Edacious - Food Talk For Gluttons

Bee Work. Welcome to Episode 44 where we meet Bee Charmer and Farmer Amanda Welch of Grubby Girl. Amanda has been a fixture at the Charlottesville City Market for years, selling her all-natural soaps, bath products, and granola, all produced with honey harvested at Meeting House Farm. I've loved her Farmer Person soap for a while. So nice and gentle with a honeysuckle scent that wafts about you without the threat of the plant taking over your entire garden. I could use her Cucumber Mint right now with this heat! So it was a thrill to finally sit down and talk about the triumphs and challenges of running an apiary. I first met Amanda when I took her bee class at the Jefferson School where I learned there's more to running an apiary than meets the eye. It is not a lovely, pastoral Martha Stewart project. This is real farming. To be successful you've got to have some knowledge of working with livestock, picking up on non-verbal cues to prevent the variety of diseases and issues facing our bee population. It's a

Donut Work. Or is it doughnut? When they're this great, who cares? Meet Matt Rohdie of Carpe Donut. How does a former social worker end up in the donut business? Is Matt Rohdie a Shokunin of donuts? I believe so. When starting Carpe Donut, Matt set out to make one food, using the best ingredients, and to make it really well. He wanted to create a comfort food, not necessarily uber-healthy but one every person enjoys. A treat! It came down to fries or donuts. Aren't we thankful he chose the latter because to me, Carpe Donut is head and shoulders above the rest. In this episode we learn Matt's story of how he got his first machine, how he developed his recipe, how long it took, and what sets his donuts apart from others. An important consideration for an increasingly competitive market. Did you know most donut shops use commercial batters with stabilizers? I didn't. Carpe Donuts are 85% organic, natural, additive-free. A warm, apple cider Carpe Donut covered in cinnamon sugar alongside a hot coffee is a great t

Best Food Business Advice. What if you got almost 100 local food business folks together to learn and share how to be more successful and avoid common pitfalls? You'd have the Business of Food Conference held June 20th at the Omni. I was thrilled to be named a Community Partner and spent the day recording interviews, gathering valuable tips and information to strengthen our food community. The result is five terrific short interviews, each one offering a different viewpoint from a unique area of our local food scene. First up is Melissa Meece, owner of Firefly Restaurant and Arcade, a living tribute to its founder Mark Weber, who passed away from cancer in January 2015.  His girlfriend Melissa inherited the restaurant and carries on his legacy and wish to create a community space around food, games, and fun. Through craft beers, ping pong, skeeball, pinball, board games and a great menu of family friendly favorites, Firefly does this and so much more. And the tips Melissa had for encouraging other food busine

The Work of Teaching. Remember Cooking Live? As a young woman working three jobs while attending school full time Chef Sara Moulton's show was the highlight of my day. Every evening Sara guided me through simple, fresh, and healthy recipes. Unlike shows like The Great Chefs of San Francisco, these were recipes I actually wanted to try. And did. To this day I credit Sara with teaching me how to cook for myself, as do thousands of others. For almost 40 years Sara Moulton has worked in the culinary arts in just about every job you can imagine including restaurant chef, Executive Chef at Gourmet magazine until its demise in 2009, newspaper columnist, cookbook author, and television personality on The Food Network and Good Morning America. Her shows still appear regularly in reruns and her new show, Sara's Weeknight Meals, appears regularly on PBS and the Create channel, picking up where Food Network's Cooking Live and Sara's Secrets left off. Her new book, Home Cooking 101: How To Make Everything Taste Better is

Food Community. Whether you're helping to feed the hungry or exchanging ideas and culture across oceans the concept of community is prevalent in Charlottesville. And important. Always has been. Not only does connection go in tandem with the concept of community, it acts as the glue holding neighborhoods together. When you make strong bonds, you create community. In this episode I'm thrilled and honored to present two examples of folks working to ensure we have strong connections so our food community remains equally robust. First up is lawyer and food writer C. Simon Davidson. If there were a list of 29 restaurants in Charlottesville what would be the ideal 29? Simon asked himself this question four years ago. Then set out to create it. The Charlottesville 29 is the result of that idea. We talked together extensively about his project back in Episode 7 of Edacious. A few months ago he finished the list and asked the question, "Now what?" The result is The Charlottesville 29 Restaurant Auctions, an event benef

