After a long hiatus, Bob Harvey, has returned to the local restaurant scene as the general manager of Riverbend Bistro in Hollin Hall. Bob has a tenured and well-founded perspective of the evolving life of restaurants and customers over the past thirty-five years in Alexandria, as he was one of the original bartenders at Chadwicks when it opened in Old Town Alexandria in 1979. Bob claims not to be burdened by higher education. He tried college but realized he wasn’t a “good attender” and his interest in a young woman led him to working in a restaurant to be close to her. The relationship didn’t last, but his passion for restaurant life remained constant. He honed his skills as a bartender in two prestigious restaurants in Georgetown, Clyde’s and Nathan’s. In the 70’s Georgetown was the dining hotspot with more options and diversity for customers than Alexandria offered. In fact there were practically no dining choices in Old Town west of Washington Street. When asked to describe the differences between dining out today and dining out thirty years ago, Bob laughed and said first of all Chadwick’s listed only two choices on their wine list; Lancers Vin Rose and Mateus and no one talked about Virginia wineries. He claims that today’s bars have got to offer both national and international selections to customers including at least a couple of the 241 Virginia wines to be competitive. He states that dining guests today are usually sophisticated in their knowledge of both wine and food and the proliferation of food shows and gourmet magazines and websites have educated the public about food choices and preparation and what wines are good pairings. This has emphasized the role of servers to describe the food being served and recommend good wine matches. He says this…
As is my custom, the January road trip will be a review of the places I visited last year. Complete articles can be found on our website from previous issues, however, not all have been archived yet. Although it was cold last January, I braved the weather and visited the Bloomery Plantation Distillery just outside of Charleston, West Virginia as my subject for the February issue. This is not a spirits distillery, but an operation for making traditional Limoncello, which does include spirits. The distillery location was once a part of the Willowdale Plantation and the name “Bloomery” comes from the iron works at Bloomery that was once located on the banks of the Shenandoah river that is near the business. Owners Linda Losey and her husband Tom Kiefer bought the property in 2001 and successfully reaped the harvest of their imported lemon trees from Italy. An old log building from around 1840 has been restored and serves as their production space as well as the tasting room. Nice cozy fireplace, perfect for this time of year. In March I went to the Cross Street Market in Baltimore’s popular Federal Hill. Cross Street Market is not your average market, but more of a gathering place for the locals who live in the community or nearby. At the Charles Street entrance (this place is a block long and under cover) is what might be considered a beer garden. Folks arriving were meeting friends here for a leisurely pint before crossing the sign that read ”No Alcohol Beyond this Point.” The market hosts dozens of vendors selling everything from sushi to steaks, wings to over stuffed sandwiches, fresh seafood and poultry to chocolates and cigars. The produce and flower stands are jam packed with fresh fare. It is a little overwhelming at…
This month’s Grapevine Column is a little fruity – apple that is. With four new cideries open in the last year, there are now eight across the Commonwealth. Cideries are emerging throughout the Southeast and Virginia is producing many unique and tasteful ciders. In fact, Virginia ranked #4 on the top 10 list for cider case sales in 2011 by Southeast States, with a total of 91,266 cases sold. Cider is fermented apple juice just as wine is fermented grape juice. The best cider, just like the best wine, is carefully crafted from fruit chosen for cider making. That brown stuff you buy in the grocery store juice section is just that, apple juice. In colonial America, fermented cider was the drink of choice. Thomas Jefferson’s champagne-like cider, made with Hewe’s Crabapples, was his “table drink”. Throughout the 19th century, growing apples and crafting cider from cider apples was an integral part of every community. Many Virginia cidermakers now aim to revive the cider tradition by growing, or encouraging others to grow cider apples, and by crafting fine cider. Albemarle Ciderworks is one of the pioneers in the modern Virginia cider industry. Founded and operated by the Shelton family, it is clear the passion for cider drives the business. The impetus for this agricultural adventure was Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. As a part of their educational mission, the folks at Monticello regularly host lectures. Charlotte Shelton attended a couple of lectures about the specific apples Jefferson had grown and were becoming scarce. What started as a planting of a small array of interesting apples has grown now to more than 200 different cultivars, both heirloom and more recent varieties. In addition the farm produces about three dozen peach varieties, as well as several plums, pears, cherries, nectarines and apricots. The farm’s…
