While Lynchburg locals may be quick to recognize city staple restaurant La Carreta, residents of central Virginia may not be as familiar with Papa Gallo, the newest offshoot of La Carreta located in River Ridge Mall.
Started by co-owner Jesus Roberto Arellano, Papa Gallo aims to provide many of the same favorites as La Carreta, but with a slightly different presentation. Instead of a full menu found at a typical La Carreta restaurant, Papa Gallo chose to further perfect its commodities.
“We’re still La Carreta,” said Arellano. “We want to bring in the good that La Carreta has to offer—customer service, the great food. We tweaked a few things and added a few more and it’s turned out great.”
Even though Papa Gallo attempts to distinguish itself slightly from La Carreta, it remains close due to family ties. Part of the reason for this is the shared ownership, with Arellano’s father being one of the owners of La Carreta. Arellano’s cousin, Venessa Gomez, also plays a large role in the food and bar menu.
Photo by Ashlee Glen
“It’s very meticulous. A lot of thought has gone into every little thing that we have on our menu. We took no shortcuts,” Arellano said.
As diners enter the restaurant, they are quickly greeted with lively music and authentic Mexican decorations. In order to bring as much authenticity as possible to his new restaurant, Arellano said that he took several trips to Mexico and drew inspiration from eateries and cafes in Guadalajara, Mexico, resorts in the Riviera Maya, and from movies such as Disney’s Coco.
Due to the large number of different aspects at play in creating a restaurant, it may be easy to become overwhelmed or to make mistakes, but Arellano emphasized the importance of striving for perfection.
Photos by Ashlee Glen
“It wasn’t ‘go and get everything at once.’ It was literally ‘take your time and do things right,’” Arellano said.
Customers can find out more about Papa Gallo by visiting the restaurant’s website (papagallova.com) as well as the restaurant’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
Arellano also owns Bandidos Tacos and Cantina, located in Farmville, Virginia.
At a Glance:
Papa Gallo Located in River Ridge Mall 3405 Candlers Mountain Road, Suite A-33, Lynchburg, VA 24502 (434) 219-5820 • papagallova.com
2023 Best Of Winners
The Lynchburg Living Best Of Awards are the result of an online nomination and voting process at lynchburgliving.com, held in July-September 2022.
Winners were first nominated in their categories; these nominees were then moved forward to the voting round. Readers could vote in as many or as few categories that they preferred and could only vote one time per email address.
The winners inside this section are the ones that received the most votes.
More Than a Clothing Boutique
Sylvia’s Boutique helps customers find beauty and confidence
An activity sometimes dreaded by women in Lynchburg and across the nation is the act of shopping. No matter their shape or size, shopping can at times create a chore for women who are otherwise seeking a painless shopping experience.
Located at 1111 Church Street in Downtown Lynchburg, Sylvia’s Boutique is, as owner Sylvia Kee says, “your one-stop trendy shop for dresses, shoes, and all things fashion.”
From accessories to shoes to statement coats and beyond, Kee offers a variety of casual to formal attire, handbags, jewelry, shoes, and gifts for special occasions. While selling all of these items, Kee not only keeps her high-quality products in stock within the walls of the boutique, but she also does it with something unique: the mission to ensure that every person who enters walks out feeling just as beautiful on the outside as they are on the inside.
Kee dreamt from a young age of being the owner of a business. But the one Kee dreamt up wasn’t just any business, it was a women’s boutique that strove to aid all customers in feeling beauty in the purest form, through confidence in themselves.
The dream of Sylvia’s Boutique was achieved with its opening in July of 2022. Not only does the boutique offer clothing, shoes, and accessories, but it also presents customers with the opportunity to book their own personal styling appointments.
“We have something for everyone,” Kee noted, and she means it!
These consultation appointments help women who aren’t quite sure where to begin with their wardrobe, giving them a helping hand to finding the perfect, custom stylings for each person. Sylvia’s Boutique gives these women a tailored experience in the fitting room from the early phases of their fashion journey, all the way until they are walking out of the store with a brand-new look.
Kee and her team consider the customer’s size, their fashion preferences, and even their desired color palette. As her website states, Kee wants her customers to feel “confident and beautiful in their own skin.” She continued, “Every woman deserves to feel beautiful, inside and out!”
At her shop, you can find an unlimited number of beautiful and elegant formal attire, as well as multiple options for day-to-day casual dress. Be it a dazzling coat made of genuine rabbit fur, a cranberry-colored wool trench, a new pair of earrings, or new boots, Sylvia’s Boutique offers only the best products, experiences, and prices for all the customers that walk into the shop on a daily basis.
When it comes to being a small business owner in Downtown Lynchburg, Kee appreciates many aspects of the surrounding Lynchburg community, including her fellow small businesses and business owners.
“When you purchase at locally owned businesses rather than nationally owned, more money is kept in the community because locally owned businesses often purchase from other local businesses, service providers, and companies,” she said. “Purchasing locally helps grow other businesses as well as the local tax base.”
