Author: restaurantarama

In last week’s rundown of all the restaurants around town that closed or opened in 2006, there were a few surprises. “Otto’s?” you might have been forgiven for thinking as you scanned the list. Or, “What the heck is McGrady’s Irish Pub?” Well, after the holiday hoopla, we’ve returned to our usual gossiping here at Restaurantarama. And so, voila: the stories of two brand-new eateries that just squeaked into the annals of dear departed ‘06. (Also, this update: the Woodbrook location of Amigos has reopened.)

Eire America

Pretty plucky: Scott Roth, shown here, and his partner J.D. Pfile bought Sharky’s on a whim and turned it into McGrady’s Irish Pub.

Everyone knows what an Irish pub serves: bangers and mash, fish and Guinness. To these Emerald Isle standards, on the menu of one McGrady’s, are appended a number of items that owe much more to the ethos of an Alabama sports bar than that of a Dublin pub. We speak of cheese fries, quesadillas and mozzarella sticks; we speak, dear lads, of fried Oreos. Manager Carl Lawson calls this “American club fare,” and we’re inclined to agree. He serves up all these appetizers and more during his daily happy hour. He’ll also gladly serve you one of 11 different burgers, or a wrap, cheese steak or turkey Reuben. Irish dishes fill the specials board and 24 beers on tap keep the conversation moving.

According to Lawson, owners Scott Roth and J.D. Pfile bought the Preston Ave. spot while vacationing in Charlottesville back in September (it was Sharky’s Bar and Grill then), gutted the place and opened McGrady’s on December 19. It now has raised booths, a rebuilt bar and spankin’ new pool tables and TVs. Lawson says that any dive-bar ghosts of the past have been banished from the premises. “It’s a nice place,” he promises. “You can bring a date here and have a nice dinner.” Wearing green is not required.

Otto-matic

On to the other newcomer, this one on Route 250W in Crozet. Otto’s is a no-frills burger joint in a new shopping center across from Blue Ridge Builders, opened in mid-December by Marianne Bechtle and Ann Gayhart. Ready for a wee pun? “People just kept saying ‘you “otto” open a business,’” says Bechtle, explaining their place’s moniker.

The pair are serving up burgers, salads, sandwiches, and house-made potato chips. Bechtle’s excited about chef Chris Pugh’s daily specials, too: beef tenderloin sandwiches, fresh chicken salad, roast beef panini. Oh, and there’s beer. This sounds to us like a pretension-free lunch-and-dinner spot where you order at the counter, sit outside in nice weather and watch the traffic come down the mountain. Then you go back inside for a milkshake. This is living.

That number you asked for

We know you spent New Year’s Eve alone at home, wondering what percentage of local restaurants are chain or franchise operations. And because we were out partying like supermodels with our thousands of cool friends, we were too busy to look into it for you. But better late than never, eh? Of the 330 restaurants in our Dining Guide, 59 are chains.

That includes multinational megabrands like McDonald’s as well as small regional chains like Sakura Japanese Seafood and Steakhouse, which has 16 locations including one in Hollymead Town Center. We didn’t count, for example, Sticks as a chain—it has only two locations, both in Charlottesville. Ragazzi’s is an unusual case: It started as a chain until local owner-operators took over each of its eight stores in the late 1990s. We didn’t count it as a chain, but we did count Greenberry’s, which began locally and will soon have stores in five states and Washington, D.C.

So, in other words, about 18 percent of our eateries are chains and 82 percent are completely local. Hope that satisfies your thirst for knowledge! (This information was locally compiled.)

Got some restaurant scoop? Send your tips to restaurantarama@c-ville.com or call 817-2749, Ext. 48.

Whew! What a ride! If you’ve been reading this column for the last 52 weeks, you know that your trusty Restaurantarama has been kept hopping by the many comings and goings in the fast ’n’ furious world that is Charlottesville dining. For a little burg that a lot of people up in Poughkeepsie have never even heard of, we’ve got a pretty fine collection of eateries down here. And it’s only getting finer. Here, for your nostalgic pleasure, is a look back at this banner year of 2006.

