Para Coffee

A sign outside Starbucks on the corner usually points the way. Para Coffee opened Monday, September 11, 2008. It's the independent coffeeshop that every college town community needs. It doesn't hurt that it's an alternative to Starbucks and Fox Park wasn't completely filling that niche. Para joins a bunch of other area coffeeshops.

Para has the eclectic furniture, a hallmark of independent coffeeshops. There is plenty of natural light. Outdoor seating is available. The old building, the previous home of Blue Wheel Bikes and then mod, couldn't be a better place for a coffeeshop. The bar is made of a gorgeous wood. The coffee served will be the hometown roasted Shenandoah Joe's. Snacks include Albemarle Baking Company goods and Spudnuts. Most people probably don't care but their plastic cups for iced tea are recyclable and the coffee is served in paper cups.

This place has been a success. There's been a void ever since the ERC (espresso royale caffe) closed, and that place didn't even have good coffee. The only thing going for it was the indie music and the do-it-yourself pizzas.

Admittedly, I've only been in Fox Park a few times, but every time I'm in there they play old Radiohead. In with the new!

Free Wi-fi!
19 Elliewood Ave
Charlottesville, VA 22903
(434) 293-4412

Hours:
M-F: 8AM - 10PM
Sat: 9AM - 10PM

Boylan Heights

Replacing Orbitz Billiards on the corner of 14th Street and University Avenue, Boylan Heights opened September 5th. It's a burger joint first with about half the beers of the previous establishment. Everything else about it is an improvement. The garage doors are still in place and tonight they were open. A CSX train with five engines, laden with gravel cars, roared by during dinner. The dungeon-like atmosphere of Orbitz has somehow been scrubbed away. The multi-colored wall is painted over and the astronaut hidden by an oversized painting.

This is not your average corner food. The cheeseburger was certainly gourmet and the pulled pork was tasty. It's made with a generous amount of Stubb's BBQ sauce and topped with cole slaw. Sweet potato fries are not yet available, but they will be. Orbitz served a niche for a while but it was time for it to go. Writing this makes me wonder what's keeping St. Maarten's open.

Boylan Heights, in a revamped space with better food, is a welcome addition to Corner restaurants.

Holy crap, happy hour is cheap. $2 dollar pints from 4-7 every day. Thursday the special lasts until 9pm.

Dinner for 2: $22

102 14th St
Charlottesville, VA 22903
(434) 984-5707

Bottles and Cans and Plastic Cups

In the past it has been prior to the first day of school, but this year the Wertland Street block party was on Saturday night. And they came. At times it was hard to drive through the crowds that poured into the streets. The cops were on hand providing crowd control.
If the size of a party can be measured by the amount of trash left over afterwards, this one was a doozy. Unfortunately the solo cups are not recyclable.

White Oak Canyon

The Lower Falls and swimming hole.An hour from C-ville, White Oak Canyon is all around wonderful. The drive through Madison County countryside is worth the trip. The pay-lot is $8 per person. The land the parking lot is on is leased from the Graves family. 0.2 miles from the trailhead is the border of Shenandoah Nat'l Park. It's 3 miles to the top of the upper falls. It took us three hours to go up and back at a brisk pace with a break for lunch. Despite the name, there are many species of oaks and a fair number of hickory nuts littering the trail. There are the ever present tulip poplars and a few sycamores. We were warned about rattlesnakes, but all we saw were centipedes and butterflys. This hike is a must for any Charlottesvillian.

To get there take 29 north to Madison. Drive through downtown Madison. After town bear left onto 231 North. Turn Left on Route 670 at Banco. Take Route 643 in Syria to Route 600. Bear left and follow the signs to White Oak Canyon parking area.

Bonnie Prince Billy - 8/09/08

BPB rolled into the Gravity Lounge last night. Since this was a Satellite Ballroom Presents show, I assume that it was originally intended for the old Corner digs. To accomodate the crowds at the smaller Gravity Lounge, Mr Billy played a 7 and 10PM show. I can't help but think that the 7PM show was for old people like myself. Even if the band was saving up for the 10PM show, it was an amazing performance. BPB, who sounds just like Will Oldham, is touring with his brother and band The Onamoanan. They shared the stage evenly for most of the set. Sarah White came on stage for three of the songs and she sounded great. The show was so good I moved Guatemalan Handshake to the top of my Netflix queue.

Raphine, VA

Just west of I-81 exit 205 lies the hamlet of Raphine, VA. About an hour from C-ville, we hit the agritourism trio of Wade’s Mill, Orchardside Farm, and Rockbridge Winery. Each place was more bucolic than the last.


