The Charlottesville 29

Where to eat in Charlottesville

Tag: Oakhart Social

10/17/2025

Five Finds on Friday: Natalie Blazer

Today’s Five Finds on Friday come from Natalie Blazer, Assistant Dean and Chief Admissions Officer at UVa School of Law, and host of the podcast Admissible, on Apple and Spotify. You can follow it on Instagram. It’s Natalie’s anniversary next week, so she shares the spotlight with husband Michael Peloquin. Blazer’s picks:

1) Red Hot Blues and a Mezcal Special with Salt at the bar at Continental Divide. “This is a Friday night tradition that holds a sacred spot in our lives. Catching up with Matt and taking that first sip of margarita marks the end of a usually stressful week and the beginning of 48 hours of family togetherness. Fun fact: we both discovered the Divide around the same time: I was a first-year law student, back then we just called it Get In Here. Michael was a high school student in Arizona, visiting his older sister who was an undergrad at UVa. So it is very possible we crossed paths 20 years ago at the Divide, 13 years before actually meeting in D.C.”

2) Cabbage & Scallion Pancake and Roasted Broccoli at Oakhart Social. “Look, I’ve been reading the FFF long enough to know that practically everyone mentions Oakhart, so I almost didn’t want to include these dishes, but a list without them would not even remotely accurately capture our consumption habits. Another spot where sitting at the bar makes all the difference, as the food at Oakhart is matched only by the incredible hospitality. I don’t know how they get all their veggie dishes to be so dang good but they are positively craveable.”

3) Abruzzo Pizza, a Midnight Stinger (hers) and Spaghett (his) at Lampo. “I’m not a huge meat-eater, but the Abruzzo has me positively addicted. Everything at Lampo tends to be phenomenal, from the warm bread to the salads to the sandwiches. We always get a little of everything, but the Abruzzo is a staple. And we have to mention our love for waiting at Bar Baleno next door for Lampo bar seats to open up. Clearly, a recurring theme of our answers here is we love to sit at a bar and we love to be regulars. Beware if you sit next to us that we — Michael —  will instigate chitchat.”

4) Drip Coffee at Atlas Coffee. “How boring is this pick? But the centrality of coffee in our lives means we could not leave this one off the list. A true neighborhood spot, Atlas’s coffee is consistently perfect. Our dog Jerry loves it too because the barista never lets us leave without a treat for him.”

5) The Melrose at Greenwood Gourmet Grocery. “The vibes, as the kids would say, are immaculate at Greenwood Grocery, but I would not keep coming back were it not for the Melrose sandwich. Again, not being a huge meat-eater, this portobello mushroom sandwich with red onion, pimento cheese, and arugula on country bread hits the spot every single time. Michael has usually already eaten by the time we get to Greenwood, because he simply cannot start his weekend morning without a breakfast burrito from Polly’s Folly, but he’s always good to add on an Araucana or an Italian. Throw in some chips from their tasty selection, maybe one or two of the MarieBette treats they stock at the register, and our Saturday afternoon is made.”

03/28/2025

Five Finds on Friday: Michelle Moshier

Photo by Sarah Cramer Shields.

Today’s Five Finds on Friday come from Michelle Moshier, Director of Operations of Mockingbird and The Local. Featured in the upcoming book Badass Women of Charlottesville, Moshier is battling cancer for the third time, with her prior two cases coinciding with the birth of her three children – first the daughter she delivered in March 2021 and then the twin boys her wife delivered in July 2023.

With her latest recurrence in January 2025, the food community is rallying to her support. At an epic Battle of the Chefs: Cooking for a Cure on Tuesday, April 15, two husband-and-wife teams will compete in a multi-course cookoff: Matthew Hart (The Local) & Melissa Close-Hart (Mockingbird) vs. Tricia & Dave Stone (Chickadee). Guests will vote for the winner and bid on auction items donated by the community. If you can’t make it, you can still bid on items here, or donate by purchasing an “honorary ticket” in any amount you wish. All proceeds go to Moshier and Young Survival Coalition. Moshier’s picks:

1) Crispy Shrimp at The Local. “A shameless plug, sure—but also the truth. I’ve worked at The Local in just about every role over the past eighteen years, and I still eat the crispy shrimp every week. It was love at first bite, and somehow it never gets old.”

