By Charles Oppman Now that soft shell crab season is upon us, we should be thinking about frying up a few of these fabulous crustaceans. The soft shell crab is one of the South’s greatest contributions to American cuisine. Soft shells are a delicacy in every sense of the word. They can be sautéed or deep fried. A soft shell is a common blue crab that’s harvested during the early stages of molting, when the crab sheds its smaller shell and before a new, larger shell forms. The crab should be cooked before the new shell begins to harden. Only buy crabs that are alive. If they don’t move when touched, they’re dead and you won’t know when they expired. Smell the crabs. Like other seafood, soft shells should be odorless or smell like the ocean. Avoid buying frozen crabs as they lose most of their body fluid when they thaw out and appendages tend to break off. Soft shells should only be consumed during the season, which varies with the latitude. A bit of pre-cooking preparation needs to be done: Cleaning the Crab 1.To clean soft-shell crabs, hold the crab in one hand, and using a pair of kitchen shears, cut off the mouth and eye parts. 2. Lift one pointed end of the crab’s outer shell; remove the gills by pulling them out. Repeat on the other side. 3. Turn the crab over and pull off the small flap known as the apron. Rinse the entire crab well and pat dry. Once cleaned, crabs should be cooked immediately. Serves: 4 Time: 30 minutes Ingredients 4 soft shells 2 large eggs ½ cup milk 1 cup all-purpose flour 2-3 cups frying oil, or as needed depending upon the size of pan. Salt, pepper & seafood seasoning mix such as…
By Matthew Fitzsimmons The $20-30 price range is often cited as the ‘sweet spot’ for wine lovers. These are bottles meant to be splurged on without guilt, rather than saved for a perceived ‘special occasion’. Naysayers may say the under $30 range puts more ‘serious’ Virginia wines out of reach. To an extent that may be true. You’re unlikely to find big bold reds (which require aging in expensive barrels) in this price range, or the flagship bottles from well-known wineries. But don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t find great local wine for under $30. Deals can be found if you know where to look. Here are 12 Virginia wines that strike the right balance between quality and affordability. White Wines Barboursville Vineyards 2024 Vermentino Reserve ($23): Barboursville’s Vermentino is so good, it’s been selected for the Virginia Governor’s Case (honoring the Top 12 wines in Virginia’s premiere wine event) 7 out the past 8 times its competed. Their 2024 Vermentino is the latest in this series of wins. Vermentino isn’t a variety that comes to mind when thinking of Virginia wine but is very much in keeping with Barboursville’s Italian heritage. This wine has aromas of pear and lemon, followed by a surprising amount of minerality and acidity on the palate. Chatham Vineyards 2024 Steel Chardonnay ($25): Located along Virginia’s Eastern Shore, Chatham produces some of the most terroir-driven wines in Virginia. I could easily list any of their wines here (their $28 Bordeaux-blend is also a steal), but my favorite is its steel-fermented chardonnay. Chatham’s secret weapon is its soil – a combination of sandy loam mixed with ancient shell deposits. This combination gives its chardonnays a unique minerality that makes them stand out. Make sure to pair this wine with local oysters. Fifty-Third Winery &…
By Timothy Long I had never spent time in Louisville. I had driven by it. My dad and I once stopped at Churchill Downs to bet on a few races, but that was forever ago. When my wife Leigh and I are in that area, we are usually in Lexington where her brother lives. I love Lexington. It’s a beautiful quaint little city. I’ve written about its charms in this column. However, Louisville is different. It’s also charming, but in its own special way. Plus, the Bourbon Trail begins there. Who could ask for more? We traveled there recently for the Bourbon Classic, the best bourbon event in the world. We stayed at one of America’s classic hotels, the Seelbach, a beautiful historic hotel right in downtown Louisville. The Seelbach was a social hub in the early 1900s that attracted celebrities, politicians, and even gangsters. Al Capone is said to have frequented the hotel, using it as a discreet meeting place while conducting bootlegging operations throughout the region. F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of my favorite writers, visited the Seelbach in the early 1920s. The hotel’s opulent Grand Ballroom is widely believed to have inspired scenes in The Great Gatsby. Once we settled in, it was time to check out the bar and have a bourbon. Before you judge, it was well after noon, by at least ten or fifteen minutes. And Louisville is known as Bourbon City. We head downstairs and into the Old Seelbach bar. It’s a beautiful classic bar that feels closer to a pre-Prohibition lounge than a modern cocktail bar. It’s dark woods, polished brass, and slightly hushed ambiance envelope you as you enter. Then you see it, the whiskey selection. As is common in Louisville, the entire back of the bar is row after row of…
