Scallop Crudo at C&O
by Charlottesville29
Series: Great Dishes of 2016
A highlight of 2016 was The Charlottesville 29 Restaurant Auctions, where the restaurants of The Charlottesville 29 each offered a once-in-a-lifetime dining experience to whoever pledged the highest donation to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. Thanks to the restaurants’ generosity and the support of McGuireWoods LLP, every penny of the winning bids went directly to the food bank. The money raised by the auctions was enough to provide more than 315,000 meals to the area’s hungry.
Earlier this month, I was lucky enough to attend one of the auction dinners: C&O’s. Billed as The Dinner Dean Has Always Wanted to Cook, it was a dazzling array of luxurious ingredients, beautifully prepared, and paired with extravagant wines. While every dish was memorable, the one that stood out most was perhaps the simplest. Nantucket Bay Scallop Crudo showcased raw, impeccably fresh scallops with a drizzle of Galardo Olive Oil and a scattering of diced jalapeno and microgreens. It was not just a standout that night, but one of the most memorable dishes of the year. Thank you, Dean Maupin, for an unforgettable night and for your extraordinary generosity.
