In any 11-course meal, there should perhaps be a little mystery. At Commune restaurant in January, this came courtesy of our server, 16-year-old Carson Poulos.
âDoes anyone know why bread and butter pickles are called bread and butter pickles?â he called out to the room, apropos of nothing in particular â the dish in front of us at the time was a fried oyster plate of admirable complexity, layered with locally foraged chickweed greens you might recognize from every lawn youâve ever stepped on.
Poulos waited, eyebrows cocked above his mask, with the confidence of someone who had all the answers.
He didnât. He didnât even have a guess. He was just hoping maybe someone could tell him about the pickles.
This wasnât, as it turns out, an unreasonable expectation. After all, our server was also a student. Since December, Communeâs locations in Norfolk and Virginia Beach have been hosting a series of private dinners that amount to an experiment within an experiment.
Read more in The Sunday Break section
In honor of Valentineâs Day, we go to The Marinerâs Museum and Park in Newport News and check out the âSailorâs Valentine.â This double-octagonal shadowbox with a chain and hook was made in Barbados, somewhere between 1884 and 1889.
 Read more in The Sunday Break section.
Outback Steakhouse. The home of juicy steaks, spirited drinks and Aussie hospitality. Enjoy steak, chicken, ribs, fresh seafood & the famous Bloomin' Onion. Sign up for a chance to win a $50 gift card at 
