After growing up in the restaurants of his parents, chef Angelo Vangelopoulos hopped from city to city trying to find a restaurant to call his own. After learning from award-winning French and Italian master chefs, Vangelopoulos stopped by a Charlottesville property listed for sale in 1995. After touring the property, the chef and his parents knew the Ivy Inn was their calling. Fifteen years later, the Inn continues to court local farms and growers to supply its regionally-inspired blend of French, Italian, and Greek cuisines.

The secret to success in the restaurant biz is… to surround yourself with good people and to have a sincere love of food.
My secret go-to ingredient is… bacon– it makes a dish better, without a doubt.
The secret behind the “local” food hype is… for the majority of produce, you cannot get better than what you get around here. It’s supporting the local economy, it can’t be fresher, it tastes good and is good for us, and having a relationship with a grower makes me feel better. Every bit of the hype, I buy– and I can taste the difference.
The secret to making the Ivy Inn’s Lobster “Raviolo” is… fresh lobster, good eggs for the pasta, and not overworking the pasta.

The Ivy Inn’s Lobster “Raviolo”

For the dough (can be done up to two days ahead):
1 pound durum semolina
4 eggs
1 tbsp olive oil

Put all ingredients in food processor, pulse on and off a couple of times being careful not to overwork the ingredients.

Empty the dough makings onto a cutting board and press together with your hands and wrap in plastic wrap. Let the dough rest a minimum of one hour or overnight in the refrigerator. (more)

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The secret to creating the perfect menu… starts with having a very cohesive idea of what exactly you’re trying to present to your customers. Once you have that, it’s easier to let loose with your creativity and really make your menu pop. The menu at Boylan works so well because it isn’t overly ambitious– we know that burgers are the star here, but then we kick it up with some creative side items that serve to complement the burgers.
The secret to success in the restaurant biz is… to always have an open mind. With a living entity such as a restaurant, you’ve gotta realize that things are constantly changing and your success depends on your ability to adapt. They say the wise man knows nothing at all– who said that… was it Kanye?
The secret to making Boylan Heights’ Veggie Burger is… the almond flour coating. It adds a great nutty flavor and gives the patty a beautiful golden brown color when cooked. The great thing about this recipe is that if you’re feeling creative, it’s easy to sub out a few veggies for some of your favorites. Just don’t mess with the quinoa!

Boylan Heights’ Veggie Burger
vegetable stock
3 cups uncooked quinoa
4 1/2 cups uncooked, cubed zucchini (more)

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Favorite utensil: I have this really cool switch peeler. It works like a switch blade
Celebrities served? Recently, Robert Duvall
Personality in the kitchen: Silverback
Go-to ingredient: Crabbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb, I love Crab!!!!
Overused ingredient: truffle oil
First dish: Wood grilled triple thick pork chops coated with Lawry’s seasoning salt!!! 8 years old and under the watchful eye of my Father, The Grillmaster

Smoked Pork Belly braised with orange, balsamic and garlic

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Favorite utensil: 10″ chef knife kept razor sharp
Celebrities served? our favorites, Dan and Lou Jordon
Personality in the kitchen: Benevolent conductor
Go-to ingredient: Our house cured bacon
Over used ingredient: Elbow grease
First dish: pizza at age 10

Chocolate pot de creme

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Favorite utensil: Currently, the wood grill at Camino
Celebrities served? Yes, many… not polite to name drop.
Personality in the kitchen: Tormented by self-perceived inadequacy/demanding
Go-to ingredient: winter bones
Over-used ingredient: Wasabi, balsamic, Meyer lemon
First dish: 8 yrs old, cookies. To my mother’s dismay, they were glazed with melted crayons.

Zuppa di Fagioli with Rosemary Oil

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Favorite utensil: My clogs (they enable me to stand as long as I need without leg or back pain) or a good sharp cleaver, the most versatile knife in the kitchen.
Ever served a celebrity? Howie Long, Jim Nabors, Steve Martin, Bill Cosby, Melanie Griffin, Don Johnson, George W. Bush, Aretha Franklin, Donald Trump, Ivana Trump, Alyssa Milano, Maureen Reagan, Michael and Leon Spinks, Marla Maples, Bo Derek to name a few
Personality in the kitchen: All personality traits could be used to describe my kitchen demeanor at various stages of my career or a given circumstance. The important thing is not to lose your teammates’ respect, to know your audience, and to always remember you’re a leader. People will react to the environment you have created through your personality.
Go-to ingredients: Extra virgin olive oil / garlic / good wine
Overused ingredient: Tomatoes
First dish: First real dish was sautéed soft shell crabs with Rémoulade sauce. I was 9 years old. My parents would always take us to the Maryland shore for vacation, and crab was a big part of those memories for me.

