…in LEXINGTON

Appropriately for a restaurant that boasts its own chicken coop, the Red Hen is hosting a City Chicks Dinner January 24, featuring Patricia Foreman, co-host of the syndicated Chicken Whisperer radio show and author of the acclaimed City Chicks backyard poultry how-to book. Foreman will present a slideshow, and always-inventive chef Tucker Yoder is preparing a three-course egg- and chicken-centric menu (a copy of the book is included in the $35 cost). Cluck, er, call for reservations.

The only beef served at the Red Hen is raised at nearby Buffalo Creek Farm, and now, after seven generations of farming, the Potter family has branched out by opening Donald’s Meat Processing, just east of Route 11 on McCorkle Drive. The new abattoir offers custom and USDA-inspected slaughter of cattle, hogs, sheep, and goats, and a retail store stocked with local meats and other products.

In some form or another, Healthy Foods Co-op has been satisfying local demand for natural groceries and tasty lunch specials since 1973. Now its laid-back vibe gets a high-tech edge, with Twitter updates and just-established WiFi access. Fridays (aka “carb day”) are an especially opportune time to fire up a laptop on a café table and await delivery of fresh-baked bread from Newtown Baking and Roanoke Bagel Company. That enticing aroma drifting down Washington Street on chilly mornings is the new roasted Sumatran coffee at Lexington Coffee Shop. Large, and leave room for milk, please.

Two new releases are being eagerly anticipated at Rockbridge Vineyard in April: the 2008 Vd’Or sweet dessert wine and the 2007 Meritage. “It was a great ripe vintage, much like 1998,” says winemaker Shep Rouse of the latter. “I look for this classic Bordeauxstyle wine to be a great keeper. It will develop well for 10 to 15 years for connoisseurs who want to cellar it.” Sounds like now is a good time to join the vineyard’s new wine club.

Try other local wines and cuisine at the two-course Virginia Wine Sampling Dinner, held the third Tuesday of every month at the popular Southern Inn, which is known for its extensive wine list. The cost is $25, plus tax and tip. For every other day of the month, we recommend at least taking a seat at the bar, which is warm, inviting, and not overrun by the town’s college student populace.

Do you pound your skull on the table when faced with choosing just one entree to eat on an exciting menu? Then Brix,
which features tapas-style small plates in a newly opened space in the historic downtown, could be the perfect dinner spot for you. Chef Nathan Fountain is creating dishes such as Moroccan black chickpea stew and Broadview Ranch pork belly this winter, paired with 25 wines by the glass. Ah, headache averted.

Another welcome new addition to the downtown scene is Green in the Blue Ridge, an eco-conscious store situated right around the corner from the Red Hen, offering an eclectic range of sustainable products, including kitchenware and gardening supplies. We have dibs on the kitchen-counter composter.

…in MADISON COUNTY

We’ve devoured our fair share of fried chicken (okay, more than our fair share), so trust us that Betty Tanner serves up some of the finger-lickingest we’ve eaten in a long time at the Aroda Country Store, located a few minutes off Route 29 on Orange Road. Not that we’d want to push that choice over the delicious, not-too-salty country ham cooked on premise by Betty’s husband. Some decisions you just have to make for yourself.

Still not thawed out from the blizzard? Try Fireside Fridays at Sweely Estate Winery, where starting at 5:30 p.m., a couple of hearty soups, along with French bread and, of course, excellent wines are served beside the well-appointed tasting room’s dual-sided fireplace. The cost is $15 per person.

That yolk-yellow building—you know, the Madison Inn Restaurant, complete with wine shop and art gallery on Main Street—reopens February 4 after a long, post-holidays nap. A special menu will be featured on Valentine’s Day, reason enough to find someone special to share it with.

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