C&O Restaurant.

(I sat on this review for a few days, for a myriad of reasons. In the end, my gut told me to let it go. As it stands. Stand or fall. Let the flames begin)

Have you ever had so many people recommend a restaurant you were scared to go? Because there's no way it could live up to itself? Sometimes hearing SO much about a place puts me off. I've been burned before. By people who adore a place and recommend, recommend, recommend. Then I go and think, "What's the big deal?" or worse, "OMG....Really?!" Our trip to the C&O Restaurant was like that (the FORMER not the latter). The experience was okay, but with some major hiccups. Definitely not the ecstasy-inducing meal I was led to believe I would have. For $25/person, it was decent. If I had to pay more it wouldn't have been worth it.

In Charlottesville, the C&O is an institution. From talking to people I get the idea it's been around awhile. If you're from Charlottesville, you've either eaten there or known someone who's worked there. On its website there are accolades upon accolades, including one from Craig Claiborne (friend of Julia Child and Jacques Pépin, and former food editor for The New York Times). Except ol' Craig passed away almost 10 years ago which means he probably dined there 15 or 20. What accolades have they gathered lately?

Since we moved here from Pittsburgh, SO many people have said, "Have you BEEN to C&O? You really oughta go." So much so I've considered lying about it. "Oh, of COURSE, we've been, it's divine." My sister and her husband still talk about their anniversary dinner - in NINETEEN NINETY SIX - and indeed it sounded divine. A multi-course French meal complete with cheese course and about every "acootraymuh" you could ask for. Talked with someone "in the know" who told me this was the original owner's intention - he wanted a complete French experience on the Downtown Mall back when there wasn't really anything else ON the Downtown Mall. Fine french dining. Cork the wine, they will come.*

So......as a result of all the hooplah, Hubby and I arrived, with high expectations, as part of Cville's first-ever Restaurant Week. On the LAST day of the event, as this was the only reservation we could get. A Sunday evening, which we found incredibly pleasant. No crowds (well, yeah, crowds tonight because of Restaurant Week) better parking, a nice switchup to Friday/Saturday.

We requested a seat on the back terrace - the weather had been unseasonably cool all weekend, and it felt nice to be able to enjoy a leisurely dinner outdoors in Mid-July. The terrace was a weird combination of fine al fresco dining mixed with your college roommate's back porch. Fancy iron torches lit aflame with gravel underneath. Elegance meets Tiki-bar meets Richmond divebar whose patio opens up onto Grace Street alley circa 1988.**

Asked for a rosé, which seemed appropriate since this WAS a French restaurant and it was summer. After a long, long length of time, during which our appetizers arrived and we began to eat them, the wine arrived. Not the one we asked for ("Our sommelier RARELY carries that vintage." Okaaaaay, then why do they have it on the menu?) but all right nonetheless. Which brings me to the service. I know everyone in Cville complains about the lack of service and I don't want to beat the issue to death, but I've feel I've got to bring it up here. The service at C&O appeared not just laid back, not just slow, but positively APATHETIC. The waiter brings a different bottle of wine (without asking if it is okay) and then when he tells us the other vintage is rarely carried here, just shrugs his shoulders like, "Not my problem." I try to engage him in conversation several times during the course of the meal (because I'm mouthy, chatty, overfriendly to the point of obnoxious sometimes which Hubby finds endearing, I HOPE :-) but am met with the same shoulder shrug. As if to say, "Eh, that's nice." It leaves us both flat. The best dinners are when you leave knowing the waiter's name and vow to return, sitting only in their section. Not to say the service was BAD, but for a fine dining establishment? It was lacking a definite something...

On to the food...

Appetizers
C&O Vegetable Soup - Okay, seriously, what is the big deal. It was fine, but to me tasted like canned vegetable soup that had been possibly kicked up a notch by the addition of some homemade vegetable stock. NOT swoonworthy.

