All right, we're not saying that spending an evening at Palladio Restaurant at Barboursville Vineyards is going to be cheap. But we are saying it might possibly be the nicest meal you will have the privilege of eating during your time in Charlottesville.
Palladio provides a sublime dining experience. You pay heavily for it, but it's a wonderful treat. Unlike some upscale restaurants where you feel your presence is somehow an imposition on the waiter, at Palladio the service is superb - questions about the menu are welcomed, and all the right forks appear before all the right courses, as if by magic. The finely orchestrated wait staff serves only a dozen tables in the cozy dining room, and the meals take so long that they can't turn over the tables more than once in an evening.
This is obviously not a meal to squeeze in between class and evening meetings. Our reservations were for 8:15 p.m., and by the time we floated out, relaxed and full of good food, it was nearing midnight. The leisurely pace allows for truly fine dining, and also gives you time to absorb the wine served with every course if you choose the $75 wine pairing meal option.
The dinner menu is prix fixe, which means all dinners cost the same amount ($54) and you pick among three choices for each of the four courses. Palladio draws on its vineyard location, and the wine is not included in the meal but can be purchased by the glass, the bottle or one matched glass per course ($75).
Whether you choose the wine pairings or not, however, your dining experience at Palladio will begin with a flute of fine champagne and a selection of cheeses. Next, the salmon souffle appetizer served with white wine sauce, baby carrots and snow peas could not have been better prepared. As with all the seafood selections at Palladio, the filet was smooth and tender, breaking into perfect bites at the delicate suggestion of the fork. The dressing complimented the fish perfectly without overwhelming the selection.
The salad option included fancy greens mixed with sliced strawberries for sweetness, while toasted pecans added texture and a nutty flavor. Fresh Chevre cheese was crumpled on top and the salad was lightly dressed in a poppy seed vinaigrette.
Among the first course options, or primi, are a soup made from puree of watercress, startlingly green in color and delicate in flavor. Twirled strips of orange peel added zest as a garnish and rested in a small pool of olive oil in the center of the dish. The olive oil was a bit disconcerting, but it helped smooth out the unusual flavor of the watercress.
The homemade tagliolini served with sliced garlic, red pepper flakes and wilted baby spinach is very heavily flavored with herbs and seasonings, but once again, the combination works perfectly. The thin oily pasta allows the other ingredients to fully mix and the pepper flakes add spice that reminds one more of a Thai influence than an Italian one.
On to the secondi, or main dishes. The fish dish was a delectable piece of pan-seared sea bass, resting on a bed of pearl barley soaked in a tomato-fennel broth. A cold stringy cabbage garnished with shaved fennel perched on the bass and provided a marvelous temperature and texture contrast with the fish.
In addition to rabbit and duck, the kitchen offers a grilled Georgetown Farms beef served with whipped Yukon gold potatoes, spring ramps, balsamic glaze and 'Olio d'Oliva del Negrar.' This is one of the smaller secondi options, but the beef is lean and tender, succulently melting in your mouth. The only reason that you would ever consider not eating this selection is the inevitable concern over ruining a beautiful presentation.
The only slightly disappointing dish of the night was the first dessert: baked foma cheese, wrapped with filo dough, and apple sorbet with wild flower honey. As we had come to expect by this point in the evening, this dolce selection was gorgeous when it arrived. The filo was so large, however, that navigating to the cheese was difficult, and the apple sorbet was not necessarily the best compliment for the foma. Still, had this dish been presented by most restaurants, it would have probably garnered praise.
The Honey Almond Semifreddo was a stunning feat of gourmet dessert inspiration. Two words: meringue beehive. Two more: marzipan bees. Yes, they actually created a "beehive" of white meringue, looped in coils and lightly browned to look like a real bee home. Next to this saccharine niche rested the proud resident, a little bumblebee with toasted almonds for wings. A drawn-on dark chocolate flower graced the plate, and the petals were filled in with raspberry sauce. Amazing.
The Palladio milieu is refined and elegant but not uppity or exclusive. The service is seamless without being aggressive or even evident at times. This is the perfect example of a thorough restaurant experience, which explains the steep pricing. It's tantalizing to know that a restaurant like this exists, but time and money will not allow you to eat there all the time. For those looking for a lighter option and a chance to view the nearby Barboursville ruins, designed by Mr. Jefferson himself, Palladio offers fewer course options as well as lunch.
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