragging rights that come with being featured on a beer can, five grand prize winners will receive an adventure pet swag pack for maximum pet spoiling.

Cocktails to go

You can’t go out, but you shouldn’t have to go without a cocktail. Governor Ralph Northam directed Virginia ABC to temporarily allow businesses with mixed beverage licenses, such as restaurants and distilleries, to sell mixed drinks through takeout or delivery. In other words, besides beer and wine, your to-go beverage options now include sangria from Mas, or a margarita from Zocalo. Cheers!

Categories
Coronavirus News

In brief: Deadly disparities, graduation guesses, and more

Deadly disparities

While the COVID-19 pandemic has affected people of all backgrounds across the globe, statistics show that it has had a disproportionate impact on black Americans. Data is limited, because only about 35 percent of U.S. cases specify a patient’s race, according to the CDC. But its numbers show that black people comprise nearly 34 percent of those infected with COVID-19, though they make up only 13 percent of the population. And African Americans make up nearly 30 percent of U.S. deaths from the virus, according to the latest Associated Press analysis.

Charlottesville is certainly not immune to this issue. In the Thomas Jefferson Health District, as of April 17, about 32 percent of people infected with coronavirus (and 25 percent of those who’ve died) are black, while black people make up only 13.9 percent of the district’s population.

Black communities in other parts of the state have been hit even harder by COVID-19. In Richmond, all eight people who’ve died from the virus were black. And while 48 percent of the city’s population is African American, black people make up about 62 percent of local cases.

Medical professionals, activists, and political leaders around the country have attributed these disparities to pre-existing inequities within our health care and economic systems. Blacks are more likely than whites to be uninsured and receive lower-quality health care, as well as have underlying conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, and heart disease—all often caused or worsened by poverty. And due to unequal education, housing segregation, and other systemic inequalities, a significant portion of black Americans live in densely packed areas and do not have jobs that allow them to work from home, making social distancing more difficult.

To provide more black Virginians with adequate health care access, the Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP has sent a letter to Governor Ralph Northam asking him to use his “executive discretion” to speed up the Medicaid eligibility process using data available immediately from the Department of Taxation, along with other resources. Because there is currently a backlog of applications, those trying to be approved for Medicaid may have to wait as long as 45 days—which, for some people, “may be a death sentence.”

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Quote of the Week

“There was a housing crisis two months ago, and this entire community spent a number of years moving towards addressing that…And now we have an even bigger crisis.”

—Brandon Collins, Public Housing Association of Residents, addressing City Council on Monday

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In Brief

Gradual grads

UVA announced two tentative dates for graduation, after the original ceremony was canceled due to coronavirus. The class of 2020 will walk the Lawn on October 9-11, or, failing that, May 28-30, the weekend after the class of 2021 graduates. The university will still hold a digital ceremony to confer degrees this May, although it’s unclear if Zoom will have installed a virtual cap-flinging feature by then.

Sales are not on the menu

Seventy-eight percent of Virginia’s restaurant employees have been laid off since February, according to a new study from the National Restaurant Association. In the first week of April, the state’s restaurant sales declined 77 percent, compared to the same time period last year. That downturn has already forced longtime Charlottesville staple the Downtown Grille to permanently close its doors, while other beloved spots like Rapture, Tavola, and Oakheart Social have closed temporarily.      

Capital loss

Death penalty critic Jerry Givens died last Monday in Henrico County at age 67. His son, Terence Travers, did not reveal Givens’ cause of death, but said that he had pneumonia and had tested positive for COVID-19. Givens, who spoke with C-VILLE in February for a story about the fight against the death penalty in Virginia, served as the state’s chief executioner for 17 years, before becoming an outspoken opponent of capital punishment.

Out of the House

Legislators in the state capital won’t be able to meet in their regular chambers for this month’s short veto session. Instead, Democratic leadership reports that the Senate will gather in a convention center, with members seated at desks 10 feet apart from each other, and the House will convene in a huge tent on the lawn near the capital.

Updated 4/22: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Rapture had closed permanently; according to the restaurant’s Facebook page, it is closed “indefinitely.” 

Categories
News

Anniversary prep: City on lockdown

The city prepares for the anniversary of last summer's Unite the Right rally. Photo by Eze Amos

During the weekend of August 10-12, the anniversary of last summer’s violent and fatal clashes, the city will be on lockdown—or so it seems.

