The Charlottesville 29

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.

I was once asked what’s missing from the Charlottesville food scene. My response:

With more than 200 countries in the world, each with their own diverse cuisines, Charlottesville could never begin to scratch the surface of them all.  Sure, I miss some foods I enjoyed when living in larger cities, but we do awfully well for our size.

As for some of those missing foods, a silver lining of traveling for youth sports is the opportunity to explore elsewhere. For a Charlottesville food writer on such trips, research focuses on cuisines unavailable back home. Regardless of the destination, that research uncovers people pouring their passion into sharing foods of their heritage with others. Cary, NC, for example, is a beautiful, welcoming, city whose multicultural food community makes it easy to explore cuisines of the world without traveling far at all. Families of immigrants share their culture while building lives in America.

The Silk Road, which gives its name to the first restaurant below, was an ancient trade route spanning Asia, Africa, and Europe that facilitated the exchange not just of goods, but also cultures. The cuisines of countries along the route still bear influences from one another to this day. Yet, the Silk Road is 4,000 miles long. Blending cultures took years. In Cary, cuisines from places on or near the Silk Road – Uzbekistan, Nepal, Yemen, Lebanon, Palestine, Lithuania, Germany, Italy — are just minutes apart. Some highlights:

Uzbekistan: Silk Road

What’s it like to eat at a restaurant in Uzbekistan? Shuhrat Hotamov should know. Hotamov grew up in the landlocked former Soviet Republic working at his family’s restaurant. Thrilled by the energy of a bustling kitchen, Hotamov dreamed of becoming a chef like his grandfather.

In 2010, Hotamov moved to the United States, to seek a better life for his wife and two daughters. And last year, he realized his dream of opening a restaurant. While Hotamov heads the Silk Road kitchen, he credits his staff for their role in the food, most of whom are immigrants like him. “Hailing from different countries and cultural backgrounds, our chefs bring their own expertise to the table, whether it’s perfecting traditional techniques, baking fresh bread, or presenting dishes with artistry and precision,” said Hotamov. “Together, their collaboration creates a menu that is both authentic and innovative.”

Each of his dishes tells a story, Hotamov says, primarily of his family’s traditions, and also of the influence the Silk Road had on the cuisine of his heritage. Fried Lagman, for example, may seem like an Italy-China mash-up, but it is an Uzbek dish of hand-pulled noodles in a spicy tomato sauce, enriched with soy sauce.

Beef Samsa are pastries of flaky, layered dough stuffed with beef and onions.

And chicken tabaka is a Cornish hen that Hotamov first marinates in garlic and then flattens, rubs in spices, and fries in a pan. It may ruin all other chicken for you.

Nepal: Himalayan Nepali Cuisine

Cary’s greatest concentration of regional cuisines is at the corner of East Chatham Street and Maynard Road. There, the strip mall boasts foods of India, Pakistan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Iraq, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Mexico, and El Salvador, among others. And, then there’s Nepal. Nirmadun Pun and his family have earned a local following for their Nepalese food.

Traditional momos are among the most popular orders, and the chicken tikka masala rivals any anywhere. Pun’s family, meanwhile, recommends chili MoMo, lamb saag, chicken saag, govi manchurian, and lamb kadai. As an extra act of love, they offer ginger tea to guests, even those waiting for takeout.

Germany: Annelore’s German Bakery

Few cities celebrate Christmas like Cary. Downtown Cary Park becomes a holiday village, ornament-clad trees line the streets, and decorations and activities  are everywhere. And then there’s Annelore’s German Bakery.

German-born Annelore Gstattenbauer bakes delicious treats all year long, but come the holidays, her Bavarian Christmas spirit makes the place magical. There’s a long tradition of Christmas baking in Bavaria, which the talented and passionate Gstattenbauer shares with Cary each year. If you’re not lucky enough to visit Cary in December, never fear. Her creations are delicious no matter what the calendar says.

Lebanon: Sassool

Like many things do, Sassool began with a love of bread. When the Saleh family fled Lebanon’s unrest for the United States in 1976, as much as they embraced their new home, there was one thing they still missed. Pita bread. The closest thing they could find – tortillas – did not scratch the itch. So, they decided to make their own, opening a bakery in 1977, Neomonde. After a decade of success, they launched a restaurant. And in 2011, one of the Saleh brothers – Mounir – branched out to open his own restaurant. On Mother’s Day 2014, he renamed it Sassool – the childhood nickname of his mother Cecilia, whose recipes inspire the restaurant’s offerings.