A few of the joints that joined in 2006 (clockwise, from upper left): Eppie’s brought fast casual Downtown. Ten made us feel way underdressed while eating second-floor sushi. Jimmy Buffet songs got lodged in our ears at Cheeseburger in Paradise. Minor’s Diner staked a claim in Scottsville.

First, the bad news. By our count, 23 local restaurants got deep-sixed in oh-six. Some of these qualified as major local landmarks, and their loss signifies to many people that the Charlottesville where they grew up is seriously losing ground to the Charlottesville where a bunch of other people have relocated. We speak of The Nook (currently awaiting its next incarnation—by the way, we got a peek in the open door the other day and spotted a very nice-looking wooden bar and booths) and the Blue Bird Café. The Hardware Store is still open as of this writing, but will not do any business in 2007; the Court Square Tavern is still closed after a fire damaged it on the Ides of March. And Tiffany’s Seafood had to shut down and find a new home; it just reopened this month.

Other closings around town: Tea Time Desires, Zan’s Place, City Limits, Donnie Mc’s LLC, Caribbean Malecon, A.J.’s, Sharky’s Bar & Grill, Buck’s Pizza, Bambina’s, Southern Culture, Asian Buffet, Elle’s Grill, Sam Maverick—The Restaurant, the Woodbrook location of Amigos, and Gordonsville’s 007 Café. Scottsville had an especially crazy year, losing Willow Coffee, Magnolia, the Brick Café, and High Meadows Inn.

And now the glad tidings. Fifty new restaurants are now on the roster (with just over 300 total, that’s some hefty turnover). Some are on the swanky end of the scale—Ten, the X Lounge, the Fountain Room at the Mark Addy Inn, Bohème, Il Cane Pazzo, and Orzo Kitchen & Wine Bar come to mind. Some are more down-home: Big Al’s Restaurant and Saloon (formerly Donnie Mc’s), Mustang Grill (where once was City Limits), McGrady’s Irish Pub (which used to be Sharky’s; more next week), Pizza Bolli, Fabio’s N.Y. Pizza, Vocelli Pizza, Vinny’s Italian Grill & Pizzeria, Pacino’s Deli & Catering, Uncle Charlie’s, Acme Smokehouse & Barbecue Company, the Dew Drop Inn, Rivertown Rose, and Minor’s Diner. Coffee hounds got Java on the James and Hoo’s Brews and More. Burrito lovers got the norte outpost of Baja Bean. Just Curry, Lemongrass and ZydeCo Bourbon Street BBQ all joined the Corner lineup, Eppie’s and Himalayan Fusion opened Downtown, Otto’s just opened on Route 250W (also more next week), and Ciao Station came to Woodbrook. We now have Lee’s Grill, Grill 151, Millmont Grille and the Bonefish Grill. The Sweet Spot brought ice cream to the not-at-all-new White Spot, and fishmonger Seafood @ West Main started serving lunch. Two much-mourned deaths from previous years, the Blue Moon Diner and Tokyo Rose, rose like Lazarus in 2006.

Then there were a bunch of chains and franchises that added local links. Five Guys expanded to Downtown and Hollymead. Hollymead also gained a Subway, a Maggie Moo’s, a Panera, a Quizno’s, and a Sakura Japanese Steak and Seafood. Other openings included Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, The Melting Pot, Cheeseburger in Paradise, and Salad Creations.

A few places both opened and closed in 2006: River Rock Chop House, Satellite Noodle Bar, and the Thai Dutch Exchange. Vita Nova is the new name for what was Sylvia’s Pizza Downtown, and El Tepeyac now calls itself Aqui es Mexico.

And our prediction for most likely to open first in 2007? Java Java’s new location on the Downtown Mall. 

Well, foodies, here’s to choice, and here’s to change. Happy 2007!

Got some restaurant scoop? Send tips to restaurantarama@c-ville.com or call 817-2749, Ext. 48.

Photographic credits: Jack Looney, Andrew Hersey and Eric Kelley

Once upon a time, a beloved Charlottesville institution lived in a shopping center on Ivy Road. Its name was Tiffany’s Seafood and everyone loved its steamed shrimp very much. One morning, Tiffany’s woke up to find itself being charged an awful lot of rent. Beverly Baber, Tiffany’s owner, had to close down the restaurant on August 20, which made a lot of people very sad because it had been around for at least 30 years.

