Lauren McRaven, who started The Flat Takeaway Crêperie (which, incidentally is getting back in gear after limited hours during all the construction along Water Street), has spent the last four years cooking crepes in probably the smallest commercial kitchen in Charlottesville (save for those on wheels). Taking on the tiny kitchen of the old Gravity Lounge, then—as part of the transformation into The Southern Café & Music Hall with partner Andy Gems—has been an easy-to-conquer challenge for her. Oh, there have been problems to solve. The basement-level space doesn’t accommodate a hood, so there’s no stove. And there’s no fryer, something you’d think necessary for an establishment with a nighttime bar and music scene. Plus, the kitchen had to get even smaller because of other renovations to the old Gravity space, including the addition of an additional rest room.
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“Music is definitely the priority, but the café is where we’ll have the most regular interaction with the public,” says Lauren McRaven, here with Southern partner Andy Gems. Her other food project is The Flat, around the corner on Water Street.“My sister came in and said, ‘This kitchen isn’t any bigger than The Flat!’” says McRaven.
The limited equipment and prep areas have made menu planning a riddle as well.
“I sat down and said, ‘Now what can I actually do in this kitchen?’” says McRaven.
She says she then asked a culinary school-trained chef friend to help her pare down the list and focus it.
“We’re called The Southern, but I didn’t want it to be all fried chicken and collard greens. We took our hummus plate, for example, and made it black-eyed pea hummus.”
Small plates, or “openers,” include other Southern-inspired savories such as oven-fried chicken biscuits, and main dishes, or “headliners,” range from large salads, such as the Caesar with local Everona Dairy sheep’s milk cheese, to sandwiches to a “BBQ Plate w/ Buttered Toast and Cole Slaw.”
McRaven also wanted to make sure the menu included fresh ingredients and was affordable, with most meals under $10. “We had to get creative. I didn’t want to just pop everything in the microwave,” says McRaven, who teamed up with Gems (former soundman for Gravity) in part to take her food service experience, which started with the Flat, to the next level.
“Music is definitely the priority, but the café is where we’ll have the most regular interaction with the public,” says McRaven whose labors of love can even be seen in the café’s new tables which she made from reclaimed wood with her father, a woodworker by trade. His handiwork can also be seen in the refurbished barn doors that now separate the café from the music hall side and the new curved bar in the cafe.
For now The Southern’s cafe is open for lunch five days a week, brunch on Sunday and during music hall events. Eventually the bar and café will remain open for dinner nightly.
Corner openings and Camino
The following places we’ve been telling you about are finally open for business: Sushi Love on Elliewood (Japanese cuisine, natch), Trinity Irish Pub on University Avenue (updated pub fare with seasonal ingredients) and Camino (“artisinal Mediterranean” from former Jarman’s Gap chef Matt Turner) on W. Market Street. So far, we’ve hit the first, where Restaurantarama and our dining companion had lunch of a generous sashimi appetizer, teriyaki bowl and tempura undon for just a smidge over $20. Sugoi!
