Late afternoon light pours into The Ridley’s stylish dining room through tall street-facing glass walls, warming a dark-wood interior accented by copper features and splashes of UVA orange. Sitting in a booth, chef Robert Anglin is shy, and calm, even though service starts in just two hours. The upscale restaurant opened its doors on April 1 in The Draftsman hotel on West Main Street, and it’s Anglin’s first executive chef position.
“Patience,” says Anglin. “With food you have to be patient. What I took from my culinary school experience is patience.”
That demeanor likely serves Anglin well. Opening a new restaurant is tough under normal circumstances. When you’re developing a concept that honors an important legacy, in the middle of a global pandemic, in a food-fussy town, the pressure is on. Fortunately, the 28-year-old has been working toward this moment for years.
In November 2020, hospitality partners Warren Thompson and Ron Jordan announced their restaurant, which is named for Dr. Walter N. Ridley, the first Black University of Virginia graduate and the first Black student to receive an academic doctoral degree from a traditional Southern white college or university.
It was up to Anglin to shape a dining experience to complement the restaurant’s historical significance (a percentage of the Black-owned restaurant’s profits are donated to The Ridley Foundation). His opening menu is a celebration of familiar Southern comfort foods, elevated by lots of fresh seafood and a few flavorful surprises.
“A lot of our dishes have a little twist,” says Anglin. “I would ask people to come here and be open minded. Look for a lot of flavor in the food. There’s a lot of infused spices.”
Perfectly crusted fried green tomatoes show up in the Caprese salad and on an ample share plate piled with crab ravigote. The pork belly starter is an indulgent combo of sweetness and heat, and oysters can be enjoyed in a variety of dishes. The blackened snapper with andouille sausage, blistered tomato, and fried leeks over spicy grits stands out as an example of Anglin’s modern finesse.
Anglin leans forward with a determined look as he passionately recounts the kitchen experiences that brought him to this point in his career. His first cooking job was as a teenager at Domino’s, where he says he loved tossing pizzas. “It’s like a piece of art, watching how it comes out,” he says.
A dishwashing gig at Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards put him firmly on the culinary path. Pippin’s executive chef at the time, Amalia Scatena, nurtured Anglin’s curiosity about food and pushed him into the kitchen. “It was the black truffles that got me,” he says. “It clicked in my head and I wanted to learn more.” His commitment was so impressive that Scatena helped pay for Anglin’s formal culinary training.
Local chefs Ian and Allie Redshaw were also mentors. “Robert had all of the makings for a good chef; attention to detail, ability to do production,” says Ian. “Allie and I spoke with Robert a lot about food and the ideas behind it. From there he has used his work ethic to move up the ladder. A true showing of where self worth can take you.”
Anglin’s food education came through observation—and exploring. Counting eating as a hobby, along with rollerblading and going muddin’ in his Jeep, Anglin often crisscrosses the region to find great restaurants. He’s into sushi, Asian spices, and has tried lots of squid. He’s also tasted cicadas, but alligator was the “weirdest.” “Maybe it was the preparation,” says Anglin.
What Anglin gleans from his dining findings is that simplicity and quality ingredients are the essentials. The Ridley dish he feels best represents his style is the pork chop. “I get a local pork chop from Madison County’s Papa Weaver, brine it for eight to 12 hours with vinegar and herbs. It’s served with kale, mixed fingerling potatoes…add white wine with garlic and a splash of butter. That’s me,” says Anglin. “Plain and simple. Earthy.”
Thompson, who has served for eight years on both the Darden Foundation’s Board of Trustees and the Board of Visitors at UVA, was a financial supporter of the university’s Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, which is within walking distance of The Ridley. He says he wants to replicate the connection between food and history that happens in other places, such as the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., and its connection to Sweet Home Cafe.
Almost two months in, the COVID pandemic is easing up, and the restaurant is beginning to make its mark. “The Ridley is about bringing people together and nothing does that better than good food,” says Thompson.
As for his take on the restaurant’s fledgling chef? “The shrimp and grits is more than a meal, it’s an experience,” says Thompson. “And if you’ve never had a fried lobster tail, you are missing out on one of my favorites.”
Find The Ridley’s menu, hours, and more at www.theridleyva.com.
