If You Go
Getting There
Charlottesville is about 2½ hours from Bethesda. Take I-495 toward Northern Virginia, then I-66 west to Exit 43A onto U.S. 29 south to Charlottesville, then U.S. 250 east into town.
Where to Stay
English Inn of Charlottesville (2000 Morton Drive, Charlottesville, Va., at U.S. 29 and U.S. 250; 434-971-9900, 800-786-5400; www.englishinncharlottesville.com). Convenient to downtown, but designed to look like a country inn with a British/Colonial flavor; 106 rooms and suites. Rates: $100-$190, includes hot breakfast buffet, free Internet access, indoor pool, exercise room and sauna, and access to a nearby Gold’s Gym.
Inn at Darden (100 Darden Blvd., Charlottesville, on the grounds of the University of Virginia; 434-243-5000; www.innatdarden.com). Off the beaten path in a classroom building that doubles as accommodations for executives, recruiters and others visiting the Darden School of Business; 180 single rooms (queen bed). Rates: $105-$180, with all the amenities of a hotel (coffeemaker, small fridge, even a bathrobe). Great for weekends when the rest of the town is booked, as it’s relatively unknown.
Silver Thatch Inn (3001 Hollymead Drive, Charlottesville; 434-978-4686, 800-261-0720; www.silverthatch.com). Originally built in 1780, the inn’s rooms are named for Virginia-born presidents and furnished with antiques. Seven rooms, some with canopied beds and fireplaces. Rates: $170-$210, includes full breakfast. There’s a full-service restaurant open for dinner, and a pub that serves light meals and snacks, all with a focus on locally sourced food.
Check visitcharlottesville.org for other options.
Where to Eat
Blue Moon Diner (512 West Main St., Charlottesville; 434-980-6666). Open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Classic diner style, but with bottomless coffee that’s locally roasted; eggs Benedict made with locally raised duck eggs; and a choice of regular or artisanal bacon. At night, there’s a full bar and, sometimes, live music. Prices: $4.95 for a breakfast sandwich to $14.95 for chicken pot pie (with Polyface Farm chicken) or bacon-wrapped steak.
Keswick Hall (701 Club Drive, Keswick; 434-979-3440; www.keswick.com). This country club estate has two restaurants open to the public. Fossett’s, named for Thomas Jefferson’s French-trained chef, offers fine dining with breakfast from 7 to 11 a.m. daily, dinner from 6 to 9 p.m. daily and brunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays. Try the $13 starter of Keswick garden beets with figs and pistachios; locally raised lamb with pasta for $18; or go for the tasting menu at $89. Villa Crawford is the more casual option—from a $12 classic Caesar salad to a $16 burger made from locally raised beef—with lunch from noon to 5 p.m. daily, a buffet from noon to 2 p.m., and afternoon tea from 3 to 5 p.m. on weekends. Keswick’s restaurants use food from local farmers as well as a variety of vegetables and herbs from its own garden. You can stroll the grounds after dinner to see what’s growing. Wine list includes local selections.
L’Étoile (817 West Main St., Charlottesville; 434-979-7957; www.letoilerestaurant.com). Open from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Chef/owner Mark Gresge and his kitchen partner, chef Ian Redshaw, use French culinary techniques to present the best that local farmers have to offer, from $7 locally sourced soup du jour (tomato basil, when I visited) to $32 gnocchi gnudi with truffled pea purée to a $30 chef’s three-course menu. Wine list includes local selections.
The Local (824 Hinton Ave., Charlottesville; 434-984-9749; www.thelocal-cville.com). Dinner only, from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 5:30 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. A center for locally sourced food since 2008, The Local has grown from its original, cozy brick dining room to include rooftop dining. True to its name, local ingredients dominate, from salad greens and short ribs to locally distilled spirits. The truffled mushroom ragout is especially earthy, rich and delicious, and the half portion was plenty. From $6 crab soup to a $12 local beef burger and a $22 duck breast.
