Mockingbird, Staunton’s newest restaurant and music hall, rebounds from an August fire.
PHOTO BY KEVIN BLACKBURN

First it sang, then it burned, and now it has risen again. Mockingbird, Staunton’s new restaurant and music hall, caught fire before it even opened back in August when two trash cans ignited during the renovation of the historic building on Beverley Street.

At the time, stunned owner Wade Luhn was planning on a September opening, but as he stood on the street watching the blaze he was speechless. While the restaurant side of the building suffered little damage, the music hall side took the brunt of the two-hour fire. A day later, though, Luhn was determined.

“We’re uncertain when we will be able to restore the music hall,” said Luhn.   “but it will happen as soon as possible, and we will work with renewed determination to complete the project.”

The restaurant, believe it or not, opened (more)

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Camino opened recently on Market Street, serving up locally-sourced Mediterranean cuisine.
PHOTO COURTESY SEAN THOMAS

Camino, which took over the Il Cani Pazzo space next to the Vinegar Hill Theater on Market Street, has, to borrow from its Spanish meaning, traversed the “long road” from concept to reality, quietly opening last week. While they are still waiting on their ABC license, co-owner Sean Thomas says the Mediterranean-inspired restaurant is now serving locally-sourced dinner cuisine Wednesday through Sunday.

Thomas, an aspiring filmmaker who planned on doing a documentary on the local food movement called Dirt to Dinner, says he decided to bring some of the same ideas for his film to a real live restaurant venture, serving up locally-sourced food inspired by the rustic style of cooking in Southern France, Italy, and Spain. At first, he says, he planned on operating a food cart on the Downtown Mall, but when he tossed the idea around with (more)

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There’s a new Mexican place in the old Amigos space in the Willoughby Square Shopping Center on 5th Street SW named La Joya. They opened about three weeks ago, according to Isael Alvarez, son to owner Eva Alvarez. It’s the first restaurant the family has opened.

“It’s something my Mom has always wanted to do,” says Isael, “So when she got the chance, she took it.”

Basically, it’s food Eva has been cooking in her own kitchen for years. The Dish hasn’t checked it out yet, but Isael says they have a $4.40 lunch combo special that has been mighty popular.

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Rise Pizzaworks General Manager Justin Billcheck and owners Andrew Vaughan and John Spagnolo.
PHOTO BY COURTENEY STUART

Over the last month or so, Dish heard whispers about Rise Pizzaworks in Barracks Road, with several pizza lovers wondering if it was a chain kind of like Chipotle. Nope. The newest addition to Charlottesville’s gourmet pizza scene, which opened Sunday, September 27 in the former Glassner Jewelers space in Barracks Road Shopping Center, is a one-of-a-kind, locally owned and operated.

But it may not be one of a kind for long.

“This is a proving ground,” says co-owner John Spagnolo, who along with partner Andrew Vaughan– a longtime fixture on the Charlottesville restaurant scene– hopes to open (more)

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At the end of the summer, look for Camino to be replacing Il Cane Pazzo on Water Street.
PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

Il Cane Pazzo, the Italian eatery in the corner of the Vinegar Hill Theater building on Water Street, has closed, soon to be replaced by Camino, a Mediterranean-style restaurant which the owner says will “draw from all the Southern European cultures.”

Three years ago, Fleurie and Petit Pois owner/chef Brian Helleberg opened Il Cane Pazzo in the long-lived  L’Avventura space. At the time, Helleberg admitted that he wasn’t really looking for a new restaurant, but he saw it as a chance to preserve a successful business and help its former employees.

“The restaurant really had a good reputation,” said Helleberg, “and the people who worked there were so eager to come back.”

In the end, though, Il Cane Pazzo appears to have became somewhat (more)

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Attention Mall mavens: In September, this could be your corner grocer.
PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

For years now, we’ve heard rumors about a grocery store coming to the Downtown Mall area. In November 2007, it was reported that a grocery store was opening up in the still unoccupied  A & N store/Obama headquarters space on the corner of East Main and Fifth Streets, but it was not to be. In fact, sources at the time told Dish that there was never any plan for a grocery store there. After all, what grocer would operate in just 2,400 square feet of space without drive-up parking?

Well, now it appears a grocer has decided to operate at the corner of 4th and East Market Street, in the familiar building that has been home to Cadogan Square Antiques, currently advertising a closing sale.

“We were lucky enough to find a space large enough for this purpose in a beautiful old building,” says soon-to-be grocer Raphael Strumlauf. “We’re looking forward to making this a convenient, enjoyable place for the people that live and work in the downtown area.”

Strumlauf says they will carry a full range of grocery items, as well as fresh seafood, locally grown meats, and produce. “We’re also planning an extensive selection of prepared foods made in our own kitchen, that include roasted meats and a wide range of ethnic dishes,” he says.