Sometimes, you don’t even need to go into the shop to get fashion advice from Syliva’s Boutique! On her social media, Kee will take to her page to address her followers with a number of helpful fashion tips and tricks for women of all backgrounds. Kicking off in October of last year, Kee began sharing the boutique’s “TOP 10” tips for preparing her customers’ wardrobes for the fall and winter months. Her number one tip? “Find neutral boots!”
Tips and words of wisdom are not the only things one can find on Sylvia’s Boutique’s social media accounts. From keeping up with her business pages, followers are notified of special sales and discounts that the boutique will be offering on a weekly basis. At any given time of day, Kee will post to advertise her upcoming clearance items and significant sales. These include student discounts, senior discounts, holiday deals, and more.
As a woman of color and small business owner, Kee and her boutique can remind us all to chase after the dreams we have, even if we make them at a young age. She urges us to strive to make them a reality, reminding each customer of the importance of community, creativity, and, most of all, confidence and the hidden power that gives women the ability to love themselves inside and out.
Chocolate, It’s What’s for Dinner!
If you think that chocolate is only for after dinner, think again! Chocolate in its many forms can be an excellent ingredient not only for sweet dishes but also for savory.
In fact, many of the world’s cuisines take advantage of this versatile bean in their famous dishes. The rich, dark notes of bittersweet chocolate successfully tame the hot chili peppers in Mexican mole sauce, and the creaminess of white chocolate takes baba ghanoush to the next level.
Here’s my take on the best chocolate-infused appetizer, main course, and dessert that will win you some points with the lucky person who gets to enjoy it with you.
White Chocolate Baba Ghanoush. Photo by Ashlee Glenn
Appetizer
White Chocolate Baba Ghanoush
Don’t be scared by the addition of white chocolate to this Middle Eastern staple; it adds richness more than sweetness. The sweet/sour notes of the pomegranate seeds on top makes for the perfect pairing!
Ingredients: 1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds 6 cloves of garlic, unpeeled 2 medium eggplants, sliced in half lengthwise 1 lemon, juiced 1/3 cup tahini 3 oz white chocolate (bar works best since chips melt slower and harden faster) 2 tbsp parsley, chopped 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp paprika powder
Salt and pepper to taste Toasted pita bread, cut into triangles, for serving
Directions:
Turn oven broiler to high. Place garlic and eggplants with cut side up on a foil lined baking sheet and broil until tender and charred all over, about 8-10 minutes for garlic and 20 minutes for eggplants. Scoop eggplant flesh into a food processor. Peel garlic and add to the food processor, along with lemon juice, tahini, chocolate, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper. Puree until smooth, about 30 seconds. Spoon into serving bowl, top with a few drizzles of olive oil, pomegranate seeds, and parsley. Serve with toasted pita triangles for dipping!
Chicken Mole Tacos. Photos by Ashlee Glenn
Entree
Chicken Mole Tacos
If you are new to mole, this is a great first encounter. Many traditional recipes take days to make, but this recipe captures most of those genuine flavors in a more approachable version.
Servings: About 4 (8 tacos)
THE MOLE SAUCE: 1 tbsp ancho chili powder 1 oz chipotle chili in adobo sauce (from can) 1 tbsp avocado oil 1 onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/8 tsp ground cloves 1.5 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped 2 cups chicken broth 1 can diced tomatoes, drained (about 1 cup) 1/4 cup raisins 1/4 cup almond butter 2 tbsp sesame seeds 1 tbsp sugar
Salt, pepper to taste
Photos by Ashlee Glenn
Directions:
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook onions until translucent, 5-7 minutes. Stir in ancho chili powder, chilis in adobo, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and chocolate and cook for a minute or two until the chocolate has melted. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the chicken broth, tomatoes, raisins, almond butter, and sesame seeds, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer the sauce to a blender and blend (slowly at first) until smooth, about 30 seconds.
THE TACOS: 1 tbsp avocado oil 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs Salt, pepper 2 ears of corn, shucked 1 avocado, diced 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled 1 lime, sliced into wedges 8 flour tortillas (standard 7” diameter)
Directions:
Preheat the oven 450 degrees. Once hot, roast the corn cobs on a baking sheet on the middle rack for about 10 minutes. Don’t use oil or butter. Turn up to broil and char for a few minutes, or finish charring over the burner flame on a gas stove.
Next, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil. Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Cook about 4 minutes per side, until internal temp reaches 170 degrees. Shred with two forks and toss in a bowl with about 3/4 of your mole sauce, setting the remaining sauce aside for taco assembly.
If you have a gas stove, toast the tortillas lightly over a gas burner. If not, heat the tortillas in a dry skillet over high heat until you see a few black spots.
Assemble the tacos starting with the mole chicken, adding toppings according to taste: avocado, corn, cilantro, feta cheese, and a squeeze of Lime. Top off with some additional mole and serve while hot.