The Work of Teaching Cooking. Since 2008, Martha Stafford of The Charlottesville Cooking School has been guiding folks in her beautiful kitchen in the Meadowbrook Shopping Centre to become more confident in the foods they prepare. Why a cooking school? From a young age Martha wanted to teach. And from a very young age she was always cooking. The atmosphere of cooking classes, the energy it creates, with everybody participating and not just sitting around watching, becomes a communal experience. And after everyone sits down and eats together of the food they prepared? It becomes something much more. Martha wants to help people find a sense of joy in food preparation. How to appreciate the experience in and of itself and not just as a way to get to the next activity in your day. Especially for folks who grew up not having big family dinners. She believes cooking simply, but cooking well, involves way more than, “Set it and forget it,” to quote a well-known TV personality. It involves being in the moment, being

Food Business Support. Do you have a great idea for a food business? To succeed, you're going to need more than that. Over half of new restaurants in this country fail within the first year. That's not good news in a place like Charlottesville where you might be competing with over 400 other restaurants for customers. Luckily, we have such an encouraging community here for small business. I've never presented an idea to someone and been discouraged. But as in so many things, you can't succeed alone. It takes a village. Betty Hoge, Director of the Charlottesville Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is here to help. Their mission is simple. SBDC works to enhance our local economy by providing assistance to local and midsize businesses. For FREE or very little cost. There is no hidden agenda or bias to convince new owners to use a particular service. SBDC only works to enhance the local economy. Because a world full of nothing but big box stores would be a sad one indeed. Independently-owned small businesse

Spice Work. Can a spice store be a community gathering place? It can. Meet Phyllis Hunter of The Spice Diva. This former opera singer turned shop owner has been bringing people together over their shared love of spices since opening her shop in The Main Street Market in 2011. The Spice Diva is not only a source for fresh and unusual spices for local chefs, bartenders, and food enthusiasts, but a way for community members from other countries to find reminders from home. Her cooking classes bring folks together over the stove and her vast, ever-growing spice knowledge is reminding us all about the value of buying fresh, buying local. Her shop, located in a well-loved but underappreciated part of town, expands our views about the world over a shared love of food and flavor. How can we make sure West Main Street remains a vital part of the community and its members remain in the conversation with regard to beneficial development and growth? We talk about that. The Midtown Street Fair was my favorite event of the

Food Views. The way people view "good food" differs depending on whether they're a privileged mother of two selecting asparagus at a farmer's market, or a lower middle class mother who needs to live on the busline and is wondering how she will feed her children until her next paycheck, or a mother in India or Africa whose dearest wish is to live near a grocery store. To have choices. Meet Dr. Leni Sorensen, culinary historian, food advocate, and home provisioning expert. She's lived quite a life - from growing up on the West Coast in a mixed-race family pre-civil rights, to singing in The Womenfolk, to acting as food historian for Monticello, to earning her Ph.D., to answering a personal ad from a farmer in South Dakota then moving there and learning home provisioning from the ground up, including gutting and skinning an antelope. She and Kip are still married and provisioning to this day on their family farm. The Sorensen household is self-reliance personified, sometimes processing up to 50 chickens in a day

Nadjeeb Chouaf of Flora Artisanal Cheese knew he'd found his vocation within two weeks of working behind the cheese counter at Whole Foods. Why? He fell in love with the product, as well as the fact there was so much "exclusive information" (to coin his phrase) around it. Information not many people know and he was eager to share. Welcome to Episode 35. Yes, Nadjeeb became enamored by watching an expert cheesemonger at Whole Foods work his magic. Making folks feel comfortable in an arena that can be intimidating, not just for the dozens of choices but sometimes from the snooty attitude of the seller. He fell down that rabbit hole, learning all there was to know about fermented milk, and thank goodness doesn't seem to be climbing out of it anytime soon. He started with a few wares in a small space inside Milli Joe but now has a dedicated cheese counter inside Timbercreek Market on Preston Avenue, one of only 3 cheese counters I can think of in Charlottesville. Only three when there are over 60 wineries? We tal

