I’m by no means a restaurant reviewer and probably lack the vocabulary and comparisons to do this review justice, but I was completely surprised last weekend by what I think will be a popular new restaurant in Charlottesville.
I will first admit that I am friends with one of the owners and became friends with the co-owner and chef, but that doesn’t mean this review will be biased. If I didn’t like the restaurant, I would simply not take time to write about it. However, here I am choosing to write about a restaurant rather than catch up on some my favorite shows and more importantly, going to sleep early.
When I was first told (by my mom) to go meet Jae (of J’s Pizza and Subs Cafe in Fredericksburg) at the new restaurant she opened with Chef Raif, I was expecting a fairly casual, college kid friendly pizza joint on the Corner. I should have known that Chef Raif, owner of Basil Mediterranean Bistro on 14th St NW, would never open a dive pizza joint. However, that would have required me to have been to Basil at least once and with three kids, getting out for a nice meal doesn’t happen that often! This week, Holly and the kids were on vacation to Pennsylvania so I instead took my friend Kate and her four kids.
Semolina is a bit hard to see at first. It is right on W. Main St just after passing under the 14th Street railroad bridge at the Corner (the retail area of shops, bars, and restaurants near the University of Virginia). It’s located at 1329 W. Main next door to Cafe Europa and before the Mellow Mushroom. When you first walk in, you enter a small waiting area with an exterior wall made of glassed-in wine bottle corks from Barboursville Vineyard. You are greeted by the take-out counter, a small bench, and a staircase leading up to the dining area with 30 gallon wine barrels (also from Barboursville Vineyard) overhead. I’d advise you to plan an early or late dinner or take advantage of the carry-out as both the waiting area and the dining area are not large! (the dining area seats approximately 40)
Because it was part of Semolina’s ‘soft-opening,’ we were sat immediately by the restaurant manager and Chef Raif, who designed the dining room himself. Instead of red and white picnic table cloths and bright open spaces with fountain soda signs like I was expecting, I was instead seated in the elegant dining room with ceramic plates, cobalt blue and stemmed water glasses, stained glass lanterns above the table, French and Italian contemporary photography on the walls and a comforting color scheme that was more date night than college pizza dinner… I guess that’s why they threw ‘Gourmet’ in the name?
No, they threw gourmet in their name because that’s how the pizza tastes. I love to reminisce of when I was a young, stupid college student roaming Italy on endless wine and thin-crust personal sized pizzas for $5. No matter how many times I’ve tried, I’ve yet to find a pizza in the US that could match the tiny little shop across from my hotel in Florence. With one look at the menu offering 8″ and 12″ pizzas with names such as “Margherita Pepperoni,” “Basilico,” and “Santa Brigida,” I wondered if tonight would be the night.
Chef Raif knew that kids like food quickly and after seeing us with four kids at the table, he quickly served up some appetizers. He brought up some Mozzarella Frita, deep-fried, breaded mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce, for the kids and quite possibly the most appetizing bruschetta I’ve ever seen. I instantly felt remorse for enjoying such fine tasting bruschetta coated with balsamic vinaigrette without my wife Holly, who would have loved it! Kate’s kids even commented that the mozzarella sticks were, “The yummiest thing ever.”
Bruschetta
Toasted Italian bread with marinated tomato fondutta, fresh basil,
roasted garlic, EVOO, cilantro, fresh mozzarella, balsamic
After appetizers, we were each served our pizzas. Kate ordered the Margherita Pepperoni for her and the kids, I had the Greek pizza, and Jae had a custom made vegetable pizza from Chef Raif. I will not attempt to do justice by describing the taste of the pizzas. I will only say that the bread was the perfect consistency, the ingredients seemed like they were fresh from the farm, and the taste put a smile on my face.
I was 100% satisfied with my first experience at Semolina and I never even got to tackle the wine and beer list. Chef Raif paid special attention to the list and picked only Italian wines to compliment his menu. I will be sure to go back again with my wife to test that list out soon!
“It’s All Greek to Me”
http://www.semolinacville.com/
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