All this talk about fresh hand-made pasta was just too much yesterday so I went out to Mona Lisa to see what the place was all about. I imagined something very teeny-tiny, and was instead surprised by a large Italian-import market. For those of you that have had the good luck to live or travel in Italy, and crave something from the “old world”, come check out Mona Lisa. I guarantee its not anywhere near as pretentious as all of you think Foods Of All Nations is.

The first thing you notice when you walk in are the pizza’s hanging out on the front-counter. They looked dam good. If I had known this was a semi-lunch spot I would have skipped Sticks and had pizza instead. A couple people were there just for the pizza, so it should be at least decent.

»Read More

Popularity: 29% [?]

We are all up in arms about gas prices and no one has mentioned rising food prices in cville…lunch for 2 at a fast food place like Sticks was $20!? Wow! But, it was a great, filling lunch.

»Read More

Popularity: 38% [?]

Amidst all the fancy and wannabe on the edge restaurants in cville, there is one place that wants to take you back to a simpler time when all you wanted at an Italian restaurant was spaghetti and meatballs, or chicken parmigiana. Vivace in Ivy fits the bill and then some.

»Read More

Popularity: 36% [?]

Out and about at the downtown market yesterday, the little free-loader in me awoke and asked me if I thought I could sample enough food in cville for free without paying for it. I have a couple pieces to the puzzle but am definitely missing some. Here is what I have so far:

Breakfast

• Albemarle Baking Company: they have samples of 3-4 baked goods at the counter…just play nice and see they don’t notice you taking more than one!

Appetizers

• Feast!: As you enter head towards the meat/cheese counter. There is a table setup in front of the display case with various delicious offerings such as pickled okra, sweet german pickles, and usually at least one kind of cheese (sometimes 2-3) with ABC bread

Lunch

• Whole Foods Market: This is actually a one-stop shop for the freeloader in all of us. Go around lunch time to sample just about everything.

Desserts

• Splendora’s: so many flavors, so little time…there has to be a limit here!
• Milano: so few flavors makes picking a gelato sample very easy
• Gearhart’s Chocolates: a small table on the wall to the left of the main display case usually has pieces of their solid chocolate bars for sample. By pieces I mean chocolate chip size samples. But if any of you have had Gearhart’s, one little morsel is usually enough to satisfy a craving. This week they have their “Maya” bar for sampling

As you can see I am short of enough places on this list to give you all choices…so, what did I miss?
Flickr Photo

Popularity: 25% [?]

We are at the turning point where muggy weather turns to blistering summer heat. For those dreary days we all turn to food that makes us gain weight so we can complain about something else besides the weather. Southern food does the trick for me, heavy, deep and full of love.

Despite my previous post on my awful experience at Blue Moon due to smokers being smokers, I went back (sat in the back), and tried to get a real Southern breakfast. I tried the sausage gravy and biscuits. It was flipping amazing. The biscuits were delicious, and the gravy was a delicate balance of grease, sausage and flour….oh nothing better on a Saturday morning than this. This is another example of a simple dish done well.

Another cville hotspot for this southern belle is the Omni Hotel’s breakfast buffet at the Point Restaurant. It would be a crime to discover they don’t offer it anymore, but if they still do, try their biscuits and gravy at the buffet. Thor wrote about his experience there awhile ago, and after trying the gravy myself (which has a nice selection of sautéed mushrooms), I have to agree. Where else can we get this decadent dish in cville, and how unique is it? So far we have mushrooms and sausage…mmmm….sausage…. (insert tartare jokes here, dam you all!);)

Photo courtesy of Daxiang Stef on Flickr.

Popularity: 21% [?]

So I am officially ending my vacation, breaking the chains of my previous imprisonment, and embracing the food scene in full force. I am skinny, weak and oh so hungry. I was told by my superiors that Cville wasn’t ready for a trigger happy food critic…some of you think otherwise.

Let’s clear up some air over here. First a little background on myself so you don’t think I am completely full of the shizzle. I was born in this country to a family of European parents who absolutely love food. If there was one time in the day where we can break the Guinness Book of World Records record for loudest conversation, it was definitely at the dinner table. Eating is not just a necessity for me, it’s life. It is the conductor to my life’s symphony. My parents have spent the last 30 years in the food business with me at their side, so inevitably, I have a particularly strong connection with food.

»Read More

Popularity: 31% [?]

I always hear this hoopla around the UVa honor code…how its so great and magically delicious, and EVERYONE at U.Va. is the most ethical and honest person in the world…oh, and how its so strict: one strike and you’re out. Well, that doesn’t seem to be the case. The Hook reports that 3rd year cornerback Michael Brown was involved in an automobile break-in early February. (edit) If convicted, this would not be his first crime either (close edit). He plead guilty to trespassing and starting a fight at the Delta Upsilon fraternity his freshman year. It’s usually in the movies where star-athletes are protected by the almighty football coach and overbearing provost. Could the apple fall that close to the tree? U.Va. uses the following criteria to determine if an honor violation has occurred:

»Read More

Popularity: 24% [?]

Two weeks ago we told you about how clever snakehead fish have become, and how you MUST shoot them on site, no questions asked. It seems we overlooked another culprit….INVASIVE PLANT SPECIES! (queue screaming mothers and mayhem in the downtown mall). I know, this definitely sounds like something out of a Tom Cruise movie. Fear not, we have our own savior…

»Read More

Popularity: 18% [?]

I had the misfortune of dining at Bohème this past weekend. I know…the location and menu seem inspiring, but it just wasn’t my lucky evening. Our table might have had a clue when we began ordering drinks. Besides a bottle of delicious Spanish red, we asked for sparkling water. I would expect Evian or Pelegrino, but they surprised me with VOSS. For some reason I was under the impression VOSS was some yuppy water from California that drunk celebrities spray on their friends when the Cristal runs dry. Did you know its from Norway? Our waiter did, and we all stared at each other in disbelief…WTF are we doing drinking Norwegian water in cville?

»Read More

Popularity: 37% [?]

Our cousins across the pond have caught their first snakehead fish. Have any of these been caught near cville? If so, please send us the location. Its always been my dream to fish with a shotgun, and be rewarded for it. If you see this fish, please kill it, take a picture (s) along with a short note about the battle and weapon of choice and email it to cVillain.com:

Popularity: 21% [?]