He left central Virginia to become a chef.
17 years later, Drew Dunston is back, with a new restaurant that uses what he learned while away to celebrate his Virginia home.
With a cooking career that began at the age of 16, Dunston’s passion for food led him to culinary school in Austin and then to restaurants in Austin, Nashville, and Chicago, where he worked in Michelin-starred kitchens, absorbing knowledge to work towards opening his own restaurant. “I’m driven by my love of this,” said Dunston. “And I wanted to be good at it.”
He returned to Virginia in 2024 to do just that, and first took a job as Executive Chef of Marigold. Those who know him say this is great news for Charlottesville. Dunston’s employer at Marigold — John Hoffman — calls him an “immensely talented chef.” Former colleague Jeremy Young agrees. “His cooking is always balanced and never over-engineered,” said Young. “He is able to seamlessly fuse his passion for local, seasonal produce with the refined techniques he has accrued from Michelin-starred kitchens.”
Another fan of Dunston’s food is sommelier Caleb Russell. A veteran of standouts like Tavola and Pippin Hill, when Russell attended a champagne dinner last year at Marigold, he was so impressed by Dunston’s food that he was determined to work with him. He joined Marigold’s staff, and the two quickly became friends.
Russell and Dunston discovered a shared love of Virginia. On the North Garden farm where Russell was raised, his family instilled in him the importance of knowing where your food comes from. Dunston likewise learned to value local sourcing from chef mentors around the country, and each time he’d return to Virginia to visit family, he’d become more amazed by its bounty.
The duo formed a plan to turn their love of their home into a restaurant. That plan became Aster, which opened this month. “It’s about celebrating an amazing place,” said Dunston. “I want to help make it a little better.”
A Chef’s Life in a Menu
Aster’s food is in part a celebration of the region’s bounty: Virginia fluke, Shenandoah Sky Ranch beef, Smoke in Chimneys trout, and Our Lady of the Angels cheese. But it’s also about Dunston’s life. Dunston uses local ingredients to create dishes that reflect the experiences that have made him a chef. “Things I’ve picked up and kept in my pocket over the years,” Dunston said.
The fried chicken is the same one he once served to Barack Obama and Joe Biden on Air Force One. Fried chicken has been one of Dunston’s favorite foods since eating it in Virginia gas stations as a child. Of the dozens he’s tried, none tops the Chicago restaurant where Dunston once worked, Celeste, whose chicken grew such a following that the Obamas had it delivered to Air Force One. Adapting the Celeste recipe, Dunston cures and air-dries Amish chicken, breads half-chickens in crushed corn flakes, fries them, and serves them with koji hot sauce, pickles, radishes, buttermilk, and dill.
Crab toast is a hybrid of two Dunston loves: mid-Atlantic crabcakes and Cantonese-style shrimp toast he enjoyed at dim sum restaurants in Chicago. Dunston stuffs crabmeat seasoned with Old Bay togarashi between two slices of buttered toast. On the side is lemon mayonnaise for dipping, and slices of pickled celery to clean the palate between bites.
The togarashi is a nod to Dunston’s Japanese influence, stemming in part from his time at Ramen Tatsu-Ya, which also appears in Aster’s fluke crudo with shiso, green apple, wild rice, and cool buttermilk curry.
A plate of Lady Edison Ham is born from the fondness Dunston and his father have for country ham. For years, they’d sample various versions until Dunston’s father finally found their favorite. Called “the epitome of funk,” Lady Edison is a North Carolina ham made from whole hogs that are a heritage cross of Berkshire, Chester White, and Duroc. Dunston serves it with hickory syrup and hazelnut.
And for dessert, Dunston reaches back to a creation of his great-grandmother. Bearing resemblance to the Sticky Toffee Pudding popular around Charlottesville, Cleo’s Date Cake is a family recipe that has lasted generations. It’s Dunston’s mother’s favorite dessert, and he named it for her mother Cleo, who recently passed away. “Good food does not always have to be complicated,” said Dunston. “And for us, this is a humble classic that honors tradition.”
Drink as an Extension of Food
Russell caught the hospitality bug as a college student when he took a job at Pippin Hill, near his family’s farm. He was so taken by the experience that he ditched studying STEM for wine and eventually became a sommelier at Downtown Grill, Tavola, and Marigold.
As much as he values those experiences, Aster is his first chance to build a beverage program from the ground up. In doing so, his guiding philosophy is that drinks should be an extension of the kitchen. “It starts with the food,” said Russell. “We are a restaurant.”
And so, every wine by the glass Russell specifically selected to complement one of Dunston’s dishes. “I view our wines as an auxiliary ingredient,” Russell said. While wines and menu will vary seasonally, for the current fried chicken, it’s Trouillard Champagne Brut Extra Selection NV. For the crab toast, Linden Vineyards 2021 Village Chardonnay. The fluke, Orealios 2023 Robola of Cephalonia. And for the ham, MR Brightside 2022.
As an extension of the food, Russell’s beverages share a local focus. You’ll find Virginia wines, beers, and spirits, and even a cocktail tribute to one of Charlottesville’s favorite bands. For the Chamomile and Whiskey, Russell combines a housemade chamomile cordial with coconut-washed bourbon, Virginia honey, clarified orange juice, and egg white. Shaken, served up.
At 313 Second St SE Suite 105, Aster has transformed the former home to Bluegrass Grill and Chickadee into a space that feels at once elegant and comfortable. Aster serves dinner Tuesday through Saturday from 5- 10 pm. Reservations available here. Follow on Instagram and Facebook.
