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- May 15, 12
Get ready for a fantastic new addition to Charlottesville’s food scene — Zinc owner Vu Nguyen is opening Moto Pho Co., the first local restaurant fully dedicated to pho, a delicious Vietnamese noodle soup! Judging from the extremely enthusiastic reaction of Facebook fans (as well as our own growling stomachs here at Cville Niche), great success awaits this upcoming pho place!
Until you can get your pho fix in June, check out what Vu Nguyen had to tell us about his dream restaurant:
1) Location of new restaurant:
2) Restaurant description in 5 words or less:
Noodles & such.
3) Tell us about your restaurant journey:
I learned to cook on the job at Bizou (on the downtown mall) during my 4th year at UVa. Then, I moved to Chicago to cook at now defunct Soul Kitchen under Chef Monique King. Later, I left the industry and the city for a while and ended up doing CAD work for an architecture firm in DC. I then moved back to Cville and worked for Sean Lawford at the now defunct Cassis on Water Street. After some time, I left Cassis to open my own restaurant, Zinc (420 West Main Steet). I have been running Zinc for the last five years, turning the kitchen over to Justin Hershey about two years ago.
As for inspirations, I’m intrigued by the meteoric rise of David Chang. Not necessarily the person himself but his ascension. It’s kind of ridiculous and enviable at the same time.
4) Three tips for running a successful restaurant:
1) Be properly capitalized. It’s still true: it takes money to make money.
2) Watch every penny. Remember, it’s a business, not a party for your friends.
3) Stay relevant. Matter to people.
Aside: don’t be misdirected by people who answer with “Using the freshest ingredients, yadda, yadda…” That has nothing to do with “running a successful restaurant.” It has a lot to do with making good food, but as we all know, good food does not a “successful restaurant” make.
5) What will set this restaurant apart from other businesses in town?
It will be, thus far (to my knowledge), the only establishment dedicated to pho 7 days a week.
6) Plans for ingredients and produce?
There are plans for a rooftop garden to supply the restaurant with a majority of its produce needs during the growing season. It’ll be evaluated from year to year to see if and how we can build upon it to extend the growing capabilities to be year-round. In other words, it’ll start small and if it’s feasible, a sort of greenhouse may be built to ensure year round production. As far as proteins are concerned, we’ll source from those who can allow us to keep our prices affordable.
7) Tell us about the building and design:
The building is part of renovation project that used to be C&R Auto Service station. I guess I have a penchant for auto garage conversions.
Eli Strauss of Strauss Construction is overseeing the work. There really isn’t a whole lot of design going into the building. The exposed brick exterior speaks for itself. I’ll be finishing out the interior myself, which will be stark white with industrial chic accents. The goal is to have the small interior 38-seat space glow from the inside out like a jewel box.
8) In today’s struggling economy, what steps have you taken/will you take to bring in customers?
Social media networking, recession-proof (perceived) value, and loyalty programs. We’ll stay alert and flexible to adapt to real world scenarios as necessary.
9) When you’re home or someone else cooks for you, do people feel pressured to cook you something fantastic or fancy? What do you cook for yourself/family/friends at home?
I don’t think people feel pressured. If they do, then they’re needlessly stressing themselves out. I don’t know if others in the industry feel the same way or would admit to it, but we’re mostly poor and eat like crap. We’d be happy if someone made us anything. It’s when we have to pay for food that we get critical, as should everyone. Left to our own devices, it’s usually junk food, take out and the ilk. Stuff we don’t have to put much effort into.
You spend a significant amount of time making awesome food at work, which involves tasting frequently, you kinda get tired of tasting the same thing, so you go for something on the opposite end of the spectrum. And plus, it’s work, it’s a job… I don’t want to do my job on my day off. And not to mention, who’s gonna do the dishes? Kidding. Kinda. That’s not to say I don’t ever cook for friends and family, but it’s very far and few between and usually involves some combination of rice, chicken and sriracha. Of course, I’m exaggerating, but not much.