Wheat Berries!

Wade’s Mill was founded in 1750. The flour is stone ground and largely unadulterated. There is a water wheel that can run one set of stones, but there are two run by electricity. We were assured by the woman running the shop that the process still hews closely to how it was done a hundred years ago: no heating, no bleaching, no chemicals. The winter wheat and yellow corn comes from the Shenandoah Valley, the white corn from Nebraska, and the buckwheat from Canada. According to the shopkeeper, business is picking up. This has been helped in part by a recent decision by W&L to buy more local food.

We bought three 5-lb. bags or wheat flour. This is in addition to the 1-lb. bag of buckwheat I bought from Foods of all Nations. I’ve been using it to make buckwheat oatmeal bread. If you call Wade’s ahead of your arrival, they’ll fill a 25-lb. bag for you. In the freezer the flour will last 6 months. The shelf life is otherwise shorter than other store bought wheat because there are less preservatives.

Orchardside Farm is just a little further down the road. There is a thornless blackberry orchard and a butterfly garden. On the same property is a small house which serves as a yarn store. Women were sitting around a large wooden table knitting and talking about their children. Dogs ran in and out. There is a wide selection of reasonably priced yarn and the women were quick to help and offer their advice.

Closer to the highway is the Rockbridge Vineyard. This winery includes 18 acres of grapes and looks more like a farm than other wineries in the area. Overall it was an impressive selection of wines. We ended up taking home a couple bottles of Tuscarora Red ($10) and a bottle of Norton. The latter is a candidate for our 100 mile Thanksgiving.

Before heading back to Charlottesville, we ate lunch at the Fairfield Diner at the recommendation of our wine pourer. After lunch we enjoyed a short hike at the St. Mary’s Wilderness Area.

Pizza Roundup

Here's a survey of Charlottesville's cheese pizza slices, for when you're not looking for a whole pie.

1. Anna’s #9

The Slice: thin crust, equal proportions crust and sauce/cheese. Doughy crust with flour dusting.

Price: $2.02

The Place: Amidst the shops at Fontaine, the old shopping center with a drycleaner, Chinese restaurant, and Laundromat. There is plenty of character to go around. The interior clearly has not been renovated since the 70’s (?).

Waste: 1. Best on a reused plastic plate. 2. Unadulterated white paper plate. 3. If not specified, you’ll be thwarted by a Styrofoam box.

Crowd: Locals, Students, Little league teams.


2. Christian’s – Corner

The Slice: thin crust, right amount of cheese and sauce all the way to the edge of the crust. This place is made for pizza by the slice and they excel. They have readily accessible, though chained to the wall, oregano, parmesan, and red pepper flake shakers.

Price: $2 (downtown is $2.50)

The Place: On the east side of 14th St. near the train bridge. There is outdoor seating and plenty of room indoors at high chaired tables. It’s a shiny bright place.

Waste: white paper plate coated with waxy covering on top, all paper below.

Crowd: students.

3. Bolli’s

The Slice: Not outfitted for single slices but accommodating requests, Bolli slices look like shredded cheese from a store-bought pack was sprinkled on top. Things get a little thick on top and these are clearly not high quality ingredients. It’s recognizable as a slice of cheese, just not the ideal.

Price: $1.93

The Place: Classic West Main Street in an old house with a still recognizable old carriageway.

Waste: If you’re eating it there, they’ll serve it on a parquet plate with plasticware.

Crowd: Randoms, deliverymen

4. Christian’s Downtown

The Slice: so variable sometimes, layered with fluorescent orange grease and goopy cheese or aged to perfection. At its best, this is the best slice around.

Price: $2.00

The Place: A corner on the mall really can’t be beat. The exposed brick interior, outdoor seating, fishbowl spots facing the mall make this place fun to visit.

Waste: Same as the other Christian’s

Crowd: As variable as the slice. During the week there are mall regulars, the people who have had their mugs painted by the artists in residence in front of the regal cinemas, and on the weekend there are families and teenage couples.

5. Casella’s

The Slice: Casella’s is set up for the walk-in slice, but most people sit down or take out whole pies. The cheese slice tastes more like New York pizza than most. It’s a little thick for my liking. The taste isn’t sufficient enough to overcome the price and locale.

Price: $2.67

The Place: Barracks Road Shopping Center. Along with outlet malls, places like this belong in their own level of hell.

Waste: served on a top-coated paper plate if to go or it can be eaten there waste-free.

Crowd: hungry shoppers (Charging through Banana Republic, Ann Taylor Loft, and Talbot’s is exhausting), suburban families, teenie boppers.