Barbecued Carolina quail

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Favorite utensil: palette knife
Celebrities served? Muhammad Ali
Personality in the kitchen: coach
Go-to ingredient: yellow onion
Overused ingredient: smoked paprika
First dish: I began cooking scrambled eggs for breakfast before school at age 7.

Root vegetable casserole

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Favorite utensil: Chinese Cleaver
Celebrities served? Yes, tons when I lived in London– too many to name.
Personality in the kitchen: Drill sergeant
Go-to ingredient: Pork
First dish: Beef bourguignon at age 12

Lump Crab Cakes

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Favorite kitchenware: Fondue Pot
Celebrities served? Yes; every guest that comes into my restaurant is treated like royality!
Personality in the kitchen: Drill Sergeant
Go-to ingredient: Milk Chocolate
Overused ingredient: None; they are all great and never get old
First dish: Oatmeal at age 8

Spinach and artichoke cheese for fondue

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Favorite utensil: My Sabatier chef knife.
Celebrities served? Carter Beauford (drummer for DMB). Being a drummer, it felt good to share my talents with someone that has inspired me outside of the kitchen.
Personality in the kitchen: I like to stay calm and cool, but that doesnt always happen.
Go-to ingredient: Kosher salt
Overused ingredient: Thyme
First dish: Spaghetti sauce. I was 11 years old.

Dr. Pepper Braised Beef Short Ribs

3lb. beef short ribs
3 tbsp oil
2 tbsp kosher salt
1 ½ tbsp black pepper
5 gloves garlic
2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
3 stocks of celery, roughly chopped
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
3-4 cup Dr. Pepper
5-7 sprigs of thyme

4-6 servings

Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat a large sauté pan* on medium high heat, then add the oil. Sear the meat on all sides, about 2-3 minutes per side. Once the meat is brown, remove it from the sauté pan and place it in a large casserole dish or oven safe baking dish.

With the remaining fat in the sauté pan, sear the carrots, onion, celery and garlic. Sauté vegetables for about 5-7mins on high, stirring occasionally. Transfer vegetables to the baking dish.

Deglaze the sauté pan with the red wine vinegar, then add to baking dish.

Pour just enough Dr. Pepper to cover the vegetables and beef.

Cover and bake @: 350 degrees for 3-4 hours
300 degrees for 5-6 hours
250 degrees for 7-9 hours
200 degrees for 10-12 hours

* This can be done start to finish in a large roasting pan or dutch oven.

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Favorite utensil: 8” Santoku Chef’s Knife
Ever served a celebrity? Members of Dave Matthews Band, Phil Lesh, Common, Chris Daughtry, Tom Shadyac…and many more
Personality in the kitchen: Calm and Relaxed
Go-to ingredient: Smoked Paprika
Overused ingredient: Salt….I love it
First dish ever: I used to cook myself noodles when I was 8 or 9, but I started really cooking when I was 15

Signature Shrimp and Grits

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Favorite utensil: A spoon, the best tool ever.
Ever served a celebrity? If so, who? Yes, Rudy Giuliani, Don Shula, Bob
Villa, Harland Williams, and of course Dave Matthews
Personality in the kitchen: Perfectionist
Go-to ingredient: Fresh Herbs
Overused ingredient: Balsamic Vinegar, it has its place but shouldn’t plague
a menu.
First dish you ever cooked: Probably a generation thing here, but Kraft Mac and Cheese, I was eight and not allowed to cook, parents were on vacation and I took the opportunity to break the rules.

Parsnip Soup

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Favorite utensil: tongs
Ever served a celebrity? If so, who? Apart from locals, no
Personality in the kitchen: mad scientist
Go-to ingredient: roasted garlic
Overused ingredient: thyme
First dish: Pancakes ( from scratch) 5 or 6

Red wine braised beef burgundy

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Favorite Utensil: Fish spatula
Celebrities served? Bono, Rush Limbaugh and Thomas Keller– all while
working at Citronelle
Go-To Ingredient: Bacon
Overused Ingredient: Butter
Personality: Very level-headed
First dish: Gnocchi with my grandmother, mom, and sisters as a child. I
was very little.