Here are the new digs of Tiffany’s Seafood. “By far the best seafood in town,” say these loyal patrons.

“Where am I going to live now?” thought Tiffany’s. After searching the seven seas, the restaurant found a new place in Seminole Square. It was longer and narrower than the old location, but with the original Tiffany lamps, furniture and even the bar from the old days, the new spot felt pretty much like home. And Tiffany’s liked the spot’s new carpet, and how clean it was.

On December 1, Tiffany’s opened back up. And everyone lived happily ever after.

Blue song

Just in time for the holidays, as we reported two weeks ago, the fairly venerable Blue Bird Café suddenly closed its doors. Makes us think of that seasonal ubersong whose first line is “Gone away is the blue bird” and whose second line, if we take it literally, seems to promise some sort of nouveau replacement for the popular W. Main Street brunch spot that first hatched off McIntire Road in the ’80s. You might ask, what replacement is that? But here’s a more pressing question: Why did Blue Bird fly away?

Neither Brent Pye nor Chuck Hancher, partners in the restaurant, are eager to explain what happened: Pye wouldn’t comment and Hancher didn’t return our call. We spoke with Pye back in May, when he’d just hired a new chef to revamp the menu and generally revive the Bird’s appeal. At that time, Pye readily admitted that the Downtown Mall’s burgeoning scene was making it tough to hold onto business–hence the bid for better tastes.

But we’re not convinced that lackluster sales alone killed the Bird. Rather, our theory is that the building’s owner, one Paul Boukourakis, ended the restaurant’s lease for reasons of his own. (How do we know? A little bird told us.) We found no record of a sale; whether the building changes hands or not, we’ll keep our binoculars out for a new bird to roost there—of the culinary breed, we hope.

Ain’t capitalism grand?

Joining a crowded field of chain restaurants in the Hollymead area (between the Rivanna River and Airport Road, there’s already a McDonald’s, an Arby’s, a Blimpie, a T.G.I. Friday’s, a Quiznos, a Starbucks, a Jersey Mike’s Subs and a Panera—ack! Get us to Revolutionary Soup, comrades, and quickly!) are a couple more franchises. Sid and Anjara Tripathi, a husband-and-wife team, opened a Subway on the east side of Seminole Trail in June and are set to open a Dairy Queen right next door in January. (Actually, according to the logo on the building, it’s just “DQ.”)

Sometimes peace does prevail within our system of self-interest. At least so far, there’s been no report of proprietary conflict between Sakura Japanese Steak and Seafood, a small regional chain with a several-month-old branch in said Hollymead, and the one-of-a-kind Sakura sushi bar on 14th Street. Perhaps this is because the similarly-named restaurants actually have fairly different menus.

And sometimes capitalism is just sort of baffling. Witness the apparent entry of Starbucks into the culture-making game: It’s just released the third in a series of CDs that are sold only in Starbucks stores. Restaurantarama does not like coffee giants telling us what music we should listen to, but maybe other people do. If you’re one of them, go listen to the Low Stars and have a macchiato today! (Street cred sold separately.)

Got some restaurant scoop? Send your tips to restaurantarama@c-ville.com or call 817-2749, Ext. 48.

It’s not easy running a restaurant in Scottsville, but that doesn’t stop people from trying. We’ve been keeping tabs throughout the year on the culinary comings and goings down there, and it’s practically a full-time job given the nearly 100 percent turnover the little town’s eateries have undergone in the past 12 months. And now, with mere weeks left in old 2006, there is still more news to report—no fewer than three new restaurants are open or on the way. (See if you can find the common thread linking their names! Hint: It starts with “James River.”)

Stephan Hawranke, right, with manager John Keaton, is going all the way with is renovation of the former Magnolia space.

