I went out every night this week. I am in pain right now.
South Street. Mas. X Lounge. Blue Light. Ten. Escafe. Etc.
Here’s my latest take on the scene:
We have options. Every phone conversation planning the night resulted in, “I just named three bars, so you have to choose one.” Instead of just ordering my standard drinks, I looked at each of the latter restaurants’ cocktail menus as though I were seeing them for the first time. They’re long!
Service is strong. In Charlottesville, mediocre service stands out to me. I’ve come to expect great service.
Charlottesville is pricy. It just is.
Parking’s not that bad. Use either of the two garages instead of circling the blocks for parallel spaces.
The scene ends early on week nights. Even 216 had locked gates at 1:30 a.m. last night!
Ok.. So, I’ll start with admitting a complete and deep shame for even posting this.
I’ve been on crutches for over 2 months now and up to this point, they have confined me to a bar-less lifestyle. I’ll probably be requiring them for at least another month or two. Now that my cast is off, I’m getting a bit stir crazy and need to have a little bar time to bring me back to level. Up to this point, my phobia has been trying to maneuver a packed bar on crutches and getting knocked off-balance, or even possibly forgetting about the whole broken foot thing myself and trying to stand up normally. Either one could reset the clock and get me back in a cast, or God forbid… back into surgery. The question that I pose to you is this:
Where are some bar suggestions that consist of as few floors/levels as possible?
It’s hard to say I’m sorry. But I’m sorry. If you have not been to Mas in the past couple of months because of my criticism veiled in sexual metaphor eight months ago, I want you to know that Mas and I are back on, after all that we’ve been through.
Hot and heavy.
I mean that literally this time. My servers warn against handling the plates when they arrive because they are hot, and also heavy. Also, we recently ordered a variation on a rilleno in which two spicy poblano peppers were stuffed with turkey and breading and grilled, then placed over a rich but delicate cream sauce– it was very hot and heavy. The carne asada too. Perfect, no exaggeration.
The service the past few times I’ve gone is the best I’ve ever experienced, too. C, C, L, J, B, and the rest are just salt of the earth. And I’m not saying that figuratively, because it’s accepted that human blood is about 0.9 percent sodium chloride.
So, dear readers, please go to Mas, and send them my love.
I’ve always had this thing for OXO. A thing. I’m serious. It actually started several years ago. I couldn’t get a job there– they had the staff they needed. I found work elsewhere, but I just wanted to be “around” OXO, and I couldn’t afford the date.
I finally acted on the crush earlier this year. I went just for the Artini, just to express some interest. There was something there– the chemistry, the buzz. But I was trying to play hard to get, so I waited before going back for dinner. When I did, my crush got worse. I had to go back. I didn’t think OXO knew I liked it so much, but then I started talking about night scenes needing dance floors, and it was like OXO wanted me there. Sparkling wine for five dollars? Love.
Ok folks, I figured it was about time to tell you we have penciled in 9:15PM at Zinc on Thursday, December 6th for our next cVillain Meetup. Keep reading for the deets and RSVP in comments.
I returned to Zocalo recently to see if its menu might have changed for the season, and it has slightly. I suggest going back to the restaurant always, because the food, atmosphere, and service really do warrant status as Charlottesville’s favorite in the C-VILLE best-of poll for a third consecutive year (following best new restaurant in 2004). The menu has changed only slightly– the decision to add a butternut squash soup with lump crab was a very good one, and the decision to keep the rest of the menu mostly intact is a good one as well. Have you had the pork with fois gras sauce yet?
A long “specialty martinis” selection caught my attention, but I do not know how new they are. I highly recommend the Parliament, a sweet basil and lime flavored martini.
The most refreshing sight was a packed bar. I’ve always enjoyed Zocalo but tend to see it as more of a hot spot in the patio season. Not so, by the looks of it this weekend– the singles were out.
I love reading the Hook and C-VILLE’s “Dish” and “Restaurantarama” features each week. I don’t doubt for a second that their sources are legitimate –they’re the restauranteurs themselves!– but sometimes, things just change. Do you know the rest of the story with these items?
Arch’s on 29 North?
C-VILLE, 2006
C-VILLE did an advance on an Emmet Street location for Arch’s in 2006. I’d eat at Arch’s more if there was a location with fewer college canoodlers in line in front of me. If you build it, I will come!
Bar scene at Petit Pois?
The Hook, June 2005
Apparently, when Brian and Brice opened Petit Pois in 2005, they foresaw a late night bar scene. This, we know, is not the case, unless we count summer nights when employees and co. hang out on the patio.
Boheme’s kitchen caters?
C-VILLE, November 2006
When Restaurantarama announced Boheme’s arrival to Market Street last year, the owners said “half-seriously” that it was a “front” for their preexistent catering business, Paragon Catering. A Google search of the business confirmed that the owners are the same but produced an address on Route 20 (and a website).
Get mod?
C-VILLE, December 2006
When C-VILLE interviewed Derek Breen about his plans for the blue building on Elliewood Avenue, “Mod,” food was in the picture. But a visit to the corner or the website will suggest otherwise. The original plan sounded cool, but I thinK Charlottesville does fine without a venue specifically for brooding and pontification. We can do that anywhere, and boy do we!
Midnight sushi?
The Hook, March 2004
The Dish announced Blue Light would offer a late-night sushi menu back in 2004. I must have been on hiatus (or not yet cool enough to be hanging out there) because I don’t remember it happening. I’m not saying it didn’t. I just want to know why it didn’t last!
It has been months since I last reviewed Zinc, though you can see from our restaurant index that we’ve hardly been ignoring it.
Speculations abound still about its ability to outlast the curse of the failed businesses that preceded it, but I saw a very healthy crowd at Zinc on the evening I went.
Zinc’s menu is a fast read, so to speak. A salad of bibb lettuce and chevre. Steak frites. Salmon with lentils. A side of bread and salted butter. (There are more items, but the point is that each does not warrant a full paragraph of description.) I gravitate to menus with a lot going on in each dish, which is to say, many local menus. It struck me as ironic that Zinc’s menu was a departure from that. So is more really more?
Not necessarily. Where else in Charlottesville will I find blood sausage, mussels steamed in blue cheese, and ice wine? These are very unique delicacies that I would hate to see convoluted by contrived garnishes or sides. Also, the bread comes from the Albemarle Baking Company, which impresses me as much for being a show of local businesses supporting and showcasing each other as it does for taste. Zinc is unpretentious, but it still feels like a special occasion to be there. I like that. The fare is straightforward, honest, and carefully portioned, prepared, and cooked. It’s the idea of a simple pleasure done really, really well that is where I think its strength lies.
A couple of notes that don’t fit in with my flowery language for the review:
One more simple pleasure from Zinc worth mentioning: will someone please confirm that Ghostland Observatory is, in fact, on the music rotation? “Best Won’t Do” maybe?
Zinc is one to add to the list of restaurants offering a seasonal cocktail, and theirs is a cider. It sounded exciting, but I got a Belgian beer (shocking).
I have had an ice wine “cocktail” on travel, and it was insulting to ice wine everywhere.
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