It’s been inspiring to see that little block of Botetourt (by the YMCA and the The Chrysler) blossom over this past year…

An open letter from an owner of the food truck Hubcap Grill to the Norfolk City Council.

Did they go to Oceanview when it had a fully functioning boardwalk and a Ferris wheel? Did they go downtown and hit the bars on Granby Street? She walked my streets; I couldn’t place her here until I saw the photo.

When you have a connection to the people that grow your food, you don’t want to let that food go bad, and you certainly don’t want to throw it away.

“A lot of these guys couldn’t afford a restaurant but could buy a truck and get started. I was hooked and knew Norfolk would love something like this.” – Evan, Hubcap Grill

Path Norfolk has the potential to blow up big time. The food is priced well, everything $8 or under. The location is unbeatable, and on late Summer nights the upper deck will be a prime chill spot.

Clear, dark amber with an eggshell head. Sweet caramel malt nose, citrus notes and a hint of woodiness. Zings off the tongue…

The chef prepares seared foie gras under glass. Warning: this video will make you so, so hungry.

Topped with fresh roasted salsa for a biting aftertaste, this burrito overloads the senses to a feeding frenzy. Sharks even have a week dedicated to it.

Self-evaluation: “VOTED AS 1 OF THE TOP 800 DINERS ACROSS AMERICA, CHARLIE’S CAFE IS LEADING A GREASE ROOTS CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESSES AND BUY AMERICAN PRODUCTS.” 1800 Granby Street | (757) 625-0824 | Sun-Thurs 7-2. Sat 7-7 Website Readers’ Reviews: 1. 2. 3. Leave your review of Charlie’s Cafe in the Facebook box below to share [...]

Feel free to crib when you bring your friends in from out-of-town; these are places that showcase the absolute best of Norfolk, both in its history, and in its new birth, happening all around you.

I am not going to try and tell you the death of one of our chickens is a painless transition to the next world. Killing an animal sucks. It is not an enjoyable task. Obviously it is worse for the bird than for us.

Nestled in a quaint shopping center in the heart of Ghent lies a hidden oasis of homemade, authentic, Italian cuisine with the most impressive vegan menu in Hampton Roads.

You will find a story in this post that you love. Click it. You will. Trust us. Go on.

There’s just something about it. Something addictive almost, and it’s not the caffeine. Plus, a Norfolk coffee shop guide.

“It’s something you can put your heart and soul into. And when you taste that, it totally comes out, and that’s one of the best parts about it.” – Jimmy Walsh, head brewer

“Baking and decorating are two things I am so incredibly passionate about, and I love to share them with people.”

Artists. Photo series. Op-eds. Fine arts. Music. Occupy Norfolk. Local History. Science, zombies, bikes, and food. It’s probably been our best month of content ever.

It’s about the unlikely comfort found in a crowd that, several bottles in, is no longer a mob at all, but instead a group of strikingly funny individuals who are more or less just like you.

I’m not going to lie, when I applied to Old Dominion for grad school, one of the big draws was the amount of world-class fishing within reach.

To get you ready for the festival, we’ve put together a list of rules on how to maximize your experience at the Wine Festival.

Casby’s: Come as you are, and dine as you desire.

“Listen. Hear that,” he says after about eight minutes. He points out “first crack,” which is the initial crackling of the beans’ shells, an audio mark of the first stage of the roast that signals moisture leaving the bean. The beans are now the color of caramel.

We are changing our format at AltDaily Food, publishing more discerning (and intense) criticism, and featuring a team of food bloggers, each focused on a different genre of dining.

The incomparable, irrefutable, undeniable Todd Rosenlieb teaches AltDaily Food editor Dana Staves how to make his famous artichoke dip and baked brie.

You have to wonder if this isn’t the American Dream as told by Clark Kent.

In order to ward off the addition of any more weight to my body and to keep as many pennies in my wallet as possible, I have put together a nice set of guidelines to help get through the semester.

Eric tells me that when people asked Frank Lloyd Wright why he didn’t build Falling Waters so that he could see the stream, Wright said that if he saw it all the time, he’d stop seeing it.

Finally, someone put it all together. I had Celiac Disease.

I fell in love when I was 18 years old along the Costa Brava in Barcelona – with food that is.

Would it be nice if I still got checked out now and then? Sure, it would be good for my ego. But so’s 30 minutes on elliptical #10. Or my latest accomplishment, riding my bike to the farmers’ market, to the supermarket, and home.

