VOTE: 2025 Golden Tap Awards
Hampton Roads’ craft breweries have enjoyed another outstanding year with accolades coming from global, national, statewide and regional sources. With all of these great things happening in our Coastal Virginia beer scene, it is our pleasure to announce the 2025 Veer...
ESSAY: Future Shock
By Tom Robotham Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about artificial intelligence and its potential impact on society. On one end of the spectrum is the grim scenario of robots taking over and either enslaving the human race or wiping us out altogether. This nightmare has...
Smartmouth To Close Norfolk Location
(Porter Hardy outside the Smartmouth Pilot House in 2017) By Jeff Maisey On the eve of its 13th anniversary weekend, founding owner/president Porter Hardy IV announced Smartmouth Brewing Company would be closing its original location in Norfolk by the end of this...
ESSAY: A Bridge Too Far
By Tom Robotham Seven years ago, I wrote an essay reflecting on a sudden anxiety attack I’d had while driving over the Delaware Memorial Bridge. The attack was wholly unexpected. I’d driven over that bridge countless times, without a thought. This time, I felt as if...
Z Creativity Honors
By Jim Roberts The Zeiders American Dream Theater—better known as “the Z”—is marking its 10th anniversary in 2025. To reflect on the milestone and what the theater has meant to the community, Veer Magazine spoke with founder and namesake Mike Zeiders. Veer Magazine:...
REVIEW: “Bitter Wine, Sweet Melons”
By Montague Gammon III The recently released memoir, “Bitter Wine, Sweet Melons,” very appropriately subtitled “Suffering Loss & Savoring Life,” by my VEER, and formerly “Hampton Roads Magazine,” co-worker Betsy DiJulio, is a series of “largely chronological”...
ESSAY: A Message to My Students
By Tom Robotham As the fall semester approaches, I find myself thinking about what I want to say to my students on the first day of class. Typically, that first meeting is brief. I review the syllabus, talk a bit about the purpose of the course, then let them go....
ESSAY: The Geography of Intimacy
By Tom Robotham Recently, I mentioned to a close friend that I would characterize myself as an introvert, and he was surprised. Like a lot of people, he seemed to equate introversion with shyness, and I can be quite outgoing at times. To Carl Jung, who coined the...
Wasserhund NFK
Get ready Norfolk, Wasserhund Brewing Company is coming to town and plans to bed-down at the former District Pizza location on Granby Street in the Railroad District. “If everything works in our favor, Wasserhund will open in autumn,” shared Aaron Holley, co-founder...
Blending Art and Life
(Artist Hunter Thomas) By Staff After some 43 years as a nationally acclaimed folk art institution, the Nancy Thomas Gallery has rebranded as aht ARTS with a tagline “Blending Art and Life.” “I have wanted to do it for a while but I just hadn’t had the nerve,” said...
ART REVIEW: Intersections in Abstract Paintings
James Williams, “On the Other Side of the Bridge No. 3,” Mixed Media on Canvas, 40” x 60" By Betsy DiJulio In our digital world, in which comparisons are often linked with the negative emotions around FOMO, here you are expressly invited to compare. Intentionally...
An Exhibition Celebrating the 150th Birthday of Susan Watkins & Other Lesser Known Women Artists
Susan Watkins (American, 1875–1913), Le Five O’Clock (Tea), ca. 1903, Oil on canvas, Mr. and Mrs. Edward T. Miles By Jeff Maisey Chances are you’ve never heard of American artist Susan Watkins. You likely had no idea she lived on Duke Street in Norfolk, died at age...
Soweto Gospel Choir Spreads Joy, Peace and Happiness
By Jerome Langston “I’ve been a fan of this music since I was a kid,” says Robert Cross, Executive Director and artistic director of the Virginia Arts Festival, referring to gospel music — which he became immersed in through the local scene of gospel choirs here in...
Queen of Soul Gets Symphonic Boost
(Capathia Jenkins is sensational singing Aretha Franklin hits) By Jerome Langston "I have the best airport in the world. The busiest airport in the world, right? So I can get, almost anywhere, on a direct flight from Atlanta because it’s Delta’s hub,” says Broadway...
WAR Headlines Neptune Festival
By Jeff Maisey Many of you know the classic hit songs from the band WAR — “Low Rider,” “The Cisco Kid,” “Summer,” and “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” What you may not recall is the musical crossover group from Southern California known for weaving elements funk, jazz,...
