Posts Tagged Rating: 4 stars

Aromas Café 

Bliss-inducing gazpacho at Aromas Café in Charlottesville, VAPeople have funny ways of communicating deliciousness. Our friend Rachael’s eyes bulge as she stares at you in silence, thoughtfully liquidating her food like a cow chewing its cud. My mom slaps her hand on the table so hard that the silverware clanks and jumps, and then she says, “Y’all gotta try this” in a way that suggests your very life depends on it. My wife Erin’s reaction, however, is the scariest, as I remembered during our last trip to the always delicious Aromas Café in Barracks. More about her reaction below.

Aromas participates in the tradition of “strip mall chic” that restaurants like Lime Leaf and Copacabana – not to mention every… Read More

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Zynodoa 

Zynodoa - 16Zynodoa’s (mostly) locally sourced food is cooked to perfection and has made Staunton a foodie destination in Central/Western Virginia with good reason. When chatting up the diners at the adjoining table we found that one couple had come from Richmond and the other from Portsmouth (via a weekend trip to Charlottesville) to sample this menu.

We started with ginger pear martinis. The vodka was from Virginia and infused with ginger and mixed with pear nectar. The ginger was subtle, but present and you could definitely taste the pears in the drink. Their wine list is impressive, but after those martinis, we stuck with water to drink.

The buttermilk chive biscuits that were served as bread were light and… Read More

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Peter Chang’s China Grill for Lunch 

Peter Chang's China Grill in Charlottesville, VAI, along with the rest of Charlottesville, have been waiting for months for Peter Chang to come to Charlottesville (again). On a whim, my boyfriend and I decided to go to Peter Chang’s China Grill  for lunch one Saturday afternoon. I had heard that you needed a reservation, but we popped in to see if they had any openings. Luckily, they had just started to take walk-ins and the hostess seated us moments later. Given that one of my areas of specialty here at Mas to Millers is cheap eats, we had hoped to be able to order some of the very affordable lunch specials, but unfortunately they were not available on the weekends. What… Read More

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Savour 

Jed and Chef Ed's favorite, the Umali brulée.Drinking the last of our wine at the table with Chef Ed Nafei hours after the other diners and servers had left the restaurant was the finale to a truly memorable and amusing dining experience at Savour. How did we get to that point? We have our friend and dining companion Liz to thank, as well as Chef Ed’s appreciation for a challenge and his uncanny ability to read people. When we were seated at our table several hours earlier, Chef Ed had warmly greeted us right away and asked if we had any questions about the menu. As he started to describe the three fish specials, Liz – who has a discerning palette… Read More

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Basic Necessities for Brunch 

Basic Necessities in Nellysford, outside Charlottesville, VAIf you like any of the following things, you should get into your car and race out to Basic Necessities at your earliest opportunity:

  1. Scenic drives in the country that end with sausage.
  2. Cozy, fireplace-warmed dining rooms with friendly harpists strumming large harps.
  3. Enormous goblets of mimosas.
  4. Powdered sugar.
  5. Spectacularly fluffy pancakes.
  6. Cookies shaped like pretzels.

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Crozet Pizza 

crozet-pizza-01When someone says they love or hate a fine French restaurant, dissenters will shrug and disagree. Maybe they’ll say they don’t understand what the fuss is about. When conversation turns to beloved or be-hated drinking holes, the response is the same. But when it comes to pizza or hamburgers, prepare for thermonuclear war. No other cuisine is so dangerous to discuss, and if you observe such a belligerent cuisine conversation in progress, you’re likely to find Crozet pizza at ground zero.*

In the 90′s, things were relatively peaceful. Some people said Anna’s was the best around, but the rest of us thought that the quaint little place just west of town was far superior. As Crozet pizza’s… Read More

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The Inn at Court Square 

Entry room We thought we knew all the top restaurants in Charlottesville and vicinity. Clifton Inn, Duner’s, Mas, Tavola. Maybe Palladio and Ventana, too. Whenever someone asked for a fine dining recommendation, we pulled something off this list. How silly we were. How naive! One of the best restaurants in Charlottesville has been right under our noses for years, tucked away above an antique store on Court Square.

A walk up the stone and brick steps leads you into a romantically lit lobby, with the dining room beyond. Both are lushly furnished with fine antiques and pristine white linen. The atmosphere is hushed, maybe even to a fault, depending on the kind of evening you’re looking for… Read More

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Taste of China 

Taste of China - 01We started to get excited after reading various food blogs about a renowned yet mysterious Szechuan chef who had attracted a devoted cult of followers in DC before disappearing. After sightings in Atlanta and Knoxville, there was a rumor that THE Peter Chang was behind the new nondescript Taste of China restaurant in Albemarle Square. I tried to keep my expectations in check, but they shot up when we arrived to see the restaurant name in neon Chinese, as well as English, outside the strip mall exterior. And up even further when we walked in to an absolutely packed place featuring very little English, with a menu… Read More

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Zinc 

Fabulous bar area opening to courtyardOnly in a food town like Charlottesville do you find “anglo-franco tapas style comfort food” served up in a former service station. Zinc, the bistro on Main Street where you can get anything from fish and chips to steak tartare with quail egg, has a lot going for it. The beautiful courtyard patio feels far removed from the street and is one of my favorite outdoor eating spots. The bar area is cool and usually uncrowded, and the interior hints at its garage past while showcasing an open kitchen and funky industrial feel.

The menu reinforces the quirky blend of personalities with a wide range of options for… Read More

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C & O Restaurant 

c&o - 19Whenever parents come into town or there’s something to celebrate, I go all Pavlov’s dog and start salivating for C & O’s Artichoke Paté. That’s the great thing about C & O: yes, it’s an institution in this town. But it’s that rare institution that continues to produce good, inventive food, and I think it’s hard to beat for a special night out.

It doesn’t look like much from the outside (especially during the day before the torches come out) but the charmingly incongruous Pepsi sign outside marks one of the most charming interiors in town. The back patio feels far removed from the downtown scene, the Mezzanine is as cozy as can be with a wood burning stove… Read More

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