I may have been deterred previously by all the “some place elses” I had to go, but not anymore. Omar’s is definitely on my list of go-to spots for dinner.

Nestled on the Middle Peninsula, Gloucester County (pronounced Gloss-ter) provides its residents and visitors with a rich history, a small-town feel, and family friendly fun.

Yogurt Vi creates ecstasy by focusing your attention on the taste on your tongue.

Temptation is everywhere.

Literally located in the cellar of the historic and gorgeously appointed Church Point Manor House, The Cellars features seasonal “regional cuisine,” and the atmosphere is beautiful, yet far from stuffy.

My love (sometimes love/hate) affair with living a healthy lifestyle makes it very challenging to go out with friends to enjoy a meal. I have learned with experience that with prior planning and a little education on options, going out to enjoy a meal with friends or family doesn’t have to mean ditching my diet or sacrificing on taste.

The restaurant is small in a quaint way. There was limited seating, but it made me feel like I was important and part of small dinner party. I like feeling important.

All of us need love, nourishment, safety, the work of our minds and hands, health, periods of relaxation, and all the other things that keep us alive and happy.

The rules set the tone of Public House perfectly – a place where everyone might not know your name, but they’ll likely get to know your face as we all gather to eat some rocking good food, throw back a few drinks, and generally have a good time at our new corner pub.

Stove, where a trans-continental safari smiles on Vulcan stove-ships there to save Shaggy Dog and the rest of us from general expectations, traditional discourse, or life as we know it.

This is the backyard burger, a burger we are all most familiar with, and one that has a stronghold on my heart.

We’ve all heard the saying: no farms, no food. Well, it’s true, and chefs who are sourcing locally have the opportunity to be the best spokespeople for that fact.

We playfully knocked on the restaurant’s speakeasy door as if its barred panel would slide back and someone in a fedora would ask us to whisper a password.

Local Megan Miller talks about her experience creating the “Gold Cone” flavor for Cold Stone Creamery.

There’s nothing I can do about missing Dad except to go on missing him, remembering his greatnesses and his flaws, but I can honor his memory by keeping Hamlet on my mind, thinking about the ways I can control my own destiny, steer this ship, and all the other cliched expressions we know for, um, being the masters of our fate.

The oysters were looking me dead in the eyes, and I could barely stand to look at them, seeing as they had the appearance of some unknown internal human infection.

Walking into the Old Hampton Ice Cream Parlor, 32 flavors beckon like long lost loves: Royal Red Velvet Cake, Butter Brickle, Pistachio, Peppermint Stick, Roadrunner Raspberry.

Their hospitality, their generous spirits, and their rocking good coffee made me scrap my normal interview structure and just come up with one big love fest for Cafe Stella.

Kicking Weight Watchers ass, man.

We spent our mornings splashing in the tides or building sandcastles, but the afternoon was devoted to catching the sacred Crustacean of the Atlantic – the blue crab.

I can open doors to look at them when I need to, but to get up in the morning and do what I need to do, they really need to stay put most of the time.

To help you spend your money wisely, I’ve compiled a few suggestions for where to go and what to order if it is plant-based protein that you seek.

At the beginning of last year, I wrote an article about the sad state of affairs with regard to craft beer in Hampton Roads. Oh, what a difference a year and a half makes!

I know that I will be getting him back physically, but it will be another short period of time to get him back mentally. The ship does something to you. It’s not necessarily good or bad, it is just different.

You don’t have to settle for the mall. Local businesses have everything you need, so go ahead and day trip this summer.

My South is Cooking. It is also Writing.

Many months ago, I offered my body on Facebook.

If you can get past the color, avocado creamsicles are a surprising treat for this hot summer season.

Combining spicy, salt, sour, and sweet instantly seduces the tongue and corrupts your judgment. Consider the Margatini Espolon a tropical love bite.

We just celebrated the 4th of July and enjoyed our first tomatoes on hamburger buns and cucumber salads, but now it is time to think ahead.

All I need is the kitchen, and a glass of wine, with some music in the background and life is good.

Slap lettuce and tomato on a toasty bun, and this Moby Dick of a sandwich is everything a tuna melt should be — minus the tuna, of course.

I love Independence Day. I love the patriotism. I love the long weekend. I love seeing friends and family. But most of all, I love the food.

Think of all the cliches you know: no (wo)man is an island, no (wo)man is poor who has friends, and then try to figure out why so many of us don’t ask the people who love us for what we need.

There are so many ways to dress a hot dog.