January marks the beginning of a new year, and for most of us that means some type of resolution to do something different for the next twelve months. If your old gym workout is starting to seem uninspiring, try something new to start off the year on a good note. People have been practicing yoga for thousands of years, there is a reason this ancient practice has been around for so long. There are many benefits of practicing yoga which go far beyond the physical aspect. Yoga can help you balance your mind and spirit as well as your body. When the mind is clear and the body feels balanced it is easier to face the challenges of each day regardless of what they may be. Many people work out because it makes them feel better. Yoga is certainly a workout, but in a different way than going to a gym and lifting or cycling. It is physically challenging, yet relaxing at the same time. Yoga is a great way to stay in shape. The postures tone organs and develop long, lean muscles. The practice of forward bends, back bends, lateral poses, twists, and inversions, balances and works every muscle, bone, joint, and organ in the body. Yoga can improve circulation of blood and lymph throughout the body. Inversions such as a headstand reverse the flow of gravity, improving the blood supply to the lungs and brain and give the legs and heart a rest. The heart is exercised by the different postures with many similar benefits of aerobic exercise- with one exception. Through yoga postures, the heart is not stressed as it is in aerobic activities such as running or spinning. In yoga the heart receives the actions of various poses much like the rest of the body, through…
January is an excellent month in several ways. The days are noticeably longer, most houseguests have vacated your premises, many orchids are in bloom, plus this month marks the beginning of a brand new decade. This is a great time to take a break from contemplating the (possibly fleeting) wisdom of your New Year’s resolutions and focus instead on some serious armchair gardening and horticultural enlightenment. It’s also the time of year that I can almost appreciate the chilly temperatures that persuade me to slow down, curl up and read. I usually like to start with the latest crop of glossy and seductive gardening catalogs to see what hybrids are hot and absorb advice on culture, growth habits and clever designs that combine familiar plants in unusual ways. You might prefer to view these same catalogs online. Once you’ve had your fill of the marketing materials delivered to your doorstep or desktop, it’s time to get out and expand your universe yet again. The local public libraries and the horticultural library at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria offer a plethora of publications ranging from essays and memoirs by famous gardeners, horticulturists and designers to no-nonsense, hardcore reference texts and everything in between. Green Spring’s non-circulating library is comfortable enough to while away a wintry afternoon immersing oneself in the impressive collection of garden books and magazines, plant society newsletters and kiosks filled with information about local horticultural lore. Appropriately dressed and more adventurous souls can wander the fabulous grounds for real-life, entirely doable and inspiring examples of many design concepts. Although colder temperatures tend to limit outdoor gardening activities they do provide the perfect excuse to stay inside and scheme, plan and rearrange your garden; whether it’s all in your head, sketched out on paper napkins or digitally enhanced on…
It’s gut-wrenching when you find your pet badly injured and you don’t even know if it’ll live. They can’t tell us what hurts, or even what happened. You may never have to deal with a seriously injured pet or a debilitating chronic condition, but eventually you’ll help them through the infirmities of old age, or even make a life or death decision. Physical rehabilitation therapy for animals was almost unheard of twenty years ago. But veterinary medicine, just like its human counterpart, has evolved and improved so our pets, too, are enjoying longer and healthier lives. And it’s no secret that we don’t mind spending billions on our pets, including veterinary care. And beyond veterinary medicine, now we have access to physical rehabilitation, acupuncture and other alternative medicine to help our animals recover from injuries, surgery and live comfortably in their later years. But many desperate for help are unaware of these emerging therapies until a pet is stricken. On November 13, one of my Chesapeake Bay Retrievers collapsed, in the blink of an eye going from athletic, healthy four year old to near total paralysis. Earlier in the day Tanzy had been fine. We rushed her to our regular vet, who is exceptionally competent and thorough, but as we had no idea of what brought on the collapse, he was stumped. So was the 24-hour emergency vet where she spent the night in intensive care hooked to an IV and catheterized. A battery of tests were clear for tick diseases, tetanus and more exotic conditions, and she remained paralyzed the next morning. My choices were to visit a third vet, a neurology specialist, or euthanasia. At Bush Veterinary Neurological Services in Leesburg, a diagnostic MRI revealed two ruptured vertebrae in Tanzy’s neck. Dr. Brewer went over them with me…
