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Contents Copyright ©2008 The HooK
Contents Copyright ©2008 The HooK
The Washington Post has a story today on Charlottesville coffee bars, and writer Roger Piantadosi confirms what we’ve known for some time:
“Charlottesville today has more restaurants per capita than any city in Virginia, or possibly France, and is home to the kind of insanely committed foodies who post photos on their blogs of (I’m not kidding) handwritten estimates of opening dates that the owners have taped to the doors of restaurants that are still under construction. And who then discuss it online for days.”
Whoa! France? We’re not sure if local foodies should slap themselves on the back or seek counseling.
Sadly, Piantadosi’s “coffee bar tour” covers only four places, The Mudhouse, Cafe Cubano, Shenandoah Joe, and C’Ville Coffee. There is a photo of La Taza accompanying the piece, but no mention of it in the story. (Update 4:20pm: Doh! As “Zooey” noticed, there is a hard to see link to a selection of other places, including Milano, La Taza, The Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar, Fox Park Cafe, and Starbucks.) Here are a few snippets from the Post story:
The Mudhouse: “….young people with really interesting hair or pierced what-have-yous, plus at least seven laptops and a table of tweedy professor-looking guys…arguably the most diverse clientele and one of the best locations of all of C’ville’s coffee bars.”
Cafe Cubano: “…definitively cool, inasmuch as a clearly non-hip guy like me always feels more as if I’m missing something amid the deco decor at Cafe Cubano than at, say, Mudhouse.”
Shenandoah Joe: “What distinguishes it from the others — besides the fact that more than half of the enormous, high-ceilinged space is an active, humming roastery with at least 30 types of beans stacked on shelves and counters — is that the baristas know everything about the beans that made the coffee they’re making into your personal drink and are happy to discuss any part of the process with you.”
C’Ville Coffee: “I wrote my last book here,” says Heather Hummel, sitting in the sunniest corner of the adult room with her laptop and coffee. “I think a lot of writers like to work here.”
Orzo Kitchen and Wine Bar in the Main Street Ma...
Chef Angelo Vangelopoulos munches on his ̶...
This town's oldest fine dining establishment offering intimate dining upstairs (now on a fancy rear patio) and a downstairs pub. The eclectic menu shows French Provincial American Southwest and Pacific Rim influences.
Let us know what you think about local restaurants. Login to the Hook's FoodFinder with the links below.
[...] Hat tip: Dave at the HooK [...]
Check out our round up from last year with rankings and the full list…
http://cvillain.com/2007/09/19/charlottesville-cafe-review-round-up/
[...] The Washington Post is all about C’ville coffeeshops, and presumably puts Anoop in the “insanely committed foodie” category. (Via The Hook) [...]
What a horrible slight to Java Java, which although a relative newcomer definitely holds it own at the oft-forgotten east end of the Mall!
Sidebar covers five other places. Hard to see the link online: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/29/AR2008042902697.html?sid=ST2008042902855
Zooey,
Thanks for the heads up…I didn’t even see that.
Dave McNair