By Bob Tagert As we welcome February, the weather has been pretty dry and reasonably to unseasonally warm. Hopefully February will continue that trend. I wanted to give a shout out to our friend and local Alexandria talent, Johnny Artis who recently underwent heart surgery. Our thoughts and best wishes go out to him. I am also sad to report that Kris Davis, wife of RT’s Restaurant owner Ralph Davis passed away last month. Our prayers go out to Ralph and his family in this difficult time. Here is a short recap of what to expect in this issue: This kind of February only comes along once every four years. It is Leap Year. Meg Mullery writes about this Irish Legend and resetting of the earth’s rotation with our calendar in a Special Feature. For a little nostalgia we took a Road Trip to Rehoboth Beach to embrace a 50-year-old memory. If you plan to go to the U.S. Virgin Islands this winter, Caribbean Connection gives you all of the information you need to get from St. Thomas to St. John. In From the Trainer, Ryan Unverzagt updates his “Sweetheart” exercises for St. Valentine’s Day/Month and in Fitness, Nicole Flanagan addresses exercising in cold weather. In From the Bay Molly Winans gives you five reasons to go sailing in 2020. In Take Photos, Leave Footprints Scott Dicken writes about his wife’s bout with acute mountain sickness. In a Bit of History Sarah Becker explores early Alexandria and writes of Colored Rosemont-A Black History Lesson. In Grapevine Nancy Bauer discusses the virtues of Virginia Wineries in the winter and spring. This month we combined our Personality and Business Profiles as Lani Gering introduces Tia Blount…a force to be reckoned with! In High Notes Ron Powers introduces us to the Mowgli’s, a…
By the Gastronomes Michael’s Little Italy – One Part Fine Dining, One Part Pizzeria! Three years ago Michael Strutton left Nashville to come to Alexandria to be near his mother. He had formed a band and was playing at Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub and would stop in at Trattoria da Franco after some performances. He would talk to Franco about restaurants and his desire to own one someday. At the time, Franco had been at this 305 South Washington Street location for over 30 years. Eventually an agreement was reached and Michael took over the restaurant renaming it La Trattoria Old Town. The past few months he has finally achieved his goal after totaling remodeling the restaurant and to rename it Michael’s Little Italy Ristorante & Pizzeria. This establishment is a combination with two concepts side by side –fine dining and a pizzeria. Their tagline is “Serving Southern Italian Cuisine and New York-style Pizza”. The bar and fine dining area are on the right as you walk in. This is an intimate dining room with a cozy fireplace and fully stocked bar. This room is bathed in a deep red wine color and dimly lit with lots of fun movie/music inspired artwork on the walls. The back bar is assembled from wooden wine cases and done in a nice country fashion. It is very comfortable and inviting. The room is also used for some small musical acts including Flamenco Night and other events like music trivia which Michael tells us will begin in February on Thursday nights. The bar has a large flat screen TV which is not turned on unless requested and is used when appropriate for special sporting events, etc. On the other side of the first floor is the pizzeria featuring New York-style pizza. The pizzeria is…