Dark Chocolate & Orange Mousse. Photo by Ashlee Glenn
Dessert
Dark Chocolate & Orange Mousse
A light, yet rich and decadent mousse with hints of chocolate’s best friend: Orange.
Servings: Two
Ingredients: 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate 1 tbsp cocoa powder 2 tbsp. brewed coffee 1 large egg, separated 2 tsp sugar 1 pinch salt 1/2 cup heavy cream 1-2 tsp orange zest 2 tsp orange liqueur (optional, but highly recommended)
Directions:
Add the chocolate, coffee, cocoa powder, and liqueur to a heat-proof bowl. Place bowl over a saucepan with 1 inch of simmering water (a makeshift double boiler). Stir carefully until the chocolate melts, then remove bowl from heat. Let cool for 5 minutes, then stir in the orange zest (but save some for decoration).
In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolk, sugar, and salt for about 30 seconds. Fold into melted chocolate mixture. Whisk egg white until stiff peaks form. In a third bowl, whip the cream then fold both the cream and the egg whites into the chocolate. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and orange zest!
Growing Up
Take Your Green Thumb to New Heights with Vertical Gardens
The urge to cultivate is an innate human quality, and it always has been. No matter where we put down roots—from coast to desert, rural to urban—people always find a way to enhance their environment with living plants. For many, vertical gardening is a way to bring a little green energy into small spaces. The best part: Vertical gardening can often be both aesthetically pleasing, and functional!
Many credit the vertical gardening approach we recognize today to a man named Stanley Hart White, who patented his “Botanical Bricks” in 1938. As a landscape architect, he designed modular, vertical gardening blocks that could be quickly stacked, rearranged, and moved for displays and events. They were great for gardening indoors and outdoors, especially in small spaces.
However, we have been growing upward for centuries, and it’s likely that White took his inspiration from the landscape architects of the ancient world. Some of the earliest known vertical gardens come from about 3,000 B.C., when the vineyards of ancient Greece were planted to produce both a plentiful yield of grapes, but also shade for gathering places. The vines grew from boxes and were trained to climb trellises and arches. This produced shelter from the rain and sun, as well as a visually stunning landscape. Many of these gardens can still be seen today.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, were constructed, allegedly, by King Nebuchadnezzar for his wife between 605 – 562 B.C. Though archaeologists and historians dispute the details, writers of the time described the gardens as huge, terraced rooftops, upheld by columns which were iconic in the architecture of the period. The rooftops were heavily planted with everything from flowers and small shrubs to full-sized trees. The vining plants were designed to climb down the columns and walls, giving the illusion that the garden was hanging from mid-air. This was also one of the earliest known gardens to be planted purely for aesthetic pleasure, and not for food production. Unfortunately, this garden has been lost to time, but many artists, both modern and ancient, have created representations of what the famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon may have looked like.
Fast forward several thousand years and vertical gardening is very popular, not just in tight urban environments, but just about everywhere. There are “planted walls” clinging to the exteriors of city skyscrapers with fancy hydroponic systems and scientifically blended soil. Home DIYers build indoor wall-hanging gardens to display their succulent collections, or outside to grow tomatoes and veggies without sacrificing the yard space. The beauty of vertical gardening is that it can be done by almost anyone, and on almost any budget. All you need is some sort of frame or structure, and a few pockets to stuff soil or growth medium.
Of course, for the gardener willing to front a little cash, there are tons of options for both indoor and outdoor vertical gardening systems. Some even include hydroponic irrigation systems and grow lights for an easy, hands-off approach.
But for the crafty, low-budget gardener, pallets can often be found for free, and are easily converted into vertical growing surfaces that can be affixed to walls, or simply leaned against them, inside or outside. With enough pallets, you can quickly create large, eye-catching vertical structures for your plants. Shelves can also be adapted to growing plants vertically up strings, dowels, or mesh. Vining plants can be grown from boxes on top of trellises or pergolas and add intrigue and a touch of romance to windows, patios, or porches. Strawberries are an excellent candidate for hanging baskets and elevated grow boxes because they look great, and produce fruit!
Pothos – These plants are affordable, available at every garden supply center, and require little maintenance. They are great climbers, thrive in low lighting, and grow relatively quickly! They are also proven to purify air.
Ferns – Ferns like moisture, but many varieties do not require much light at all. They also do not have deep root systems, or require many nutrients, so they make excellent candidates for living walls. There are several varieties of ferns that, when planted together, can create visual intrigue while all requiring the same growth conditions.
Heartleaf Philodendron – Another popular houseplant, the Philodendron is a low-maintenance fast-grower with long, dangling vines and heart-shaped leaves.
Dragon Plant – If you’re looking to add a plant with a little more structure, the Dragon Plant is a popular choice for indoor gardens. Like the others on this list, they are known to purify air. The sturdy, dark green leaves stand in contrast to the more gangly vining plants, and they are conveniently low maintenance.
For inspiration, a quick online search for “living walls,” “vertical gardening,” or “planted walls” will yield more than a few ideas that you could try in your home or outdoor space.