Housemade gnocchi with slow-roasted tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms and fresh ricotta - These were fine, not bad, but not great either. Mushrooms in July? Okay. The gnocchi, to the chefs' credit (I understand there are many) were light and fluffy, but there was a LOT going on with that plate. The gnocchi were positively covered with the tomatoes and mushrooms, and hard as we looked, we didn't see any ricotta.

Entrees
Steak chinoise with fresh ginger, tamari, and scallion cream sauce - Ginger? What ginger? Tamari? Are you sure? The sauce on this dish tasted, seriously, like someone had opened a jar of Heinz white gravy and dumped it on top. I tasted no ginger or tamari anywhere. And the steak, which was cut into strips, was pink, but very tough and hard to cut. We kept trying to guess what cut of meat they used. An underwhelming dish.

Roasted Niman Ranch chicken with sweet potato souffle and Armagnac jus - FINALLY. Here we have it ladies and germs, THE BEST DISH OF THE EVENING BY FAR!!! Whoo hoo! I wanted to jump up and down in my chair then run to the kitchen and hug the chef so tightly he or she's eyeballs would pop out. It was like going to see a play where all the actors suck, but one little secondary actor steals the show. This chicken was perfect. A whole half chicken, roasted perfectly. The skin was brown and crispy while the insides were moist and juicy. Not oversalted, not dry. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. I've said it before and I'll say it again - roasted chicken is the hardest thing to get right. C&O got this right. Nice work! (And yes, I'm going on and on because I wanted to like this meal so MUCH, I really did and it was such a relief to finally get something up to fine dining standards). The Armagnac jus? A letdown. I couldn't detect any flavor of Armagnac. Again, it tasted like Heinz gravy from a bottle. But that's okay. The chicken was PERFECT!

Dessert
Summer peach and blueberry cobbler - I am a cobbler fanatic. So much so I have *almost* perfected it at home after years and years of trial and error (mostly error). In any case, I know a good cobbler. C&O? They need a few more years of trying I think. It had a nice flavor, but was gluey in consistency - which I think was due to their use of cornstarch (recipe in The Hook) which I don't like. And the crust? No real crust here, just a flat cookie with a sugary topping perched atop the mound of fruit. Cheaters!

Chocolate espresso pot de creme - What!?!?! I had creme brulee!!! I know it's the last day of the event, but part of the reason I picked C&O is because pot de creme is my favorite dessert in the whole wide entirety of the world as we know it. To end up eating a run-of-the-mill creme brulee (and it was believe me, I've made better in my house and that's not saying a whole helluva lot) is a letdown.

No coffee offered, no after dinner drinks even though our meal took less than two hours and the sun was still high in the sky. Sigh. Fine......we walked out into the sun thinking, "Huh? THAT was what all the fuss was about?"

It's not that C&O is a bad restaurant - it isn't. I just get the feeling it was a lot better YEARS ago. All those awards, all that old, polished wood is being held up to the light as if it were still a shiny diamond. When now, it's more Diamelle. Maybe I'm being unfair. Maybe it's unfair to visit such an award-winning place during a Restaurant Week when there are fixed menus (a là Valentine's Day) and the focus is on packing them in, filling all the reservations, bringing in new foodies to get them hooked, instead of focusing on service and quality food. I dunno. We'll probably go back. But my expectations will be a lot lower which is sad.

I think an anonymous reviewer at Tripadvisor put it best about C&O Restaurant. "I almost gave this 5 stars for sentimental reasons." For SENTIMENTAL reasons? That's terrible! And this person "almost" gave them, which means they didn't. You have to wonder why...

*Just had a thought - is THIS why we have so many French restaurants in Cville? Because they all thought they could replicate what C&O did back in the day? Hmmm.....
**Earned my drinking stripes in places like these

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l'étoile.

Prix fixe is a good thing! As I stated so emphatically in my last post I firmly believe in this day of "I can barely afford take-out pizza!" if we want to save our favorite restaurants from closing (which seems to be a tendency regardless of the economic weather) they really should think about establishing a regular, fixed menu at least one night per week.