10) If you could open any restaurant you wanted, where would it be, what flavors would you bring to the table, and what would the atmosphere/design be like?
Fortunately I’m getting exactly that opportunity with Moto Pho Co. Stay tuned and find out the answer in a few months!
- May 10, 12
Be sure to check out this week’s Buzz, with great events including a trunk sale, Bike Week 2012, Brunch with Mom and more!
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- May 10, 12
Niche asked businesses what Mother’s Day specials and features to look forward to this Sunday… here are some responses!
- Beer Run
- Brunch 11-3
- “You know we’ll be rollicking in fresh, local, and deliciousness for Mother’s Day Brunch!”
- Keswick Vineyards
- Free wine tastings for moms!
- “The Nelson County SPCA will be here for Yappy Hours as well!”
- Wild Wolf Brewing Company
- Special: Pecan Crusted Chicken w/Mango Salsa, Honey Glazed Salmon w/Roasted Corn Salsa and an Apple Berry Cobbler
- Music: Mathew Wilner from 11:30-2:30
- “And of course, it’s Ribs Nite!”
Some other specials or places to hit up for a great Mother’s Day outing include…
- Blue Mountain Brewery
- Pippin Hill
- Blenheim Vineyards
- Veritas Vineyards
- Wine Dinner: $65/pp inclusive of the meal, wine and gratuity. Reservations are required.
- Devil’s Backbone Brewing Company
- Brunch treats: Rock Shrimp Cobb Salad, Garden Omelet, Lemon Poppyseed Waffles, Potato Waffles and Strawberry Shortcake for dessert.
- Drinks: If your Mom is a beer lover, they have plenty of beers to choose from and some inventive refreshing cocktails just for her special day {Cucumber Mint Martini, Strawberry Martini, Campari Rhubard Cooler or a Bellini}. Also, Build Your Own Bloody Mary!
- Commonwealth Restaurant and Skybar
- West Main, a Virginian Restaurant
- Shebeen
- Horse and Hound
- Bluegrass Grill
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There’s no excuse, because Cville is bursting with options. So be sure to treat the mom(s) in your life this weekend!
- Beer Run
- May 10, 12
Have you fille out your primary ballot yet?
It’s that time of the year again, Cville Weekly has begun to take nominations for Best of Cville. With so many great options of local businesses here in town it’s definetly worth your while to fill this out and it’ll only take a couple of minutes!
Keep the buzz going, nominate Cville Niche for best local blog!
- May 08, 12
This June, a new workout phenomenon that’s sweeping the nation is opening its doors in
Charlottesville. The newest Pure Barre franchise, an intense pilates-type workout centered around
a ballet barre, is owned by Valerie Morini, a social and digital media strategy consultant who
stumbled upon fitness and found her calling. Cville Niche sat down to ask her some questions about what
Charlottesville residents can expect once Pure Barre Charlottesville opens its doors.How did you get into fitness?
I was actually a rower at Virginia. I was injured for a lot of it. I got a back injury that lasted past my collegiate career, and then I started teaching spinning and then got into yoga. I was actually working for Lululemon and was doing community development when I started doing PureBarre and the owners approached me and asked if I was interested in opening a franchise.
Are you trained in fitness?
Outside of rowing I was a sports marketing intern, and I was a spinning instructor and group fitness certified. It’s a little rarer to find a PureBarre instructor, because you can’t go to training to becoming one unless you are sent by an owner. I gathered my team and took everyone to the headquarters in Denver for the training. Everyone at the franchise is trained directly from the source.
Can you describe PureBarre in five words?
Isometric movement reshaping your body.
What exactly is PureBarre?
It is isometric movements. You work each muscle in your body in different segments of the class. We work parts of your body to exhaustion and then stretch them out to create long lean muscle. There will be dynamic, total body warm ups and focus on the thighs for a set of exercises. Then stretch it out, then work the seat, then do abs, then stretch that out. It’s pretty intensive, it’s not a light workout. It all happens over a fifty five minute class. You don’t get the same class every day.
Where does the barre work into this?