2) Beets at Oakhart Social. “My wife and I shared this dish on our first date, so it’ll always have a special place in my heart. We go back to Oakhart often for lots of reasons, but I still find myself chasing that first bite of beets.”

3) New Orleans Roll at Now & Zen. “A perfect mix of textures and bold flavors—I can’t get enough. I always order way more than I should, but with these rolls, more is more.”

4) Chicken Philly with Frites and Paprika Mayo at Beer Run. “A total guilty pleasure. It’s my go-to comfort order, always with an Allagash on draft with a lemon wedge. That paprika mayo is next-level.”

5) Prosciutto Pizza at Ciaccia. “They just opened and they’re only steps from my office— dangerous territory. I tried this during their soft opening, and now I’m counting the days until I can make my way through the rest of the menu.”

Coming April 21, Badass Women of Charlottesville by Rachael Kesler Palm will be available locally at Rock Paper Scissors or through her website. An excerpt:

Michelle Moshier was 37 years old and 38 weeks pregnant when she found the first lump. “It was bright red and very hard. It didn’t hurt, but I felt something was wrong,” she says. She was getting out of the shower when she noticed that her left breast looked unusual, yet earlier that same day, she’d had a healthy 38-week prenatal well-visit with her OBGYN.

Moshier went to a breast cancer specialist the day after her prenatal visit. The doctor completed a biopsy of Moshier’s breast tissue and sent her home with antibiotics that they hoped would clear up whatever was making her left breast inflamed. Moshier was hopeful—she tends to seek out the positive in every situation. “Michelle has always been a silver lining kind of person, able to see the bright side of everything, ever since she was a kid—her parents told me this!” de Guzman says. Moshier was hopeful . . . but the next day, that hope disappeared.

The biopsy confirmed a diagnosis: stage 3 inflammatory breast cancer, a rare and aggressive type of cancer that moves quickly. Letting things go even a week or two could have been catastrophic, Moshier remembers being told. “I realized then that if I hadn’t been pregnant, if I hadn’t been paying such close attention to my body, I probably would have let this go,” she says. “The results of that could have been pretty horrible.” Doctors told Moshier she would need to give birth immediately in order to begin treatment as soon as possible. She was induced that evening.

Mackenzie Moshier de Guzman was born on Thursday, March 11, 2021. “It was an especially easy delivery,” Moshier says. She was in labor for just six hours and pushed three times before Mackenzie arrived. “It was like my daughter was saying, ‘It’s time for me to come out so we can fight this.’” In their hospital room, Moshier and de Guzman soaked in time with Kenzie. “We cherished those first moments.” Moshier says. “Then the next morning, we wheeled her to the nursery, and we walked across the hall to meet with oncology.”

01/19/2024

Five Finds on Friday: Chris Collins

Today’s Five Finds on Friday come from ACAC trainer Chris Collins. As the New Year brings new fitness goals, few are better to help meet them than Collins. If you’ve ever been at ACAC and noticed a buzz of energy near the exercise class room, chances are Collins is the source. His training is so inspiring that he has earned a following of Collin-istas. If you could use a fitness boost, and would like to learn why so many swear by Collins and ACAC, you can reach him at Chrisco@acac.com.

Collins also has a passion for food. Collins’ picks:

“Might not be the healthiest picks, but I usually order steak when I go out, especially during colder months when I cannot grill it outside at home. I cook a lot at home, where I keep things basic and try to stick to single ingredient foods. I am spoiled too because I get a loaf of homemade sourdough each week from my mom.  My vices other than my mom’s bread are popcorn and avocado-oil lime tortilla chips.”

1) Carne Asada at MAS Tapas. “Racion portion, because there’s never enough to go around. I can eat this as an entree, but it is meant to be shared. In a group of four or more, if this dish comes too early while dining, you might order it again for dessert.”

2) Prime NY Strip with the Golden Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts and Broccolini at Black Cow Chop House. “Go with a small group and come hungry.”

3) Two orders of the Polpettine Panuozzo at Lampo. “Cut each in half – four halves. When I’m with another person, I eat three halves in house and share the remaining half or take it home. I am sensitive to lactose, but this sandwich is that good and worth it.”

4) Hanger Steak and a Orange Spice Hot Toddy at Oakhart Social. “On a cold winter evening, after dry January that is. Or, order the cocktail virgin.”

5) Coliflor at Conmole. “One of the tastiest small dishes in town. Pan seared cauliflower and farm eggs in mole verde.”