A place called the Tea Room Cafe conjures images of white linen table cloths, dainty cucumber sandwiches and snooty waiters. Breaches of table etiquette are sure to be punished with disdainful scowls and haughty fingers pointed toward the door. Yet the establishment on West Main Street is a warm and inviting place for lunch or dinner and manages to avoid being self-consciously prissy.
Previously located in the 1817 Bed and Breakfast down the street, Tea Room Cafe at Starr Hill eventually outgrew the space and now has expanded into its own house. Unfortunately, this wonderful eatery is not open for meals every day of the week because owners Mark and Vickie Gresge say they wanted Sundays off and didnOt want to surrender their whole lives to the restaurant. But their focused energy and attention to detail are well worth a trip to Tea Room Cafe.
Mark and Vickie are trying to develop a distinctive style of "nouveau Virginian" using traditional Virginia flavors and local products to complement standard gourmet fare. As a result, a good portion of the menu changes with the seasons, but some of the kitchen's old favorites always are featured.
Those lucky attendees of the Taste of Charlottesville the week before Thanksgiving were fortunate enough to sample the pumpkin butternut squash soup ($5) which made quite a splash at Alumni Hall. This smooth spicy autumn blend of flavors and spices is served with hot and delicious homemade pepper cheese bread, a nice addition to the two different kinds of bread served with olive oil at the table.
Another exciting and original appetizer is the stuffed wonton with smoked oysters and bacon ($8). After wrapping the two types of meat in a blanket of cheese and a large wonton, the chef fries the noodle-dough dumpling until it is very crispy. A piquant buttermilk horseradish sauce dresses the starter and complements the dish perfectly.
The Oriechette pasta ($12) tossed with shiitake mushrooms in a creamy Gorgonzola cheese sauce could use some extra color and is something of a one-note tune. The expanse of cream-colored pasta seems bland without a red pepper highlight. The pasta does come in a large serving, however, and also is the cheapest entree option.
The Dijon lemon cream sauce that surrounds the pan-seared salmon filet ($17) adds wonderful flavor to an otherwise mild seafood serving. Served on butternut cranberry rice, the salmon arrives fresh and very tender, but the cream sauce ultimately makes this selection work.
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Another good entree choice is the seared scallops with black-eyed pea relish ($17) delicately served atop a bed of sautéed Swiss chard and a cider shallot sauce flavored with Virginia smoked bacon. Most people either love or hate scallops, but these are tough not to like. Well-prepared and surrounded by delectable flavors, the dish is moist and allows each flavor ample playing time.
The four dessert options all are prepared in the kitchen, and range along the chocolate spectrum from a standard fudge walnut brownie to devil's food cake.
The apple oatmeal spice cake with cream cheese icing provides a wonderful close to an evening, particularly as winter months approach. The apples come straight from nearby Carter's Mountain Orchard, and the aromatic spices blend with the frosty white cream cheese spread to give a holiday spirit to the treat. But the most popular dessert, the coconut creme cake, has such a devoted following that people come to the Tea Room Cafe for the sole purpose of ending the night with a slice. All desserts are $5.
Make no mistake about it, the Tea Room Cafe is tastefully elegant yet still accessible. Each separate room of the restaurant has its own unique personality and individual decor. Bright colors adorn the walls in each of the rooms inside the renovated house. Small white holiday lights highlight the turquoise, raspberry and deep yellow walls of the rooms in the upstairs dining area and lacy curtains partially mask the diner's view of Wild Wing Cafe across the street. Romantic paintings of the Virginia countryside rest on nearly every side of the patron. The artist, Malcolm Hughes of Taos, N.M. uses the Tea Room Cafe as his exclusive gallery in Charlottesville, and those individuals with money remaining after the rather pricey dinner are welcome to purchase any of the works in the restaurant.
In addition to several local microbrews, the restaurant carries an extensive list of affordable bistro-level wines, mostly from Virginia and the south of France. With its cellar growing and their desire to match the selection with the nature of the kitchen's fare, the Tea Room Cafe is hoping to soon be featured in Wine Spectator.
Despite opening nearly two years ago, the Tea Room Cafe gives the sense of long-standing tradition. The graceful interior and pleasant milieu offers a refined dining experience, yet the restaurant retains its own personal character, from the inclusion of Midwesterner Mark's grandmother's recipe for Polish pierogi to the restaurant's own mascot, Maggie the golden retriever. Taste and charm convene pleasantly in this quaint cafe, promising a memorable evening of good food and great atmosphere.
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