It’s used mainly as a soft of balance and leverage tool. It’s not a ballet class at all, it has some inspiration from ballet, but it is more an athletic approach to pilates.
How is PureBarre different from other new workout crazes?
It’s a hybrid form of exercise. It really works every muscle and is very intense. I’m an athlete, and I’ve never had something that works every muscle to exhaustion. I can’t do PureBarre and go for a run. The classes are for all levels, but you can take it to different levels yourself. We guide you through the exercise, and then the music goes up and you work in your own zone. For athletes it is great to complement. It’s strength that’s not heavy weight throwing. It is good for people who don’t work out. It’s not super flowy, but it is low impact and low risk. We are focused on building muscle and improving strength.
When is your projected opening day?
We are planning on opening in early June, or in the last week of May. You can find us at 2200 Old Ivy Road.
- May 04, 12
May is here, and in Virginia, that means cool summer nights is upon us. Enjoy the cool evening for gallery-hopping and Downtown strolling. Stop by the great selection of First Fridays gallery showings, from photography to paintings, and make it a night of art!
Follow this list for a guided walking tour of the Downtown galleries. The journey starts at 5pm…
- The WVTF and Radio IQ Studio Gallery -
Black Locust of my Heart {Kendall Cox}
In partnership with NPR, WVTF, and Radio IQ, the New City Arts Initiative presents “Black Locust of my Heart” by Kendall Cox at the WVTF and Radio IQ Studio Gallery. The exhibit is a “series of small works on paper having to do with trees, with the way trees make us experience time, with how we feel their lines and what they do to our horizons.”
Catering by Feast! and wine provided by Well Hung Vineyard.
216 Water St., across from Eloise // 5-7p
- Mudhouse -
Printmaking {JJ Eisfelder}
Come out, grab a delicious beverage and peruse the prints of JJ Eisfelder, local artist and organic farmer. Check out JJ’s work on Etsy.
213 W. Main St., on the Downtown Mall near Main St. Arena // 6-8p
- Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society –
More than a Roof {Professor Daniel Bluestone and students in the UVA School of Architecture}
Come out for a special exhibit featuring Charlottesville’s residential architecture between the late 19th century and the present. “More than merely a roof over our heads, our dwellings and settlement patterns reflect the changing architectural and social values of Charlottesville’s individuals, families, and communities. Our homes have been shaped by both practical realities and American dreams.“
200 2nd Street, NE, next to Lee Park // 5:30-7:30p
- Ana Cavalheiro Fine Jewelry -
New local artist Ana Cavalheiro is throwing a First Fridays/Mothers Day party at her shop on the Downtown Mall. Glasses and sweets will be in abundance, so stop by with a friend or loved one and check out her great work.
113 4th St #100, up the ally from Five Guys // 5-7:30p
Murals and More {Lincoln Perry}This exhibit at Les Yeux du Monde features Lincoln Perry, mural artist, painter and sculptor. His latest murals from Old Cabell Hall at the University of Virginia will be on display, as well as sculpture and drawings.“In the east stairwell, the age-old Virtues and Vices return in the guise of a fraternity/yoga party opposite a Hall of the Professors, many of them recognizable venerable professors at UVA. In contrast to this densely populated scene, the murals in the west stairwell that he is currently completing are devoted solely to the natural world.”The exhibit runs May 11 – June 17, with an opening reception with the artist on Friday, May 11th.841 Wolf Trap Road // 5:30-7:30p——
- Apr 30, 12
Drew Morris, of the band “In Technicolor,” wanted to build a band in a market where there were great venues open to all ages. He envisioned a culture where music was still regarded as an entertainment medium and a vital part of the nightlife, and from this vision he moved to Charlottesville with a group of friends. “You rarely find this setup outside of your LA, or NYC, but Charlottesville certainly fits the bill,” he explains. Drew and his band also hope that with a market the size of Charlottesville, it would be easier to establish and brand the band and create a buzz.
