Crozet eats

With the Crozet Musical Festival September 30-October 2, we’re focusing our hungry appetites on our Albemarle neighbor. Here’s how to eat your way through Crozet—breakfast, lunch, dinner and beyond.—Christy Baker

Breakfast: Southern Way Café (5382 Three Notch’d Rd., 823-9450)
The Good Ole Boy Breakfast is just what you’d expect: two eggs cooked to order with your choice of bacon, sausage, fried bologna, corned beef hash or country ham. Plus, sausage gravy or home fries and biscuits or toast. You might have to adjust your John Deere belt buckle after you’re done with this one.

Lunch: Crozet Pizza (5794 Three Notch’d Rd., 823-2132)
There’s a reason why the folks over at the Food Network recently named CP’s white mushroom pie one of the best in the country. Portobello and shitake mushrooms grace this surprisingly unpretentious pizza. Tossed over a base of garlic, herbs and olive oil, it’s a must eat.

Snack and drinks: Da Luca Café and Wine Bar (450 Old Trail Dr., 205-4251)
There’s always time for tapas. Chef Josh Naber recommends the house-made potato gnocchi with local oyster mushrooms, pancetta and gorgonzola. The Spanish meatballs with olives are a popular choice, as is the artichoke gratin. And don’t forget to sample the extensive offerings of beer and wine.

Dinner: Fardowner’s Restaurant (5773 The Square, 823-1300)
Attention locavores: Local hotdogs, kielbasa and bratwurst from Arrington’s Rock Barn are a recent addition to the menu at Fardowner’s. Try the kielbasa platter with the tasty meat grilled and served with mashed potatoes and veggie of the day. Vegetarians, try the Blue Ridge mac-n-cheese, which features Goodwin Farms’ sourdough crust.

Festival food and drink
With the food, wine, and beer line-up at this year’s fest, you can eat, drink and be merry without missing a beat, or a note.

It wouldn’t be a party without hot dogs and wings, so there’ll be dogs from a vendor in Williamsburg and wings from Wild Wing Café. Anyone craving ethnic food can dig into Alex Montiel’s traditional Mexican fare from Crozet favorite La Cocina del Sol, from the comfort of their own picnic blanket. Gourmands will enjoy C&O Restaurant’s irresistible crepes and Kona Ice will be dishing up flavored shaved ice from its cheerful, Calypso-playing truck.
And, to wash it all down, there’s beer from local favorites like Starr Hill and newcomers like New Belgium Brewery, plus wine from local vineyards. In other words, plenty of choices to fuel those dancing feet.—Megan Headley

Eats in the old days
We asked Crozet historian Phil James to fill us in on the earliest eateries in the area. He said that it’s hard to know where folks ate before the turn of the 20th century. “Being a C&O depot and shipping point, they had to have a place for travelers and shippers to eat, but I don’t know where,” he said.

“By 1910, Crozet Drug Store [present-day Mudhouse] may have had a lunch counter since they were well-known for that feature in later years. In 1910, the Crozet Hotel was located upstairs over the drug store. By the 1920s, Crozet’s most progressive years, there were several restaurants.”