Last Stop on the O’Jays Love Train
By Jeff Maisey The O’Jays are one of America’s most beloved old school soul and R&B groups. You no doubt know the songs from radio play and television commercials: “Love Train,” “I Love Music,” “Use Ta Be My Girl,” and “Backstabbers.” Perhaps their 1973 hit,...
How Soon Is Now, Johnny Marr?
(The Smiths’ iconic guitarist is coming to Norfolk. Photo by Heiko DeWees By Jim Roberts How much money would it take for Johnny Marr and Stephen Patrick Morrissey to reunite and tour as The Smiths? According to recent reports, $75 million wasn’t enough to get them...
Jaleel Shaw Opens Fall Jazz Series Season at The Attucks
By Jerome Langston When I reached jazz saxophonist Jaleel Shaw for our phone chat a few days ago, the Philadelphia native was navigating the running of errands around the city in New Jersey — and was especially zeroed in on the need to drop off a suit at a local dry...
Broadway Show Brings Beautiful Noise of Neil Diamond to Life
Nick Fradiani as 'Neil - Then' (center) and 'The Noise' in “A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical.” Photo credit Jeremy Daniel. By Jim Roberts “A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical” ran for less than two years on Broadway, but a national tour featuring...
Stockard to Shine in Ain’t Misbehavin’ Director’s Chair
(Director Anthony Mark Stockard) By Jerome Langston “But ‘Honeysuckle Rose’ is a song I sang a lot, and it used to be my go to audition song,” recalls Anthony Mark Stockard, university professor and NSU Theatre Company’s producing artistic director, during a recent...
Oktoberfest 2025
By Jeff Maisey If beer has a national — make that multi-national — holiday then surely it is Oktoberfest. Celebrations abound, including right here in Hampton Roads. So how did it all begin? Way back on October 12, 1810, King Ludwig I married Princess Terese of...
Nourish Your Soul
By Betsy DiJulio As a longtime foodie, I have a somewhat vast collection of cookbooks. But there are only two that are housed in my kitchen, along with my quintet of recipe file binders: mine and Angela Phillips’. Admittedly, Angela is a close friend and favorite...
A Taste of Honey
By Jeff Maisey The St. George Brewing Company in Hampton has long tapped into the flavor of honey and earned national and statewide acclaim in beer competitions with its multi-award winning Honey Meade Lager, now called Honey Lager. The buzz around honey at the...
That’s Kosher!
(Yogev Kremisi brings much needed dining menu to Ghent.) By Marisa Marsey “Are you Charlie?” Yogev Kremisi gets that question a lot. The trim, swarthy 38-year-old chuckles as he clarifies he’s not. But he is the new proprietor and chef of Charlie’s, the venerable...
A Taste of Joy
Dallas Walton, of Cork & Bull, is among the top chefs whipping up delicacies to benefit Easterseals PORT Health's Culinary Connections. Courtesy photo. By Marisa Marsey Ashley Bruno, looking sharp in a royal blue chef’s apron and puffy white toque (yet...
For Valentine’s, I Present My New Love: “Easy Weeknight Dinners”
By Marisa Marsey Emily Weinstein makes no bones about not being a professionally-trained chef. It’s why the editor in chief of Cooking and Food at The New York Times is so good at her job. Most home cooks aren’t culinary school grads either. Skill levels vary wildly...
Big Ugly Celebrates Big 10
(Peake Lager remains a big favorite amongst Big Ugly Brewery fans) By Jeff Maisey Chesapeake’s first craft brewery will mark its first decade in business with an event being dubbed as Big Ugly Brewing: 10 Year Anniversary Tiki Party. The weather might be chilly...
ESSAY: Lost & Found
By Tom Robotham Last spring, I wrote an essay called “Leaving the Treehouse”—a reflection on my realization that it was time to vacate the apartment I had occupied for 17 years. I called it the Treehouse because it was on the fourth floor of an old building in West...
Here’s to 2025: Local distillers preview plans and products for the new year
By Jim Roberts “Good things come to those who wait.” This is especially true in the world of distilling–where some spirits have to age for years before they are sold and consumed. With this in mind, we reached out to the distillers of Hampton Roads to see what...
Dessert Beers and Beer Desserts
Words by Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones Photo by Diane Catanzaro Beer, glorious beer. Is there anything beer can’t do? From appetizer, to main course, to dessert, beer has the culinary chops to enhance any part of your meal. Yet, beer is often overlooked for the...
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