Interim City Manager Mike Murphy today announced additional measures that will affect many people in the downtown Charlottesville area during the Unite the Right anniversary weekend, including closing city parks and pools, the City Market, and an early closing of City Hall.

The city had already planned to close streets in the immediate downtown area. Now parking is restricted on additional streets around Friendship Court, and the closures will begin at 6pm Friday, August 10, and have been extended to 6am Monday, August 13.

“We understand that the city and the task force are concerned with safety, however, does closing down the city out of an abundance of caution play right into the hands of the Nazis and this negative anniversary?” asks Janet Dob, a City Market regular.

She and Cynthia Viejo, the Bageladies, have held a booth at the market for over a decade, and Dob says downtown businesses are still reeling from last summer. “Revenues were down, not just on that weekend, but longer-term, and a year later when there seems to be little recovery, we’re all hit again.”

“Nobody puts Baby in a corner,” says Viejo, quoting Patrick Swayze. Adds Dob, “That’s exactly what the city is doing—putting all of downtown in a corner and not allowing its goodness to shine.”

Adds Priya Mahadevan, who operates the Desi Dosa stall at City Market, “While I understand that they are trying to keep us safe, closing down businesses means thousands of dollars in losses for all the market vendors. Basically disrupting business is the police’s way of telling us they are incapable of ensuring the safety of people who are trying to do their work and earn a livelihood.”

Rapture owner Mike Rodi says the street closures are “a terrible thing for Downtown Mall businesses.” But he also points out, “If we put an end to this that weekend and on Monday morning have no images to haunt us, if we pause on the anniversary, nothing happens and there’s no will for a 2019 repeat, that benefits us.”

According to Rodi, “A lot of the business community feels it’s overkill in compensation of last year.”

“We’re going to be open because it feels like it’s standing up to the alt-right,” says Joan Fenton, chair of the Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville. “Nobody expects to make money. It’s really about making a statement.”

A year ago, white supremacists, neo-Nazis and counterprotesters clashed in the streets without police intervention. Heather Heyer was killed when a car plowed into a crowd on Fourth Street and two Virginia State Police two pilots died in a helicopter crash. VSP have said they’ll be in town in various uniforms all week.

Rodi says he’s “disgusted” by the Virginia General Assembly, which refused to add Charlottesville to a list of cities where open carry of guns is prohibited. “While you can’t bring an aerosol can or pocket knife into a restricted area, you can bring an AR15,” he says.

“I don’t see how [the city] can do anything else,” he says of the restrictions. “If anyone gets hurt, it’s blood on the city’s hands.”

Some of the recently announced closures conflict with events on a city website called #ResilientCville, which also has a calendar. It lists a nonviolent action workshop for August 11 at Carver Recreation Center, which is now closed for the weekend.

And city spokesperson Brian Wheeler did not immediately respond to an inquiry about why the city is closing its pools, spraygrounds and golf course for the August weekend.

Not everything is shutting down. Fridays After Five will proceed—”unless we hear anything from police that we should cancel,” says Sprint Pavilion general manager Kirby Hutto. “We think it’s important to get back to normal.”

And despite the difficulty parking, he says, “We want to give people a reason to come downtown.”

The University of Virginia, which endured the horrifying spectacle of torch-carrying neo-Nazis marching through Grounds last year on August 11, announced plans to restrict access over the weekend to the Lawn (except for residents and attendees of a ticketed event August 11) and to the plaza on the north side of the Rotunda, where a small group of counterprotesters were surrounded by white supremacists at the statue of founder Thomas Jefferson.

UVA Students United plan a rally at the Rotunda’s north plaza from 7 to 9pm August 11. The group’s Facebook page says students met with Gloria Graham, VP of security and safety, who said there will be access to most of the plaza except for barricades six feet around the Jefferson statue. University spokesperson Anthony de Bruyn confirms that access limitations only extend to part of the plaza, and that a UVA representative talked with rally organizers to gauge the appropriate safety and security measures.

Though it’s unclear whether there will be any white supremacist demonstrations in town this weekend, here’s what’s on Charlottesville’s calendar, and a link to all city closures:

Sunday, August 5

  • Cville Fights Back poster launch party at Champion Brewery. 2:30 to 4:30pm.

Monday, August 6

  • Charlottesville Clergy Collective prayer session at Market Street Park. 6 to 6:30am. Noon to 12:30pm.
  • City Council meeting and update on August 11-12 preparations in City Council Chambers. 6:30pm.

