The Charlottesville 29

Where to eat in Charlottesville
04/08/2024

The 2024 Charlottesville 29: This Year’s List of Charlottesville’s Essential Restaurants

The 2024 Charlottesville 29 is here.

Each year, The Charlottesville 29 answers: if there were just 29 restaurants in Charlottesville, what would be the ideal 29? Background here and here. Annual cuts become ever more difficult, as openings outpace closings. As in prior years, this year’s Charlottesville 29 includes a description of why each restaurant was selected, as well as an ordering guide, with recommendations from each restaurant’s chef/owner and appearances in Five Finds on Friday.

With that: The 2024 Charlottesville 29.

04/08/2024

Taste of China

612 Albemarle Square . Charlottesville, VA . (434) 975-6688

Before leaving Charlottesville, nomadic Szechuan chef Peter Chang left his mark on not one but two restaurants. One bears his name, and the other brought him to Charlottesville in the first place: Taste of China. Long after his departure from Taste of China in 2010, the restaurant continues to execute faithful renditions of traditional Szechuan dishes, sustaining its place as an industry favorite.

What to Order

If it’s Chinese-American fare you seek, you may be better off elsewhere. Taste of China’s main attractions are the traditional Szechuan dishes that make it so popular among area chefs. The best way to enjoy it is with a large group, and let the restaurant decide. With advance notice, the restaurant will prepare a Szechuan-style feast. For specific dishes, below are our picks, as well as appearances in Five Finds on Friday, where a local chef or personality has named a Taste of China dish as one of the best in town.

Our Picks

  • Fish with Cilantro Rolls
  • Dried Fried Eggplant Szechuan Style
  • Scallion and Chili in Hot Pot
  • Ma Po Bean Curd
  • Crispy Fish with Green Onion
  • Braised Fish Filled with Spicy Pepper
  • Hand Torn Cabbage
  • Specials

Five Finds on Friday Picks

 

 

04/08/2024

Mockingbird

421 Monticello Road . Charlottesville, VA . (434) 465-6131
https://www.mockingbird-cville.com/

The career of chef Melissa Close-Har has pulled her in many directions: from New American cuisine, to French, to Southwestern, to Italian. And, it has been full of accolades, too. The former chef of Palladio at Barboursville Vineyards is on the Mount Rushmore of Charlottesville Chefs, and earned four James Beard semifinalist nods for Best Chef Midatlantic. But, in 2022, after decades in the industry, she finally opened a restaurant that serves the food she was put on earth to cook.

An Alabama native, Close-Hart’s lifetime passion is Southern cuisine. At Mockingbird, she applies her classical culinary training to the food she loves most.  The results are every bit as delicious as you might expect. And, the Belmont setting could hardly suit them any better: a historic brick building, brightened and beautified by Close-Hart and her team. A fixture for refined Southern food, Mockingbird carves a spot in The Charlottesville 29.

What to Order

The menu changes seasonally, so don’t fall too in love with any of the options. One mainstay, however, is a basket of Close-Hart’s fluffy buttermilk biscuits. No visit to Mockingbird is complete without them. Below are our picks and recommendations from Chef Close-Hart.

Our Picks

  • Biscuit Basket
  • Fried Green Tomatoes
  • Open Face Crawfish Po’Boy
  • Fried Okra
  • Alabama White BBQ Chicken

Chef’s Picks

  • Biscuit Basket
  • Fried Green Tomatoes
  • Double H Farms Pork Belly
  • Shrimp & Grits
  • Bison Hanger Steak
  • Banana Pudding
  • Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie
  • Daily Specials