Cazon Tropical

Last night we visited Cazon Tropical on the recommendation of a friend. There was no one in the restaurant (off 29 north behind Kohr Brothers) and only 1 more person came in while we were eating. The menu seems pretty authentic - but not being from El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, or Honduras, I don't think I'm the authority on the matter... Their website says "Come and feel like you are eating at any grandmother's house in El Salvador, The Dominican Republic or Honduras, right here in Charlottesville, or just come and feel like you are on vacation, either way you will enjoy fresh natural food with the flavors of ours homes. We take pride in the tropical taste of our cooking and we just want to share with you ." and I feel like this is an accurate description. The food definitely tasted home made and there was nothing fancy or stuffy about it. As a heads up, they don't serve any alcohol, which was kind of a bummer. I would have loved a cold Corona with my dinner. Charlie enjoyed some authentic Pica Pollo and Tostones and we noticed that there weren't many vegetable options on the menu at all. Overall, a fun little discovery.

bashir's taverna

the econ dinner club was at it again this weekend. we haven't met for a while, so charlie and i called an "emergency get together" at bashir's taverna on the downtown mall. number one - i really love when it starts to get warm here and everyone is out on the downtown mall - including the musicians (good or bad). number two - bashir's is a fun place to eat. i think our tables tasted almost everything on the menu. charlie loved the lamb. the moussaka special looked delicious and comforting. the couscous trio served in a tagine looked colorful and delicious. the ham (raved about in the new york times, apparently) was melt-in-your-mouth tasty. not cheap - but the belly-dancing is free!

ten

ten out of ten in my book for ten on the downtown mall. this is some seriously good sushi. some friends of ours wanted to go out one night the other week and were delighted to stumble up the stairs into the high-ceiling'ed, mirror-walled, hip urban decorated restaurant. the seaweed salad - awesome, and the rolls were really really delicious - super-fresh, and light. i'm a big fan.

scarpa - take 2

with rockpaperscissors under new ownership, i've started working at scarpa part-time (very part-time and only on random saturdays that aren't already consumed with wedding appointments or other crazy to-dos). i have to say that the stock amy has right now is so fun! there are so many great sandal options for the warm weather. i bought myself a pair of the kelsi dagger colleen sandals:
and a fabulous lemlem scarf:

the jewelry is killer and i wish i had more parties to go or i actually wore the high heels that i have so i could buy more.

really - there's a lot of good stuff! check it out

rockpaperscissors

the new owners of rockpaperscissors have done a wonderful job with the shop. the new location on the downtown mall is wonderful (and a walk from my office). maybe i'm a a little bit nuts, but walking into the store was so soothing - it really was a breath of fresh air. the walls are a calming blue, the store is so clean and bright, and of course the products are too much fun. i love love love paper goods and the new inventory is lovely!

congrats dani and heather! i can't wait to stop in again soon!

mas tapas

After over a year and a half in Charlottesville, I finally went to Mas. Betsy has been there a couple of times. For those who don't know, Mas is essentially the foodie mecca of Charlottesville (maybe along with C&O), which I think is saying a lot for a town filled with great restaurants. One of the things about Mas is that you can't make reservations. We got there at 6pm on a Friday and got a seat right away, but a little later in the night there was a long line out front. We got a lot of food and most of it lived up to the hype. The thing that impressed me the most was that for all the hype, the food or the service did not seem pretentious. For instance, the chorizo was just that, a plate with three patties of homemade sausage (I probably would only recommend this dish to accompany a cheese plate). Mas is a true tapas place in the sense that its food is certainly Spanish. Seafood, goat cheese, Manchego cheese, cured pork, and other traditional flavors are prevalent on the menu.

Some of our favorite dishes included breaded halibut with grapefruit, Monte Enebro goat cheese with apricot preserves melted over brioche , and lamb chops with a mint mojo sauce.

I am not sure any restaurant is worth an hour wait, but this is a place that I would like to go back to. I feel like we barely touched the menu. Maybe all of the offerings are what get people coming back.

Belmont BBQ

We finally visited Belmont BBQ the other weekend. It was a beautiful day, so we got the food to-go and had a little picnic. The food was great. I got a rib a sandwich. Betsy had a pulled pork sandwich and we shared some french fries. The BBQ is delicious. The style of BBQ is definitely Virginian. The pork sandwich was a little juicy with a thicker sweet sauce. They also have spicier sauce options. The rib sandwich was very "wet." Generally I prefer more of the North Carolina style BBQ (which is an option too), but I really thought the BBQ we had was great. One option I think we'll have to get next time is a this bucket which they put essentially all of their kinds of BBQ in with a side. The french fries were good, but maybe a little too flavorful. In short, this is definitely a place we will be going back too. The best BBQ I have had in a while.

spring may be on her way

it turned out to be such a beautiful weekend here in charlottesville and charlie and i wanted to make the most of it. after a restful friday evening (definitely needed), we decided to check out monticello. just an fyi, they have resident discounts and student discounts, so make sure to check out the deals. monticello really is such a cool place and jefferson is a fascinating individual. we walked around the grounds and i was thrilled to see some tiny purple crocuses popping up all over the lawns. what a beautiful site! while we were driving up to the visitor center, i realized how beautiful charlottesville is and how many amazing things there are around here.

we stopped to get our favorite market sandwiches on the way back and decided that we wanted some trader joes goodies for our pantry. too bad the closest trader joes is in richmond, but we made the trip and it was really fun (rumor is there are plans to open a trader joes around c'ville soon). charlie and i haven't really explored richmond since we moved here and will have to do so soon.

today we enjoyed the sunshine with bayley and some burgers with friends.

can't wait for warmer weather!

taste of china

on the recommendation of one of charlie's professors, we decided to check out taste of china in the albemarle square shopping center. the place was packed and i was extra excited to see a large group of chinese students in the back corner of the restaurant, clearly loving what they were tasting. there was a steady stream of diners through the evening and i understand why. the food was delicious. the restaurant lures you in with the cheesy neon light outside and the wall of menu photos right inside the door. the decor is minimal and the restaurant is really just a large room with as many tables as can fit. we tried the crispy beef, some dumplings, and a duck pancake dish. they were all great but we'll have to go back so we can taste some more of the options.

the chef, peter chang has quite the disappearing act and has attracted a devout group of followers who have followed him from tennessee to georgia to virginia - anywhere they can taste chang's food. no one knows how long he will stay in a location, so once located, people flock to his restaurants.

rumor is to ask for the authentic chinese menu!

tavola

our friends, dao and sarah, wanted to go out to dinner in belmont the other week. we focused on mas since charlie had never been. it turned out there was a super long wait at mas - which is a pretty standard occurance, but we were hungry. so we made the walk up the road to choose between tavola and the local. we ended up at tavola and it was fantastic! tavola makes their own pasta (delicious) and i have an awesome red beet risotto with huge sea scallops. it really was perfect. really great atmosphere, great wine, amazing food. definitely a nicer restaurant - but it comes highly recommended!