L'étoile does this already. Every Tuesday they serve a 3-course, prix fixe menu for $27. That means for $27, you can choose one appetizer, one main, and one dessert from the selections offered (usually 2 or 3 in each category). As part of Cville's first-ever Restaurant Week, this is exactly what Hubby and I did on the next to last day of the event - the ONLY reservation we could get. For the special event price of $25/person, we had a very nice meal indeed. Not without some flaws, but very nice nevertheless. So nice that we tucked the little reminder card about the $27 Tuesday night away for a later day - definitely to be done at some point when we just don't feel like cooking and need a pick-me-up.

We arrived right when they opened. Two couples were ahead of us, so we were left waiting a few minutes. No problem, but how about offering this thirsty couple a drink? Upsell dude! Instead we sat in the loveseat near the bar and flipped through old copies of Garden and Guns. Yep. You heard right. MAGAZINES. Is this a doctor's office? Maybe it's just me, but I thought it was kinda weird.

After we were seated upstairs we perused the wine list, choosing a nice red Sancerre from the Loire valley. Rather, I chose a Sancerre (it's one of my favorite white wines) and when the waiter pointed out this was in fact RED I felt like a complete ignoramus. But figured, what the hell, it would still go with what we were eating, right?* I got not only a wine lesson from a very nice waiter (red Sancerre is similar to Pinot) but a lovely wine.

Prior to our first course we were served an amuse bouche of duck confit with pickled grape and lava salt. LOVELY. And very lovely with the wine. The earthy meat mixed nicely with the sweet/sour taste of the grape. The salty finish was delightful, and inventive. Those damn creative kids. And we didn't even have to pay $10 extra!**

Hubby and I purposely order something different so we can taste as many choices as possible. What follows is a play-by-play synopsis:

First course
Sweetbreads with bacon and local Lion's Mane mushrooms - Let me say from the start I am a sweetbreads FANATIC. The first time I had these delicious little offal at Petrus in London (now Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley) I loved them. Now, every time I see them on a menu I order. Hubby and I actually fought over who would get to order them at l'étoile (he's a fanatic too). Since I've got a blog, I won. L'étoile's sweetbreads were everything I could've asked for - nutty, buttery, a little gamey with a hint of smokiness on the back end. Great with the wine which had opened up nicely by now. Had never had Lion's Mane mushrooms before - they resemble shiitakes but lack the depth of umami flavor that shiitakes have for me.

Shrimp & grits with petit mirepoix & roasted tomato, house-cured bacon - these were good. The grits were especially good, but I admit the critic part of me wondered if they were good because of the roasted tomatoes and mirepoix, or just because a huge amount of heavy cream was used to cook the grits. I don't know this for a fact, but they were like ICE CREAM-type creamy. A GOOD thing, mind you, but just sayin' anything tastes good with enough heavy cream. The shrimp were simply much too salty. Cooked perfectly, but salty.

Second course:
Pan-roasted chicken breast*** with stone-ground grits and early Summer ragu of smoked tomatoes, local greens, squash, and pearl onion - Okay, this guy can WORK a smoker people. At our last meal here, we had smoked scallop which was to DIE for, and these smoked tomatoes were equally delightful. Roasted tomatoes to me are little gems of deep and sweet essence of tomato-eyness, like tomato candy. But SMOKED? Mmmm.... With the grits and vegetable ragu it was to die for. Definitely swoon worthy.

Pity then that the chicken on top was dry as dust. Ever had overcooked chicken at a wedding? At a country club? Kinda like that. Completely flavorless and dry, dry, dry. I ate around it. Part of the reason I ordered chicken is that while simple, it can often be the most difficult thing to cook well. Unfortunately, they proved me right.

