Tag: Red Pump Kitchen

Categories
Food & Drink Living

Eat, drink, be merry, repeat

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation; Warner Home Video

Feliz Navidad

The 12 days of Christmas take on a whole new meaning with The Bebedero’s mezcal challenge, December 12-23. “It’s like an advent calendar with booze!” declares the restaurant’s listing. If you and your liver survive the shot-a-day contest (yes, there is a scorecard), you’ll win a free ticket to Bebedero’s rare mezcal tasting on January 15. 225 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, check bebedero.com for hours

Plum crazy

Vitae Spirits celebrates its once-a-year release of damson plum gin, a cousin of sloe gin, on December 12. Sloe plums—the currant-sized fruit of the blackthorn bush —grow only in the wild, and mostly in England. So, Vitae owner/distiller Ian Glomski substitutes damsons grown at Dickie Brothers Orchard in Nelson County. Clever fellow, he is. 2-9pm, 715 Henry Ave., 270-0317, vitaespirits.com

This beer tastes funny

We know you can’t be in two places at once, so if you’d rather take in some improv comedy on December 12, head to Decipher Brewing. 7:30pm, 1740 Broadway St., 995-5777

Fortunate Friday

Who says Friday the 13th is bad luck? Red Pump Kitchen’s annual holiday luncheon counters the superstition with a charmed Mediterranean- and Tuscan-inspired three-course menu. Among the offerings: risotto with hen-of-the-woods and oyster mushrooms, rack of lamb with marble potatoes and winter squash, and toffee carrot cake. noon, $39 per person plus tax and gratuity. December 13, 401 E. Main St., Downtown Mall, 202-6040, redpumpkitchen.com

Hurry up and shop

Crozet’s holiday pop-up craft market serves your gift-shopping needs on December 14 with works by a dozen local artisans. You’ll find jewelry, ceramics, furniture, wreaths, and more. 11am, Piedmont Place, 2025 Library Ave., Crozet, piedmontplacecrozet.com

It’s cookie time

Champion Brewing Company’s annual holiday cookie sale is perfect for the person with a sweet tooth on your gift list. All sales from the December 15 event benefit Cville Timebank, a service-exchange cooperative (it’s a good but complicated idea; look it up at cvilletimebank.com). Beer, cookies, and philanthropy—we’ll drink to that. 1pm, $15 advance tickets (recommended), cookies $12 per box, 324 Sixth St. SE, 295-2739

Sew then

When? 10am-noon, December 17 (and most Tuesdays, for that matter). Beginners to experts can all learn from sewing instructor Erin Maupin. Machines are available but if you have one, bring it with you. $15, 1747 Allied St., Suite K, 253-0906, bit.ly/sew-hive

Categories
Food & Drink Living

Soul kitchen

Shaun Jenkins' new spot will offer just-like-home soul food on Market Street. Staff photo.

How does a new restaurant get away with having just six items on the menu? By making all of them very, very well. What you’ll get at the Soul Food Joint is crispy-battered fried chicken, fall-off-the-bone ribs, tender-as-a-lullaby pulled pork, simmered-to-perfection collards, boy-oh-boy baked mac & cheese, and deviled eggs better than the ones your grandmother made.

In this case, owner Shaun Jenkins’ late grandmother, from Butler, Alabama, created the recipes. “Then she passed that special touch down to my mother, Helen Alexander, who showed me everything I know about comforting the soul through delicious foods,” Jenkins says.

He describes his little spot as “somewhere between a restaurant and a food truck,” and indeed, patrons may either sit inside or pick up their food at a window that opens onto the sidewalk. Sharing space with The Salad Maker at 300 Market St., The Soul Food Joint is open 11am to 3pm Wednesdays in June, after which the hours and the Friday and Saturday night menu (served until 3am!) will expand.

Booze news

In March, we reported that a distillery with the provisional name Vodka House would open in the former Clock Shop building at 201 W. Water St. We were right! Charlottesville’s Wilson Craig, a 2016 UVA grad, and his father, Hunter E. Craig—local bank executive, real estate mogul, and member of the UVA Board of Visitors—are looking at a July opening of Waterbird, a maker of “premium distilled spirits,” according to a sign outside the corner shop. Hunter Smith, of Champion Brewing Company, has signed on as a consultant. Wilson Craig says the distillery’s completion has been fast-tracked for July 1, with production beginning shortly thereafter. A source familiar with the project says Waterbird will produce canned beverages. “It’s going to be different than anything else in Charlottesville,” Craig says. “We’re excited.”