It's time for the 2016 Virginia Festival of the Book! In this special episode I'm thrilled and honored to present Chef Nora Pouillon, who will speak and sign copies of her book, My Organic Life, on Friday, March 18th at 2pm in New Dominion Bookshop. Chef Pouillon is a pioneer in the farm to table movement. For 37 years Restaurant Nora in DC has implemented sustainable practices and in 1999 became the first organically-certified restaurant in the US. Before the government even coined the term “organic” Chef Pouillon was working with farmers and creating her menus daily based on what was seasonal. She pushed for local, additive-free food at a time when folks considered it "hippie food" - lentils and lettuce. As we know from its popularity today, it's anything but. In this episode we talk about the laborious process involved in certifying a restaurant, something that had never been done before she thought of it, as well as the extra effort it takes to keep up the certification and train staff in organic practice

Edacious - Food Talk for Gluttons is one year old! Just learning to smile and laugh. Thinking about learning to walk, falling a lot, finding her voice, making gurgling noises that will eventually be coherent words. Eating cake. Yep, that's my podcast. Thirty-two guests, hours and hours of conversation, and 15,000 downloads. I've learned so much. And I'm so incredibly grateful. Edacious, after a year of triumphs and missteps, is going along full-steam ahead with exciting new ventures and projects in the works. Before tackling all of them, I wanted to take a minute to look back. To reflect on some of the great talks I had over the past year. Who did I talk to? 20 women (either singular or as part of a business partnership) 15 men (either singular or as part of a business partnership) 8 Chefs 2 Front of House 3 Bakers 7 Beverage folks 5 Artisanal Food Producers 5 Writers/Photographers 1 Artist 2 Food nonprofits What did we talk about? It wasn't all local issues, topics indecipherable to folks not living here.

"Happiness lies at the edge of your comfort zone." I read this quote from Gail Hobbs-Page of Caromont Farm and knew immediately I had to talk with her. Welcome to Episode 32. Here is a chef, cooking for 25 years, contemplating her next move in the food world back in 2007. Gail's decision? To take up goat farming and make cheese. Cooking is in her DNA, but cheesemaking is not. So how did she get here? And why did a simple request for goat cuddling suddenly go viral and make national news, including The Today Show, threatening to overrun her small farm with thousands of folks wanting to give a kid a hug? We talk about all of that. Her experience growing up on a 3rd-generation farm in North Carolina. Learning to cook under the tutelage of southern cooking icon Edna Lewis (yes, THAT Edna Lewis), as well as Ben and Karen Barker of Magnolia Grill in Durham. How she's passed on the lessons she learned to the next generation of chefs, including Loren Mendosa at Lampo who continues to garner well-deserved accolades. P

There is a shortage of line cooks in this country. Is it because new culinary graduates want to be instant Top Chefs? Are they unwilling to earn their bones on the line, hoping to skip ahead to celebrity status? Or has the explosion of food culture caused the shortage by the very nature of its popularity? Maybe it's as simple as being 22 and not wanting to spend your formative years cooking in a small town when you might make a name for yourself in New York? This week I talk with Chef Ian Boden about this very thing. From his 26-seat, 400 square foot restaurant, The Shack, in the heart of Staunton, Virginia, Chef Boden is creating some of the most tasty, creative food I've had in years. On first glance you'd think such a small space would create more problems than opportunities but Ian sees only freedom. Freedom to be the kind of chef he wants to be and the freedom to create the sorts of dishes he wants to make. And he's able to do it with limited staff only four days a week. Dinner only. The Shack just celeb

Meet Josh Hunt of Beer Run and Kardinal Hall! I love beer. So it was only natural Beer Run was one of the first places The Hubby and I visited when we moved to Charlottesville. Which meant co-owner Josh was one of the first food folks I met. We sat at the bar where he welcomed us, recommended some beers, and the rest is history. Based on that visit alone, we knew we'd moved to the right place. Beer Run is a beloved part of the community, a place where folks young and old meet, eat, and drink beer. A family restaurant, something Josh and his stepbrother John Woodriff didn't forsee when they designed a "grab-and-go" store. But "family restaurant" is in Josh's DNA since his mother ran The Virginian as well as Rococco's when he was a kid. Beer Run has been the recipient of many accolades, including  Draft Magazine’s America’s 100 Best Beer Bars 2014 and 2015 and the Nature Conservancy’s 2013 People’s Choice Nature’s Plate Award. It's easy to see why - most of its food is sourced locally and its 17 taps (rotated o

