Checking in with the Locals: Kat Diplas

It’s been one year since we started checking in with the local-loving people of Charlottesville, featuring the faces of Cville and their top picks every week.

For this special occasion, we’re checking in with the Cville Niche Team! This group of locals is passionate about what they do in this great city. So in the coming weeks, get to know the faces of Cville Niche!

Check out our past year of local check-ins!

Special thanks to Kristen Finn Photography for our fun photo shoot at the new IX Art Park!

Kat Diplas

Describe what you do in town.

By day I work for UVA Health System as a Direct Marketing Specialist.

All the rest of the time Cville Niche takes over. It has been a part of my life for over 7 years now, and what an amazing ride it’s been seeing it grow and transform into what it is today! From a club at UVA aiming to bridge the gap between the University and Charlottesville community to serving as an engine of community investigation and engagement, we’ve come a long way and Cville never ceases to supply us with an overwhelming array of local endeavors to spotlight.

Food, yoga, digital design and photography are all passions of mine, and I had such a blast putting these all together with an assortment of folks in the area this past year to kick off our collaborative community yoga events – you all made them such a success!

We’ve got the best team around here at Cville Niche – they rock. From my superstar partner-in-crime, Linnea, to all our expert writers – Darren, Elizabeth, Erin, MC, and Shannon – these folks are passionate about this town and I love it!

Describe yourself in 5 syllables or less.

always exploring.

A favorite dish in town.

Bending the rules on this one – because picking just one dish is kind of crazy in this town.

Continental Divide: Red hot blues + nachos + wait-a-minute hot sauce + 2-3 friends = a little taste of spicy heaven, and nachos might be one of my favorite meals…

Parallel 38: Gnocchi + pork belly, of course this isn’t a complete meal without at least 3 more tapas but when you go to order make sure these two tapas are on your list — as well as a glass or two of wine.

A favorite weekly or monthly drink special.

Steal the Glass night at Blue Mountain Brewery is one of my favorite monthly drink specials — if you check out my kitchen cabinets you might find the BMB glasses out number the non BMB ones…

A favorite local fitness class or fitness event.

I love the classes at Opal Yoga. From Kimberly’s Deva Flow to Jennifer’s Opal Flow to getting my butt kicked by Liz’s Power Yoga — all the instructors here are great and the variety of classes and personalities is kind of perfect. Karen has created an amazing studio on West Main covered in windows and full of really great energy. Check them out!

A favorite local music venue.

C&O on Tuesday nights. The Olivarez Trio plays in the lower bar at C&O every Tuesday night, it’s has a speakeasy feel and cozy nature to it that I kind of love.

Again going to bend the rules a bit and also add The Garage to my list. Whether just walking by and perching on the wall to listen to a song or two  – or snagging a blanket and some friends and lounging in the grass in the park across the street, Sam brings a lot of  really great music through the area!

Tagged: Blue Mountain, Blue Mountain Brewery, c&o, continental divide, cville niche yoga events, karen thomas, kimberly gladysz, liz reynolds, olivarez trio, opal yoga, parallel 38, red hot blues, sam bush, Steal The Glass, steal the glass blue mountain brewery, the garage, uva health system, wait a minute hot sauce

Posted in: Checking in with the Locals, community