Strumlauf says he and his partners plan on opening the grocery/deli, tentatively named the Market Street Market, sometime in early  September.

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Tom Jakubowski of What Up Dog, the Mall’s newest hot dog cart.
PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

Tom Jakubowski isn’t the only person with a hot dog cart on the Downtown Mall, but he’s probably the only one with a degree from Hot Dog University.

“I’ve wanted to do this for years,” says Jakubowski, who opened his What Up Dog hot dog cart on the Mall just a week ago. “And then I saw something about Hot Dog University on CBS Good Morning, and decided to give it a try.”

During the Chicago-based two-day intensive course, dubbed “the Harvard of encased meats” by CBS, Jakubowski learned what’s called “the art of the cart.” But cooking and restaurants were already in his blood.

When Dish visited, his sister, Susan Jakubowski-Ostrowski, was lending a hand. The two grew up in the restaurant biz, as their father owned the Roy Rogers on Preston Avenue, where Bodos is now.

Jakubowski wanted to open his cart, which is parked in front of the Downtown Regal, last year, but a car accident interrupted his plans. But he’s full steam ahead, serving up jumbo gourmet dogs from Boar’s Head meats, along with 25 different toppings, nestled in buns from Chandler’s Bakery. He also had his shiny, stainless steel cart custom-made in Arizona.

“I bet there’s no one else on the Mall who has to cut their rolls before putting the hot dogs in,” he says.
Indeed, the jumbo dogs are tasty, the condiments unique and many, and Jakubowski, in his bright white chef’s smock, looks the part of an artist of the cart.

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A new French restaurant called Southern Crescent has been proposed for the already restaurant-heavy 800-block of Hinton Avenue in Belmont, but some citizens aren’t so sure that’s a good idea, according to an April 21 story and a May 4 story, both posted online by public body watchdog group Charlottesville Tomorrow. According to CT, the owners of 814 Hinton Avenue want to rezone their house to become a restaurant, plead their case before the Planning Commission in April, and recently penned an open letter to the neighborhood pleading their case.

The letter points our that the Belmont BBQ space next door was once a residence, and makes the argument that 814 Hinton should be in a defined Hinton Avenue commercial zone.

“We believe that the re-zoning of 814 Hinton Avenue can serve as an essential first step in a comprehensive evaluation of our neighborhood’s future,” writes Andrew Ewell, one of the owners, as well as a writing teacher and guitarist for local rockers American Dumpster.

Want to put in your two cents about the Southern Crescent? The PC will hold a public hearing on the rezoning Tuesday, May 12.

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Last Call Dogs hopes to satisfy your post-partying cravings…well, at least some of them..
PHOTO FROM LAST CALL DOGS WEBSITE

Starting next weekend, expect to see a giant yellow truck going back and forth between the Corner and Downtown after 10pm, serving up hot-dogs, nachos, pretzels, Big Jim’s BBQ, and Slawski’s Sweet Sausage on the cheap to folks with the late munchies. The owners of said yellow hot-dog truck appear to enjoy anonymity, as their website has no contact information. All it says is: Thursday-Saturday, 10pm-2am. Downtown/Corner district, every Fridays After Five.

Apparently, the owners of Last Call Dogs are also aiming to be Charlottesville’s first Twitter and Facebook-centric business.

Indeed, Last Call Dogs Twitter page was the only place where Dish could find out anything about the big yellow truck with a hot-dog on the side. Apparently, they had a little trouble getting started–literally–as they went through three starters in the truck in one month. They also have 39 followers already, including 106.1 The Corner’s Brad Savage, and call themselves the “best mobile late-night food in Cville.” (more)

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A second Shenandoah Joe has finally opened up in the old Ivy Road Java Java space. Back in February, we caught SJ owner Dave Fafara off-guard when we sleuthed out his plans, but he was still forthcoming. He said “things will be a little different” over there, with an emphasis on handcrafted estate coffees from personal farms. After roasting coffee since 1995, Fafara opened his existing café location on Preston Avenue in May 2007.

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There’s a new place in the McIntire Business Park, just beyond Saigon Café and Kathy’s Hair, to get homemade BBQ and breakfast burritos made with local organic ingredients. WahooRidge Company(home of WahooQ BBQ Sauce), described as a “hole in the wall” by owner Mike McBlair, just recently began opening up its whole sale frozen food business to walk-ins. No, the food isn’t frozen, as McBlair has a working kitchen on the premises. In several weeks, McBlair will be offering his frozen homemade food at Whole Foods, but for now he’s offering up some of his specialties to anyone who wants to stop by. “The breakfast burritos are to die for,” he says.

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