Drew had hoped to form a band for four or five years. However, it took Drew until early 2008 to find a set of musicians who could “really bring the full painting to life,” as Drew recalls. “In Technicolor” spent the first few months after their inception playing locally, honing their skills for live performance. In the past two years, the band has developed a substantial reputation and regularly plays markets in Northern Virginia, Harrisonburg, Richmond, and Charlottesville. Additionally, the band travels to New York twice a year.
“I think our sound has gotten a bit more electronic and the rock tunes are more dance-fused,” says Drew of the band’s evolution.
However, Drew assures that fans can still count on “killer melodies and harmonies because they will always be part of the focus.” “In Technicolor” shows are known to be upbeat and entertaining. The band likes to think that the shows are more of “an experience” than just live music. Drew promises lots of dancing both on stage and off, as well as tambourine shakin’ accompanied with loud guitars.
Along with the killer melodies and harmonies come the lyrics. For Drew, lyrics always come last. They follow the melody and song vibe. “I’ll usually just use a scratch lyric I was humming while writing, and then build a theme around that,” says Drew. However, Drew is not one to sugarcoat. He is very authentic in his prose. “I don’t try to be the next Walt Whitman because I’m not.” It is important that his personality is shown through the lyrics, and, in Drew’s eyes, “My personality is my band, and my band is my personality.”
For now, Drew is just trying to focus on “In Technicolor” without spreading himself too thin with other music side projects. Charlottesville will continue to see the band play at local venues. Fortunately for Charlottesville, the band is fond of The Southern. “If you can pack it out, it’s such a great environment and the energy is amazing,” confesses Drew. The H&M-clad band will continue to play their shows and make audience members feel as though the performance is an experience–not just any old show.
Check out Drew Morris at www.intechnicolor.com.
-Jenni Lyman
- Apr 30, 12
Director and Writer Hugh Wilson distinctly remembers the time in the 70s when Atlanta bars cleared out when The Mary Tyler Moore Show and M*A*S*H were on TV. “That was my dream…to write for one of those, then direct,” he says of the popular shows. At the time, he was busy making his way to the top—from trainee to copywriter to creative director to president—of Burton Campbell Advertising in Atlanta.
“It seemed too far-fetched that I could do TV show and movies, but commercials didn’t,” he says. “But I got more and more interested in film and wanted to do more than 30-second spots.” Wilson first decided to give show business a shot at the age of 31. Through a couple of friends, he managed to get an interview with Grant Tinker, the then-husband of Mary Tyler Moore and the president of Mary Tyler Moore Productions.
From there on out, Wilson was a writer on The Bob Newhart Show, an associate producer on The Tony Randall Show, and ultimately the creator of his own show—WKRP in Cincinnati—which he ran for four years as head writer and producer. Wilson then received his chance to break into the movie business when he was asked to re-write the script for the 1984 film Police Academy.
“I didn’t think it was fixable,” he says. “So I politely refused.” But he was then offered the position of director if he would re-write it—an offer he couldn’t refuse.
In the years that followed, Wilson directed several more films, including Guarding Tess and The First Wives Club. In the last ten years, though, he has “kind of” retired, he says. But now he’s thinking about returning to the movie business.
“I’m getting back into the business because of my daughter,” offers Wilson, explaining that his 23-year-old daughter Maggie, a graduate of the Savannah School of Art and Design, will be his writing partner for the New Line Studios/Warner Bros.’s new Police Academy. “I wouldn’t be doing it if it were someone else,” he states.
“She has gotten me interested in it again.” Wilson also said that they are going to Fox to do a movie based on WKRP in the near future.
On the one hand, he is excited to get back into the movie business alongside his daughter. But, on the other hand, Wilson cannot say that he has not enjoyed his time away from the business. “I’m also a guy who enjoys not working,” Wilson explains. “Retirement seems to be a thing I’m good at.”
When Wilson first grew tired of LA in 1992, he and his family moved to the countryside of Charlottesville. “I chose it just because it was a beautiful place,” he explains. “I was tired of living in big cities…and I like the idea of a small town but a lot going on, a lot of smart people, a lot of interesting people.” Once he was here, Wilson said that a few people suggested that it might be fun to teach, so he decided to take a look into the University of Virginia’s course offerings.
