bars – C-VILLE Weekly

By Carrie Meslar

Bar seats around Charlottesville are filling up again, which means area bartenders are finally able to put pouches and to-go cups behind them and offer patrons in-person crafted cocktails. While making use of the abundance of locally produced spirits and ingredients is not new to our bartending scene, the opportunity to delight customers with creative libations has certainly taken on a whole new meaning in this summer of reopening. Growing season is in full swing—and the number of liquor producers and distillers calling Virginia home keeps growing, too. Local bartenders are happy to create cocktails to share this summer. Here’s a sampling of the best local hard stuff in town.

Espresso Martiki

The Bar: Vitae Spirits Tasting Room

The Bartender: D

The espresso martini has become a modern classic, picking you up and calming you down with each sip. Vitae Spirits’ take on the drink uses the distillery’s own coffee liqueur, a local collaboration with Mudhouse Coffee Roasters. The liqueur gets a vacation vibe with an infusion of coconut, then it’s amped up with Mudhouse cold brew, housemade orgeat, and Typhoon Bitters from D.C.’s Modern Bar Cart. It’s a powerhouse matchup that is equal parts tropical and Charlottesville.

Violet B

The Bar: Tonic

The Bartender: Cris Morales

Morales starts each Violent B by using local blueberries to create nuanced and tart flavored vodka. The brilliantly purple spirit is then shaken up with Vitae gin, lemon and demerara syrup. The end result is a cocktail with a classic sour tang and a little extra backbone thanks to the split base of vodka and gin. When asked about the source of the blueberries, the staff jokes that there couldn’t be a more local purveyor for that batch: They came from a team member’s garden.

.38 Special

The Bar: The Local

The Bartender: Alec Spidalieri

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. This stalwart of The Local’s cocktail menu is one of the first cocktails Spidalieri created when he arrived at the Belmont restaurant, and there are no plans to bid the drink farewell any time soon. A variation on the old fashioned, this particular iteration uses Bowman Brothers Virginia straight bourbon, Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur, Peychaud’s bitters, and local honey. It meets the needs of many a thirsty patron, while incorporating both a bourbon and honey brand that call Virginia home.

The Original WJ Moonshine Punch

The Bar: The Whiskey Jar

The Bartender: The Stuff of Legend

Another long-standing bar item, this deceptively powerful mixture’s popularity keeps it a menu staple. Moonshine has played a significant role in the history of drinking in America—until fairly recently it was an illegal product, only shared among friends in Mason jars with dubious labels. At the Whiskey Jar, Richmond-based Belle Isle Moonshine gets dressed up with a mix of seasonal fruit and citrus, with some dashes of orange and angostura bitters thrown in for good measure. While its staff has changed since the drink’s creation, The Jar shows no sign of slowing down, with Kayla Cohron now at the helm of the bar program.

The Bar: The Alley Light

The Bartender: Micah Lemon

The Drink: The Spruce Goose

This drink was definitely a team effort to produce. When bartender Clay Tolbert (newly departed to join the prestigious Inn At Little Washington) happened to have access to a Christmas tree farm this spring, he was joined by head bartender Micah Lemon to harvest spruce tips. The tips were then used to infuse Bomaby gin and whip up a gimlet-esq cocktail with depth and complexity. The spruced-up gin is combined with Genepy, lime, lavender syrup, wormwood tincture, and a pinch of peppermint. Those who’ve scrolled through The Alley Light’s Instagram know Lemon’s garden is the source for numerous ingredients throughout the year, and the Spruce Goose is no exception, as the lavender, wormwood, and peppermint are all products of his green thumb.

Thirst ’n howl: Wild Wolf opens second location downtown

The door, kitchen, and taps are open at Wild Wolf Brewing Company’s downtown location, hard by the railroad tracks on Second Street. The brewery and restaurant’s soft opening in the former Augustiner Hall and Garden space precedes an “official” debut on June 2.

But there’s a hitch: Due to federal regulatory snags, the Wolf can’t yet serve its own beer, a lingering mess caused by the government shutdown (remember that?). One manager said he’d been informed that the ban would be lifted on Independence Day. Oh, the irony. In the meantime, while shiny nano-brewing vats stand idle in the dining room, patrons will have to settle for frothy beverages by Deschutes, Champion, and Three Notch’d, among others.

Chef Chris Jack, formerly of Staunton’s Zynodoa Restaurant, says the Wolf’s Charlottesville menu—as opposed to the one at its flagship, in Nellysford—has been “upscaled” to fit in the mix of culinary offerings nearby on the Downtown Mall. “Out in Nellysford, we do a lot of wood-smoking, but we wanted to try something different here,” he says.

So, while you can still get a corn dog ($6) for your kid, you may also tuck into a Candy Bar Steak ($28), with creamy risotto, carrot and roasted beet purée, heirloom carrots, and orange crème fraiche. A good ol’ cheddar burger will set you back $13.50.

Patrons may sit at outdoor tables shaded by bright red umbrellas (the patio shakes a bit when trains roll by), or duck inside, where the interior is dark, sleek, and industrial, with corrugated steel walls, exposed ductwork and ceiling trusses, and lots of wood surfaces. Four big-screen TVs hang above the U-shaped bar, so this will be a haven for sports fans—and eventually, fans of Wild Wolf’s own beer.

Take two

The smallest restaurant in Charlottesville, The Flat Creperie, has re-opened. Soon after it was offered for sale in a March 22 tweet, Elise Stewart became the third owner since the popular spot first opened in 2005. The menu is suitably short at the charming ivy-covered brick box on Water Street, with four sweet and four savory offerings. We tried the Summer Veggies crepe, a thin doughy wrap stuffed with chopped red pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, olives, tomato, feta, and caramelized onions—a tasty, two-handed meal for $8.

Nibbles

Just in time for the heat wave, Greenberry’s Coffee Co. is offering a line of canned cold-brew coffees. Root 29 is open for business at the DoubleTree by Hilton Charlottesville, with small and large plates served in a glass-walled room with a long bar and a trippy fake fireplace. Early Mountain Vineyards will soon announce the arrival of a new chef to fill the role once held by Ryan Collins, now of Charlottesville’s Little Star. Patisserie Torres, the sublime pastry shop of Serge Torres, formerly of Fleurie, is shuttering after less than a year in business. The boutique Oakhurst Inn (owned by C-VILLE Weekly co-founder Bill Chapman) has revealed the imminent arrival of Oakhurst Hall, an annex with eight guest rooms and—most importantly—the Chateau Lobby Bar, where craft cocktails, light fare, and live music will be on the menu.