With a wood-fired oven blazing all day long, they never stop baking pita at Sassool. They’ll slide from the oven as many discs as you’d like to go with your food. As accompaniments, dips like hummus and toum rival the best I’ve ever had, and the many side dishes are so delicious that regulars often elect the Pick-4 Sampler, a platter of four salads and sides. Saleh’s daughter Simone, who manages the restaurant, recommends  mjadarah, tabouli, fatoush salad, batata harra, and autumn root salad.

Lithuania: Baltic Bites

Danute Senfeldiene claims to run the only Lithuanian food truck in the country. If that’s true, what an enormous void she has filled with Baltic Bites, which she has run with her family since 2018.

One of Washington D.C.’s top chefs once told me how the soulfulness of the late Martha Lou Gadsen’s cooking at her Charleston restaurant would bring him to tears. Senfeldiene’s food at Baltic Bites stirs similar emotions: handmade dumplings with mushroom sauce and sour cream, beet salad, cucumber and onion salad, and a gift, fried garlic bread.

The talented folks behind Bond Brothers Beer Company have the good sense to invite Baltic Bites for regular appearances. If I lived near Cary, I’d try never to miss one. Tip: Even if a food truck is not serving at Bond Brothers, it’s an ideal place to bring takeout, relax, and enjoy world class beer and hospitality.

Laos: SAAP

While all the food is delicious at SAAP, the magic is in the sauces. In Laos, dipping sauces known as jeow are on the table for every meal. As a child, Chef Lon Bounsanga recalls his father would fill the fridge with the ones he’d make. The family would dip various proteins or, the favored Laotian vehicle for absorbing flavor, sticky rice.

The ones at SAAP would do his father proud. Clockwise from the top-left is jeow Mak Len, with beef jerky; sweet chili sauce, with the lettuce wrap plate; peanut sauce, with chicken satay, and a fiery jeow bong, with Lao herb sausage.

Speaking of proud fathers, the hospitality, managed by Lon’s daughter Hera, is warm and impeccable. And, daughter Grace puts Mezcal and grapefruit bitters in her Negronis.

Palestine: Asali Desserts and Cafe

Celebrating the pastries of Palestine, Asali Desserts and Cafe is a family affair. The name is even a reflection of family, combining the last names of owners Hanadi Asad and her husband, Jamaal Ali. All five of their children have worked at the cafe, and many of the recipes come from their grandmothers.

It’s a beautiful space where the pastries themselves add to the decor.

Za’atar Pie is Arabic cheese bread topped with sliced olives, grape tomatoes, and za’atar, a spice blend of sumac, sesame, and thyme. The family recommends dipping it in a side of hummus. Good call.

Yemen: Sheeba

In Dearborn, Michigan, Ismael Aljahmi and his family have built an empire of four restaurants serving the cuisine of their native of Yemen. It is food that dates back thousands of years, and the Aljahmi family believes it warrants more appreciation. With their restaurants, all named Sheeba, the family’s aim is to share their culture and cuisine with the world.

To that end, when a family friend in Cary, NC told them of a vacated restaurant space he owned, they leapt at the chance to fill it. Aljahmi’s nephew Gabriel was sent to Cary from Michigan to bring his family’s Yemeni food to the South. And it’s outstanding.

Seltah, the national dish of Yemen, is a stew of root vegetables and whipped fenugreek. On the side, to scoop up the stew, is fresh baked tanoor bread, with a delicious char that rivals any NY pizzeria.

Italy via Brooklyn: DiFara Pizza Tavern

Speaking of New York pizzerias, pizza artisans don’t open second locations. Their work is too precise. Before passing away in 2022, Dom DeMarco, who emigrated from Italy in 1959, spent decades making his legendary pies by hand one at a time. The pizzeria would have to close whenever he was unavailable. A second location was never a thought.

So, it was more than a little unexpected when, in 2020, he allowed his nephew Greg Norton to open an outpost in Cary, NC. At DiFara Pizza Tavern, Norton honors his uncle’s legacy with attention to detail that would make him proud — from imported ingredients, basil cut to order, and a water treatment system to replicate the composition of the NYC water that some consider key to the quality of the city’s pizzas. Norton’s wife Valerie makes sure the hospitality does justice to the pies. It’s a treat every time we are in Cary.