Fellini’s #9 – C-VILLE Weekly

The Salad Maker opens on Market Street

In The Big Salad episode of “Seinfeld,” Elaine asks George to get her a big salad from the coffee shop. “What’s in the big salad?” George asks. “Big lettuce, big carrots, tomatoes like volleyballs,” Jerry deadpans.

You won’t get enormous salads with gargantuan vegetables at The Salad Maker at 300 E. Market St., but you will find dozens of fresh salad options. Owner Jacie Dunkel, who also owns Tin Whistle Irish Pub and Fellini’s #9, says that while the Blue Ridge Country Store on the Downtown Mall has a great lunchtime make-your-own salad bar, there aren’t many places downtown to get a quick salad for lunch or dinner, and she wanted to give customers another option, especially one with seating.

Tin Whistle chef Karen Fiedler started developing the salad recipes before handing things over to Allison Campbell, previously of Zazu’s and Revolutionary Soup.

Salads are ordered via paper menus available at the door—once you’ve snagged one, write your name on the line and circle your special or classic salad of choice, or select your own components from a hefty list of greens, proteins, cheeses, housemade dressings and more. Then, take your paper to the Create counter, and pick it up and pay—$8.95 for a special or classic, $6.95 and up for a custom—at the Produce counter when your name is called.

There’s the North Garden, with spring mix, spiced almonds, goat cheese, dried apricots, roasted red peppers and balsamic vinaigrette, as well as The Crozet steak salad with romaine and iceberg lettuces, blue cheese, marinated mushrooms, tomatoes and blue cheese dressing. There’s also a cobb, Greek, Caesar and spinach salad, and, if you’re feeling adventurous, opt for a Palmyra salad: in-season ingredients sourced from many local farmers and City Market vendors—it’ll never be the same twice. All salads come with a housemade rye cracker. And The Salad Maker also offers a daily soup, made at the Tin Whistle, and homemade brownies and cookies.

Strike while the waffle iron is hot

How do you like your waffles? With a pat of butter and a drizzle of syrup? Smothered in fruit compote and whipped cream? Scalding hot and crispy brown after a moment too long in mom’s toaster (I’m looking at you, Eggos!)?

Come winter, your preferred waffle consumption method may change with the opening of Iron Paffles and Coffee at 214 W. Water St. At Iron, a paffle—housemade puff pastry baked to flaky perfection on a waffle iron—is a bit richer and more flexible than a waffle, making it the perfect vehicle not just for syrup, caramelized cinnamon apples and whipped cream, but for sandwiches, too.

In February, owner Kathryn Matthews plans to start serving eat-in and take-out paffles such as the Made of Iron, with sausage, bacon, egg and cheese; the Rise ’N’ Iron with blueberry compote, local hickory syrup and whipped cream; the Iron Master, with Southern fried chicken and mac ’n’ cheese; and various vegetarian options. Paffles will cost around $6 each.

Tasty tidbit

Monolith Studio’s chef knives were recently named a runner-up in the Home category in Garden & Gun magazine’s seventh annual Made in the South Awards, which celebrate and encourage Southern craftspeople.

Food cart owner to open restaurants in Crozet

On Thursday, August 25, Smoked BBQ Co. served its last bite of barbecue to a long queue of hungry lunch-goers.

At least for the time being.

Smoked fans can pencil in late October for when they’ll be able to dig in to a plate of barbecue and other Southern comfort food made by Smoked owner Justin van der Linde and his sous chef, Kent Morris.

They’ll have to head to Crozet to get their fix, but the drive is as long as the wait in line to get lunch from the food cart used to be—about 20 minutes.

Smoked Kitchen and Tap will open on the ground floor of the Piedmont Place building in downtown Crozet and will offer Smoked BBQ’s signature dishes—brisket, ribs, pulled pork (dry-rubbed and sauced) and some new items, such as fried chicken, burgers, sandwiches and salads. They’ll also serve hush puppies and fries, and will have 10 local beers in rotation on tap, all highlighting the 151 trail, van der Linde says.

