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Aji dulce peppers from Village Garden
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The thick-skinned manzano pepper
Blistered shishitos, versatile jalapenos and subtle poblanos are chiles that diners commonly spot on restaurant menus. But the charapita, a tiny, bulbous Peruvian variety about the size of a pea that is one of the most expensive chiles in the world — about $2,600 per pound — and, in Mexico, considered the mother chile? Perhaps not so much.
Unlocking a world of fiery exploration, David Hunsaker and Barbara Hollingsworth of Hanover’s Village Garden hope to change that and broaden diners’ horizons. Accompanied by Barboursville Vineyards, the farming duo are reintroducing Chile Chill Out, a pepper-centric culinary series featuring meals at restaurants around the region where chiles will be front and center.
“These dinners are different experiences,” Hunsaker says. “Part of that is food, part of that is connection, part is learning, part is building on knowledge you came in with the first place, meeting people — and we want you to leave with a total experience. It’s much more of a party atmosphere, and people have warmed to it incredibly.”
Spanning seven styles of cuisine and seven different expressions of what peppers can do, the Scoville-heavy series peels back the layers, revealing the back stories of how this rainbow of fruits from the genus capsicum came to be.
Last year marked the first Chile Chill Out, a spinoff of Village Garden’s season-long showcase of its tomatoes, Summer Supper Somm. Both series have been successful in connecting diners to their food on a deeper level and showcasing Virginia wine.
And while Hunsaker and Hollingsworth may be known around the region as prime tomato purveyors, Village Garden also likes to take a walk on the spicy side. A tour around their property (as Hollingsworth sports a T-shirt adorned with a chile) reveals hundreds of varieties. There are padrone chiles, which turn spicy when allowed to grow red; manzanos, Spanish for “apple,” a thick-walled orange pepper with black seeds; and purple UFOs, fruits that resemble flying saucers and pack a jalapeno-level heat.
“Nobody in Richmond has ever eaten a manzano chile,” Hunsaker says. “That’s the sort of thing that turns me on about doing these dinners: How do I expose the chef to something they’ve not necessarily had exposure to, and how do we expose eaters to something that gives them that [feeling of], ‘Hey, I just had something that I never would have had if I had never come to this.’ ”
Kicking off with a sold-out event at L’Auberge Chez François in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Oct. 9, the piquant series heads to Westhampton’s Cocodrilo this evening. Future events include a bowling tournament with food at River City Roll, an interactive evening at Kitchen Classroom, an Indian feast at Lehja and a Southern-tinged experience at The Roosevelt.
For the latter, Hunsaker says that Executive Chef Leah Branch is concocting a berbere spice blend. With origins in Morocco, berbere is typically made using Ethiopian brown chiles, which Village Garden happens to grow, that are ground into powder. In ancient times, it was mixed with mead to make a paste, and Branch plans to incorporate a honey wine from Richmond’s Black Heath Meadery.
The series finale is a spicy soiree at Village Garden on Nov. 12 to benefit The Holli Fund and is limited to attendees of previous chile events. Patrons can expect to be welcmed by the stimulating scent of chiles roasting, a pepper-spiked hot chocolate fountain, live music, snacks from Manny Baiden of Manny Eats, Food Network “Spring Baking Championship” winner Keya Wingfield of Keya & Co., former Perch sous chef Kevin Tate, and more.
“The general dream I have for these dinners is to do something that’s never been done before that will be memorable,” Hunsaker says. “How many dinners do we eat that fade into oblivion maybe the evening after we had them? I think we do a decent job with [creating memorable experiences] at these dinners.”