“There were a number of courses in playwriting, but no screenwriting courses,” he explains. So, he “took the bull by the horns” and suggested a screenwriting course, and the Media Studies department allowed him to be an adjunct professor.
For three years now, Wilson has been teaching the screenwriting course at U.Va., in which students learn to look at movies and break them down in terms of plot and construct.
“You must be able to break down a story in order to write a line of dialogue,” he says, comparing dialogue to a Christmas tree ornament on a tree that is the story.
And for those in Charlottesville interested in pursuing a career in the movie business, Wilson had one more piece of advice: “You have to go there. You have to go to LA….and just meet a bunch of people trying to do what you want to do and network with them.”
Hugh Wilson’s Top Ten Favorite Things to Do in Charlottesville:
1. Cut the grass.
2. Go to Harris Teeter.
3. Walk up and down the Downtown Mall.
4. Foods of All Nations.
5. Go to U.Va. basketball and football games.
“…And I’m guessing that isn’t ten things yet…but that’s it.”
- Anna Mahone
- Apr 26, 12
Are you an entrepreneur at heart? Have you been itching to start your own business for sometime now?
The Tom Tom Founders Festival is hosting CIC, or the Community Investment Collaborative, as one if its Innovators in Residence. The CIC is a non-profit microfinance pioneer in the Charlottesville area, branching off of the Center for Non Profit Excellence. The CIC takes a group of entrepreneurs who want to start their own business through a 14 week course. The course will train participants in business matters, from management and operations, to business etiquette and financial statements. At the end of the training course, the CIC works to secure loans for the trainees and get them on their way to establishing their own business.
The Tom Tom Talks Series hosts an innovator in the Charlottesville area, allowing them to share their story with the community. The CIC will be presenting on its program, and its most recent graduating class, including a barbershop, a Jamaican restaurant, and a transport business for the disabled. The Talk is being held at 7 p.m. on May 7th at Tom Tom Headquarters, 105 1st Street. Admission is free.
- Apr 26, 12
After the great success of the first ever Cash Mob in March on National Cash Mob Day we’re going in for round 2 this Saturday April 28 @ 1 pm. The meet up spot has been announced, Charlottesville Tire. Rain or shine come out and join us in supporting and boosting a great local business somewhere in the West Main area! Bring your $20 bills, join the fun and enjoy specials at the West Main Restaurant after the mob!
Listen to this clip from 106.1 the corner from this morning about Cash Mob!
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- Cville Niche--Buzz of the Week 5.10-5.16
- Make sure to 'like' Citizen Burger Bar and share this post to be entered to win a free dinner for 8!
- Welcome, Pure Barre! Check out interview with owner Valerie Morini on the Buzz Blog: http://cvillenichebuzz.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/pure-joy-for-pure-barre/
- Have you fille out your primary ballot yet? It’s that time of the year again, C-Ville Weekly has begun to take nominations for Best of Cville 2012. Keep the buzz going! Nominate Cville Niche for Best Local Blog!
- Cville Niche--Buzz of the Week 5.3-5.9
- Awesome video of the lovely Katie at Good Press Paper doing what she does, mastering that letterpress!
- Were looking for brunch specials for Mother's Day. Any suggestions on places to take mom? Blue Mountain Brewery, Beer Run, Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards, Blenheim Vineyards, DevilsBackbone BrewingCompany, Wild Wolf Brewing Company, Commonwealth Restaurant & Skybar, West Main, A Virginian Restaurant, Keswick Vineyards. What specials and menus can we look forward to? Tagging has set its limits so please let us know of other places and specials in and around town!
- check out this local artist's kickstarter porject. sounds like a great initiative! thanks for sharing New City Arts Initiative
- great video of downtown cville! check it out.
- Cville Niche--Buzz of the Week 4.26-5.2
- Check this out, Like Citizen Burger Bar and you'll be entered to win an ipad! Can't wait for Citizen to open its doors!
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