Restaurantarama is damned tired. Forget about ringing in the new year with merriment and mayhem at one of our many local hot spots. No, we’re going to spend the holiday resting and recuperating from the craziness of covering 2007’s local dining scene. You see, if this was not the year of the highest highs, the lowest lows and the rockiest road in recorded restaurant history, well, just call Restaurantarama a drama llama. But before you go hissing at our hyperbole, just think back for a few moments. This was the year in which Patricia Kluge’s Fuel Co. closed its doors so abruptly on a Saturday in June that not even Charlottesville Mayor David Brown himself had advanced warning when he unwittingly showed up with a reservation and a diplomatic contingent from Italy in tow. It was the first year in three decades that the Hardware Store ceased to serve up its toolbox condiments, and it was the same year that marked the closures of W. Main Street anchor Starr Hill Music Hall and Restaurant and Scottsville’s anchor, the 60-plus-year-old Dew Drop Inn.
On the high side of things, this was the year that many homegrown dining heroes kept Restaurantarama running around to keep up with their expanding businesses. Just last week, Starr Hill Brewery announced an agreement with Anheuser-Busch to distribute Starr Hill brews nationwide. Christian Tamm quadrupled his empire by opening Christian’s Pizza branches on the Corner, on Pantops and near the airport on Route 29S; local coffee roasters Dave and Kristi Fafara opened a Shenandoah Joe’s café on Preston Avenue; Melissa Easter brought a La Taza coffee cart to the Ix building; Irvin Santiago brought a branch of Java Java to the Mall; Will Richey expanded Revolutionary Soup to the Corner; Karen Laetare expanded Brix Marketplace to Pantops; Gilbert Lopez broke ground on a fourth location of Guadalajara in Pantops; Alejandro Montiel brought Crozet’s beloved La Cocina Del Sol as well as Brasserie Montiel to the old Rococo’s space; and former South Street Brewery brewmaster Taylor Smack opened Blue Ridge Mountain Brewery and Hop Farm.
And if all of that doesn’t have you reaching for a cold compress for your reeling head, well, then go ahead and dig into this recap of all the other comings and goings ’round these restaurant parts. Just don’t blame us if your noggin explodes.
Doors closed
As for bad news, the following other places went to heaven in 2007: Atomic Burrito and La Cucina Downtown; Northern Exposure on W. Main Street; O’Neill’s, Pita Pit and Tropical Smoothie on the Corner; Hong Kong and Superstar’s Pizza on Emmet Street; Rococo’s Bistro on Hydraulic Road; Pizza Bella North on Route 29N and the Forest Lakes location of Baggby’s. In addition, Crozet’s Flavor’s Café and Scottsville’s Rivertown Rose and Java on the James all opened and closed within the year.
Doors opened
As for good news, the following other places came on line this year: In Belmont it was Belmont Bar-B-Q and Crush Wine Shop; on Carlton Road it was Pad Thai, Beer Run, La Palmas Bakery and 2 Sides. Downtown, The Nook reopened under the new ownership of Stu Rifkin, the Court Square Tavern reopened after a 2006 kitchen fire, Vavino, a Virginia wine bar, re-emerged as Enoteca, an Italian wine bar, and the Transit Café, Hamdingers gourmet lunch cart and, most likely by the time you read this, Siips Wine and Champagne Bar all added to our Downtown dining options. W. Main Street experienced a renaissance with the arrivals of Maya, Horse & Hound, Zinc and Spry’s BBQ. The Corner got hipper with the morphing of Jabberwocky into three. a kitchen and lounge, healthier with the help of Sublime All-Natural Food & Juice Bar and more caffeinated with the coming of Fox Park coffee shop. Other openings around town included 330 Valley, Buck Island BBQ, Café 88, Café LaJoi, Otto’s, Rivals, Royal Indian and Super Suppers.
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