Everybody knows everybody in Scottsville, a town that couldn’t be any more classically “small.” Magnolia was, at one point, the fanciest option on the strip—not counting the High Meadows Inn. Both closed this year; right now, Stephan Hawranke, who owns the Magnolia building, is gutting it, and it will reopen next spring as the Horseshoe Bend Tavern. He also owns the former Brick Café space, which he’s leasing to Rose Farber (formerly of High Meadows), who’s recently opened Rivertown Rose there. Meanwhile, Willow Coffee (formerly run by Barbara Velie, mother of Magnolia mastermind Howie Velie) has a new look and a new moniker, Java on the James.

Confused? Not to worry—we’ll walk you through it. First stop is with Hawranke at the Horseshoe Bend. The place is getting an ambitious makeover: new kitchen, new cabin-style interior, a cigar lounge upstairs, a pub downstairs, and outdoor seating both in front and back. “It’s going to be rather exceptional,” Hawranke promises. The historic building was once a medical clinic, and the olden days of Virginia will shape the ambience—i.e., a tavern feel and perhaps some items on loan from the Scottsville Museum. Food? “Nothing out of the ordinary,” says Hawranke—steaks, seafood, “comfort food.” This place sounds, to us, like a rambling, well-financed neighborhood hangout that might actually stick around for a while. (But hey—this is Scottsville. No guarantees.)

Next up: Where once was Willow, now is Java by the James. John and Carol Carder have turned the multicolored, flora-filled breakfast spot into a sleeker café with a more sophisticated menu. Java has wifi, sweet potato pancakes, lots of veggie choices (a Granny Smith and Brie sandwich, for example), specialty coffees and a wall of artwork by AP students at Monticello High School. It’s been open about a month and has already earned, says Carol, a devoted following for its scones. In the morning, “people wait for them to come out of the oven,” she says.

And finally: Rivertown Rose, with its double storefront, aims to straddle the divide between the pressed-linen pedigree of Farber (not to mention her staff, largely High Meadows vets) and Scottsville’s essentially down-home vibe. Farber’s been serving only basics so far (pizza, subs, calzones) but by the time you read this, she will have rolled out entrées like jumbo-shrimp pasta, stuffed acorn squash and good ol’ spaghetti. She’s also bringing in bands and DJs to the brick-walled, checkered-floor place.

Farber sounds thrilled by the change from innkeeping life. Now, “when I lock the door and go home I don’t have to worry about it, and that was never so with High Meadows,” she says. “I love it.” We love all the activity down there in Scottsville—a full-blown River City renaissance.  

Risen

The Blue Moon Diner is open! We stuck our heads in and boy, what a change from the W. Main Street landmark’s crusty past. After renovation, it’s bigger and brighter, with a fireplace, a framed portrait of Willie Nelson, and organic eggs on the menu. We’re practically howling.

Got some restaurant scoop? Send your tips to restaurantarama@c-ville.com or call 817-2749, Ext. 48.

Correction Appended

Derek Breen has no shortage of snappy descriptions for the business he plans to open in January in a blue house on Elliewood Avenue. There’s the phrase that headlines this column—a come-hither to artsy, collaboration-minded patrons. There’s his metaphor “MySpace live,” which gets at the particular mode of networking he’d like to foster: tech-savvy, but face-to-face. And there are his references to classic European salons like the Bloomsbury Group: the tradition of artists and writers basically hanging out together with canon-worthy results.

If you’re artsy, you can loiter all you want at Derek Breen’s Bohemia: the new Mod Grill opening in January.

In the end, maybe “modular business” is Breen’s best designation for the ambitiously experimental café he calls, appropriately, Mod Grill. “It can change over time,” he explains. If patrons want to replace the huge beanbag chairs in the front room with tables for laptops, he’s game. “Maybe there are people that like to bake,” he muses, “and they could bring scones here to sell.” Groups can use Mod Grill for meetings; a citizens’ philosopher group called Socrates Café has already gathered here in the still-unfinished space (a former bike shop), or local filmmakers might organize screenings upstairs. Breen will teach workshops on 3D animation and Web design. If the place is anything like Breen himself, a constant flow of ideas will keep it lively indeed. Free wifi aside, this is not your mama’s cybercafé.

