Goodbye O’Neill’s, hello Trinity. The upscale Irish pub on The Corner opened in October and it’s already making a name for itself.
PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER

After months of renovation, the former O’Neill’s Pub space on The Corner has finally been transformed into Trinity Irish Pub. Apparently, it was worth the wait. According to manger Mackenzie Smith, the Irish and “European bistro-style” pub has been attracting foodies, grad students, young professionals, hospital employees, late-night bar scene types, and just about everyone in-between.

“We’ve brought something a little more upscale to The Corner,” says Smith. “So we’re attracting all kinds of people.”

Indeed, the place has three bars on three levels with eight beers on tap, including Guinness, of course, and three separate sound systems for each level. There’s also a balcony overlooking the street on the second floor where folks can step out for a smoke, as the owners decided to make the restaurant smoke-free. When the weather gets warmer, the ground floor’s French doors will unfold “Paris café-style” so that tables can pour out on to the sidewalk.

Trinity is the brainchild of two young Chicagoans, Ryan Rooney and Kevin Badke, who may never have opened the place if it weren’t for a one-day visit Rooney made to Charlottesville last year.

“I was literally having lunch outside at the College Inn when they were putting the for lease sign on the building next door,” says Rooney, who says the only other time he’d been to Charlottesville was for a UVA football game when he was 13. Rooney says he tried to get an appointment to see the place that day, but wasn’t able to. Back in Chicago, he couldn’t stop thinking about the space, so friends told him to go back and check it out.

But Dish’s ears really perked up when Rooney mentioned the name of their chef: (more)

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Dish’s foodie spys tell him that Taste of China, which recently opened in the Albemarle Square Shopping Center, is the real deal. Apparently, a very itinerant but renowned Szechuan chef named Peter Chang is currently biding his time there until his next big gig. Indeed, fans of Chang have been stalking him from place to place for years, and trying to learn about his whereabouts since he left the Hong Kong House in Knoxville, Tennessee. He specializes in “boldly seasoned” Northern Szechuan cuisine.

A call to Taste of China confirmed that Chang is indeed the chef, but a considerable language barrier prevented us from gleaning much more. This is good news for authentic Chinese food fans, while it lasts. In China, Chang apparently cooked for president Hu Jintao, and in 2000 he became the chef at the Chinese Embassy. He eventually began cooking at DC and Northern Virginia area restaurants and was quickly discover by folks like Tom Sietsema at the Washington Post.

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