Qualla: Maude & the Bear https://qualla.com/maude-the-bear en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:07 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/z/c/maude-the-bear-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Maude & the Bear https://qualla.com/maude-the-bear Maude & the Bear: Introduction https://qualla.com/maude-the-bear/ Photo credit Ned Hartley, CC BY-SA 4.0. The building was originally shipped in pieces. In 1926, Montgomery Ward sent precut lumber, doors, windows, and instructions to a Staunton lot - one of thousands of kit houses the catalog company sold across the country - and someone here put it together. A hundred years later, a husband-and-wife team named Ian and Leslie Boden opened a restaurant inside it. They called it Maude & the Bear, after their daughter's middle name and their son's nickname. Within fifteen months of opening, the New York Times had named it one of the fifty best restaurants in the United States and Esquire had called it a best new restaurant of the year. In a town the size of Staunton, that is not a small thing.

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Image: Ned Hartley | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/z/c/maude-the-bear-wp/dnzc-maude-the-bear-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Maude & the Bear: The Chef Who Stayed in Staunton https://qualla.com/maude-the-bear/ Photo credit Ned Hartley, CC BY-SA 4.0. Ian Boden could have left the Valley a dozen times. He has been a James Beard Best Chef Mid-Atlantic semifinalist twice, and earlier in his career he worked at the Glass Haus restaurant in Charlottesville before establishing his own restaurants in Staunton. The Shack, the small B...

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Image: Ned Hartley | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/z/c/maude-the-bear-wp/dnzc-maude-the-bear-the-chef-who-stayed-in-staunton.mp3 0:06 2 full Maude & the Bear: A 1926 House, Reimagined https://qualla.com/maude-the-bear/ Photo credit Ned Hartley, CC BY-SA 4.0. Montgomery Ward sold home kits from around 1917 to 1931, marketing them in catalogs alongside everything else the company sold. Customers could choose a floor plan, place an order, and receive every numbered piece by rail freight - lumber, hardware, even a paint chart for the tri...

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Image: Ned Hartley | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/z/c/maude-the-bear-wp/dnzc-maude-the-bear-a-1926-house-reimagined.mp3 0:06 3 full Maude & the Bear: What the Critics Saw https://qualla.com/maude-the-bear/ Photo credit Ned Hartley, CC BY-SA 4.0. The New York Times list, published in 2025, ranges across the country and tends to favor restaurants that do something distinctive rather than something familiar done very well. Maude & the Bear earned its place by being unmistakably Boden - rigorous, ingredient-driven cooking ro...

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Image: Ned Hartley | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/z/c/maude-the-bear-wp/dnzc-maude-the-bear-what-the-critics-saw.mp3 0:06 4 full Maude & the Bear: Why Staunton https://qualla.com/maude-the-bear/ Photo credit Ned Hartley, CC BY-SA 4.0. Staunton has been quietly accumulating cultural amenities for two decades. The American Shakespeare Center opened the Blackfriars Playhouse in 2001. Wright's Dairy Rite, the drive-in where the Statler Brothers used to record, still operates. Beverley Street downtown has a mix of ...

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Image: Ned Hartley | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/z/c/maude-the-bear-wp/dnzc-maude-the-bear-why-staunton.mp3 0:06 5 full