Owner (Citizen Burger Bar, The Virginian Restaurant) and co-owner (Ellie’s Country Club, Belle, Ciaccia, Lucky’s Cheesesteaks, Brightside Beach Pub, Grisette, Jardin, Beaucoup)
I have small children, so waking up with them is how I like to start every day. We get going around 7am and drive to school around 8am. After that I take a look at all of the restaurant manager emails from the night before and check up on each place. Even on my perfect day, I work.
Breakfast every day would be at Fox’s, or Blue Moon, or—oh wait, where did all of our full-service diners go? What’s better than old-school, full-service breakfast eggs? Let’s go, fellow restaurateurs!
One thing I love about Charlottesville is that you can’t go anywhere without running into a friend. I feel like I’m saying hello to people all day in this town. I lived in Manhattan for a while and I can tell you that saying hello to people as you walk down the street is not well-received—like not at all—and I tried hard.
Lunch is usually on the go as I’m generally trying to grab something for one of the restaurants or I have a meeting planned. I’m biased, but I consider Belle to be perfect for lunch, and now that we’ve opened Ciaccia, I’m officially booked there forever.
If you can fit it in, a quick hike on the Monticello Trail will cure what ails ya. We are so lucky to have this trail literally like two miles from the Downtown Mall. It’s a different universe. Serenity now, amiright?
Wineries and breweries are fun (we recently went to Eastwood, which does a great job), but a happy-hour walk along the Mall is hard to beat. Perfect patio weather, so many restaurants, delicious burgers (ahem). Walking the Mall is one of my favorite things to do.
I would say the same thing about the Lawn, by the way. I take my older kid there as often as possible because it’s like going back in time. I can’t even imagine what goes through her head when staring out at that amazing layout and architecture. It can be sad. It can be awe-inspiring. Just sit there a second and think.
I live in and love Belmont. That’s why we are opening our next restaurant smack dab in the middle of it. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that Tavola was our perfect dinner spot. I love all things Italy, and Michael [Keaveny], Beth [Russell], Alicia [Simmons], and the whole team make me fall in love with restaurants again and again. If you know me then you’ll know this phrase: That place just feels good. That feeling is the goal of every small business owner.
After dinner we’d go back to our house with friends for a nightcap. We love hosting and do it often. We built our space to be an entertaining and meet-up spot; having good friends, good wine, and laughter around is perfection to us. Maybe we can even hear some music from the Ting Pavilion in the distance (another place we’re lucky to have and that we love to visit). Shoutout to Plenty Cville for making more than its fair share of cheese boards for our house! Then we put the kids to bed, open a bottle of wine, and watch a movie. Go to sleep, then repeat.
Photo: Eze Amos