Now you’re cookin’!

After a gnocchi-making tutorial on June 9, Red Pump Kitchen’s summer Sunday cooking classes move on to pizza and cavatelli on July 12 and August 11, respectively. Newbies and serious foodies alike can sharpen their knife skills, knead to their hearts’ content, and learn how to make Tuscan-inspired sauces. See redpumpkitchen.com for details.

Categories
Living

Loco for Mono Loco: Latin American favorite closes after 20 years

Mono Loco fans came out in droves for the final days of the popular downtown Latin American restaurant. Photo by Eze Amos

Mono Loco regulars were recently issued a pink slip with the announcement of the closing, after 20 years, of the venerable downtown eatery.

The restaurant, known for its friendly staff, fun atmosphere and Latin American cuisine, shuttered its doors after service on Saturday, July 28.

“Our lease was up and it was time for us to focus our energy in different directions,” says Joe Hall, vice president of business development for Red Light Management. “Mono Loco had a great run. We appreciate our employees, our customers who made Mono what it is and for the opportunity to serve Charlottesville for that long. It’s been an honor.”

In with the new

Cava restaurant is now open. Known for its fast-casual Mediterranean cuisine, the restaurant is located in the new Emmet Street Station (1200 Emmet St. N.), where the former Exxon station was, across from Barracks Road Shopping Center. Hours are 10:45am to 10pm.

And next door to CAVA is MOD Pizza, a fast-growing, Seattle-based joint that serves up individual artisan-style pizzas made on demand, allowing customers to create their own pies and salads with fresh-pressed dough, signature sauces and more than 30 toppings. It opened July 27.

In honor of its grand opening, MOD donated 100 percent of its first-day pizza sales to the Jed Foundation, a nonprofit focused on mental health awareness and suicide prevention for teens and young adults; 100 percent of pizza sales from its soft opening went to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.

MOD’s hours are 10:30am to 10pm Sun through Thursday, and 10:30am to 11pm Friday and Saturday.

Expanding options

Foods of All Nations has ventured beyond Ivy Road with the opening of its new Foods of All Nations Café in the UVA Research Park north of town, in Town Center Three at 995 Research Park Blvd. A go-to grocery destination for more than 50 years, FoAN has long been known as the place to find hard-to-find ingredients from around the world.

The new café features curated products from local vendors such as MarieBette Café & Bakery, Schuyler Greens and Lumi Juice.

Open from 8am to 5pm, it has both hot and cold breakfast and lunch options, freshly baked goods and desserts, an espresso bar, a salad bar and dinner carryout items. Located adjacent to The Hub, the research park’s open, airy, casual meeting/dining/event space, the café will also offer an outdoor dining space.

Wine wins

Fleurie restaurant made the Wine Enthusiast’s America’s 100 Best Wine Restaurants of 2018, which “is a pretty big deal for our little Charlottesville restaurant,” says Fleurie sommelier Melissa Boardman.

Fleurie is also among the five local restaurants that have earned a 2018 Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for their wine lists. This is the first year that Red Pump Kitchen and Bizou have earned the honor; Tavola and Fleurie have been honorees since 2016, and the Downtown Grille since 2000. Says Red Pump’s sommelier, T.C. Whysall, “Winning this award shows how hard my team works together to give unique wine and dining experiences with their knowledge of the list and pairings with the menu.”

To market, to market

The official Charlottesville City Market has been cancelled for August 11 due to the City’s operations schedule changes for the anniversary of last year’s deadly Unite the Right rally.
However, a number of farmers and vendors who regularly sell at the City Market instead intend to sell their produce and wares at the IX Art Park 7 am-noon on Saturday August 11. Details here.

Feeling the jolt

Coffee-lovers at the University of Virginia’s i.Lab are going to have to look elsewhere for the perfect brew. Shark Mountain Coffee and Chocolate recently announced the permanent closing of its i.Lab location. No word yet on future plans for the company, but a Facebook post hinted at something to come: “We’re always scheming,” it said.