The Charlottesville 29

It’s hard to say for sure, but it seems a safe bet that this is Charlottesville’s first food trailer serving kolaches. What are kolaches? Czech pastries with a history in rural Texas, stuffed with fruit or savory fillings like meat and cheese.

They are one of the offerings at The Mod Pod, now open at Little Mod Hotel. The hotel has no restaurant, so the shiny silver trailer parked out front offers breakfast and lunch to guests, as well as anyone who strolls by its 14th Street location near The Corner. The hotel’s theme is mod, so there is of course avocado toast, breakfast tacos, and acai smoothies. But, don’t let that fool you. There is some serious cooking going on in the trailer.

At the helm is chef Tyler Andrews, who comes to Charlottesville from Ocean City, MD, where he cooked in acclaimed kitchens like The Shark on the Harbor and Rare & Rye. This will be Andrews’s first time running a kitchen of his own, so helping get the trailer started has been industry veteran Laura Fonner, formerly of Duner’s, Siren, and Guy’s Grocery Games, among other endeavors. Part of the idea behind the trailer is that, without the overhead of a restaurant, it can serve food with the sophistication of a trained and talented chef at more affordable prices. With Texas-style kolaches, tacos, savory waffle cones, and salads, the menu looks not just to please hotel guests, but to attract locals, too.

Like a Tex-Czech version of a knish or stromboli, kolaches wrap fillings inside a bready pastry that Andrews calls a hybrid of pizza dough and sweet dinner rolls. The Big Tex combines andouille sausage, smoked cheddar, and jalapeno; the burger-inspired All American has ground beef, smoked cheddar, and pickles; and the Vegetarian features roasted features vegetables, tofu, avocado, smoked cheddar. There’s even a nod to West Virginia with a pepperoni-roll style kolache.

Savory waffle cones are also a rarity in Charlottesville, and Andrews delivers. On our visit, he was busy making his favorite menu item for his girlfriend. For the Piggly Wiggly, Andrews brines and then hard sears slabs of pork belly, which he layers into a waffle cone with avocado, ginger miso slaw, and a bright yuzu molasses glaze.

Amongst all the meat, salads are a highlight. Andrews credits his love of vegetables in part to mentor Chett Bland. Bland himself was mentored by Manresa’s David Kinch, and “The Lawn” is Charlottesville’s ode to Kinch’s “Into the Vegetable Garden.” It’s loaded with red leaf lettuce, heirloom tomato, shaved, pickled and roasted vegetables, goat cheese, seasonal fruit, toasted seeds, tomato marmalade, and parsley vinaigrette. The idea, Andrews says, is to find the best seasonal vegetables available, and present them in various forms to open up the palate in many different ways. “You’ll have something pickled, shaved, raw, roasted, charred, tossed in a lovely vinaigrette, along with a healthy mix of seeds on top,” said Andrews.

The Mod Pod serves breakfast and lunch daily from 7:30 am – 2 pm.

I don’t have a bucket list, but those who do might consider adding a tour from James River Batteau Co. For those of us who value experiences over things, it offers an experience unlike any other to share with friends and remember fondly for a lifetime. I hesitate to heap praise so lavish that it triggers suspicions of paid advertising, but the praise is warranted, and no one paid me to write it.

The tours are led by life-long friends Will Smith and Will Cash, who share a passion for batteau culture on the James River. They founded their company last year to share with the public the joy they have experienced for decades. It is infectious.

To avoid the need for a spoiler alert, I will omit the fascinating history the Wills provided about a method of transportation that was once vital to our region’s economy and culture. As they used a pole to propel our batteau down the James River from the Scottsville boat launch, they interspersed just enough education to allow for both enrichment and conversation with friends. When they reached a shady spot away from the sun, they served on the boat a board of delicious meats, cheeses, and dried fruits. They provided cups and an ice bucket for the beverages we brought on board, local lager, wine, canned cocktails, and a batch of Manhattams. Batteaumen’s revelry earned them a reputation as “lovable rascals,” and we did not dare disrespect that legacy. As we ate and drank, Will Smith, a talented musician, serenaded us with covers of Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and, of course, Old Crow Medicine Show’s James River Blues. As we returned to Scottsville two hours after we left, the sun set over the river.

The batteau company remains relatively unknown, but that is bound to change. Booking now might be wise, before it’s too late.  There I go sounding like an ad again.

If a brewer had to cretate a tap list from beers other than their own, what would they choose? It’s not often a brewer faces the question, but that’s just the position Högwaller brewer and co-owner Mark Fulton finds himself in. His brewpub opens Friday September 1 at 1518 E High Street, but, thanks to licensing delays, it could be another month before his own beer is ready. So, for the time being, Fulton is filling the brewpub’s tap lines with some of his favorite beers.

Beer-lovers are understandably eager to sample the latest creations of a brewer as skilled as Fulton. But, these should do just fine in the meantime:

Bingo Lager – Bingo Beer Co.
Dunkel Lager – Von Trapp Brewing
Lunch – Maine Beer Company
Peeper – Maine Beer Company
Oktoberfest Marzen – Paulaner Brewery
Passionfruit Mosaic – Potter’s Craft Cider