Tuesday, August 7:

  • Charlottesville Clergy Collective prayer session at Market Street Park. 6 to 6:30am. Noon to 12:30pm.
  • Why We Protest activist panel at Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. 7 to 8:30pm.
  • Documenting Hate: Charlottesville, a Frontline and ProPublica documentary, debuts at 10pm on local PBS stations and online.

Wednesday, August 8:

  • Charlottesville Clergy Collective prayer session at Market Street Park. 6 to 6:30am. Noon to 12:30pm.
  • Lawyers’ panel on free speech and anti-racism at Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. 7 to 8:30pm.

Thursday, August 9:

  • Charlottesville Clergy Collective prayer session at Market Street Park. 6 to 6:30am. Noon to 12:30pm.
  • Interfaith worship service: Making Our Way Together at The Haven. 7 to 8pm.

Friday, August 10:

  • Charlottesville Clergy Collective prayer session at Market Street Park. 6 to 6:30am. Noon to 12:30pm.
  • Shabbat service at Congregation Beth Israel. 6:15pm.

Saturday, August 11:

  • The Hope That Summons Us: A Morning of Reflection and Renewal at the Old Cabell Hall auditorium at UVA. Ticketed event with clear bag policy. 9am.
  • Congregate Charlottesville: A Service for Repair at First Presbyterian Church. 3pm.
  • VA Students Act Against White Supremacy: Rally for Justice at the Rotunda. 7pm.

Sunday, August 12:

  • Community sing-out to celebration harmony, diversity at Ix Art Park. 4 to 6pm.
  • NAACP’s Time for Reflections and Healing forum at Zion Union Baptist Church. 4 to 6pm.
  • Better Together: Lament, Repent, Rejoice at the Sprint Pavilion. 6 to 8pm.

Corrected August 3 at 9:05am with the correct location of Congregate Charlottesville’s August 11 service.

Updated August 3 at 9:25am with remarks from UVA spokesperson Anthony de Bruyn.

Updated August 3 at 11am with Joan Fenton comment.

 

Categories
Living

Show some love for Virginia-made libations

Alec Spidalieri at Junction is shaking things up for Virginia Spirits Month with the Chai Tai, made with dark chai spice rum from Culpeper’s Belmont Farm’s Kopper Kettle, and the Other Woman, featuring rose-infused Belle Isle premium moonshine. Photo by Amy Jackson

Bottoms up, y’all. It’s Virginia Spirits Month here in the commonwealth, sponsored by the Virginia Distillers Association and meant to spotlight Virginia-made spirits. Many local bartenders do so all year ’round, but there are a few special cocktails this month that are worth sidling up to the bar for.

Junction’s Alec Spidalieri is shaking things up with the Rum Communion, the Stablemate, the Chai Tai and the Other Woman. The Rum Communion is “an upscale, seasonal daiquiri for fall,” says Spidalieri, and is made with Charlottesville’s own Vitae Spirits golden rum. Spidalieri washes each bottle of golden rum with one pound of brown butter—he whisks the rum and butter together, then freezes the mixture overnight, skims off the butter, strains and rebottles the rum—then combines the butter-washed rum with a cordial made from grilled pineapple and fresh lime juice, aggressively shaken, strained and served up.

“It’s a rich but balanced cocktail that packs a lot of flavor with butter and caramel notes,” says Spidalieri.

The Chai Tai’s components, dark chai spice rum from Culpeper’s Belmont Farm’s Kopper Kettle combined with Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao, lime and orgeat (“a sort of floral almond milk syrup,” Spidalieri explains), give this take on a classic mai tai “a new dimension of spice character that makes it perfect for late summer/early fall,” says Spidalieri.

Over at The Alley Light, in addition to the popular Rose Hill Ruby with Vitae Spirits platinum rum, Micah LeMon’s making a Virginia Alexander, made with Bowman Brothers bourbon, Vitae Spirits golden rum, P.Boo’s salted rum caramel (which LeMon makes himself), cream, egg white and black salt, and the Ugly Stick, concocted with Copper Fox rye, Virginia black birch (another LeMon creation), smoked maple, Zucca and black walnut bitters. LeMon says he’s also hitting a lot of folks with the Ugly Stick, perhaps due in no small part to the Copper Fox rye, made in Sperryville, which LeMon says “is an anomalous and interesting distillate” that tastes more Scotch-y than most whiskeys because of its high barley content.

