Someone upstairs is doing me a solid by finally opening a DiCarlo's in North Central West Virginia. I've heard that yeas ago, Morgantown had one and it didn't do well. But now, Fairmont is the newest city to boast this perfect pizza place.

And, if you've spent any time on this blog - at all - you know that DiCarlo's has my heart. You can call it nostalgia; I'll call it damn good pizza. I then decided I wanted to visit all the West Virginia locations. And, I have. Fairmont, of course, would be no exception.

I reached out to ask DiCarlo's, though, about the subtle differences between locations. It turns out each location is independent, franchised or family run.

@Candace07 @dicarlospizza
Sadly, no. Although we come from the same origin, some locations are independent, franchised, or family run.

— DiCarlo's Pizza (@DiCarlos_Pizza) February 4, 2016

@Candace07 @dicarlospizza
All operate with similar products as to stay true to the original recipe. Fairmont will most like Wheeling.

— DiCarlo's Pizza (@DiCarlos_Pizza) February 4, 2016

I walked into the restaurant just days after opening to a still-training staff and a bit of confusion. Pepperoni rolls were on the counter, and they also offer calzones, wings, fries, and breadsticks.

I placed an order for two pieces with mushrooms. A bit later, I was handed a box lid folded over, encasing two pieces of culinary gold. The first thing I noticed was the finely shredded mozzarella cheese. And the mushrooms were underneath. Because I went so early in the day, I'm not sure the oven was hot enough or maybe it's just a result of a new place, but the crust could've been a bit more crisp. But, it's a good piece of pizza. Quality ingredients and the perfect blend of flavors; what more could you want?

Grade: A

I've been to two other Colasessano's locations: Morgantown (now closed) and Fairmont (Pennsylvania Avenue). I decided to round out the trio with their Mall Loop location.

I was mostly here to do some pepperoni book research, but I got a pepperoni bun in the process. This bun is baked golden brown with sticks of pepperoni inside. It's then split, their signature meat sauce is added, mild, mixed or hot peppers and then provolone. Then baked til it's bubbling and stringy.

This one was done much better than previous ones I've had. Look at all that cheese! Talk about a West Virginia comfort food.


Grade: A

There's something really satisfying about plucking blueberries from the bush, dropping them into a gallon bucket and taking them home to make a delicious blueberry crisp or pie with the fruits of your labor (ha! get it?).



My friend Lisa and I went to Blueberry Ridge Farms for pick-your-own blueberries a week or two ago. Check in with their Facebook to see which days they are open - mostly 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. MWF, but also they try to do some Saturday hours. No appointments are necessary. It's $18 for a bucket or $17 if you use your own bucket or have the one from last year. Blueberry Ridge Farms provides detailed instructions on how to navigate to the farm in Fairmont:





 There's another farm not too far away, but you must set up an appointment.



So if you have a free evening after work or can catch them on a Saturday soon (while blueberry season lasts!), do so. It was nice to get out and pluck the blueberries for myself, choosing which ones I want and leaving the others to ripen a bit longer.

I picked a gallon and made a blueberry crisp, ate a few handfuls and froze the remainder. I washed them of (though they don't spray at this farm), dried them, put them on a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet and froze for an hour before taking them out and bagging them up to freeze. Each morning I've been taking a handful of frozen blueberries and mixing them with some greek yogurt for breakfast.

Has anyone been? Or has anyone been to the other farm? It's a fun way to spend some time and get some goodies out of it too!

The West Virginia Three Rivers Festival has lived in various forms since its inception - starting as a festival called Septemberfest and lasting just two days. It evolved to becoming a festival celebrating coal and then to river activities. Finally, it has settled upon The West Virginia Three Rivers Festival and has evolved to celebrate the pepperoni roll culture. Considering the pepperoni roll's birthplace is most often credited to Fairmont, it only makes sense to have a festival celebrate it. The WV Three Rivers Festival is as close as it gets. The Three Rivers Festival happened at the end of May, but I haven't had a chance to upload photos until recently.



There are two main pepperoni roll events: the amateur pepperoni roll bake-off and the pepperoni roll eating competition.

