YOU KNEAD THIS: INDUSTRY NIGHT JULY 25, 2024

Hello again. Here I am out in beautiful Delaplane at the magnificent Barrel Oak Winery and Brewery. My residency is out here for a good part of the summer and can I just tell you what a treat it is to be out here? So if you live in the DMV or in the Philly area or really anywhere this part of VA — the Fauquier and Loudon Counties — of Virginia. As you drive out here and the highway gives way to a two lane road — and the strip malls morph into pastures with cows and horses. Your blood pressure just comes down. It’s really really nice — especially since I have had a busy busy week.

Is it just me? Or does everyone feel like they are running and gunning? My days are just slammed. At 630 or 7pm I’m like what just happened? I look at my List of things to do, places to go and people to see and I’m like — well there’s always tomorrow!

So where have I been that you should be checking out? Well, if you follow me @nyccinellis you know I have been checking out some of the latest places.

-Namak — Saied Azali’s Middle Eastern Mecca with tastes from Turkey & Iran — the saganaki & watermelon!

-Kiyomi Sushi by Uchi — Sushi Nakazawa alum Masaaki "Uchi" Uchino is offering a $40 "quick omakase" at the Square food hall. 7 pieces of sushi, hand roll and miso soup - photo-ready sushi.

-Almeda - Chef Danielle Harris in the former Himitsu space — innovative cuisine featuring dishes from the African Diaspora — spaghetti & fried catfish

-Kalaya - a quick trip up to Philly to see family and eat, duh. Last year's James Beard Award winning Kalaya — incredible Thai food — 8 pm on a Sunday night place is jumping in Fishtown. Whole Grilled Fresh River Prawns, Crispy Garlic Chive Rice Cakes — and the florets of shaw muang dumplings.

But back to Barrel Oak. As I said earlier, I love the drive out here but also like it out here. I’m kind of obsessed with all there is to do. Did you know that access to the Appalachian Trail is here via Sky Meadow State Park - and one of my favorite hikes is Lost Mountain. You start in a pasture, walking by cows, then you climb/walk up the mountain — take in the incredible views and come back down THEN — you reward yourself by hanging out at one of the area’s beautiful wineries and then going for dinner!

So a little reminder I am Just East of the Blue Ridge Mountains at Barrel Oak Winery & Brewery. The 30-acre vineyard with its traditional Vitis Vinifera and American French hybrids has 10 varieties of grapes growing here including Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc & Petit Manseng oh and Virginia’s premiere native grape Norton. We talked to the winemaker Jeremy Ligon last week about the fabulous wines here but this week general manager Adriana Lucca is joining me to chat about this gorgeous property. AND THEN I’m going to be talking with two chefs who are serving this region. Jarad Slip — we have known each other since the Nectar/Tahoga days — a really long time ago — he was at several other restaurants in DC including Fames City Zen as FOH. Oh and did I mention he is a Master Somm? We did reconnect when he was at RdV vineyards and now he has not one but two restaurants of note in Middleburg — Knead Wine & Tremolo, which I am a bit obsessed with and you can get here at the vineyard!

And - also cooking out here is Chef Roderick (Pete) Smith. Chef Pete became the Chef de Cuisine at the age of 22 at Restaurant Medure in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. At this Four Diamond Restaurant, he was the youngest African American chef ever to run a Four-Star restaurant — he moved up here to work at Salamander and is now at The Piedmont Golfer Club and behind The Chef Feature Company. And, he is on the Taste of Blue Ridge advisory board and if you stay at the posh cottage out here — he will cook for you.

Listen in to hear the full history here, or watch the episode here.