RESULTS: VEER’s 2025 Golden Tap Awards
By Jeff Maisey Maker’s Craft Brewery took home the 2025 Golden Tap Award by accumulating the most points in our annual region-wide competition. This marked the 10th anniversary of VEER’s Golden Tap Awards. Gold medals earned three points, silver received two points,...
NEWS: Veer Magazine’s Golden Tap Awards Ceremony
The Golden Taps Awards ceremony will be held Monday, December 1 at 6:00 PM at Big Ugly Brewing Company in Chesapeake. Gold, silver and bronze medals will be awards in nearly 40 categories including IPA, Stout, and Pale Ale to breweries in the 757 region. Admission is...
Anita Bradley’s Wearable Art
By Jeff Maisey Artist Anita Bradley has taken her vibrantly colorful abstract paintings in a whole new direction — literally from canvas to the fabric you wear out to dinner. The idea came to her four years ago after a long career in interior design and as a visual...
A Walk in the Woods
By Tom Robotham In the woods…a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life, is always a child. In the woods, is perpetual youth. – Ralph Waldo Emerson One of my great fortunes in life is that I grew up in the woods. There’s a...
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....
ODU Students Moving Forward with Art
Students take a quick break during a Professor Emily Culver's metal-casting class. Photo courtesy of John Roth By Betsy DiJulio “Students had to unlearn going to school in pajamas without leaving their bedroom,” recalls Peter Eudenbach, a professor of art at ODU who...
ART: Focusing on the Future
(Do Ho Suh, Specimen Series: Refrigerator, Apartment A, 348 West 22nd Street, New York, NY 10011, USA, 2013. Polyester fabric, stainless steel wire, glass display case with LED lighting; Edition of 3. Courtesy Gazelli Art House, LTD.) By Betsy DiJulio Recently, Lucas...
Roberta Lea Curates Too Much of a Woman Festival
(Singer/songwriter Roberta Lea. Photo by AJ Elliot.) By Jeff Maisey Local singer/songwriter Roberta Lea, a winner of numerous Veer Music Awards, has programmed a dynamic new indoor festival in celebration of women in the arts, business, community leaders, poets,...
Sensual BalletX Marks 20th Year, Opens 2026 Virginia Arts Festival
By Montague Gammon III Sensual and athletic, classically trained and purposefully innovative, Philadelphia’s much praised contemporary ballet company, BalletX, joins the long list of exceptional dance troupes brought to Hampton Roads by the Virginia Arts Festival....
Balancing Brahms and Schumann
Joshua Bell and Academy of St Martin in the Fields by Christian Meuwly By Jeff Maisey The world’s most in-demand violinist will lead the legendary Academy of St Martin in the Fields through a program featuring Brahms and Schumann March 7 at CNU’s Ferguson Center and...
Danish Swing Joins Grammy-Winning Jazz Vocalist
(Cecile McLorin Salvant. Photo by Ebru Yildi) By Jerome Langston As part of the Virginia Arts Festival’s deep commitment to presenting world-class jazz music, the current season of the festival features some wonderful jazz offerings; including vocalist Anais Reno with...
Little Known Virginia History Comes Alive in Opera
(Jacqueline Echols McCarley will make her Virginia Opera debut in the east coast premiere of “Intelligence.” Photo courtesy of L2 Artists.) By Montague Gammon III Virginia Opera is “bringing a Virginia story home” with its January 30 – February 1 East Coast premiere...
The Superpower of Wait Until Dark
By Jerome Langston "Starting is always a difficult thing, in any walk in life, but with a play, it looks like this giant mountain to climb. But when you arrive, and as soon as the actors sit at the table... and you hear their voices, and hear the energy, you can start...
Discovering the Art of Samuel Kahn
Samuel Kahn. Raining Cats and Dogs. 2006-2007. Felt-tip pen on paper. ODU Gordon Art Galleries Self-Taught Art Collection. 2013.208.02 By Betsy DiJulio To say that Samuel Kahn (1927-2007) was a self-taught artist is accurate, but somewhat akin to saying Emily...
Muscarelle Museum Made Over
By Betsy DiJulio Ten months ago, a twenty-year vision came to fruition on the campus of The College of William & Mary (W&M). There, the original Muscarelle Museum of Art, designed by Carlton Abbott—opened in 1983 and expanded in 1987—boasted five galleries...
Wines For The Season
By Jeff Maisey Caymus 50th Anniversary Cabernet Sauvignon California After our Fall Arts Preview issue featuring Virginia Opera’s 50th Anniversary on the cover, I decided to uncork my bottle of Caymus 50th Anniversary for a private toast to life and the...
A Tale of Two Sweeties
An international array of savory and sweet treats entice at Tous Les Jours. (Clockwise from left: coffee bun, kimchi croquette, Portuguese egg tart) By Marisa Marsey Two buzzy bakery-cafés – one on the Peninsula, a Hampton Roads inroad for a red-hot...
Start Spreadin’ The News…And The Schmears
(Baker's Crust Bagel offers a slice of New York with skyscraping sandwiches. Courtesy photo.) By Marisa Marsey Nostalgic for New York City? Haven’t yet gotten to Gotham? You could watch “When Harry Met Sally” or read some Meg Wolitzer for a fix. Better still, schlep...
Opa! ilo
(Chef Zack Close adds pepper sauce over the Hanger Steak) By Jeff Maisey The “food is phenomenal.” That was a common comment quickly spreading on Instagram following the friends-and-family soft opening of ilo, a neighborhood bistro located in the Historic Freemason...
The Executive Chef at Chesapeake’s Top Steak House is Just 26
By Joel Rubin If you request a 10 oz sirloin ($37), an 8-oz tenderloin ($49) or a 12 oz ribeye ($50) at The Butcher’s Son in Chesapeake, it better be hot, melt in your mouth and medium rare (if that’s your pleasure) when it arrives. “I know that very well,” says Jalen...
Aslin VB: Not Just Beer, It’s a Destination!
(Aslin’s tasting room in Virginia Beach. Photo by Diane Catanzaro) By Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones How fortunate we are in Hampton Roads that the popular Aslin Beer Company has opened a taproom and brewery in Virginia Beach? Excellent beer, a diverse food menu,...
Green Onion Blooms Bright Again
(A healthy lunch: Poached Pear Pecan Salad with grilled chicken added.) By Jeff Maisey The Green Onion is back and better than ever. Like many independent, locally-owned restaurants, The Green Onion was challenged in a variety of ways during COVID and in the aftermath...
The Table Side Caesar Salad at Isle of Capri is as Popular as Ever
(Isle of Capri servers and Caesar Salad makers Justin Zobel, Nancy Binetti and Az Tomouro with restaurant GM Dave Cox) by Joel Rubin If you are a “server” at Isle of Capri Restaurant on the 6th floor of the Holiday Inn Express (39th and the oceanfront), you do much...
The (Ice Cream) Flavors of Summer
(Randy Windley says vanilla is most popular at Doumar’s.) By Marisa Marsey Call it a double-dip. In 1984, Ronald Reagan proclaimed July to be National Ice Cream Month and designated the third Sunday of the month (July 21 this year) as National Ice Cream Day. Good...
Roast Rider Still Riding High
(Coffee mates: Wayne and Lisa Richmon partner only with roasters who lead the industry in social and environmental responsibility including Equator. Photo by Tyler Kahlil.) By Marisa Marsey Cha-ca-cha-ca-cha-ca. Is there any sound more titillating than your favorite...
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