The bake-off had 10 entries from area businesses, and a panel of judges (yours truly included) received scorecards and scored each entry according to taste, appearance and texture. Taste counted for double points. The winner ended up being Firehouse Cafe by the judges, and the pageant queens chose Abruzzino's Bakery and Hank's Deli in a tie. Firehouse Cafe gets to hold the trophy until next year. I'm not totally sure which ones I liked and which ones I didn't because it was a blind taste-test, obviously. But I do remember one having a sweeter taste with ground pepperoni that was awesome.

The other major pepperoni roll event is the eating contest. When I was a reporter, I wrote about this event, but I hadn't attended. This isn't an amateur eating contest. No. This is with professional competitive eaters - the best in the world. You know Joey Chestnut? The guy who eats all of the hotdogs? This is the organization he's part of - Major League Eaters. And the guy who is quickly overcoming Chestnut for the #1 ranked eater in the world? That's Matt Stonie.

Stonie broke a world record at this festival by eating 34 Country Club pepperoni rolls in 10 minutes. That's him in the center. Miki Sudo, the #4 ranked eater in the world, to the left came in at 28.5 pepperoni rolls. And Adrian Morgan, to the right, ate 23.

A 40-year old Fairmont dining institution suffered a devastating blow one year ago when its kitchen went up in flames, causing smoke and water damage to the rest of the restaurant. But the Aquarium Lounge took the past year to renovate and recently reopened, which I took as an invitation to make reservations for my first dinner - along with friends Geah and Kayla.



We had reservations for Friday night, and we ended up being delayed a bit due to traffic. Luckily, they were accommodating. We parked along the street and opened the front door. Surprisingly, it plops you out right in the middle of the dining room. There's not much of a waiting space, and there wasn't a hostess stand either. Geah and I sort of frantically looked around to find out which door we were supposed to enter, because we were sure it wasn't the one we just went through.



Spoiler alert: It was. It's just an odd entrance.



For starters, we ordered crab cakes. These were so tasty - a combination of being starving and all of the butter in these. Super rich, buttery, delicious.



Next - a spinach salad before my entree. Their spinach salad receives high praise from Aquarium-lovers, and it is good. It is a bed of spinach with eggs, bacon and sweet & sour dressing. A pretty good spinach salad - though I do think a few more veggies wouldn't hurt.



Oh my gosh, the bread. Ohhh myyy gosshhh the bread. I'm not too much for the cinnamon, but try that herbed garlic butter. Slather on a warm piece of bread. That alone could've made my dinner.



But, wait, there's more.



I ordered the scallops with a side of burgundy mushrooms. Butter, butter, butter, garlic. The scallops were few (only four), but they were super rich, buttery, and tasty. A little sear would've been nice. The mushrooms were tasty in a light wine sauce.


And I also wanted to try the hot peppers as a side because so many people raved. I don't quite get it - it's literally hot banana peppers. So meh.

But, overall, a really delicious meal. Very rich and heavy - but all so, so good.

Grade: A

Heston has grown since my previous visits. The winery and distillery has expanded to offer a full-service restaurant. When I was there last, they offered food as part of an event outdoors, but this large restaurant space is new. To get the full experience, Tom and I made reservations for New Year's Eve dinner here after a quick wine tasting in the main store area.

We sampled all of the wines plus the moonshines and some of the other liquors before buying a few bottles and heading next door to the restaurant. While our reservations were at 7 p.m., we ended up waiting until around 7:20 p.m. before we were actually seated. I was pretty unhappy with this, but apparently they had selected certain tables for reservations, and we had been waiting for the couple ahead of us to finish up. Anyway.

When we were finally seated, we waited another 10 or 15 minutes for a server to finally come over and take our drink orders. I must say, I was not impressed at this point. But then the waitress asked if we'd like a complimentary appetizer. Um, uh-huh. We ordered the crab-stuffed mushrooms off their New Year's Eve Menu as an appetizer.

