Calamity J is a much beloved restaurant in Huntington that closed sometime in 2005 and recently reopened as a new iteration nearly 15 years later.

The restaurant focuses on "food from the sun." In my mind, that means dishes that can be a bit fiery. Like a jalapeno shrimp pasta, sun-dried penne pasta and hot pepper cheese bites.



"We emphasize a 'food from the sun' cuisine that is a blend of Southwest & Soul. We strongly welcome people of all walks because we believe it is the same walk. And please, don't ever hesitate to offer us suggestions, complaints, or compliments."

One thing I've heard about is their "cheese soup," so I knew I had to try a cup of it. It comes topped with bacon and croutons, which is the perfect crunchy complement to the velvety, cheesy soup. It's almost a strange experience to spoon cheese right onto your mouth - I'm not complaining - but I could also see this as just being a delicious dip or topping over a burrito.


I also ordered the "Shotgun Rolls," which are southwest eggrolls with cadillac ranch. Wow. These crunch little bites of heaven are mind-blowing. I love the crunch, the perfect blend of ingredients and the little bit of a kick with the ranch. Really, really good.


What's your favorite thing here?

West Virginia is home to yet another Waffle House!

There are only a couple in the state - over in the Eastern Panhandle and one in Huntington. And, now, there's one even closer to home: in Barboursville.

I'm new to the Waffle House fandom, but I've learned my hashbrown order: smothered, covered, chunked and capped (onions, cheese, ham and mushrooms). The hashbrowns are really the star here, so that's most important. I got a double order.

PS Did you know they called it the WAFFLE house because the waffles had the biggest profit margin? And since it was in the name, that's what most people started ordering?


The hash browns and a slice of pecan pie? The best combo ever.

Fat Albert's is a pizza place in Ripley that also serves up appetizers, salads, burgers, calzones and sandwiches.

On the day I visited, the place was packed for a gathering. But I had ordered to-go, so I was just in and out quickly.


I had just ordered a personal pizza with mushrooms and a pepperoni roll. 

The pizza sauce is fairly sweet - which I loved. The dough had a nice crisp on the bottom but still had some puff to it. This was a really great flavor combination and marriage of textures.

The pepperoni roll was giant and puffy. But once you take a bite, it all flattens out. Not bad, definitely heavier on the dough.

I've been to the Capitol Food Court a billion times, but realized I hadn't written about it.

So, it's time to change that, right?

The food court has a few different areas.

There's a salad bar with fresh toppings and veggies.

There's a "Grill Station," which has sandwiches and a daily special.

And they've been having pepperoni rolls pretty regularly.

And there are soups and sometimes more on the larger buffet (though not recently).


Plus there's a snack bar in Building 7, which has mostly the same items as the "Grill" area.

Here, I went for some cheesy bread, which was pretty tasty.



And it was convenient for Building 3.



Not too shabby.



What's your favorite?

If you saw this bottle of olive oil, you probably wouldn't think it had any connection to West Virginia. But, in fact, it does.

From a Charleston Gazette-Mail piece:

"Even though nearly 5,000 miles separate her from her family estate in Sezze Romano, Italy, Lia DiTrapano Fairless brings a piece — a taste — of Italy back with her to Charleston each time she visits.

To her, there’s nothing better than DiTrapano Oil — cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil made from olive trees surrounding Villa DiTrapano, the family’s 16-acre estate near the Mediterranean Sea. 

Since 2009, the family has been hand-harvesting the Itrana olives from the more than 400 trees in the uliveto — Italian for olive grove — to make their prized olive oil.

Until recently, they’ve just brought the oil back home in plastic containers to use for themselves and to share with close friends and relatives. But in September, Fairless said, they brought 67 cases of the bottled oil to sell in West Virginia. The first cases were stocked on shelves at The Wine Shop at Capitol Market; Eggplant on Bridge Road in Charleston; and Bella The Corner Gourmet in Lewisburg."

Have you tried it?