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

Seriously PETA?  They send out this letter to Ben and Jerry’s:

Storchen restaurant is set to unveil a menu that includes soups, stews, and sauces made with at least 75 percent breast milk procured from human donors who are paid in exchange for their milk. If Ben and Jerry’s replaced the cow’s milk in its ice cream with breast milk, your customers-and cows-would reap the benefits.

Apparently, PETA sends this giant letter to Ben and Jerry’s asking them to use breast milk instead of cow milk!??!  I can’t believe this is real and I couldn’t find a copy of the letter on the internet, but who knows.

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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by Colfer

[Credit: lehcar1477]

Introduction

Riding down by the auto parts store in Waybo, with a skinny girl in a big Rita Heyworth bullet bra riding shotgun… but I digress. If you’re going to write about Waynesboro being a different world while not coming off as a snob, you’re still being a snob– unless you mention the lesbian in the waiting room.

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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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I figured out that referencing NY Times Magazine articles and fussing over risotto recipes wen’t winning me any more popularity around here [than when I tied with BusRider for "favorite writer" in our readers poll], so here’s the cynical Lilith you know and tolerate. And yes, I did vote for myself, as a matter of fact. Do you think less of me? Oh you’re about to. I have a conscience, FYI, and it’s barely okay with… »Read More

Good morning! I made a restaurant index manually, and it took me hours! Please enjoy!

One note: I will eventually attribute each review to the proper author. Right now, the reviews are all attributed to the author of the post they fall under. For example, if I wrote a brunch review as a post, and Thor posted a comment about a restaurant I did not mention, the link to Thor’s restaurant will still be attributed to me. I just wanted to get these posted! When you search for a restaurant on our site, it will search only the posts; a comment search must be done separately. This index is a composite of posts and comments…

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Instead of clicking through one really long, difficult to navigate list, here is the summary (with our comments). 2007 brought some interesting winners for C-Ville’s Best of 2007. (Aqui Es Mexico didn’t win?!?!!?!?!?) as well as some expected ones (Happy Hour at McGrady’s). Also, Splendora’s again people, what are you thinking!? Charlottesville wants to hear your thoughts about missing categories, gripes, etc. Enjoy the list and comment!

Many of us who have foolishly vacationed/backpacked in Italy during the summer months (hottest time of the year) remember with delicious distinction what a refreshing feeling a scoop or two of your favorite gelato flavor brought to a squelching summer day. There must have been many who made this pilgrimage across the pond as there has been a gelato revolution in the US for the past couple of years.

Rounding the corners of various downtown malls in the country we are all of a sudden struck with deja vu: could it be we are back at the Piazza San Marco? No you definitely are not, but you might have found yourself at one of Charlottesville’s many gelato outlets. Walking in these mostly modern establishments, you are greeted by pans, not tubs of Italian ice cream: gelato. But not all gelati are made equal. Cville Magazine attempts to create this distinction with the Best of C-VILLE award, but I think they have it wrong.

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