By Doug Fabbioli As a winemaker, I am often asked about my favorite wine or grape. I love Zinfandel but it is difficult to consistently grow Zinfandel in Virginia. Lately I have been focusing on learning more ways to work with Tannat, so that is my current answer and read on to find out why. In the past, it has been hard to make a full bodied, high tannin intense red wine in Virginia. Tannat has consistently been my solution with its thick skins, deep color and a firm tannin structure. Years ago, I made a conscious decision to lean into Tannat as a grape and wine so I could learn more and share what I’ve learned with customers and other winemakers. Tannat has its home in the Pyrenees foothills, the mountains between France and Spain. It is mostly a blending grape, usually 30-60% in a wine blend. Uruguay has adopted Tannat as its national grape. Rosé, light reds, full bodied reds and port wines are all made from this grape in Uruguay. Loudoun County has been running a cultural winemaking exchange program with Canelones, Uruguay over the past few years learning about growing and making Tannat. This experience has increased our knowledge and awareness of the versatility of this grape and how to have better wines. Time is a friend to Tannat. The tannins age nicely over time, making a 10-year-old wine still fresh and youthful. The acid keeps the fruitiness bright, extending the aging time. Plus, a little Tannat in a blend of other reds can really spark up the finished wine. Part of the challenge of Tannat has been that the tannic structure of it can be too heavy for some folks. I have been learning a few techniques from our winemaking friends in Uruguay to soften the…
By the Gastronomes The quasi-historic site located on the corner of South Washington and Wilkes Streets in Old Town got a bit of a facelift earlier this year but kept held to the same theme as its former predecessors – Schuman’s Bakery (established in Alexandria in 1876) that specialized in the iconic Jelly Cake and the last local brick and mortar location for Firehook Bakery whose specialty was their Mediterranean crackers that are now being produced on a wholesale level elsewhere. Eclairons obviously has some big shoes to fill and it appears that they are on the right track. This 430 South Washington Street location is the second Eclairons to open in the DMV. Their sister restaurant can be found in Arlington. Both are family owned and operated by Pastry Chef Toni Srour. Many of you may recognize his name as he has been associated with Alexandria-based wholesale bakery Maurice Pastries for several years. We debated about covering a few of the Mother’s Day Specials that will be available on the 10th in this space, but thought it might be fun to check out a casual place that you can treat Mom – or anyone – to without making reservations and breaking the bank and revisit on a regular basis. While we wouldn’t classify the price point at Eclairons as “cheap eats” – our lunch of a sandwich, a wrap, a soft drink, an espresso, a brownie and a tart topped out at around $55 – we think it is a good value. While the breakfast and lunch menus are fairly minimal, there is something for just about every palate. All of the items concentrate on being healthy choices. Both of us had our eye on the tuna salad sandwich but we decided we needed to give one of the…
By The Gastronomes This month we stepped a bit outside of our “normal” Dining Out M.O. and decided to feature a few of the cool little places we dined in over the last few weeks on our travels in Maryland. Three of them we are very familiar with – Davis Pub in Eastport, Gordy’s and Adam’s Taphouse and Grille in and near Prince Frederick – as we have stopped in these places several times and one that we experienced for the first time while doing the R&D for this month’s “Road Trip” column, Miss Shirley’s Café just off of West Street in Annapolis. All four of these eateries are either under or just a bit over an hour away from Old Town Alexandria and are surrounded with lots of other things to do and places to see. Davis’ Pub 400 Chester Avenue Eastport Davispub.com Out of the four joints featured here, Davis’ Pub is probably our favorite. We have many memories going as far back as the 80’s. It has gone through a couple of “spruce ups” over the years but the vibe pretty much remains the same – small, local, the clientele doesn’t suffer fools and if you’re a “tourist” try not to act like one. The décor is geared toward sailing and sports and is best described as eclectic. The food at Davis’ has remained constant – great burgers and sandwiches, crab cakes and lots of crab-based items and the daily specials board never disappoints. At the top of our list is the Baltimore Style Steamed Shrimp – ½ pound of gulf shrimp smothered in onions and Old Bay, steamed, with drawn butter and cocktail sauce on the side. We have often been tempted to ask for extra onions because they are mighty tasty. It can get crowded…
By Doug Fabbioli I thought I would take this space to update you on the status of the spotted lantern fly (SLF), how they are affecting the vines and what we are doing to address them. We (Fabbioli Cellars) have been dealing with the spotted lantern fly since 2025. Many other vineyards in Loudoun County have been fighting them for 3-5 seasons. A brief rundown on the SLF: They arrived here from China, most likely hitchhiking on wooden pallets of cargo. They have a one-year cycle meaning eggs are laid in the fall, hatch in the spring as nymphs and as the season goes on, they grow larger and sprout wings. They are starting to feed on other trees and plants now, but one of their favorite plants is still our grapevines! There are a few ways that these bugs damage our vines. By feeding on the vascular system of the plant, the SLF is sucking out vital nutrients and moisture needed for the productivity of the plant. In addition, they can introduce pathogens into the plants system that can cause other diseases and problems. The other issue is that their excrement, a sweet sticky clear liquid, causes a black mold on the plant. This mold will block the photosynthesis on the leaves and restrict the energy the plant can absorb. All this adds up to a crop that is smaller and may not be ripe as well as keeping the plant from building the energy reserves needed to survive the cold temperatures and push bud for the next season. Eventually the negative flow of energy will kill off the plant. So, what can we do about it? Well, the information from other regions has shown that there is a front wave of invasion that settles down a bit after…
