Forget football or soccer camp…why not send your precious little ones to cooking camp this summer? For all your aspiring foodies, the Charlottesville Cooking School’s Martha Stafford has announced plans for a “Farm to Table” summer camp for kids age 9 and up. The goal of the camp, says Stafford, is to “learn about cooking and eating well by understanding what is grown and available locally at this time of year.” There will be two farm visits, cooking skills, table setting and menu planning. A healthy snack, lunch, recipe book and an apron are included. The week will be capped with a final feast and campers will be able to invite one guest. Here’s the breakdown: (more)

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Dish has confirmed that Richmond restaurateur Mo Roman, who owns Si, the trendy tapas restaurant and bar in the Fan District, has purchased the former Starr Hill Restaurant & Music Hall building on West Main and plans to bring his Spanish-style tapas and hipster late-night scene to Charlottesville sometime in August (which often times means more like September or October). Roman did not immediately return our calls, but we’ll keep trying. In the meantime, you can check some reviews of Si here. Looks like Mas and Bang will have a little competition. Has anyone been to the Richmond location?

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Savour, the mystery restaurant on Emmet Street that has been undergoing renovations for nearly two years, finally made its debut last week. The verdict? Well, we haven’t sent The Eater yet, but local writer Faith Andrews Bedford says the food was “terrific, reasonably priced, and beautifully presented.

“After watching construction for two years we were fascinated to see what it was like,” says Bedford. ” We were not disappointed.”

Have you gone? What did you think?

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Saturday, July 19 5:30pm
Social Hall-Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church
717 Rugby Rd in Charlottesville

Bring a dish that is either local or organic or both and watch a video called “The Story of Stuff,” and discuss the video.

This event is sponsored by the Environmental Concerns Committee and the Piedmont Group of the
Sierra Club.

Please call Deborah Judson-Ebbets to reserve your place at the table at 296-
9637 or e-mail [email protected].

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Acorn Inn co-owner Kathy Plunket Versluys says she’s naturally skeptical and not inclined at all to fall for bogus sales pitches or scams. But the call she received on Monday sounded so official, so legit, that she found herself taking the bait.

“I received a very official sounding call from a person claiming to be a representative of the US Dept of Agriculture,” says Versluys, ” who knew our name, address, income and number of employees.”

The caller, a woman, told Versluys they (she runs the Nellysford Bed & Breakfast with her husband, Martin) hadn’t responded to an important notification sent out in May concerning new regulations for all businesses involved with food, but especially small ones like theirs that serve baked goods. Due to the current rise in food-born illnesses, the woman said, even kitchens not subject to restaurant regulations were now federally required to post food born illness warning signs in their kitchens, and that the USDA would be conducting stricter inspections as of August 1, 2008, and imposing fines on all businesses without the signs.

“I asked if I could download the warning signs from the USDA website and laminate them,” says Versluys, ” but she said that federal regulations require that the signs be official. And given the date and the Aug 1 deadline, should be sent out rush.”

The package they were to receive, Versluys was told, would contain three certified signs and cost $199, which they would be given 30 days to pay. (more)

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