One of the very best aspects of St. John is undoubtedly the Virgin Islands National Park. The park encompasses about half of the island, ensuring the pristine alabaster beaches will remain just that, undisturbed for generations to come. National Parks are touted as “America’s Best Idea” and here on St. John, I have to agree. The park here dates to about 60 years ago, when Laurence Rockefeller began acquiring land on the island, including most of the sandy beaches of the North Shore. This land would eventually become Virgin Islands National Park, but there were a few wrinkles along the way. For these major land acquisitions, Rockefeller formed the Jackson Hole Preserve, and recruited several associates to help him acquire about half of this 20-square mile island. A early effort of Rockefeller’s to get U.S. Congress to pass a bill turning the entire island into a protected park was met with fierce opposition by local families. Senator Theovald Moorehead — after whom our main barge facility today is named — even traveled to Washington, D.C., to fight the measure. Once that bill was defeated, there was general support for the creation of a U.S. National Park on the island, which would protect the many cultural and natural resources and bring needed tourism to this sleepy Caribbean outpost. U.S. Congress passed the bill creating V.I. National Park in 1956 and since then the park has grown even further and deeper. An additional 5,000 acres was added in 1962 and Hassel Island — with its historic marine railroad dating from when St. Thomas was a major shipping port — was added in 1978. Before leaving office in 2001, President Bill Clinton signed an act protecting a large area of submerged land off the island’s East End, creating the Coral Reef National Monument….
Among the reality television concepts I think would work, if only for a small and quirky viewer population, “Name This Vessel” has potential. The host would lead seasoned sailors, all blindfolded, on 10 unique sailboats, and once below, take off their blindfolds and let them guess the specific vessel type based on the layout of the main saloon. If I had been a contestant on that show last weekend, I would have failed miserably. The show host would have blindfolded me before we faced the water and then turned and led me down the docks and onboard the sailing vessel Mandy—which would have been tricky with the low tide due to a cold westerly and clumsy step down from the dock. Then, he would have led me to the cockpit and down below, trickier still due to my need to turn around and go backward, blindfolded, down steep steps through a narrow companionway. Once below, the first thing I would have sensed was ample headroom. Only taking a few steps before sitting on a settee, I felt warmer than I had in the cockpit but not warm enough to take off my coat. Then, the host would have removed my blindfold, given me a few minutes to adjust my eyes to the pleasantly dim light, maybe to sample the red wine or rum, and to consider the pretty wooden paneling, old-fashioned portholes, kerosene lamps, library shelf with rope netting, and tiny galley. Then the moment, drum roll please, when he would say, “Name this vessel.” I would have looked bewildered. I have been onboard the Pride of Baltimore II, the Schooner Woodwind, the HMS Bounty (twinge of sadness), several tall ships, a skipjack, a bugeye, and plenty of lovely custom woodies; this boat possesses qualities of each and a classic…
First things first: Happy New Year! I hope that all of your dreams came true during the holidays but more importantly that you rose to my fitness challenge. Did you manage to stay active the past two months even when it seemed impossible? It doesn’t take much. A simple walk around the neighborhood can do the trick. Have some fun this year and enjoy all the benefits that being active can bring to your life. January 2014’s exercise of the month is called the Bosu Forward Lunge (with dumbbells-DBs). This exercise is a fun way to work on your legs without all the grunting of a leg press or squat. The Bosu will challenge your balance and improve ankle stability. To start, grab a pair of DBs and hold them at shoulder-level. Stand directly behind the Bosu and then take one exaggerated step backward (about 3-4 feet). Figure 1 shows the starting and finishing positions. Before attempting your first lunge onto the Bosu, it’s important to note that it may slide if you don’t place your foot in the proper area. To avoid this mishap, I suggest placing it next to a wall or something solid to hold it in place. The reason for holding the DBs at shoulder-level is to make your spinal and abdominal muscles work a little harder than if you were to hold them at your side. This also keeps your posture in check while performing the lunge. Step forward with the left foot to place it on top of the Bosu. While doing this, you also need to shift your body weight to the front foot, bend your hip and knee until they reach about ninety degrees (Figure 2). Keep your back straight, chest and chin up. The front of the knee shouldn’t go past…
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