Tavola, Whiskey Jar, Rapture and The Local are participating in Virginia Spirits Month, too, as are Charlottesville ABC stores, where you can taste some local spirits during in-store events.

Bowled over

Charlottesville’s super into bowls, with spots like Roots Natural Kitchen, Chopt, Poke Sushi Bowl and The Salad Maker, which all rolled into town over the last couple of years. Now we have two more: Citizen Bowl and b.good.

Citizen Bowl is open from 11am-3pm Monday through Friday in the Penny Heart private event space on the Downtown Mall (it’s the spot previously occupied by Eleven Months Presents: Sorry It’s Over and, before that, Yearbook Taco). Citizen Bowl offers eight different specialty bowls, all of which are gluten-free, such as the Fall Harvest (quinoa, power greens, beets, sweet potato, toasted pumpkin seeds, apple, chevre, balsamic) and the #umami (brown rice, power greens, local mushrooms, toasted sesame seeds, jalapeno, cilantro, edamame, arctic char, cilantro lime dressing), and make-your-own custom bowls.

Our bowls runneth over as casual farm-to-fork chain b.good is scheduled to open this week in the north wing of the Barracks Road Shopping Center, between Pink Palm and Penelope, with an array of grains and greens salads. The menu also promises burgers—beef, turkey, veggie—and chicken sandwiches made a few different ways, such as the Cousin Oliver (lettuce, tomato, onions, homemade pickles) or the El Guapo (bacon, homemade jalapeno slaw, jalapeno ranch), plus sides like sweet potato fries, avocado toast and eggplant meatballs, as well as smoothies, milkshakes and kids’ meals.

Hurricane relief

A few local food-and-drink spots are contributing to relief efforts for the damage caused by hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which together killed more than 150 people and caused billions of dollars in damage in Texas, Florida and the Caribbean.

For an entire week in late August/early September, Jack Brown’s Beer & Burger Joint, which has 10 locations throughout the southern United States, including one on Second Street SE off the Downtown Mall, donated 100 percent of its profits—totaling $34,236.61—to the American Red Cross to assist with Harvey relief.

This past weekend, Shenandoah Joe and Three Notch’d Brewing Company combined efforts to gather supplies for those affected. They’d hoped to fill a 48-foot trailer to send down to the people in southern Florida whose lives were “turned upside down” by Hurricane Irma, says Shenandoah Joe owner Dave Fafara. Although they collected quite a bit, including boxes of nonperishable canned and boxed food, clothes, diapers, cleaning supplies and more than 100 cases of water, plus $600 in cash donated by City Market vendors on Saturday, they didn’t get enough to fill a trailer on their own, so they’re combining with a similar Greene County effort to send a truck of supplies down this week. Someone even donated a car seat, says Fafara, adding that “it was good to see the community do something for people they don’t know.”

Categories
Arts

ARTS Pick: The ATM Unit

There are few groups better suited for a night of local jams than rock and jazz fusion band The ATM Unit. The cast of musicians—Michael Taylor on drums, Mark Miller on vocals and guitar and bass virtuoso Dane Alderson on bass—is enough to blow the roof off, but the group grows mightier with the addition of jazz organist and musical powerhouse Jonah Kane-West.

Monday, September 4. Free, 10pm. Rapture, 303 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 293-9526.

Categories
Arts

ARTS Pick: Electric Kif

The good-time funk of Electric Kif takes over Rapture on Wednesday. Photo by Sandrasonik

A Mexican bass player, a French guitarist, a keyboardist from Philadelphia and a drummer from Miami walk into a bar—and take the stage. Hopefully you’re in the audience to witness the cool vibes and easy grooves of Electric Kif’s blend of funk, soul and jazz. Originally hailing from Florida, the band is in the midst of an East Coast tour, leaving newly converted fans in its wake of energetic, genre-bending jams.

Wednesday, June 21. Free, 10:30pm. Rapture, 303 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 293-9526.

Categories
Living

Introducing paffles to Charlottesville

The turkey BLT paffle is just one of the savory options (sweet varieties are offered as well) at Iron Paffles and Coffee. Staff photo

Kathryn Matthews has been obsessed with American breakfast since she was a child, growing up in Grimsby, a small fishing town on the northeast coast of England. Her grandparents would sometimes take her on vacation to Florida, where they’d eat waffles and fluffy American pancakes, which are quite different from the unleavened, more crêpe-like English pancakes. Sometimes, they’d pour batter onto a griddle or into a waffle iron and make the treats themselves.