Trout with Virginia ham, English peas and turnips, sage & brown butter vinaigrette
Turnips? In July? Okay....not my choice, but we'll go with it. The trout is pretty good, not anything to swoon over, but serviceable. Is it too salty like the shrimp? First bite, yes, but it gets better with each bite. Gets even tastier when Hubby takes his fork, dips it in the olive oil we got with our bread (which was REALLY good btw) and sprinkles the fish with it. Peas and mashed turnips are fine, but hey hey, what's this? A sauce *UNDER* the fish and accompaniments? It's the sage and brown butter which is SWOON-worthy. Buttery but with a nice tang at the end. The acid this fish sorely needs. If it had been poured lightly over the trout it would've been perfect.

Dessert:
Peach panna cotta - FINALLY. At our last l'étoile meal I ordered something that called itself panna cotta, but was anything but. Completely inedible more like it (and it ain't "inedible cville" people). THIS panna cotta jiggled like a young nubile's bosom**** and was creamy like a custard. And tasted of vanilla. Not peach, but vanilla. But it was a nice light end to our meal, so I'll take it without any complaints.

Chocolate fondant - a completely acceptable chocolate confection resembling a flourless chocolate cake. Chocolatey and smooth, but not swoon-worthy. It went unfinished, but I blame the fact I had just made Hubby a chocolate cheesecake for his birthday. We were kind of "up to here" with chocolate desserts. They had a coconut cake option, but Hubby thinks coconut is the devil's spawn, and I was determined to give l'étoile another panna cotta chance. A nice wee pair of chocolate truffles ended our meal - and we didn't even have to PAY for them Fossett's!**

Our meal was nice, perfectly acceptable. Still, I was left with questions. Why weren't we offered coffee before dessert? Why are the appetizers at l'étoile always better than the mains? Why wasn't the patio open? Why weren't we seated downstairs since our reservation was at 5:30 and the place was empty? Not sure - would've saved that poor waiter running up and down the stairs though. And my biggest question - what is missing here ambiance-wise? The upstairs atmosphere in l'étoile is so STIFF. Like a mix of country club meets your Aunt Ida's parlor. And I'm not the only one who thinks so - almost everyone I spoke with in the days after said the same thing. They like the food at l'étoile, but there's something missing in ambiance.

When we go back I'm going to request a downstairs table and see if it's any different...heck, at least there you can get a better "people watch" view of the bar. And we will go back. Twenty-seven dollars for a 3-course meal in a fine dining establishment is a steal. And that Sancerre and those sweetbreads were so very lovely together...

*I live by the philosophy that if you LIKE the wine, then it automatically goes with what you are eating. Hey, never said I was a wine columnist, so there ;P
**Just read in The Hook that Fossett's is expanding their prix fixe menu by $10, but to compensate they offer you an amuse bouche. Okay.........whatev. Seems a lot of money for one bite, Bud.
***The menu just said, "Chicken," so I asked the waiter how it was prepared.
****Ever watch Top Chef Masters? That twerp from Saveur, James Oseland, once said this to Kelly Choi, the hostess. I thought she was going to smack him with a lawsuit.

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Cville Restaurant Week.

Now hear this! PRIX FIXE IS A GOOD THING! A very good thing. For the uninitiated, "prix fixe" is French for "fixed price" and in France, you see this on sandwich boards almost everywhere. In some places they even have tiered prix fixe menus ($15, $30, $50) where the courses are higher in "fancyness" the more you pay. When Hubby and I first went to Paris on a tight budget, those little sandwich boards decided what we'd be eating on a nightly basis. For not much money, we ate very well indeed.

As part of Cville's first-ever Restaurant Week, eight establishments agreed. For one week, each offered 3-course, prix fixe menus for $25. We went to two restaurants, one a new place for us (C&O) and one a return visit (l'étoile). I admit, after a less than stellar beer dinner a few months ago, I kinda wanted to give l'étoile another shot to WOW me.

How did it go? Both places had good and bad points (reviews in the next two posts, both up within the week PROMISE). Overall, it was a tad better than going out for Valentine's Day, where they have a stock menu and rarely offer up any surprises. Amateur night for foodies (like New Year's Eve is amateur night for drinkers). Don't get me wrong though. Sure was nice to eat a complete dinner with a bottle of wine and three courses, spending about what we used to spend at the Sharp Edge Beer Emporium in Pittsburgh on 2-3 beers each and 2 burgers (expensive Belgian drafts mind you, but still).