The menu for the night looked really nice. A few appetizers - shrimp, crab/artichoke dip, the mushrooms, meat/cheese board. Their soup was a lobster bisque. Entrees were steak, lobster-stuffed shrimp, pasta primavera, chicken bernaise and salmon oscar. Plus a handful of desserts - cake, truffles, bread pudding, bananas foster.

The mushrooms arrived not too long after placing the order (so I feel like I'm finally in the swing of things), and three are delivered to us. Three for $10 is ehhhh. I know they're crab-stuffed, but it's a tiny bit of crab and lots of breading. So, a little pricey there.

But overall, they were pretty good. Mushrooms were cooked well - a little springy still so not totally overdone, and the breading didn't have much crab, but it did have some nice sage flavor.

We were brought biscuits with some whipped butter. Biscuits were warm and light.

For my salad, I got a side of the poppyseed something dressing. Not a bad house salad - some mixed greens, red onion and a tomato or two. The dressing wasn't my favorite - I typically go for a French. But I didn't hate it either.

For my entree, I went with the Salmon Oscar, plus mashed potatoes and glazed carrots as my sides. The Salmon Oscar was described as "decadent crab stuffed salmon, paired with asparagus and topped with bernaise sauce."

So, as you can see, the "stuffed" salmon is really just about three pieces of crab on top. I wasn't crazy about the sauce, but I was happy it was fresh crab (not imitation) - just wish I could've actually tasted it and more would've been nice.

The salmon was also cooked well. It had a good flavor, but considering there were only about three tiny pieces of crab on top, I didn't get that "crab-stuffed" flavor I thought I would get. No decadent, rich filling. Just a piece of salmon and with some crab on the side. However, each was good on its own. I just wish they were married like I was expecting.

The sides were both very good. The killed the mashed potatoes and savored every last bite. Lots of herb and pepper. The carrots were also very tasty with a nice brown sugar glaze.

Overall - service was spotty, but they made up for it. Salad, biscuits and sides all very good. Main entree not exactly how I expected it, but all components of the meal were good.

Grade: B

I needed lunch on Saturday in Fairmont. We saw a steady stream of people pouring into The Firehouse Cafe. How fortuitous, because typically the Firehouse Cafe isn't open on Saturdays. But because of the festival, they opened (and for other large town events, they told me).

Typically they're open Mon.-Wed. 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; Thurs.-Fri. 10 a.m.-7 p.m. They do have music some evenings/weekends. Though, it would usually be tough for me to get here working in Morgantown.

But I got lucky.

The Firehouse Cafe is a small restaurant located on Adams Street. It has - you guessed it - a firefighter theme. The husband of the couple who owns the restaurant is/was a firefighter. There is a ton of firefighter memorabilia all the walls in the form of plaques and photos, as well as toy fire trucks and more.

Walk to the back of the restaurant and order at the counter. I was kind of tired and didn't know what to order in the sea of sandwiches, wings, salads and dinners. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I wanted to know what the best thing was. The family operating this restaurant is the best. The girl working the counter was listing some of the best options, and her mom walked by seconding the chicken nuggets and noted they used to bribe the girl working to clean her room with the nuggets.

Sold.

I had a seat while Lisa placed her order - and proceeded to talk to the mom for, at least, 10 minutes. These people are SUPER friendly and welcoming. I felt like I was at home, which was perfect because I was tired from the day and just felt cozy here. The interior itself is dated and a bit cluttered, but it's warm.

My nuggets - with the requested garlic parmesan - and a side of ranch were brought out quickly. They were bangin. Small chunks of white breast meat, fried and topped with garlic and parmesan. How can that be bad? Plus the quality was good, so yessss.

There's nothing particularly unique in terms of food options. But what they do is good, homestyle food that is made fresh and with a smile. You can't beat that.

Grade: A

I've heard so many good things about Joe-N-Throw in Fairmont - a coffee house/pottery studio that serves up beer, sandwiches and local art. Does that sound like a place fit for me or what?

While I was in Fairmont, I passed this place, not realizing where it was, and vowed to eat there while in town for the day. After the festival, we did just that.

