We can’t tell you exactly when Semolina Gourmet Pizza Bakers—the new Corner restaurant on W. Main Street from Basil Mediterranean Bistro owner Raif Antar—will open, because the notoriously fastidious Antar is mired in the final details and won’t be rushed.
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Decisions, decisions. Basil owner Raif Antar will serve up more than 45 different styles of pizza at his new Semolina Gourmet Pizza Bakers on the Corner. |
“That annoying last 5 percent? That’s the most important 5 percent,” says Antar, a native of Lebanon and a veteran restaurateur. He has owned nine restaurants during his tenure, including one most recently in Washington, D.C. before moving to Charlottesville to open Basil five years ago. Antar admits that his meticulousness and his insistence on doing all the design work himself—“everything in my restaurants is custom”—might make him a little “crazy.”
Crazy perhaps, but also successful. Basil, with its signature Mediterranean blue and orange paint and regional accents, is one of a handful of Corner restaurants that has developed a loyal following that extends beyond the UVA student population. Its reliable delivery and take-out service can take some of the credit for that. The same set of drivers will serve both Basil and Semolina from the 14th Street parking garage that sits between the two businesses. Antar says he’d already been busy planning a second Charlottesville restaurant (a new high-end place on Route 29—more on that below) and hadn’t until very recently planned to start Semolina. When, earlier this year, Pacino’s Deli vacated the narrow spot where Semolina now sits, however, Antar says, “I just had to grab it” and capitalize on his existing Basil systems just a block away, as well as expand his footprint (both dining rooms have about 45 seats). Opening a second, nearby Corner establishment also gives him the chance to bring back the quirky, Wolfgang Puck-like gourmet pizza combinations he’d started serving at Basil three years ago until the time-consuming pies almost crashed his kitchen and he had to stop.
“I’d have doctors not making it back to work in time after ordering a sandwich because someone at the table ordered a pizza.”
Those who miss Basil’s interesting Greek, Turkish and even Moroccan-inspired pizzas will find familiar favorites and then some at Semolina. The “crazy” long list of over 45 pizzas in 8" and 12" sizes (no slices) divide into 1) “Basics and Vegetables,” from the classic Margarita to a “Fico,” which has Malucci ricotta, honey, balsamic glaze, figs and arugula; 2) Meat (toppings include sirloin steak, salami Genoa and grilled lamb strips); 3) Sausage, all varieties of which are made in house; and 4) Seafood, with toppings including baby clams, smoked oysters and even Langostino lobster. There are also dessert pizzas, appetizers, salads, seasonal panini and other classic Italian desserts. In addition to Italian wines, Antar is offering over 200 bottles and 12 taps of beer from around the world—a beverage operation extensive enough that it has its own logo and name: Birreria Semolina.
Antar says his other new fine dining restaurant will feature French-Lebanese cuisine and open next summer in the new Rivanna Plaza strip mall, which shares a site with Kegler Bowling Alley. More juice on that to come.