By Timothy Long Most great adventures begin with a phone call. And I had just missed this one. Tom Gale, the Director of Operations at Virtue Feed and Grain, a great local restaurant, had called. Tom’s affectionately known in Old Town as Big T. Virtue has one of the best bourbon programs on the east coast, and Tom is the man who built it. He never calls. I usually text him when I want a table at the restaurant. What’s the sense in having friends if you can’t take advantage of them? It must be a bourbon emergency. I listened to the voicemail. “Why isn’t anyone answering their phone’s today? I hate voicemail. Call me back. I got something big we need to discuss.” I called him back. After a quick hello, Tom jumps right into the details. He had been offered the opportunity to do a bourbon barrel pick from Buffalo Trace Distillery. Buffalo Trace is one of the best distilleries in Kentucky. It’s located in Frankfurt, KY, not far from Louisville. Tom was going to be in Louisville for the Bourbon Classic and knew that I would be there also. A bourbon barrel pick is when a specific barrel of bourbon is chosen and bought by one person or a company. Most bourbons are made by blending whiskey from many barrels to keep the flavor consistent from batch to batch. With a barrel pick, however, a group, often a restaurant or bar, tastes samples from several individual barrels at the distillery. They select the one they like best based on its unique flavor profile. That single barrel is then bottled separately and labeled as a “barrel pick,” or “private selection.” Tom was asking me to be on a barrel pick committee to help select the bourbon he would…
By Matthew Fitzsimmons Winemakers are often the ‘face’ of the winery they work for. That said, they are backed by a team who help them craft the best wine possible. One of the most important members of this team is a position that usually gets limited fanfare – their Assistant Winemaker. Assistant winemakers typically run day-to-day operations in the cellar, focusing on tasks such as monitoring fermentation, conducting lab analyses, and ensuring the workspace is fully sanitized. These responsibilities are unglamorous but crucial to a winery’s success. While few of Virginia’s Assistant Winemakers have name recognition outside industry circles, this can quickly change as they move to new roles. Corry Craighill was in her first Head Winemaker position (at Sunset Hills Vineyard) for only a few years when she was recognized as Loudoun County’s Winemaker of the Year in 2019. This past March, she was awarded the top prize at the 2026 Virginia Governor’s Cup wine competition for her Valley Road Vineyards 2023 Cabernet Franc Reserve. Corry’s success underscores the importance of keeping tabs on the people filling Assistant Winemaker roles. These winemakers may be “Assistants” today, but they are also tomorrow’s leaders. Jordan Demain, Pollak Vineyards How did you get into winemaking? “It was my dad that planted the seed for my interest in winemaking. I just fell in love with wine, learning how it reflects a sense of place. I was born in Philly and grew up in southern New Jersey. For years I worked in the New Jersey wine industry, learning about wine and just finding my passion. In 2016, I applied for an internship at King Family Vineyards and got to work with their winemaker, Matthieu Finot. It wasn’t long before Matthieu recommended me for a position at Pollak. By the end of the year, I…
By Charles Oppman Now that spring is in full swing, we’re likely to see the seasonal springtime dish pasta primavera on Italian restaurant menus across America. It just makes sense―the word primavera means “spring” in Italian. But what is pasta primavera exactly, and what’s its culinary history? Let’s begin with the heart of the dish, the pasta. Long before they invented the mechanical clock, gunpowder and paper, the Chinese invented noodles, which would come to be called pasta, “dough” in Italian. Although the origin of pasta evokes much speculation, many historians credit the 13th century explorer, Marco Polo, with bringing pasta to Italy from China. During his 17 years in China the Venetian merchant probably dined with the likes of Kublai Khan, Polo must have sampled a variety of Asian pastas, which were generally made with rice flour or millet. The Chinese began using wheat for noodles about 3000 BC. The medieval Chinese didn’t eat dry strands of pasta like we do today. Instead, they cooked fresh pasta. Pasta primavera is an Italian-American dish―created in New York City in the 1970s― consisting of pasta and fresh vegetables. There is no one recipe for this dish. It may contain almost any kind of vegetable, but cooks tend to stick to firm, crisp vegetables, such as broccoli, carrots, peas, onions and green, red or yellow bell peppers, with tomatoes. Pasta primavera is usually highlighted by light flavors, aromatic herbs and bright colors. A seasonal addition would be fresh asparagus, which is inexpensive and plentiful during the spring season. Chicken, sausage or seafood may be added, but the star of the dish is always the vegetables. A Classic primavera sauce is based on a soffritto (the Italian version of a French mirepoix) of garlic and olive oil, and finished with freshly grated Parmesan…
View More