“It’s a massive scale-up…and I hope it’s big enough,” he says, his blue eyes wide beneath the brim of his hat. “The crowd made it happen,” he says, noting that with lines 30 to 50 people deep, the Smoked cart ran out of food almost every day by 1pm; it was a late day when they were still serving at 1:15.

The Smoked duo will also have a space on the fourth floor of the building, to be called The Rooftop, which will open a few weeks after the ground-floor restaurant and offer items like wood-fired pizzas topped with house-cured meats, plus local beers and craft cocktails well-suited to Southern food. No word yet on who will be behind the bar.

Van der Linde says they’ll get a little more experimental with The Rooftop (which has spectacular views of the mountains) but you won’t see any avocado foam here. “I like simple food,” he says. He believes there’s a movement toward simple food on the horizon, and he’s excited about it. Van der Linde plans on continuing Smoked BBQ Co. as a catering arm of the new restaurant. It’ll be a lot to manage, he says, but he’ll still wake up in the wee hours of the morning to light the coals and cook with the same motivation he’s always had—that everybody deserves good food.

Fellini’s reopens

After just more than a year away, Jacie Dunkle is back at the helm of Fellini’s #9.

Fellini’s was closed for about 10 days at the end of August while Dunkle and her husband, Gary, scrubbed tables, rehung the mirrors and pendant lamps they took down not long ago and applied for ABC and business licenses, which cannot be transferred between owners.

“I’m excited to give it back to the community the way we all remember it,” Dunkle says of the restaurant she ran for more than 10 years and sold to another family in June 2015. Former co-owner Melissa Ragland says the hand-off back to Dunkle was due to her wanting to spend more time with her family.

Fellini’s re-opened on Wednesday, August 31, but there’s still work to be done to return that former Fellini’s flair, Dunkle says. She plans on painting the walls a darker color to reintroduce a soft-lit, romantic atmosphere to the restaurant. She’s also looking for a new executive chef to add fresh, seasonal dishes to the menu. Right now is the perfect time to have a caprese salad with fresh heirloom tomatoes, and a pasta-free lasagna, where grilled squash and zucchini take the place of the wide, flat lasagna noodles, Dunkle says.

Fellini’s will continue to have its signature piano music, plus live music late on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Dunkle also plans to host First Fridays art openings, likely starting in October.

Dunkle, who also owns Tin Whistle Irish Pub, has plans to open her third restaurant on Market Street—The Salad Maker—this fall. It’ll be a grab-n-go place with a few tables, open six days a week for lunch and early dinner, so stay tuned for more on that.

But, for now, Dunkle promises that even though she’ll be zipping up and down Market Street, running Fellini’s and Tin Whistle while opening The Salad Maker, Fellini’s is “in good hands. It’ll be fine.”

Tasty Tidbits

Goes together like beer and cookies…Taste for yourself at Jack Brown’s Beer & Burger Joint on Thursday, September 8. After 6pm, buy a flight of Allagash brews and get four small bite-sized cookies to pair with each beer. Revamped happy hour…Red Pump Kitchen is changing up its happy hour specials at the bar and alfresco café from 5-7pm Wednesday through Sunday. Look for beer, select wine and cocktail specials ($4-8) and small plates such as blistered shishito peppers with spicy aioli, antipasto and flatbread, for $7 or less. Trading places…Chef John Shanesy, most recently of Parallel 38, has taken over the kitchen at Petit Pois. Extra shot… This fall, Grit Café will open a fourth location at The Shops at Stonefield, in the former Press Coffee space. Mucho Mexican…Like free guac? You’re in luck. Last week, Qdoba Mexican Eats, which serves free guacamole with its entrées, opened on Lenox Avenue, near Costco and behind The Shops at Stonefield. The fast-casual chain also features loaded tortilla soup, queso nachos, burritos, burrito bowls and more.