The Charlottesville 29

Before opening Maggie’s Midtown, chef Tarik Sengul knew little about pub food. The Turkish-born chef spent much of his career cooking French cuisine before moving to Charlottesville to open Smyrna, where he applies French classical training and Aegean flavors to Virginia ingredients.

To prepare himself for Maggie’s, then, he immersed himself in learning the foods of British and Irish pubs – reading, studying, and practicing. But he has also had an ace in the hole: Casey Bauer.

Sengul met Bauer last year at Stock Provisions, where he is a frequent customer and she was working. Bauer, it turned out, once helped one of the D.C. area’s most acclaimed chefs open a pub in Northern Virginia. The talented young chef seemed like just the help Sengul needed in his exploration of pub food. But, it would take some coaxing to get her back in the kitchen.

Bauer had taken a hiatus from cooking to travel the world, and, while in France, became enamored with butchery at The Butcher of Paris. As a chef for more than a decade, she was struck by how much there is to learn about the cuts of meat that some restaurant chefs take for granted each day, and started working at the butcher. When she returned to the U.S. last year, she searched for somewhere to continue her education.

That led her to Stock Provisions, Charlottesville’s acclaimed nose-to-tail butcher, where she began working last year, and it immediately felt right. “I moved out here to Charlottesville, and it is so beautiful,” said Bauer. “It gives me even more appreciation for the farms and the people who make them so amazing for us.”

Sengul has a similar appreciation and would come in often to talk about area farms and their products. He and Bauer quickly became friends, with shared passions for cooking and butchery. When Sengul learned of Bauer’s experience in opening a pub, he asked if she’d help with the one he was planning to open in the former home to Blue Moon Diner: Maggie’s Midtown.

Bauer was once Chef de Cuisine of Mattie and Eddie’s, the former Arlington pub owned by eight-time James Beard semifinalist and Irish native, Cathal Armstrong. From Armstrong, she learned some of the very same dishes that Sengul had planned for Maggie’s, like Fish & Chips and Shepherd’s Pie. “He’s a great chef, and I am so grateful for everything I learned from him,” Bauer said. The feeling is mutual. “Casey is hard-working, has a strong passion for cuisine, and is committed to her craft,” Armstrong said.

Drawing on her experience with Armstrong, Bauer is now helping Sengul in Maggie’s kitchen. Like Sengul, Bauer constantly seeks to improve, and together they have been working on refining dishes for Maggie’s menu. The challenge for a chef, Bauer, says is elevating them while also remaining true to them. “Traditional is traditional for a reason,” said Bauer.

Among all the dishes, there’s one that has occupied more of their time than any other: the traditional Sunday Roast. On the country’s 250th Anniversary, this Saturday’s special July 4 edition of The Daily Progress explores their American take on Britain’s most iconic meal.

A common theme has recurred lately: art as a reflection of its creator.

At Smyrna, Tarik Sengul’s food reflects a Turkish upbringing, years in American kitchens with classical French training, and a new life in Charlottesville. At Sono, Sechul Yang’s food emerges from a Korean childhood and formative years cooking Italian food at Maialino. Neither set out to fuse cultures. Who they are just became what they make.

Likewise, Ramona Martinez’s genre-defying music grew out of her unique experiences and influences and formed a product no one else could create. With a mother who worked for the U.S. State Department, Martinez spent her childhood at military bases around the world – Finland, Russia, Japan, Australia – raised on Americana culture from afar, like the Turner Classic Movies on her family’s television.

If moving to the U.S. as a teenager blossomed her love of American country music, a gig as a radio host cemented it. The music Martinez played on her show spanned the 1920s to the ‘80s, but her favorite quickly became the honky tonk of the ‘50s: Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, and Patsy Cline. That music, along with her Mexican heritage, international travel, and love of Americana, all became part of Martinez, and therefore, her music. Whether in English, Spanish, or both, it’s always a reflection of herself. “Music, done right, is sincere,” says Martinez. “And I think everyone can connect with music that’s sincere.”

But, as Martinez explains it, the music of Ramona & The Holy Smokes is more than just her. Martinez likens it to a human body: her songwriting creates the soul and skeleton, and the band’s musicianship and experience provide the muscle – Kyle Kilduff, Brooks Hefner, Jay Ouypron, and Porter Bralley.

Among Martinez’s many influences, the first was her father – a musician and performer who sparked her love of singing as a child. So it was special for this father to enjoy Martinez’s beautiful music with my daughter on Father’s Day at Eastwood Farm Winery. Now receiving national and international acclaim, Martinez is an icon of her Charlottesville home. Catch her while you still can. July 10 at The Southern, tickets here. And follow Martinez’s band here.

Charlottesville is lucky to have her.