I'm on a cider kick! Just talked with the Potter's Craft boys and this week it's Diane Flynt of Foggy Ridge Cider. Cider is the fastest growing segment of the alcohol business, growing at a rate of over 100% a year. But it still only makes up 3% of the entire industry. How do we increase this number? As Diane says, "The ingredients in the glass are important." In other words, if you're using shabby apples, you're going to get shabby cider. Which is why Foggy Ridge uses only heritage cider apples it grows on its property, including English cider varieties Tremlett's Bitter and Dabinett. Proudly purist, Foggy Ridge uses no flavorings just the pure essence of blended heirloom apples. In her mind it's the difference between a fine wine and a flavored wine cooler. Just taste her Serious Cider or First Fruit and you'll understand exactly what she's talking about. These are complex and layered ciders, worlds away from anything Angry Orchard could dream up. They pair perfectly with fatty meats, nutty cheeses. We even

Here it is folks. My Golden Fork Awards for 2015! What did I eat this year that was memorable? A lot of stuff evidently. When all was said and done I counted fifteen, yes FIFTEEN dishes from Charlottesville restaurants and beyond that were so tasty, I remembered them even months later. Which is how I construct the list. No, it's not a perfect way, just my way. In the past I've made this a blog post, but since I launched a podcast in 2015, why not plop it right into the new medium? It's an experiment. Most things are with me. We'll see how it goes. Let me know what you think. Do you agree? Disagree? What did I miss? Thank you all so much for your support, suggestions, and comments. I continue to be astounded and amazed at the amount of food talent in this area. And I'm beyond grateful for the opportunities my own version of the "Amsterdam Chess Club" have afforded me. This year was a big one. In launching a podcast I learned not only a lot about the food community, but about myself as a person, both in what I

One of my passions is getting people to try and enjoy hard cider. But how do we do this? What are the gateways? Tastings? Pairing with food? As a cocktail ingredient? Cider is the fastest-growing beverage in the beer market. But it's mostly watered-down mass-produced Angry Orchard. What I'm talking about is craft cider. Cider produced in small batches by folks passionate about their product. Folks like Tim Edmond and Dan Potter of Potter's Craft Cider. Dan and Tim saw a need in the market for high quality small batch cider in the same way small brewers saw a need for craft beer in the 1980's. It's that grass roots, DIY attitude that makes their cider shine. If you can make it yourself and make it exactly the way you want it, it's always going to taste better. This isn't Alpenglow or even Strongbow or Woodchuck. This is CRAFT cider folks. The craft cider category is being defined as we speak and Dan and Tim are lucky enough to be riding the crest of that wave. The creation of their first cider batch was a happ

What makes a good craft cocktail? What makes a bad one? I've been looking forward to *THIS* conversation for a while. I love cocktails, and many moons ago worked as a bartender. Lately though there are only mixologists and the bar resembles an apothecary with spices, oils, bitters, and tinctures prominently displayed. But do we really need artisanal ice? I'm talking with Christian Johnston of The Cicchetti Bar at Tavola to find out. The Cicchetti Bar was created as a waiting room of sorts for Tavola restaurant. A place to sit and unwind while you wait for a table. It's becoming so popular folks are using Cicchetti to wait for tables at nearby restaurants like Lampo. Or making it their primary destination. Born in Jersey, raised in Charlottesville, Christian started out as a server but quickly discovered his place was in the kitchen. First at Mellow Mushroom then Boylan Heights where Chef Kelly Trip (of Restoration and Blue Light Grill) showed him how to care about ingredients, even if you're creating a simple

Yes folks, it's a BONUS episode for November. I entered a podcasting contest. As my Momma used to say I got a wild hair and entered Libsyn's "Thanks, Podcasting" competition where you're given up to 10 minutes to talk about how podcasting has impacted your life. The winner gets bragging rights and a free year of hosting, something I could really use. Both the hosting but especially the bragging rights...nice confidence boost for an anxiety-ridden hot mess like me. Enjoy. Fingers and toes crossed. Hope your Thanksgiving wasn't unbearable. And remember sometimes the hardest part of life is just showing up...