Tavola (826 Hinton Ave., Charlottesville; 434-972-9463; www.tavolavino.com). The small kitchen, which you can see from nearly anywhere in this 43-seat restaurant, is run by chef Michael Keaveny, whose Italian treatment of locally sourced food has drawn an enthusiastic clientele of locals. The menu says it all: Italian-named items with prosaic descriptions and a listing of the farmers with whom Tavola works—including Polyface. The insalata barbabietole ($9)—pistachio-crusted Caromont Farm goat cheese with roasted beets, watercress and lemon-thyme vinaigrette—is especially good. Menu ranges from a $3 baguette with olive oil to a $19 house-made pasta Bolognese and $24 sea scallops with leek-beet risotto.
Main Street Market (418 West Main St., Charlottesville; www.themainstmarket.com). This cluster of 10 locally owned shops includes a couple of real gems: Feast offers everything from a full deli of locally produced cheese and meat (the Surryano ham, a take on Serrano ham from Surry Farms, is especially good) to “Jam According to Daniel,” bulk olive oil imported by a local family from their farm in Greece, and produce, wine and beer from an array of local purveyors, along with takeout sandwiches, salads and soups. Albemarle Baking Company sells gorgeous baguettes, ciabattas and every other shape of loaf, plus delicate cakes. Get there early for the popular apple cider bread; and if you have a sweet tooth, the delicate Shenandoah seasonal cake includes a locally made sparkling wine. Other shops include an organic butcher, a fish shop and a coffee café.
Worth a Visit
Charlottesville City Market (Water Street off the Downtown Mall; www.charlottesvillecitymarket.com), 7 a.m. to noon Saturdays, April through December, with 102 vendors selling produce, meat, cheese, baked goods, prepared foods, arts and crafts. This is the biggest market in town.
Polyface Farm (43 Pure Meadows Lane, Swoope, Va.; 540-885-3590; www.polyfacefarms.com). A two-hour “Lunatic Tour”—held twice a month and led by farmer Joel Salatin or his son Daniel—includes a $15 hay wagon jaunt around the farm with explanations of their unique approach to raising cattle, pigs, poultry and rabbits. Free self-guided tours are permitted Monday through Saturday. Make an appointment if you want to purchase products so that someone can be in the sales building.
2012 Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello (931 Thomas Jefferson Parkway, Charlottesville; 434-984-9800; www.heritageharvestfestival.com). From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 15, with activities on the west lawn, in the vegetable garden and in the new visitor center. Ticket prices vary, so check the website.
Hill and Holler (www.hillandholler.org). Idyllic, often outdoor dinner events with guest chefs at local farms, vineyards and historic properties each month. They focus on local food, and function as fundraisers to support local producers. Check the website for prices and times.
Wine Excursions
The four counties around Charlottesville make up the Monticello American Viticultural Area, which is home to 25 vineyards and wineries. Many are in Charlottesville or close enough to visit while you’re in town. Check out the Monticello Wine Trail at www.monticellowinetrail.com/#/home. Here are two of my favorites:
Blenheim Vineyards (31 Blenheim Farm, Charlottesville; 434-293-5366; www.blenheimvineyards.com). Owned by Dave Matthews, who started the Dave Matthews Band in Charlottesville in 1991, it includes a beautiful tasting room with stunning views of the 17-acre property. Look for labels designed by Matthews on the “Painted Red” wine (a blend of merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot). Also try the red table wine (a blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and syrah).
Jefferson Vineyards (1353 Thomas Jefferson Parkway, Charlottesville; 434-977-3042; www.jeffersonvineyards.com). Begun by Thomas Jefferson in 1774, the vineyards were abandoned when the Revolutionary War began, and then revived in 1981. You can tour the facilities, which produce 7,000 cases a year. Tastings are so popular that there’s an extra room for high season in the fall. The viognier was my favorite.
Virginia Myers lives in Takoma Park and frequently writes about travel and the arts.