Other folks must think prix fixe should be a fixture as well. Reservations SOLD OUT. They ARE planning a 2nd Restaurant Week for next summer, and heard through the grapevine both Fossett's and Cassis decided to extend their prix fixe prices for an additional week (Fossett's raising theirs to $35). At l'étoile, they serve 3-course prix fixe dinners for $27 EVERY Tuesday night. How do I know? A nice card advertising that fact was slipped in with our check. Nice touch. Hubby tucked it into his wallet to remind us, 'cause we'll be back. Why the arbitrary amount of $27? Hmm....

A few days later, I saw a commercial for Applebee's - advertising its own 3-course menu for $20. Damn! And to think I could've have eaten at Applebee's at SAVED $5. Sheesh...

I'll say it again. Charlottesville! Now hear this! If you want to fill your restaurant tables, offer a prix fixe menu, EVERY NIGHT OF THE WEEK. Take a hint from all those French restaurants in Paris - heck, most of our restaurants ARE French anyway (or seem to be). GO PRIX FIXE!

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Not now, I'm TwEATing...

Some of you may have noticed I added links to a Facebook fan page, as well as Twitter profile to the ol' blog. My little site's first foray into the wonderful world of social media - where I pretend I'm a professional and know EXACTLY what I'm doing. Follow me down into the dark depths of food tweets...if you DARE! Dum dum dum! Insert scary music here - and I'm sorry - major aside - but is there any cuter illustration than the Twitter fail whale?

Actually, as I've experimented and played around with things, it's kinda fun. Have to play around on my off hours, as I'm currently unable to hire ad executives to create a brand FOR me. Imagining a bunch of guys in suits swigging whiskey and chain smoking, pacing their Madison Avenue offices, pondering what exactly makes edible cville TICK?! Hmmm... And yes, I'm a Mad Men fanatic. August 16th. Season Three.

I like to Tweet okay, but LOVE to update my Facebook fan page status! It's like insta-mini-blogging on crack! Throughout my day I come across other food blogs, snippets of recipes, articles, even video related to food. I think it might interest people, and I want to share it. Usually, I bookmark it to come blog about later. Except I never do. You should SEE the number of Xmarks I've got. It's embarrassing. The restaurant reviews get scribbled down on notepads, or on the backs of receipts, or on scraps of napkin. I have something physical, in my hand, and so it gets done. Eventually. When I remember. Or my nagging little voice inside reminds me I'm procrastinating and playing Restaurant City when I should be writing (sheepish grin).

But with the edible cville fan page I can give you the foodie goods as it happens! Did Hubby make something cool with our CSA stash this week? Snap a photo, upload it, post an update, done! Eat something yummy at Eppie's for lunch? Update, done. Just happen to find a great new lunch cart on the Downtown Mall one day without even looking? Update, done.

Shrink that status down to 140 characters or less for Twitter, done. Kinda hate the Twitter limitation (I'm a wordy girl) but the discipline is good exercise. It's eating brussel sprouts when you want Ben and Jerry's Karamel Sutra. Good for you, but a challenge to do. I tend to gorge when it comes to words. And Karamel Sutra.

So I'm still blogging (and still starting my paragraphs with "so" way too much), but if you want a play-by-play of Cville's food scene, become a fan. Follow my tweets. And by all means, give me suggestions, criticism, SOMETHING. I love to get retweeted (I've been known to clap my hands in glee, exclaiming, "HercuLES! HERCULES!") and I adore getting that thumbs up "I like this!" sign. I know, I'm a dork. But after all, it's the little things...

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The Upstairs.

