The Charlottesville 29

On Fridays, we feauture five food finds selected by local chefs and personalities.  Today’s picks come from Shelby Park, the recently announced Executive Chef of Trump Winery, where she has introduced a new spring menu.  On Mother’s Day, Trump is hosting a special buffet brunch including a glass of wine. While the brunch requires purchasing tickets in advance, Trump will also accept walk-ins for the regular menu that day.  Park’s picks:

1)  Hungry Norman at Bluegrass Grill and Bakery.  “Bluegrass is my favorite place in town to go for breakfast. The Hungry Norman is an English muffin topped with goat cheese, blackberry jam, sausage, poached eggs, and hollandaise. I love the combo of sweetness from the jam, slight sourness of the goat cheese, and the savory sausage. And then topping the whole thing off with eggs and hollandaise is just awesome. Their home fries are also to-die-for.”

2)  Tucker’s Pop-up Dinner Menu at Eljogaha.  “Chef Tucker Yoder is doing a series of pop-up dinners around town. He was the chef I worked for when I was an intern and also when I was a line cook at the Clifton Inn. The menu changes every weekend, but we got to enjoy sprouted grain porridge with almond milk and cabbage jus. The texture was so unique and such a different use of sprouted grains. Tucker also makes a great ribeye and a fantastic homemade sourdough bread. He is truly an amazing chef, and I’d recommend his pop-up restaurant to everyone.”

3)  Charcuterie and Pork from The Rock Barn.  “The Rock Barn has awesome pork products, and I just switched the charcuterie plate at Trump to feature their meats. We get the tasso ham, the Daisy-della, and the spicy Capicola, and they are all amazing. I also just had Rock Barn pork chops at Orzo with date puree, beer mustard, and polenta and absolutely loved it.”

4)  Cocktails at The Alley Light.  “The Alley Light is my favorite place to go for great cocktails. I love the fact that they will custom make you a cocktail to suit your tastes. Every drink is always expertly balanced, and their mixology is really impressive.”

5)  Egg Rolls at Bamboo House.  “The Bamboo House is a definite hole-in-the-wall place with some non-traditional décor, but their egg rolls are delicious. They’re not your average egg rolls.  Their are huge and packed with pork and veggies. I live nearby so getting a big order of take-out eggs rolls is my fried food go-to.”