The Charlottesville 29

Today’s Five Finds on Friday come from Corry Blanc of Blanc Creatives, Charlottesville’s award-winning maker of hand-forged cookware. Beloved by chefs everywhere, Blanc Creatives is planning a series of events showcasing their products and the amazing things that chefs can do with them, including a preview next month of Lampo’s much-anticipated steakhouse. Stay tuned for details on the Lampo event. Meanwhile, learn about Blanc Creatives’ many other events here. Blanc’s picks:

1) Fried Chicken Lunch at the Shell Station on Preston Avenue. “Breast, thigh, mac n cheese and collard greens for the win. There’s always a debate in town on who has the best fried chicken. While other places have good chicken, what kills it here are the sides! As a Georgia boy, I grew up eating chicken eight days a week and this place reminds me of home.”

2) French Fries at Dr. Ho’s Humble Pie. “For the past eight years, I’ve lived on the south side of town and have had the chance to enjoy Ho’s without too much of a drive. There’s no bad dish in the place. My weak spot is definitely the fries though! Fresh cut, piled high on a large plate.”

3) Smoked Tomatoes and Gambas al Parilla at MAS Tapas. “Both dishes are as simple as it gets and deliver so much flavor. Super smokey tomatoes swimming in olive oil and plump shrimp slathered in alioli and salt. What more can you say?”

4) Chef Sandwich at Keevil & Keevil Grocery and Kitchen. “My workshop has been located in the Belmont neighborhood for the past five years. Belmont is an amazing part of town for food once the sun goes down. Not so much for lunch though. Until, Harrison and Jennifer opened up Keevil & Keevil.  The lunch selection is pretty extensive with sandwiches and whatever new creations Harrison’s playing around with that day.  My go- to (at least a few times a week) is the Chef Sandwich. Simple, classic, working-man-size roast beef and turkey.  Everything a sandwich needs to be.”

5) Dinner at Lampo. “It’s really a rare occasion that my wife and I go out to dinner. We both enjoy to cook and keep ourselves busy most of the time. On that rare occasion we go out it’s usually to Lampo. There’s so much talent crammed into that little kitchen. We like to start out with a Boulevardier or two, get an order of the Brussels sprouts and kale salads, usually go for the Diavola and Funghi pizzas and try our damnedest to polish of a round of zeppole dipped into the budino (chocolate pudding).”