Back on a Saturday in April (yes, APRIL I am woefully late), I was craving a steak. Because I hadn't had one in a while, or it might have been that I'd had my fill of hoity-toity ingredients in uppity sauces. It was probably because that Monday I was due to have surgery - minor surgery mind you, but in this day and age of anything can happen and usually does, in my subconscious I probably had a strong desire to go out and chomp down on some meat before I myself went under the knife. "Just in cases..." *

And so we found ourselves on the Downtown Mall, headed upstairs. To The Upstairs restaurant. Had read a decent review on Cvillain**, and at mention of the phrase, "bourbon tasting flight" my ears perked up like my dog's before a thunderstorm. Did someone say bourbon? Did someone say tasting flight? Did someone say The Upstairs just HAPPENS to be offering USDA Prime ribeyes and NY strip steaks for a mere $18 dollars? Almost HALF what you pay at The Downtown Grille (1/2 block away) and not nearly the quality? Does the Downtown Grille have USDA Prime? No, they don't. I checked.

And since this is JULY, I'm afraid any specific details of this dinner have floated off into the ether. So I'm going to try something new and just talk about the major stuff I remember, good and bad. A new approach to reviewing restaurants people! Months after eating there, what stays with you? Maybe I've stumbled onto a new food-blogging gimmick that will result in a movie deal, or maybe I'm just rationalizing away my laziness (I'm sure the latter). In any case, here's what I remember:

Foie gras appetizer - fine***
Nicely prepared, but a bit skimpy on the portion for the price ($12). I've had bigger slabs of this buttery delicacy elsewhere, but there is certainly enough here to get a good taste. Just maybe not the best value.

Steak - TERRIFIC. Perfectly cooked, medium rare - any more than that is sacrilege. VERY generous 12-ounce portion. Tender, juicy, nice char on the outside. Didn't need the Fred Flintstone knife they brought me, the butter one cuts right through it. Which is good because the accompanying truffle butter is to die for. Cut some steak, spear it, dip it in the butter. No changing of utensils required. Haricot verts side is fine, but with steak like this, who needs vegetables?

Creme Brulee - also fine. I've had better, I've had worse. But on that night, I wanted familiar. I wanted custard, and this stuff was good enough to fit the bill.

On to the spirits. Ah, the rye. The bourbon. To an aficionado of both, would The Upstairs represent new adventures in whiskey? Why........yes! They didn't disappoint. The selection is remarkable compared to other places. Other places being manly-man sport slash cigar bars where they might have 3 or 4 choices beyond Maker's Mark. All of the selections at The Upstairs were pretty good. Some were firewater, others nice and smooth. Just fine. Fine in that I wasn't pulling out my little notebook to write down the names of them, or racing-to-the-liquor-store-to-order-them fine. Just fine. I didn't discover anything new in bourbon world, but I sure enjoyed myself while looking.

HOWEVER, we did have a rum that was spectacular. I'm not a rum girl (too many bad experiences) but the Cvillain review of the Angostura 1824 rum** they imbibed during their dinner got me curious. VERY curious. After the first sip I was in heaven. It didn't taste like rum. It was light, smooth, with a caramelly/vanilla aftertaste like you'd just finished sucking on a Werther's original candy about 3 minutes ago. PERFECT for after a meal. Almost like a dessert and digestif rolled into one. Just sweet enough. Snifter heaven.

Ironically, the bartender said he'd never tried it, and in fact, didn't recall anyone ever ordering it. I assure you, ordering this spirit will not leave you disappointed. We made sure he knew that, and even pointed it out to the couple drinking wine at the bar (wine? huh?), the couple at the other table chomping on steaks, and the waiter.

No one else because other than the people mentioned, the place was empty. At 8pm on a Saturday, during an alumni weekend. Even though the waiter assured me they'd been swamped the night before, I wondered. Was it because there was another steakhouse less than a block away? With outdoor seating? More visible from the street? With a slicker looking website and more menu choices? Hmmmm....