Breen spent some time living at Twin Oaks in Louisa, and that decades-old commune’s, well, communal ideals are stamped all over his project. He talks about what he doesn’t want Mod Grill to be: the kind of café where you feel pressured to leave after emptying your mug. Nor, although it will keep late hours, will it be a stop on the undergrad pub-crawl that dominates Elliewood. Instead, picture smart folks drinking organic free-trade coffee while working on their novels or brainstorming concepts for a short digital film. They might be sitting around an octagonal (and free) computer lab that lets them face each other and chat—out loud, that is—as they blog or design a website. Oh—and they’re eating takeout from another restaurant. (Breen’s cool with that.)

Which gets us to the food—in this café, more like a sideshow than a main attraction. “Light snack fare” is how Breen puts it: pastries, maybe some granola, organic sodas. He’s thinking of having Twin Oaks supply the grub, along with some hammock chairs to line the wall outside.

It’s enough to make Restaurantarama, for one, start hatching all sorts of schemes for brainy late-night collaborations. Put your thinking caps on in time for Mod Grill’s opening in January.

Surprise!

Restaurantarama notices things. Like the fact that Pizza Bolli on W. Main Street now serves halal gyros. And the fact that there’s a coffeeshop and ice-cream parlor called Hoo’s Brew and More soon to open just behind Dürty Nelly’s out there on JPA. (It’s cute as can be! White with orange and blue trim. Get it? And there’s a fireplace. When we peeked past the “Coming Soon” sign and through the window, the place looked cheerful and nearly ready to go. Keep your eyes peeled for an opening.)

We must admit, however, that we utterly failed to notice Vinny’s Grill and Pizzeria, which has apparently been operating for no less than six months in Hollymead Town Center. Sheesh! A lot of you must already know about this place, a small regional chain with a menu full of pies and other Olde Italian Standbys. It serves lunch and dinner and its menu features something called the “Pot o’ Gold,” a collection of deep-fried apps served in a “crispy dough shell” that sounds to us like it would make a rhinoceros feel he’d overeaten.
If you hadn’t already made Vinny’s acquaintance, remember: You heard it here first.

Flown south

Breaking news: The last day of business at Blue Bird Café, on W. Main Street, was November 30. Partners Chuck Hancher and Brent Pye are keeping mum about why, but we’ll stay on the story.

Got some restaurant scoop? Send your tips to restaurantarama@c-ville.com or call 817-2749, Ext. 48.

Correction: Dec. 12, 2006

Last week, Restaurantarama incorrectly identified a soon-to-open business. The correct name is Mod, not Mod Grill.

Correction Appended

There used to be an honest-to-god juice bar in town, called Liquid, and when it closed almost exactly three years ago it left a giant smoothie-shaped hole in the local scene. (As anyone who’s ever visited that spot’s current tenant, Atomic Burrito, can tell you, wheat grass is no longer in the house.) Accordingly, juiceheads will be happy to hear that their banana-strawberry-papaya-and-mango-all-together cravings have found a champion in Andreas Gaynor. In a somewhat unusual arrangement, Gaynor plans to operate a juice bar during daytime hours in year-old Downtown cocktail bar Kiki.

Feeling the squeeze? Andreas Gaynor will pulverize all kinds of fruits and veggies, then serve them up at Kiki, starting next month.

“I’m so lucky that Jeannie has the vision to let me do it,” says Gaynor. He’s referring to Kiki owner Jeannie Brown, whose establishment is known for fresh-fruit cocktails and for being, as Gaynor puts it, “so good-looking.” Besides the turnkey style of the space, he’s banking on his smoothie experience at his former Downtown ventures City Centro and Fusion. (Having Bikram Hot Yoga right next door, disgorging its health-conscious, dehydrated and dangerously relaxed patrons into the street, surely can’t hurt either. If Salad Creations ever materializes across the street, as it’s been threatening to, we’ll have to dub this block of Fifth Street the Downtown Health District.)

You’re looking at some true, actual juice here, says Gaynor. “We are going to stay away from syrups and powders,” he pledges. “We’re going to have chunky juice, pure juice where it’s not so cold. You can choose what you want and we’ll put it together for you. It’s made in front of you.” Some of the fruits and veggies will be organic, and if you feel the need to pile on the nutrition you can add supplements to your drink. We can almost feel the vitamins coursing through our veins.

