A late start this week gave me the perfect excuse to finally visit the new Milano.  I know, Milano and its siamese twin furniture store, moved a while ago, but its now out of my normal path and I have neglected it until now.  The new space is wonderful…expansive in a true coffee shop style, yet not overly yuppy like Mudhouse.  They also have free wifi so you can ditch your cubicle and come on down for some caffeine infused work.  Their menu is more expansive now offering different types of pannini’s, waffles and of course their always amazing gelato.

Espresso Still Rocks

I decided to grab an espresso and granola to go.  I opted for the “smooth” espresso (the other choice was “bold”).  Recently I have been playing with different varieties of Nespresso, so my coffee palate has become smarter.  Milano’s “smooth” is almost a Nespresso “bold” (roasted longer…).  It was great espresso with a slightly acidic finish.  I can’t imagine the stress a coffee shop owner goes through in selecting which beans they will use for a month/season/year.  It was made with one of those fancy automatic machines.  What that means is the espresso should always be consistent and it is made in a jiffy.  The downside is it takes the “art” out of making the espresso (how much coffee to put in the machine and how tightly you need to pack it) and if you order a latte and they steam the milk for you, you won’t get that nostalgic “whoooosh shshshshshshshs cacacacacacaca shshhhhhh” sound.  You know what I am talking about.  That’s kind of nice isn’t it?  I always like to see Tony at Cubano making a cortadito (espresso with a tad of milk and tons of sugar in an espresso sized cup-FREAKING AWESOME).  When he steams the tiny bit of milk, it looks like he is conducting a symphony…”almost there…almost, a little more, and BAM!  Perfectly steamed milk”.  I am a little off-topic.  Milano still makes a sweet sweet espresso and still uses Lavazza beans.

Granola Leaves a Lot to be Desired

And on to the main event.  They now have granola with yogurt and berries.  A parfait if you will.  The difference between this one and McDonald’s is that they are made to order so you don’t have any nasty berry juice infiltrating the beauty of the white yogurt.  I had high hopes for this granola.  »Read More

Wow, cville has its very own Chocolate Festival this week combined with the Chocolate Chase 5K run/walk.  So they expect us to eat chocolate and run 5 kilometers, and then eat more chocolate.  Shit, sign me up!  If you want to participate please show up at Lee Park at 930AM.

You can sign up for the run here, and read more about this chocolate madness here.

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[pic from Darwin Bell on Flickr]

I know, the C-VILLE Weekly has given Splendora the “Best Dessert and Best Frozen Treat” award on numerous occasions, but a lot of readers on this site disagreed with that award and for good reason. I heard that Splendora was somehow “back” and their gelato was amazing now. Seems like an impossible feat for a place that didn’t seem to have a clue about quality gelato.
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I’m sick and tired of wondering up and down the mall, thinking to myself, “wow, it is such a wonderful morning outside and I would really like an espresso and a pastry.” I’m reasonably happy with the espresso situation, but the available pastries don’t compliment a morning coffee.  We’ve got donuts, cookies, crazy cakes and a lot more, but I ask you, my dear Charlottesvillains, where is the Pâtisserie?

Is the skillset too difficult to learn?  Does Charlottesville’s relatively small size not justify a quality pastry chef?  I’ve wondered this for 5 years now and I can’t seem to come up with an answer.  Perhaps it’s not attractive for a well-trained patissier to come to a little town like Charlottesville. But, with desserts that cost $7 to $10 at most of the higher end restaurants in town,  you think this would be an attractive business opportunity.

So, here is my proposal for the brave epicurean/entrepreneur who wishes to recruit an ambitious pastry chef to Charlottesville:

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Charlottesville has a new cookie and cupcake bakery to be excited about: Cappellino’s Crazy Cakes which is located across from Fluerie on Third Street (the newly bricked side-street on the Downtown Mall).

I didn’t really know I would be giving this place a review, but I was a little hungry and curious about Charlottesville latest dessert trend. Between the famous Cupcakes & Co sweets at Feast, the replacement for those cupcakes at Feast (they told me that the girls couldn’t keep up with demand), cupcake Friday’s at Mudhouse, and now Cappellino’s, we’ve got A LOT of cupcakes in this town.