It is strange the owner would choose to open for all intents and purposes a STEAKHOUSE literally a block from another one. Clearly he feels like he's got something additional to offer Mall diners. And you know what? He does. Let me preface that with, "If you like bourbon, if you're a spirits connoisseur, and if you're a fan of prime steak for $18," then he most certainly does. While the Downtown Grille might be flashier (I thought it was a chain), The Upstairs has spirits for people who truly appreciate them. No longer do I have to read The Washington Post and hem and haw that all we have in Cville is wine. Nope, we've got good spirits too. I'm not talking about fruity, floofy boat drinks. But real drinks. Stuff that goes well with leather chairs, pub seating, and good long conversations with old friends.

So what I remember - fine meal, stellar Angostura 1824 rum. Would definitely go back when the mood for a steak strikes again. The old-school truffle butter was a hit, the foie gras? Not so much, would probably opt for some other appie next visit. But that rum, that RUM!

*Any fans of Love, Actually out there? Ever since I saw the movie I've said, "Just in cases," WITH the "S". Just a thing I do. People who've seen the movie giggle, and those that haven't think I have a speech impediment...
**You've got until 7/30 to read it before they take it down forever. Now go.......GO!
***When I say "fine" I'm really saying, "Not bad, not spectacular either."

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Zucchini & Farmer's Market Pesto.

If you're anything like me, and you've either got a garden or a CSA share, about this time of year you find yourself DROWNING (or as they say around here "drownding") in zucchini. Zucchini bursting out your fridge like it's got a life of its own.* But never fear for we here at edible cville possess a mighty solution - GRILL IT. GRILL IT ALL!!

We've been grilling our zucchini, and squash as a matter of fact, just about every Sunday since the season started. Just slice, toss with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper, then throw them right on the grill, turning with tongs until they're done. Which around here means as black as you can stand. Black = carmelized and sweet. Carbons be damned 'cause the burnt ones are the most yummy! Plus they shrink up so nice you end up eating 4-6 zucchini and squash between just two people as a side dish.

'Round here if something's good we tend to get a little fixated. Last year it was zucchini pickles, this year it's grilling the little buggers. Every veggie we've gathered from Horse and Buggy gets its turn on the grill. And if it is deemed delicious it stays in the rotation until we're sick of it. And we ain't sick of it yet, so there.

Talked about the zukes and squash being a side tonight, but never mentioned the main. FINALLY, after much waiting, we're also at the pinnacle of basil season - where all the plants are bushy beyond belief and at the local farmer's market you can get huge portions for $2. Which says just one thing to me = PESTO.

I love pesto. I'm fixated on pesto the way some are on making the perfect loaf of bread, or the perfect pizza. Over the years I've tried many variations. Some turn out so "leafy" when you smile you end up looking like Miranda when she first got her braces (any Sex and the City fans out there?). Some are so gummy they end up tasting like pesto paste. After years of searching, I found the perfect recipe - and tweaked it just a little. It's from Lidia Bastianich, my favorite celebrity chef because 1) she looks like she actually eats the food and 2) she's a damn smart businesswoman, but never comes across like she's just in it to make $$. When she says, "Tutti a tavola a mangiare!" (Everyone to the table to eat!) she means it.

It's basil season people - go forth and make pesto. Lidia's recipe is below, with my "tweaks" in italics. Make all you can before the season ends, because you know what? The pesto you don't use freezes GREAT - just put in containers. Then when the craving hits you next December - microwave and throw in the pasta. Not leafy, not gummy. Just perfect pesto.

Lidia Bastianich's Basil Pesto Recipe
Yields: 1 cup (it makes so much I usually use half and freeze the rest)

1 pinch coarse sea salt
60 small or 30 large fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, peeled (throw these in a cast iron pan and "roast" unpeeled, turning every so often for 10 minutes - the peel comes off easily and the garlic flavor becomes more subtle)
3 tablespoons pignoli, lightly toasted (pine nuts, any Harris Teeter has them)
2 tablespoons Pecorino Romano, fresh, finely grated
2 tablespoons Grana Padano, fresh, finely grated (I just use 4 tablespoons parmesan)
3 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (use four, gives it a creamier consistency)

In a mortar:
Start with salt and few leaves of basil. Crush with a pestle, keep adding leaves a few at a time, then add garlic and pound until the mixture becomes a paste. Add pignoli and work into a paste, then add cheese and slowly pour the olive oil. Work all into a creamy consistency.