Start imagining flavor combos now; Gaynor plans to open December 15.   

Orzo, they say

As we reported back in September, the onetime Ciboulette spot in the Main Street Market has new owners (Charles Roumeliotes, Katherine Korloff and Ken and Laura Wooten) and a new name (Orzo Kitchen & Wine Bar). And, after a remarkably speedy transition, it now has open doors, too. We stopped in last week, on the second day of Orzo’s lunch service, to take a look and a taste.

First impression: It’s recognizable as the onetime Ciboulette. The retail wine area’s in the same spot, and the long counter and deli cases still stretch from front to back, sheltering an open kitchen. But now a half-dozen or so seats cosy up to the wine bar, and dark wood tables line the opposite wall.

Menu: Some pastas, some sandwiches, some salads. We went for a cheerful carrot-ginger soup and an artful appetizer: grilled baguette slices with artichoke-fava bean spread, truffle oil, and a nest of baby arugula. Had we been feeling hungrier, we could have gone for pan-roasted salmon; had we been feeling saucier, we could have gotten a glass of wine—say, the 2004 Sibacha Garnacha. We did, however, manage to find some room for the very satisfying chocolate pot de crème. (Wait, is this a work day? we thought, somewhere around the fourth spoonful.)

Service: friendly and professional, with that note of near-surprise that’s unique to freshly opened restaurants. (“One for lunch? Really?”) We consider it an indicator of the saturated local scene that a place like this, which is perfectly stylish and tasty and has a something-for-everyone Mediterranean menu, will have to work so hard to distinguish itself. We’ll see how it pans out.

Got some restaurant scoop? Send your tips to restaurantarama@c-ville.com or call 817-2749, Ext. 48.

Correction: Dec. 12, 2006

In the November 28 issue, Restaurantarama misspelled the name of one of the owners of Orzo Kitchen & Wine Bar. She is Katherine Kroloff.

Out on E. High Street is a bit of a haven for the home-cooking aficionado. You’ve got Jak’n’Jil, Riverside Lunch and, just across Route 250, the old-fashioned ice-cream stand Chandler’s. Dining-wise, the neighborhood stands in sharp contrast to the more uppity mores of Downtown, as well as the Corner’s frothy scene. Until the beginning of September, the diner fare at Donnie Mc’s LLC was also part of this little traditionalist pocket. And though Alan Brown and his fiancée Sandy Morris, who bought the place at that time, have done a lot to spruce it up (and changed the name to Big Al’s Restaurant and Saloon), they intend to keep offering the kind of food that, in style and price, makes no pretensions.
“I used to be in the corporate world for years and years,” explains Brown. In his business travels, he says, he’d check into hotels and ask, “Where do the locals eat?” The kinds of places he’d be sent in answer to this question are models for Big Al’s. “It caters to the working guy, the blue-collar crowd,” he says. “We emphasize true home-Southern cooking”—pork chop specials, biscuits made from scratch, breakfast, burgers—almost all under $10.
Cooking all this time-honored stuff is Tony Harvey, who, at age 74, boasts a six-decade history in Charlottesville kitchens. According to Brown, Harvey has cooked all over town, including at The Tavern (this was the late ’60s, mind you!), the now-defunct Chuck Wagon, and Moore’s Creek. Brown says that putting Harvey’s name on his restaurant’s sign has helped draw some business already.
You can do karaoke at Big Al’s, too—as well as see bands or just have a drink. The place seats about 70 now, and Brown says next spring he may enclose the patio to create a bigger bar with its own entrance. “We’re seeing people from 21 to 81,” Brown says. “Everybody gets along.”
Promotional zeal
Here are a couple of entries for your master list of “ways to sell people dinner.” (Apparently, in a nearly saturated dining market like this one, restaurants have to do more than just be there if they hope to be relevant. Not so in some of your more isolated burgs, where one or two diners can serve whatever they want, and as badly as they want, and still attract—well, everybody.) One trick is to link your menu to some other local happening, and that’s exactly the card Reed Anderson, executive chef at Blue Light Grill, is playing with his pre-theater menu.
For $30, Anderson explained, you can choose three courses from a pared-down version of his regular menu, and he guarantees that you will be done with your meal in time to see a show at the Paramount or Live Arts. You just have to sit down at Blue Light at least an hour before showtime. How does Anderson pull this off? “Very carefully. And quickly,” he says. Indeed, gobbling three courses in one hour might rival theatrical performances in terms of sheer spectacle. But you can, of course, arrive earlier if you prefer. Reservations are recommended.
Another promotional event, and possibly an even more jaw-droppingly speedy one, is the free burrito day that Chipotle Mexican Grill will hold on October 19 at its new Barracks Road store, in order to introduce all of you happy burrito lovers to its products. That’s a free burrito and drink, people, between 11am and 8pm. But don’t go for the food; go for the entertainment. We’re told that during free burrito days at other Chipotle branches (there are 500 nationally), workers have rolled up to 400 burritos per hour—and they do it while you watch.


