Spotlight on Heliotrope Brewery
An ice cold beer paired with a pizza is the ultimate combo, and at Heliotrope Brewery in Lexington, Va., the focus is on both. Debuting in December 2019, Heliotrope brews small-batch beers and is focused on utilizing hops, malt and flora from Virginia and North Carolina. In the kitchen, Executive Chef Whitney Larsen also sources local.
“Our mission is to do as much local work as we can, and I know Cavalier Produce has a lot of local items — I love to try to get the local stuff from them as much as I can,” says the Arizona native. Larsen says working with Cavalier allows her to showcase local purveyors and get creative.
“I get … their emails with the local items available and we’ve gotten ground sausage from Papa Weaver’s Farm, local chicken, goat cheese, mozzarella, a lot of their veggies.
With Heliotrope since it opened, Larsen and her kitchen crew dish out sourdough ‘za with a rotating menu of seven or eight pies on rotation with specials thrown in the mix.
“We’re a Neapolitan style pizzeria,” says the 26-year-old.
Mainstays like classic Margherita and a meat-lovers dream dubbed “The Carnivore” made with capicola, salami cotto, Italian sausage, bacon, mozzarella and rosemary chimichurri, can be found along seasonal additions.
Currently, Larsen says her go-to pie is the asparagus and goat cheese.
“It’s probably my favorite pizza I’ve ever had,” says the culinary school graduate with a laugh. “It’s an herb cream base and has white asparagus, pickled red onions and goat cheese, topped with local arugula — it’s so bright and refreshing and springy.”
Previously working in bakeries and owning a small cake business, after relocating to Virginia, Larsen landed a gig at Heliotrope, where her husband also works, and took over their dough program.
“So much work and detail you almost have to have that intimate relationship with it,” says Larsen of working with dough. “I’ve always been a very hands on learner, it’s cool to see the process start to finish and literally just taking these very simple ingredients and turning it in to something so delicious and beautiful.”
While pizza is at the heart of the Shenandoah Valley brewery, the kitchen also dishes out fresh-made Israeli-influenced flatbreads served with labneh, hummus and lentil dahl — Middle Eastern herbs roasted with peppers, onion and garlic, along with a few salad options.
Using a dough starter named Keanu, after actor Keanu Reeves, Larsen says they proof their dough for at least 24 hours, and that her love for dough and baking has only continued to grow since joining the Heliotrope team.
“I immediately fell in love with working here and when it came time for them to look for new head chef they came to me,” says Larsen. “I was really excited about it so took the offer."
Written by our Guest Blogger Eileen Mellon