Lobster Dumplings

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Favorite utensil: None
Ever served a celebrity? Michael Jackson, Sylvester Stallone, President Clinton, Mohammad Ali, Shaq, Mick Jagger, and many more.
Personality in the kitchen: Work hard, play hard.
Go-to ingredient: salt and pepper
Overused ingredient: None
First dish: Salsa verde at 5 1/2 years old

Port Poached Bosc Pears

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Kitchen utensil: 14′ prime rib slicing knife.
Celebrities served? Several including Alan Alda and Carol Burnett when they were in town shooting the movie The Four Seasons in 1980.
Personality in the kitchen: “patient and flexible”.
Go-to ingredient: Oregano. “Having worked for a Greek family for over 40 years it’s been infused in my blood.”
Overused ingredient: Paprika
First dish: steak on a charcoal grill at age 17.

French Onion Soup (6 servings)

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Favorite utensil: Tongs
Ever served a celebrity? Sting /The Police
Personalilty in the kitchen: Have you seen Hell’s Kitchen?
Go-To ingredient: Antica extra virgin olive oil
Overused ingredient: High fructose corn syrup
First dish: I was 12, and I made pizza for my family

Oven Roasted Tomatoes

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Kitchen utensil: a big knife
Celebrities served? Mrs. Kluge, Washington Redskin Great Darryl Green, Nancy Reagan, Barbara and Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, Rosslyn Carter
Go-to ingredient: onion
Overused ingredient: black pepper
First dish prepared: fresh-made burger at age 24

Cream of crab soup

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Favorite utensil: Wire whisk
Celebrities served? Howie Long, Charlie Rose, John Grisham, Dave Matthews, Carter Beauford
Personality in the kitchen: Singing and happy-go-lucky
Go-to ingredient: Fresh garlic
Overused ingredient: Wine
First dish prepared: Beef Stroganoff, at age 14

Mascarpone Mousse

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Favorite utensil: a brick from the Downtown Mall
Celebrities served? Jimmy Sneed, Matthew Broderick, Alain Ducasse…
Personality in the kitchen: Insane French dude
Go-to ingredient: bacon
Overused ingredient: foie gras
First dish prepared: Paella, age 14

Escargot empanada with serrano pepper butter

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The secret to great cooking is… losing your inhibitions. A lot of people think there are very specific rules to cooking, but beyond the basics, you should really be secure enough in your abilities to be free to do what you want.

The secret to success in the restaurant business is… attention to detail. Everything that goes on in the restaurant needs to be watched carefully

The secret to making the Shebeen’s Durban chicken is… skewering the chicken breasts with either sugar cane or bamboo. It adds a nice earthy aesthetic touch.

The Shebeen’s Durban chicken

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon ground annatto seed

3 tablespoons cumin

6 tablespoons tumeric

3 tablespoons coriander

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon cloves

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

4 8-oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

24 oz. teriyaki sauce

1 tablespoon water

8 oz. chipotle peppers

Honey

Clean and cut the chicken breasts in half, horizontally.

Mix the paprika, salt, annatto seed, cumin, tumeric, coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and pepper and use the mixture to season the chicken.

Marinate in seasoning, 160z. of the teriyaki sauce, and water.

Grill or sear chicken in a pan and then finish in the oven at 350 degrees.

Mix 8 oz. teriyaki sauce and 8 oz. chipotle peppers and honey to taste to make “voodoo sauce” to serve on the side or over the chicken.

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The secret to great cooking is…simplicity. My philosophy is that there should be few ingredients, but they should be treated properly.

The secret to success in the restaurant business is… a bad attitude and a good sense of humor. Have the bad attitude to tell someone when they’ve done something wrong; have the sense of humor to laugh about it later.

The secret to making Fellini’s #9’s calamari is… use fresh seafood, and don’t overcook it.

Fellini’s #9’s calamari: Celery– cross cut, Kalamata olives. Red grapes, halved.

Capers, nonpareils. Sun dried tomatoes, julienned. Fresh, domestic calamari - cleaned and sliced into rings. Fresh spinach. Unsalted butter. Pinch red pepper flakes. Garlic. Salt. Reduced balsamic vinegar. Mix celery, olives, grapes, capers and sundried tomatoes.

In a cold sauté pan add butter, calamari, a handful of the mix, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and sauté until calamari is about ½ cooked– this does not take long! Add spinach– stir spinach until slightly wilted. Do not break sauce or overcook calamari. Serve in a pile in center of a plate, surrounded by pan liquid, topped with a drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar.

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