Got some restaurant scoop? Send your tips to restaurantarama@c-ville.com or call 817-2749, Ext. 48.

Little, more
Lately, Restaurantarama has noticed a growing interest in the smaller plate. Waning is the era when you’d dig into a platter piled with a pound or more of one entreé. Now—at least at your more trend-conscious eateries—it’s more likely that you’ll order at least two dishes, maybe more, and that they’ll be served in diminutive portions. With willing dining partners, you can sample half a dozen items for only a bit more than you’d pay for that old-fashioned steak or penne vodka.
    People used to call this concept “tapas” or “dim sum”—but now that it’s grown beyond those specific ethnic boundaries, “small plates” is the preferred term. Unless you’re at Clifton Inn, that is, where chef Dean Maupin would rather you refer to his new format as a “tasting menu.” The dishes on the new menu, he explained recently as we sampled a few, are meant to fall somewhere between appetizer and entreé.
    In any case, the plates themselves aren’t small; they’re dramatic teardrop-shaped affairs at least a foot in length on which Maupin’s creations perch like edible jewels. And shine they do! We started with a hunk of burrata cheese (that’s ricotta with mozzarella wrapped around it) topped with fresh arugula and drizzled with olive oil and aged balsamic. Next up was a tender piece of seared ahi with fresh grated wasabi (Maupin even showed us the actual wasabi root), avocado tempura and a lovely sauce of butter, Sauternes and shallots.
    Here (we were sitting at the chef’s table, right there in the kitchen) Maupin took a moment to explain that he means the new menu to be “approachable.” That term applies, it seems, to both diner and chef alike. If you eat at Clifton, you get to combine dishes as you please, and tailor the meal somewhat to your budget. Maupin is even willing to throw off the shackles of culinary convention that say a meal equals protein + starch + vegetable. “There will be no boundaries,” he declares, rather thrillingly.
    On to a sweet corn gnudi—which is a ricotta-based puree with parmesan and greens laying atop—then two desserts: cheesecake with a key-lime center and sticky toffee pudding with dolce de leche ice cream. Delicious and artful, every one.
    Five courses of this loveliness will set you back $69. It’s certainly not budget dining, but Maupin was at pains to explain that, despite Clifton’s exclusive image, no one should feel embarrassed to try just one or two items. Nor will he balk at an order for three desserts, should some weird mood strike you. In this era of the iPod and niche marketing, such flexibility seems nothing if not timely.

Tealights
We hear from Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar guru Matteus Frankovich that his longtime partner El Duce will soon head for the chillier climes of New York City. We cannot imagine what that major city has to offer that our perfect little town does not, but to each his own. He will, apparently, continue to book musical acts for the teahouse.
    In happier news, Frankovich tells us he’s opening a second tea establishment in that other perfect little town, Staunton. It’s to be guided, he says, by the following aesthetic: “More tea, less rock.”

Ready or not
Quick updates on a few stories we’ve covered before: Zydeco, the New Orleans-themed place on the Corner owned by Walter and Alexander Slawski of The Shebeen, is now open. So is Acme Smokehouse and Barbecue Company, the reincarnation, by Christian Trendel, of his former Rivanna Grill on 29N. And old-Charlottesville standby Tiffany’s Seafood will be coming online in its new Seminole Square spot, still under renovation, within a couple of weeks.