After perusing the menu (which looked tasty), we realized we arrived just after 2 p.m., and lunch was no longer being offered. Total bummer.

That's OK, though, because they have muffins and other tasty pastries to accompany your coffee (or beer, no one is judging here).

I ordered their last gigantic blueberry muffin in the case along with a cafe mocha. This muffin was gigantic and probably 1,000 calories, but it was delicious. I'm assuming freshly baked that morning. My coffee was good, too, and a nice little pick-me-up on a cold day. I only needed a few sips, though, to feel all the caffeine I needed for the day.

So, let's go through the list here: tasty, creative sandwiches. Check. Homemade pastries. Check. Local beer. Check. Coffee. Check. Plus lots of local art, pottery and just a really cool, laidback coffee shop atmosphere.

If you live in Fairmont, go here every day. For me.

Grade: A

The Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian celebration on Christmas Eve that features dishes made with fish and seafood. Seven dishes (sometimes more) are prepared using seafood. While I didn't see anything starting particular dishes are required, there are definitely some popular ones, like fried smelts, fish stew and more.

North Central West Virginia has a large Italian population, so it makes sense to have a festival honoring this tradition in Fairmont. I'm told the festival came to be because of a book, or graphic novel, that showcased a family cooking fish on Christmas Eve. The book spearheaded the launch of the festival and celebration of the Italian heritage.

The Feast of the Seven Fishes festival was held on Adams Street in downtown Fairmont this past Saturday (Dec. 13). There's no fee to get in, but the vendors all have wares and food for sale. Entertainment from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. included Benjamin DeFazio, Jenna Won't Sing and 5 Guys Named Moe.

They have a "cooking school" as part of the festival, which are demonstrations that feature eight classic Italian dishes prepared by local chefs. Tickets for those were $20 per person and included samples of dishes and a glass of wine.

A holiday artisan market was held indoors and had pottery, cutting boards, baking supplies, soaps and lotions, as well as coffee and cookies at the cafe area.

Street vendors had everything from steak hoagies to kettle corn to cannolis to baked goods. This is where I was really searched for those seafood dishes. The most I found was crab soup, lobster ravioli, fried calamari and seafood chowder. Not quite seven.

Lisa did buy one dish - just to have a taste of the Seven Fishes - from Heston Farms Foxfire Restaurant. We got the lobster ravioli for $7. It was pretty tasty, though not quite impressive with the five or so raviolis. It was very good, though.

If you're willing to brave a very chilly mid-December Saturday to check out the festival, it is a nice little getaway. Plus it's a great chance to learn about new artisans in the area and get some very tasty grub!

While in Fairmont, Lisa and I stumbled upon All Things Herbal.

This little market has local, organically grown meat, produce, eggs and dairy, as well as herbs, yoga and local artisan products. It's just a super cool little place, and if you get the chance, you should totally check it out.

The final stop on my Fairmont Food Tour was "Att's Place." Truth be told, I was pretty full by this point and my mouth was still regaining feeling from Yann's, but I pressed on. I took a whole day off work for Fairmont food, and I wasn't going to go home until I tried as many places as I could.

Att's is bright green on the outside. I have no idea why. I thought it was some odd tech company at first or something. Nope, just green.

When we walked inside, there was just one person there. The owner or manager, maybe, was having some sort of disagreement with the person who ships their bread. I don't think it was up to the quality she had in mind.

But, it's a much larger space than the previous restaurant. There are stools at the front and some booths. They also serve a variety of sandwiches and sides - not just hotdogs. And - get this - they serve slaw. It's not a main staple like at some hotdog joints, but it is available.

I ordered one with chili, mustard and onions. "Sauce?" She questioned. Oh, yeah, sauce - not chili. Whoops. And moments later, I had a freshly sauced hotdog in my hand. (No TWSS jokes, plz).

Maybe it was just the refreshing change from the fire sauce at Yann's, but this one was much, much more palatable. The sauce (I ordered mild) had actual flavor, not just spice. It was good. Nice consistency and nice with the crunch of the onions.

Tasty, and in a much friendlier environment.



Grade: A