In addition to cupcakes, Cappellino’s also offers a host of amazing gourmet sweets: decorated cakes which look like the Mad Hatter (and too many other things to write), many types of cookies and poundcakes. The store is owned and run by brother and sister, Dotty and Frank Cappellino. They told me they would offer samples everyday, focus on offering high quality ingredients and were hesitant to let coffee shops sell their sweets because they were concerned about proper storage and freshness.

How did everything taste?

I sampled a little too much. As one of the reviewers from the Baked Goods Brigade’s Great Charlottesville Cookie Roundup, I can honestly say that Dotty’s cookies would take a medal home and beat out most of the competition. I don’t know if they would beat Feast’s Molasses cookie, and I will take applicants to reform the Baked Goods Brigade to see if we need to crown a new winner. There were no aluminum tastes, the cookies were cooked just right and the flavors were well balanced. They have a banana chocolate that was so kickass, I can’t even begin… Their oatmeal cranberry was also excellent (though, I’d recommend slightly less cranberry and some orange peel).

The cupcakes are going to give Cupcake & Co a run for its money. I think it would be wise to do a cupcake roundup, but Cappellino’s has some very unique flavors. For instance, as I was leaving they brought out the Creamsicle cupcakes. Frank said his Red Velvet were the best.

Anyway, head on by. Cappellino’s is open during the week starting at 11AM. Let us know what you think. They have tons of samples for you, so don’t be shy!

Full slideshow after the break…

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While we are in love with Spudnuts, we did check out Carpe Donut, a donut cart that sits in the parking lot behind Wachovia on the downtown mall. Matt, the owner, is awesome. He’ll give you a good talking while you enjoy his “crack-cocaine.”

The donuts are all natural, taste very real and 100% edible. I’m happy that we have a sweet donut place on the mall. Listen to how they make the donuts (for all you tree huggers out there):

“We start with organic flour, organic eggs, local apple cider, and organic spices. Add pure sugar and non-aluminated baking powder and now you know all the ingredients. We cook all our donuts in 100% pure soybean oil. No hydrogenation, no trans-fats, no shortening. We always advise our customers to refrigerate the donuts if they are not going to eat them within a couple hours. They won’t last on the shelf for a week like those “things with holes” at the grocery store. In addition to the donuts, we serve organic coffee, cioccollata (Italian style hot chocolate), and fresh mulled hot cider. We buy milk and half and half without rGBH, organic cocoa and spices, and local cider.

Finally, all oils used to fry the donuts are being converted to environmentally friendly biofuel at the end of their frying life.”

I didn’t taste any chemicals. While the donuts aren’t quite as good as spudnuts (which means that, basically, they still rock), they are ON THE MALL!, they are very green and the dude is awesome. Did we forget to mention they serve some good coffee (which is a big plus over Spudnuts).

They are only on the mall on Friday’s, but worth the visit!

[written by Lys]

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Speaking of snow (which i LOVE), guess what snow-like summer treat is coming to the corner (okay, I know it’s a stretch)… Rita’s Water Ice! »Read More

Credit: tudodany

(It’s not your average annual report.)

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I have had a difficult time getting my head straight after reading Thor’s description of his “Knock Out” Crème Brulee, and the reactions it supposedly causes, on OY thread: Best Desserts in C’Ville?  I have half heartedly tried to read other posts, read in my wicked cliffhanger book The Raw Shark Tales and I have even tried to watch TV, to no avail.

Thor, I know the masses probably have had it with our various best dessert/salad/beer posts. But I am compelled to ask one last question in the consumables’ genre.

As a close second to sex, FOOD and right in between those two; really really delicious aphrodisiac food? Ohh Cvillain Oracle give up your recipes, please.

(Disclaimer: Thor if you can beat the Crème Brulee recipe, there is a reasonable chance that I’ll melt of my chair and I’ll have to have some skilled paramedics scrape me off the floor. Please be gentle)

We’ve (I’ve) talked about some of our favorite meals in Charlottesville, and we’ve discussed the best bunny buffets in town, but where are the best desserts?

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