Anne K tries out The Culinary Institute of Virginia’s Casual Gourmet classes. The results are pretty tasty.

Unlike most American IPA’s, the Thornbridge brew is smoother, crisper, with a hoppy bite. The bitter yet honey finish makes Jaipur a tempting, golden nectar befitting of the gods.

The summer solstice has officially inaugurated the hot summer season, but Betsy DiJulio has cool vegan recipes to help you chill out and enjoy fresh, delicious food.

I was absolutely in love with Matt’s own Asian sesame dressing; so much so, I told him to smack his face on a bottle and sell the stuff by the case. He uses a bit of agave to calm the Sriracha, which gives it a little karate-kick aftertaste.

At first glance, this beverage looks like water with lime but surprises with a Brazilian dropkick to the face. The national cocktail, pronounced kī-pa-rēn-ya, is made with Brazilian sugar-cane rum, Cachaca Pitu.

Alyssa, meet Beet. Nice to meet you, Beet.

Muddled and shaken, a pinch of sugar flawlessly balances the peppermint and lime. The smoothness of the alcohol fused with the fresh ingredients guarantees your return and eternal gratitude to Edwin for delivering such a divine elixir within our earthly grasps.

When I did “try” radishes, it was because they were the last in a vegetable tray or chopped up in a salad. I never learned to appreciate them as a vegetable on their own.

Want to know where to go? We’ve got you covered…

The habanera serves as an aftertaste, which leaves your lips with a “lingering warmth”, as one guest so interestingly put it. The strawberry adds a little sweetness, the lime a little tartness, and the generous tequila sets your mind right.

A mix of Firefly Sweet Tea vodka and the house lemonade, this refreshing drink is not too sweet, not too lemony. You don’t quite taste the alcohol, just cool, crisp ice tea, which could do some damage if you’re not payin’ no nevermind.

We are not hippies or weirdos for our desire to have a connection with our food. Rather, we are called by the old ways of living that kept our ancestors in such wonderful vitality and health.

The baker’s task is a solitary one, which few will undertake, and I accept it gladly.

Dining alone is a nostalgic experience. As if I am on a date with the flavors themselves, I use the cuisine to remember.

The first night of VegStock, a three-day salute to vegetarians and vegans and the people who love them.

“We wanted to create an event that says, ‘hats off!’ to vegans and vegetarians.” Edward, chef at Bardo.

I will stand by my belief that pickles are awesome.

Lew Lou’s Sinsational Bakery is a shop that is just like the best kind of home, where we laugh, cry and eat yummy things together.

Vanishing of the Bees will be shown at Naro Cinema on March 30th at 7:15pm. Local beekeepers, the state beekeeping association president, and city officials will be in attendance to hear from you, the public.

Zucchini fries are all-the-rage. Hannah stops by to learn from Mike Farrell, executive chef at Still. Plus Portsmouth Restaurant Week arrives full-force.

Vivian, the owner of Luna Maya in Ghent, shares her guac recipe. Plus, a spicy Mexican drink, micheladas, vies for a spot on the menu…

O Jardim’s menu reflects the eclectic influence of Brazil’s cuisine via immigrants from Germany, Italy, Japan, the Middle East and other countries.

Seed swaps are a simple way to create a local gardening community where individuals can swap successes and questions. (Who could ever plant all eighty-five cabbage seeds they give you in one packet?!)

Tonya delivered them to my office in festive packaging, and my heart melted even more than the icing.

“Olive Garden. Do olives even grow in a garden? They grow on f—ing trees! And the Old Spaghetti Factory? Who wants old spaghetti?”

No other business exhibits the virtue in spending locally like a bakery, where our pocket change can sustain livelihoods…

Through a pawn shop-like facade, I did find pastries, but unexpectedly, I found a laid-back environment, a rich history, warm and comedic hosts, and a push for a pastrami sandwich I’d never imagined.

Imaginations take flight like butterflies in a garden, and all children should have a little plot of land where their minds and hearts can bloom.

This was my motivation for making Moka my new home office. What better way to pour myself into my community’s bottom line than to take my caffeine budget to entrepreneurial neighbors?

I don’t know why you’re not supposed to roll both sides, but Jake always tells me not to.

Putting them in the pan on the stove with some oil might add a tiny bit of fried goodness, and there’s nothing wrong with that

The answer is always pie.

Liz’s own Collard-Cabbage Stir Fry: from Living in Food Poverty Week 3

Jake’s Honey Oat Wheat Bread: from Living in Food Poverty Week 3