The Charlottesville 29

Where to eat in Charlottesville

Tag: Oakhart Social

07/03/2026

Five Finds on Friday: Casey Bauer

Photo by Sanjay Suchak and Charlottesville Albemarle CVB

Today’s Five Finds on Friday from chef Casey Bauer of Maggie’s Midtown, where she has been helping chef Tarik Sengul make pub fare reflecting Virginia and its British roots. Tomorrow’s July 4 issue of The Daily Progress will cover their most daunting task: a traditional Sunday Roast. Bauer’s picks:

1) Smash Burgers and Family Meal at Stock Provisions. “I fell in love with Stock before even returning home from my travels. The love they put into their work as well as the care and time they put into sourcing from the right farms are beautiful things to witness and be a part of. Not to mention those boys know how to throw down. Between biscuits and smash burgers sold only on Fridays to family meals cooked daily, they stay on my mind. As for family meal — smoked bbq chicken, tri tip tacos off the Weber Grill, or mushroom risotto — whatever it was that day we knew we were eating good.”

2) Steamed Dumplings ftom Hong Kong Chinese. “These are pure nostalgia for me. After a long day as a line cook back in the day, coming home to my Dad ordering an insane amount of Chinese food for the both of us was one of my favorites things. He would always order extra dumplings because I would always eat his. Miss you Dad. Anyways these steamed dumplings fix my craving every time.”

3) Tamales from Super Amanecer. “Tamales have always felt like home to me in any kitchen. Before heading into work I will stop by this grocery store and grab maybe ten tamales. They have a couple different options to choose from. When I get to work I pass them around the kitchen staff. Sharing food is a form of love and shows appreciation. Ever since I started working in kitchens fifteen years ago, this was something coworkers would always share with me and each other before a shift or after.”

4) Wood Fired Oysters and Hamachi Crudo at Oakhart Social. “These are two of my favorite dishes of the year by far. I was introduced to these guys and have had a crush on them ever since. They are always making some bomb specials, and the flavors are so playful while still showcasing the purity of the ingredients. Just a great vibe with some great people and great food.”

5) Apple Fritters from Sbrocco’s. “These dang apple fritters are so delicious. My pregnant sister has me drive them to her on her lunch break at UVA hospital. They have the cutest little store front and offer a good selection of yeasted simply made doughnuts.”

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.”