The new local farming movement movie Fresh will be shown at Monticello High School this Sunday, August 2, presented by the 5th annual Farm Food Voices Virginia food tasting and seminar. Local food producers will be on hand, as well as Congressman Tom Perriello, and pig farmer Richard Bean. There will be food available for tasting, as well as on-site childcare. From 2-7:30pm. Call 434-760-5514 or visit the Virginia Independent Consumers & Farmers Association website.

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Cantina replaced Martha’s Café on July 16.
PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

For over three decades, the little blue house at 11 Elliewood Avenue had been home to Martha’s Café, known for its signature crab cakes and laid-back atmosphere, but this summer one of the longest runs in local restaurant history has come to an end.

“It was a fantastic experience,” says Carrie Payne, who had run the famous eatery with her husband, Mike Payne, for the last 11 years, “but we’d finally had enough.”

With their children grown, and wanting more time to pursue their passions (Carrie is a painter, and Mike is a chef who no longer wanted the burden of running a restaurant), the Paynes decided to pass the baton, but not without a little sadness.

“We had such a great group of people working for us, and we made (more)

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Next week, Charlottesville gets a visit from the most famous farmer from the Shenandoah Valley town of Swoope, Joel Salatin. He’ll be signing copies of his new book, Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front, at the New Dominion Bookshop, to kick-off a veritable (more)

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The folks at Keswick Hall are putting on a Christmas feast on July 28. There will be cocktails in the Great Hall at 6pm followed by a traditional Christmas dinner.  For more information and to make reservations call 434-244-8481 or email [email protected] by July 24.

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C&O owner Dave Simpson, center, with his Bel Rio partners Jim Baldi and Gareth Weldon, says the Belmont eatery will offer a Restaurant Week-style deal next week.
FILE PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

By late last week, several owners of restaurants participating in Restaurant Week reported they were close to– or already– booked solid. Now, halfway through the week, a few participants are revealing that, due to popular demand, they will be extending the bargains through next week.

“We’ve been doing 200 [people] a night,” says C&O owner Dave Simpson, who estimates the restaurant has had to turn nearly that many away. As a result, Simpson says, he’s decided to offer a $25 prix fixe menu at C&O’s sister restaurant, Bel Rio, from Tuesday July 21 through Sunday, July 27.

Fossett’s at Keswick is another restaurant extending the bargains through next week, according to Chef Craig Hartman, who says Restaurant Week so far has been “fantastic,” and that he’s particularly excited by the number of 20 and 30-somethings driving to Keswick for dinner. “Those are the type that like to stay downtown,” he notes.

Next week, Hartman notes, the prix fixe menu price at Fossett’s will jump by $10 to $35.

“We kicked the menu up a little bit,” says Hartman, who says that in addition to the three main courses, guests are treated to an “amuse bouche” (that’s French for “mouth amusement”), which is a small extra course, and, following the meal, a “mignardise,” a small sweet treat.

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