Matthews has brought her love of sweet American breakfast to 214 W. Water St. with the opening of Iron Paffles and Coffee. She started working as a chef at 16 before studying hospitality and beverage management at university, and has been making paffles—puff pastry baked on a waffle iron—on her own for a while now, though she can’t exactly take credit for inventing the paffle (a quick Google search a few years back showed her as much).

Once Kathyrn Matthews, who grew up in England, got a taste of American-style breakfast, she set out to capture those flavors by creating a puff pastry-waffle hybrid known as the paffle. Photo by Tom McGovern
Once Kathyrn Matthews, who grew up in England, got a taste of American-style breakfast, she set out to capture those flavors by creating a puff pastry-waffle hybrid known as the paffle. Photo by Tom McGovern

Savory breakfast nuts might want to try the Iron Glory, a paffle topped with local bacon, sausage and cheese omelet topped with sriracha mayonnaise, and those with a sweet tooth might go for the Rise ’N’ Iron, a blueberry paffle covered with cream and local hickory syrup.

For lunch (or perhaps dinner) Matthews and executive chef Dan Giovanetti will cook up paffles such as the Iron Master (southern-fried local organic chicken breast, mac ’n’ cheese and local spring mix) and the Iron Bean (black bean, sweet potato and quinoa patty and finished with smoked salsa). Craving something sweet? Try the Hail Iron—orange cheesecake paffle topped with local strawberry sauce and flaked almonds—or the Peanut BAE, a gluten-free paffle with vegan chocolate ganache and peanut butter whip. The paffles can be made with a special vegan and gluten-free batter for an extra $1.50. Even with the extra charge, nothing costs more than $9, and can be devoured on-site or made to go in a special cardboard paffle carrier that allows for maximum nommage and minimal mess.

Iron will be open Monday through Thursday from 8am to 4pm, Friday from 8am to 8pm and Saturday from 10am to 8pm; breakfast will be served until 11 each day, but the Cini-Bacon paffle, made with maple cinnamon cream, candied pecans and bacon, will be on the menu all day.

Tom Tom nom-noms

It’s Tom Tom time, and you know what that means, food fans: nearly a whole week of food trucks, beer tents, cocktail competitions and celebrations of Charlottesville’s farm-to-table culture.

Throughout the week, restaurants such as The Bebedero, Citizen Burger Bar, Heirloom, Rapture, Oakhart Social, Tavern & Grocery and others will appeal to locavore palates with pre-fixe menus that emphasize local ingredients and artisan food producers.

A dozen mixologists will vie for Tom Tom’s top mixologist title with custom festival cocktails made from locally sourced ingredients and served all week at participating restaurants. A panel of judges will consider the creativity, presentation, originality and taste of the submitted cocktails and name their favorite. But don’t worry, the voice of the people will be considered as well—a popular vote will be held to determine the crowd’s favorite boozy beverage (vote online at tomtomfest.com/craftcocktail). Here’s just a taste of what’s to come: Alley Light’s Micah LeMon will make a Sunday Sermon, made with John J. Bowman Virginia Bourbon, housemade vermouth (local sassafras, wormwood and King Family Chardonnay), Amer Picon and Kubler Absinthe.

At the City Market Iron Chef Competition at 10am on Saturday, chefs will have 30 minutes to tour the market, purchase ingredients and cook a 100 percent locally sourced brunch dish in the hopes of wowing the three judges.

Who will be named this year’s Iron Chef Competition champion at the Tom Tom Founders Festival? Photo by Tom McGovern
Who will be named this year’s Iron Chef Competition champion at the Tom Tom Founders Festival? Photo by Tom McGovern

Find out who’ll be named Charlottesville’s top red hot chili prepper during the Downtown Chili Showdown at the Main Street Arena on Saturday from 11:30am to 3pm. Restaurants, community groups and individuals will compete for people’s choice and judges awards.

And last but not least, local food trucks will rally around Lee Park for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday block parties. Get your fill of good eats from Bavarian Chef, Got Dumplings, Blue Ridge Pizza Co., Mouth Wide Open, Wonderment, Carpe Donut, DanJo’s KettleKorn and others.