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?”
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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,"
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.) […]
We like the fact that our little town has a reputation for good dining and dedicated diners, because that reputation attracts still more promising restaurants. Whatever’s the opposite of a vicious cycle—a kindly cycle?—this is it. Case in point: Lemongrass, a Thai and Vietnamese place soon to open on the Corner, will be run by […]
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 […]
Little, moreLately, 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 […]
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 […]