The Charlottesville 29

Today’s Five Finds on Friday come from Caite Hamilton, Editor in Chief of C-VILLE. Few have contributed more to Charlottesville local news over the last two decades. Last week her tenure at C-VILLE became old enough to vote, with eighteen years spanning from part-time proofreader to Editor. Hamilton’s picks:

1) The Rhodie at Ivy Provisions. “I once ran back into my high school during an active bomb threat to rescue my packed lunch—a chicken salad sandwich prepared by my grandmother, who made the best I’ve ever tasted—so I’m pretty serious about chicken salad. Ivy Provisions’ version is a very close second, with the notable upgrade of a baguette.”

2) Pappardelle Ragu at Tavola. “Tavola has been the backdrop of so many special occasions for me—my 30th birthday, the night I got engaged. I even hosted my mom’s celebration of life in the cicchetti bar. And for just about every one of those occasions, I’ve ordered the pappardelle. It’s comfort food at its finest—the ribbons of pasta, the tender pork, the dusting of salty-nutty grana padano. Perfection.”

3) Cheeseburger with LTM and Fries at Riverside Lunch. “Not only was the Riverside burger the subject of one of my favorite cover stories so far this year – shameless plug — it’s also perennially the answer to all ‘Is there just a quick, cheap lunch we could get on the way home?’ conversations with my husband. Riverside is akin to a burger place we frequented as kids — RIP Jess’ Quick Lunch — but the burgers are better. You heard it here first.”

4) Mr. Rech at The Alley Light. “I can conjure the taste of this chocolate-drenched XL macaron as I type, I’ve ordered it so many times: the hot-cold mix of chocolate sauce over ice cream, the crunchy-creamy combo of delicate hazelnut macaron and semifreddo, the feel of the plate against your tongue as you drag it through those final dark ribbons — just me? It’s a dessert that’s probably best shared, but I’ve never had an easy time of that.”

5) Princess Cake at Albemarle Baking Co. “It’s fair to say I have a bit of a sweet tooth. See above: bathing in Mr. Rech. But even those who don’t share my embarrassingly high tolerance for sugar can enjoy ABC’s princess cake: vanilla sponge cake layered with Bavarian cream and blanketed with a sheet of marzipan, then topped with its signature pink rose. The day the bakery started producing this crowd-pleaser in cupcake form was a very happy one. Cause for celebration — with cake!, one might say.