It’s a sunny Monday morning in late August. The new week has not quite shaken off the slow pace of the weekend when the boxes start arriving at the Beyond the Flavor studio. Boxes and boxes and more boxes, packed with copies of Charlottesville COMMONS 2013, a collection of stories, essays, images, and recipes from local chefs, farmers, growers, bakers, and food enthusiasts living and working in the Charlottesville area.
For the Beyond the Flavor team, this late-summer morning is the culmination of months of meetings, photoshoots, and interviews, as well as hundreds of emails, dozens of Google docs, and hours of discussions. Since Beyond the Flavor came into existence in early 2012, we’ve held the dream of a book in our hearts, and today, these boxes hold the realization of that vision.
As our country witnesses a groundswell of interest in local food, places like Charlottesville are developing vibrant, deeply rooted, passionate local food communities brimming with talent, skill, and dedication to providing fresh food close to home. COMMONS seeks to capture this movement as it unfolds in the backyards, fields, meadows, and mountaintops that surround our beloved town.
This book was created using a sponsorship model: local businesses or individuals sponsored feature stories not about themselves, but about another business or person in the local food community—someone they thought had a story worth sharing. Through these stories and the accompanying images, readers will get to know local farmers, artisans, chefs, bakers, advocates, and enthusiasts, all driven by a genuine desire to widen the reach of locally produced food.
Feature-length stories in the book include:
-
The career of a local baker
-
A 500-acre organic farm and the local chefs it supplies
-
Efforts to discover and recreate authentic Virginia cuisine
-
The cidermaking revolution
-
Old-world butchery principles
-
Catering in one of the country’s more popular wedding destinations using local ingredients
-
Charlottesville’s City Schoolyard Garden program
-
The genesis of a quarter-acre CSA
-
A family’s favorite picnic spots amid Central Virginia’s natural beauty
-
How a local restaurant launched a pastry chef’s career
-
Connecting amateur bakers with farm-raised ingredients
-
Urban agriculture initiatives that put more organic food on local tables
-
Monastery-made cheese
-
Virginia ham pride
-
Professional advice for choosing a knife
-
Creating a sustainable food region through the lens of cheesemaking
Add to this seasonal ingredient suggestions, 30 tested recipes from local food professionals and enthusiasts, beautiful hand-drawn maps courtesy of Dani Antol at Rock Paper Scissors, and richly colored images laid out and designed by Matt Thomas at Convoy, and you have a publication that reflects the energetic, collaborative environment of Charlottesville.
This first edition of COMMONS has a theme of heritage, tradition, memory, and innovation. The local food community revealed in its pages is one of genuine collaboration and hard work that embodies the idea that a rising tide lifts all ships. We are so excited to share this publication with our friends and neighbors, both in the Charlottesville community and beyond.
If you are interested in buying a copy of Charlottesville COMMONS 2013, you can find it at these retailers beginning September 3:
-
Roxie Daisy
-
Feast!
-
The Happy Cook
-
The Spice Diva
-
Sweethaus
-
Rock Paper Scissors
-
Scarpa
-
Paradox Pastry
-
King Family Vineyard
-
Early Mountain Vineyards
-
Albemarle Baking Co.
If you are interested in ordering the book online, you can do it here. Orders placed by September 1 will be in the mail by September 6. Orders placed thereafter will generally be shipped within 3–5 business days.
If you’ve preordered a copy and just can’t wait (we know the feeling!), you’re welcome to stop by the studio—just off the Downtown Mall at 107 South 1st Street in Charlottesville, Studio 211—between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Friday, August 30. Additional copies will be available for purchase then, too, with check or credit card.
And get ready to see Charlottesville COMMONS 2013 about town this fall! We’ll be at the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello on September 7, and watch for us at the Charlottesville City Market; we plan to have a spot there as often as possible through the fall.
It is difficult to describe the sense of pride we feel today. It is the satisfaction of a dream realized through hard work, but it is also immense pride in our local food community: the generous sponsors who took this journey with us, the food producers who shared their time and wisdom, the local food enthusiasts who lent their voices and recipes to this project, and our friends, families, and neighbors who have offered their support. To all of you, we offer our deep appreciation.
Happy reading!
The post COMMONS – Get it while it’s hot…off the presses! appeared first on Beyond The Flavor.