Chef Chris King and Darcy Cropp are two of five partners at the 616 Farm to Table restaurant, with their responsibility being the day-to-day operation.

Their goal has been to provide interesting menus using local ingredients, providing some of those ingredients from their own farm in Providence, North Carolina.

“We’ve been farming for about 10 years now,” King said as he prepped various breads for the oven — made from scratch with local flour produced in Ashland, North Carolina. “I came from Ashland, where there has been a big farm-to-table movement … we wanted to do that here.”

King said they have been pretty successful at sourcing local foods from Virginia and North Carolina, but there are a few products they have had problems finding, such as cooking oils, salt and pepper, and items like butter and cheese they haven’t been able to find at prices to fit their budget.

“We can’t buy cheese at $20 a pound; we’d have to raise menu prices to a level people couldn’t afford,” Cropp said. “We have to set our menu at an appropriate price.”

Walnut Winds Farm in Blairs, for instance, is one that provides food for the menu year round, King said, because they have huge greenhouses that can provide fresh items, such as cabbage, kale and tomatoes, year-round.

“We’re at about 90 percent local,” Cropp said. “Most of what we serve is delivered weekly, and if it’s not available, we won’t have it.”

“We’re working at 100 percent, but it’s tough,” King added.

Instead, the menu gets adjusted to reflect the fresh produce, meats and other foods that are available at that time.

They are proud of what they produce at their own farm — pork, chicken for both eggs and meat, various produce, herbs and cut flowers — and what they have found so far at about two dozen local farms, wineries (Tomahawk Mill makes vinegars that are “impressive,” King said) and local farmers markets.

Cropp said they are always interested in farmers who do “niche gardening” — growing things other people don’t.

“We’re getting in some purple carrots today,” she said Wednesday.

The restaurant was recently chosen as one of the 32 winners of a Virginia Tourism Corporation survey of favorite restaurants that focus on local ingredients.

Patricia Keppel, digital marketing content specialist for the Virginia Tourism Corporation said the survey was done during the annual culinary challenge that was marketed on the Virginia is for Lovers website and Facebook page.

Keppel said different surveys were done each week, focused on different types of cuisine.

For the “local favorites” category, Keppel said, much of the food had to be made from local ingredients.

“The primary ingredients all had to be locally grown,” Keppel said.

The 616 was the only restaurant in Southside to make that list, with most of the winners being located in larger cities.

The list can be found at http://blog.virginia.org/2016/04/defining-local-resident-favorite-restaurants-local-ingredients/.

Beyond the menu, the restaurant provides several entertainment options each month, works in fundraisers for various local charities and sees occasional groups of curious children — like the group from the Piedmont Region Summer Governor’s School who stopped in to watch bread being made and learn about local ingredients Wednesday.

The students were taking a “kitchen chemistry” class with teacher Ginny Farthing, who said the one-week class was for fourth- and fifth-grade students, with sixth- and seventh-graders scheduled for the following week.

“We were thankful to able to come and see what a commercial kitchen does,” Farthing said. “It was a great coincidence that they were baking bread today; we’re going to bake bread tomorrow.”

For the next several months, the third Thursday of the month will be Community Day, Cropp said. The restaurant has invited local nonprofits to participate in the program, which will earn them 20 percent of the sales between 5 to 6 p.m.

“We’re all about supporting the community, local businesses and local farmers,” Cropp said.

There is occasional entertainment, ranging from musicians to poetry slams — but, Cropp said honestly, “We can’t afford to pay them.”

Instead, performers get a free meal and can put out a tip bucket.

“We’re trying to do what we can to support them,” Cropp said.

Steve DelGiorno owns the building and partnered with King and Cropp to operate the restaurant.

DelGiorno said he is pleased they are succeeding, as evidenced by the restaurant making to the “Local Favorites” list in the state’s annual culinary challenge.

“The local category was perfect for us,” DelGiorno said.

He doesn’t spend a lot of time at the restaurant, but does stop by when he is in Danville — which may become more often in the future, since he and his family are in the process of moving here from Nashville.

But still, DelGiorno said, he won’t be there all the time.

“I can’t be there full time and be doing everything else I’m doing,” DelGiorno said, laughing.

DelGiorno recently partnered with another local developer — Rick Barker — to purchase the former Exxon gas station at 1009 Main St. and convert it into a coffee shop, café and wine bar.

DelGiorno said they expect to close on the sale in early July, but have already hired an architect to begin making plans for the conversion. He also said he has a few other projects in the works, but is not ready to announce them as yet.

A project that would bring nearly two-dozen loft-style apartments to High Street received approval from the River District Design Commission Thursday afternoon.

The commission approved — by a 6-0 vote — a certificate of appropriateness for River District Lofts LLC’s plans to bring 23 loft-style apartments and 25 parking spaces to 549 High St.

Commissioner Courtney Nicholas did not attend the meeting.

Patrick Reilly, managing partner with River District Lofts, said during an interview Thursday he hopes construction will begin in August, with the rental units ready for occupancy in fall 2017.

Rehab Development Inc, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is the developer converting the area — which included two buildings, one of which collapsed — into the apartments, a courtyard and parking lot.

“We thought the building was naturally suited to be a good building for apartments.” Reilly said.

Most of the apartments will range from 700-900 square feet and include wide open spaces, hardwood floors and granite countertops, Reilly said.

“They’ll have a very unique feel to them,” Reilly said.

Rent will be from $900-$1,200 per month, depending on the unit’s size, he said. Rent will include cable, Internet and utilities.

The area at 549 High St. had two adjacent buildings, one of which collapsed, said Corrie Teague, Danville’s assistant director of economic development. Some of the exterior walls were saved, she added.

Railing and gates for the entrance to the parking lot will be installed, as well as a courtyard for tenants, Teague said. Each unit in the four-story building — except those on the top floor — will have exterior entrances, she said. The top floor will have a common entrance and a corridor.

Redevelopment of the existing structure will require replacement windows, replacement roofing, handrails and exterior stairs with corrugated metal awnings to be installed. An aluminum gate is also planned for the parking lot entrance.

Commission Chairman George Davis III asked Teague — who spoke on behalf River Street Lofts — if the developer was going to leave a piece of brick wall standing, and expressed safety concerns. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources is requiring them to maintain the wall — which will be used to create an interior courtyard — in order to receive tax credits, Teague said.

“It will be stabilized,” Teague told the commission.

The Danville Redevelopment and Housing Authority acquired the property for no money in the summer of 2014 due to outstanding code violations, Teague said. At the time, the buildings were used for storage, she said.

The DRHA began reaching out to developers to gauge interest in performing a redevelopment project there. Rehab Builders showed interest, with the city and the firm working together on the project’s parameters, Teague said.

Reilly is president of Rehab Development; Rehab Builders is the High Street project’s contractor. Dunn Dalton in Kinston, North Carolina, is the architect, and Rehab Engineering will be the project’s engineer. River District Lofts is a real estate entity formed to hold the project, Reilly said.

Rehab Development’s construction company performed the design and building work for Pemberton and Continental Lofts, among others.

Reilly — also a managing partner of Ferrell Historic Lofts at 533 Main St. — is working on getting tax credits from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources for the project. He said he hopes to get approval within the next 30 days, before the department forwards it to the National Park Service.

In another matter, the commission voted to approve installation of a personal electronics charging station — donated by Womack Electric — at Main Street Plaza. The station will include a 3-inch-by-8-inch dedication sign.

Planning Director Ken Gillie told the commission there would be additional stations installed in other parts of the city following the commission’s approval.