In a blender: (I use a small food processor - can't be bothered to spend time muddling around with a mortar and pestle, I'm hungry!)
Add basil, salt and garlic. Work into a paste, add pignoli and slowly pour half of the olive oil. Add cheese and the remaining olive oil. Blend until it becomes a homogenous, creamy paste.

Notice my correct use of it's and its? All those years teaching English taught me one thing at least ;-) and what's with all the typos I've been seeing here lately - has the summer sun burned our brains? Even Ruhlman used it's when he should've used its - and yes, I know, I'm a total dork...

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Cville YUM!

Like many Charlottesville foodies, I've been getting excited about Cville's first-ever RESTAURANT WEEK, July 13th through 19th. For 7 days, participating restaurants will offer 3-course meals for $25. In this age of "I can't really afford to eat out anywhere," a prix fixe menu looks pretty darn good, don't ya think? In a town so laden with great restaurants as Charlottesville, it's definitely an idea whose time has come.

So like many of my fellow foodies, I've been perusing the website, getting more and more excited as new restaurants join the cause, looking longingly at all the menus as they get posted. And procrastinating about making reservations.

Yep, you heard right. The FOOD BLOGGER is procrastinating about making reservations. For TWO WEEKS my little inside voice has been saying, "You better call, they're going to fill up!" and the other little voice responds with, "Nah, it's summer, less people, all the students are GONE, everybody's on vacation, no one is eating dinner out anyway." Mr. Procrastination has prevented me from writing TONS of best-selling novels, let me tell ya ;-) It drops all kinds of dumb excuses on my head. They make so much SENSE when you think them at the time. Then other things which constitute daily living consume your day right up until it's poof! just gone. It's 11pm and time for bed. Oh, that's okay, I'll call tomorrow...

...and then yesterday's The Hook hit newsstands. What's on the cover? Why, CHARLOTTESVILLE RESTAURANT WEEK of course. !%#$@%!$@%! Double !%@&#@&^#@^! Running for the phone, dialing like someone scrambling for free Bruce Springsteen tickets if you're the 97th caller. Funny how something like the thought that YOU, the amateur food reviewer of Cville, might be shut out of our first-ever restaurant week tends to put a fire under your butt.

Phew! That was close. Got mine in - just under the wire. Going to hit two places, one I've never been to, one a return visit. Figured that's about all our wallets could take in one week - and considering I'm backed up on actual POSTED reviews (got 6 drafts going currently) any more would put me over the edge, into "Make it stop!" mode.

So if you haven't made your reservations, do it now. Do it, like, I dunno, YESTERDAY. Hell, as I post this, they might be gone already...

Participating Restaurants
(Menus posted at the official website)
C & O
Fossett's at Keswick Hall
Horse and Hound Gastropub
Cassis
l'étoile
The Boars Head - Old Mill Room
The Melting Pot
The Boat House

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Lavender Workshop.

Looking for something new and different to do this July 4th? How about celebrating Independence Day by creating a patriotic blend of lavender bath tea to ease your stress and woes from the economic downturn while you sip lavender lemonade?

All this and more will be a part of White Oak Lavender Farm's Lavender Workshop. Located in Harrisonburg, White Oak is also having this workshop July 18th.

What better way to celebrate your independence than by making a satchet for your grandmother. And I'm DYING to know what a lavender halo could be. Information listed below - and remember, keep your lavender-loving pets at home :0)

July 4th and July 18th

Workshops will include wandmaking, lavender halos, bath teas, and more! Facepainting and children's sachet making, too! Come and join the fun! The lavender lemonade will be ice cold!

Please note that even though we are animal lovers we ask that you leave your pooch at home! Thank you for keeping it less stressful for our small animals! We look forward to your visit!

Hours of Operation:
June 4 - August 16
Thursday - Saturday: 10 AM - 7 PM
Sunday: 1 PM - 5 PM

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