On Fridays, we feature five food finds selected by local chefs and personalities. Today’s picks come from Laura Jawitz, the award-winning baker at Greenwood Gourmet. Since her January move from New York, where she baked for Brooklyn’s acclaimed Pies & Thighs, Jawitz has quickly developed a following around town for her amazing pies. Jawitz’s picks:
1) Cheeseburger, “All the Way” at Riverside Lunch. “I love a huge, fancy, grass-fed burger, but there’s a deep truth to the Riverside burger that really speaks to me. It’s always seasoned perfectly, just the right size at four ounces, and really tastes of flat-top (which is like the terroir of greasy-spoon joints) in the best possible way.”
2) Glazed Spudnut at Spudnuts. “This cloud-like and ethereal pastry is just perfect. I can’t think of a way to improve it, and I also can’t eat just one.”
3) Fried Chicken at Wayside Takeout & Catering. “Wayside chicken is so aggressively seasoned that I almost prefer it cold the next day; especially if it’s eaten out of a cooler that’s caught in the net of an inner tube floating down the James River.”
4) Hot and Numbing Tofu Skins at Peter Chang’s China Grill. “I still can’t believe that Charlottesville has Szechuan food that rivals some of New York City’s best fringe Chinese food. The tofu skins have that perfect balance of spicy, sour, salty and earthy that all great Szechuan food has, plus an addictive chewy texture. Might be one of the top five things I’ve ever eaten in my life, no joke.”
5) Budweiser at Durty Nelly’s Pub. “I think that all good dive bars possess certain qualities, and minus cheap whiskey, Durty Nelly’s has just about all of them…solid tunes on the juke, friendly but not chatty bartenders, an assortment of arcade games, and very cold beer.”