Got some restaurant scoop? Send your tips to restaurantarama@c-ville.com or call 817-2749, Ext. 48.

Achtung!  Todd Debarba, Alexander Hans Radziwill Debarba and Nicole Radziwill took top honors for their getups at Ludwig’s on Saturday.

When Restaurantarama picked up our copy of C-VILLE last week, we were shocked. Apparently, some other “writers” in this office think they have the right to “cover” food and drink. We refer, of course, to Will Goldsmith’s “story” about beer drinking which splashed itself all over the cover and purported to enlighten us all on the finer points of swilling suds.
Well, make no mistake: Restaurantarama is here to reassure you that we can throw back brewskis with the best of ’em. And, as Mr. Goldsmith may or may not have pointed out first, this is the time of year when beer drinking, as an activity, has its moment in the sun—ja, Oktoberfest, of course. To celebrate, and to reclaim our rightful status as the ONE TRUE SOURCE of restaurant news, we hereby bring you…Der Oktoberfest Roundup!
    First stop: Ludwig’s. The Fontaine Avenue standby, operating since 1970, was built by current owner Hans Gerstl’s father, bought by another family in 1980, then reclaimed by the younger Gerstl in 2003. One year later, he opened the lounge portion of the business, which caters to, as he puts it, a more “laid-back clientele.” Meaning, perhaps, people with one strap unbuttoned on their lederhosen?
    You think we’re joking, but Gerstl is actually running a contest every Saturday night as part of his Oktoberfestivities, and the way you compete is by wearing lederhosen (if you’re a herr) or a dirndl (if you’re a frau). If you’re sporting the best duds in the joint, you’ll win a trophy and a gift certificate to Ludwig’s. Even if you don’t win, you can sample a changing selection of Oktoberfest brews that might include stuff like Paulaner Oktoberfest or Erdinger Weizen Oktoberfest.
    Next stop: The Bavarian Chef, just north of the Albemarle line on Route 29N. Absolutely nothing out-of-the-ordinary is going on up there, says the Chef’s Jerome Thalwitz. “For us it’s Oktoberfest all year round,” he proclaims. Wunderbar.
    So on to South Street Brewery, where brewer Taylor Smack has a delicious tip for you: If you want to be privy to the freshest taste of his Oktoberfest lager, show up at the brewery on October 12. That’s when a new batch will hit the pint glasses (as will South Street’s harvest pumpkin ale).
    It’s enough to make you, well, drunk. Viva Oktoberfest, or something. And Will Goldsmith? We’re watching you.

Old tricks at a new dog
Last week, we promised you more details on Brian Helleberg’s reincarnation of L’Avventura, which he’s calling Il Cane Pazzo (“the crazy dog”). Mourners of the former Italian restaurant next door to Vinegar Hill Theatre will be happy to hear that a lot of its key elements will be reinstated at Il Cane.
“Half the menu will be grilled pizzas,” declares Helleberg. That’s kind of a cool sentence to hear from the mouth of a guy who owns two high-end French restaurants (Fleurie and Petit Pois). The pizzas will appease those among you who just want your old L’Avventura back. Newer territory for Il Cane will be multi-course meals of antipasti, pasta, meat and fish (and impossibly creative designer cocktails from Michael Fitzgerald, formerly of Kiki).
    Other staff—Howard Griffin in the kitchen and Scott Robinson up front—will be familiar from L’Avventura’s glory days. We’ll see what the place looks like dressed up in new clothes.

Tokyo knows
Atsushi Miura, former owner of sushi mainstay Tokyo Rose, was back in town for a couple of days recently to consult with Helen Yan, the Rose’s new owner. Miura, every Charlottesville punk’s favorite sushi chef, has no plans to move back permanently, he told us. Coincidentally, on September 26, the original Tokyo Rose—a Japanese-American woman who was accused of treason during World War II—died in Chicago.
    Miura now lives in San Francisco. Does he still hate Charlottesville, as he once famously crooned? “Yes, too boring.”