The Charlottesville 29

If there were just 29 restaurants in Charlottesville, what would be the ideal 29?

Tag: Blanc Creatives

10/05/2017

Prime 109 Preview Dinner

Prime109Logo

Among the year’s many new restaurants, the most eagerly anticipated may be Prime 109, Lampo’s steakhouse coming to the former Bank of America building on the Downtown Mall. Though there is no opening date yet, Lampo regulars can hardly wait for the team’s updated take on steakhouse classics.

Now, you can be the first to preview what the restaurant has planned, while helping to feed the area’s hungry. On October 29, the award winning maker of hand-forged cookware Blanc Creatives is hosting a Prime 109 Preview Dinner, with all profits benefiting the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.

In an intimate setting, guests will hear first hand from Lampo’s owners about what’s in store for their new restaurant, and from Blanc Creatives’ Corry Blanc about the extraordinary custom grill he is building for it. Meanwhile, they will enjoy a menu inspired by the food of Prime 109, featuring assorted cuts of Sherwood Farm beef and wines generously donated by Blenheim Vineyards. Plus, Tavola’s Steve Yang will be on hand with a one-of-a-kind cocktail for the evening.

Best of all, it’s all for a good cause. Serving eight cities and twenty counties in the area, the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank feeds more than 100,000 people per month, relying entirely upon donations and fundraisers like this one. Even if you cannot attend the dinner, you may help feed the hungry by donating here.

$100 tickets are all-inclusive, and only 100 will be sold. First come, first served. Details below, and the menu looks spectacular. See you there.

UPDATE: This event is sold out. For news about Prime 109 and future events, you may register for their email updates at their website.

Primemenu

The Charlottesville 29 answers: if there were only 29 restaurants in Charlottesville, what would be the ideal 29?

09/15/2017

Five Finds on Friday: Corry Blanc

IMG_3875.JPG-1

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).”

06/03/2016

Five Finds on Friday: Polina Chesnakova

Polina Picture

Today’s Five Finds on Friday come a woman with many culinary hats, Polina Chesnakova. Most significantly, she writes the excellent new food blog Chesnok. She also is Baker for Greenwood Gourmet Grocery, and has previously baked at Brazos Tacos and Paradox Pastry, been sous chef of Feast!, and written for Edible Blue Ridge and Our Local Commons. On July 13 at The Spice Diva, Chesnakova is giving a Georgian National cooking class. Tickets and info on this rare treat can be found here. Chesnakova’s picks:

1) Apricot Jam from Jam According to Daniel with Ricotta from Twenty Paces on 5-Grain Batard from MarieBette Cafe & Bakery. “I could honestly write an entire paragraph on each of these items alone, they inspire that much fervor. However, since I am limited to five picks, I figured I’d cheat a little instead.  Each ingredient is perfect in its own right, yet when you combine the three, you somehow create something so . . . simply good. I find myself craving this toast almost everyday and if I had to pick one breakfast, this would be it.”

2) Tom Kha Noodle Bowl at Pad Thai.  “If I’m having a bad day, the weather has been bad, or I just want something that will warm me from the inside out, I go to Pad Thai for this dish. It’s so easy to be tempted by everything else on the menu (hello pork belly drunken noodles, cabbage, lamb curry!), and many times I am. But, when I stick to my initial goal and order myself a huge bowl of this spicy, sweet and sour soup I am left satisfied, wanting no more.

3)  Mr. Rech at The Alley Light. “This is my favorite dessert in Charlottesville, hands down. Hazelnut meringues sandwich a praline parfait, which is then all bathed in a dark chocolate ganache. Each bite is a delightful play of textures and sensations, and you can’t get much better than classic chocolate and hazelnuts together. It’s pretty rich so do yourself a favor and share it. Or don’t.

4) BFP at Brookville.  “This Big F****** Pancake is where it’s at. Fried up in a cast iron skillet, it’s over an inch thick and doused in maple syrup and butter. You can get it with slabs of bacon cooked right in or in the summer, and my favorite, fresh local blueberries! In college, it was mine and my best friends’ “thing” (usually after a rough night), and we have made it a tradition to go there every time they’re all back in town.”

5) Anything I Cook On my Blanc Creatives Carbon Steel Pan. “I cook at home more than I eat out and man oh man! Cooking on this baby: perfect, even sear every time. Once, I cooked eggs on it and I swear they could’ve slipped right off, it was pre-seasoned so well. The only thing better than the pans themselves are the guys who make them. They are extremely passionate about their craft (“We’re like, skilled artisans!”), and it really comes through in all that they make. Good work boys (and Catalina)!”

%d bloggers like this: