Eating at Staunton Grocery

Staunton Grocery is one of my favorite restaurants I've ever visited ever, period. It was the first place where I ever really pushed myself to try foods out of my comfort zone or things I had never heard of, like salsify, and the first place I ever tried a fixed-price menu. It's committed to serving farm-to-table food using local sources and the food is fresh, flavorful and simple. Let's just say it's a must-stop whenever I'm in the area.

Since I moved away, they've added lunch, which is WONDERFUL news because it's not only easier to get a walk-in table, but a little more wallet- and palate-friendly. Here's what I had ...

Herb hush puppies. I'm sorry to say they were a bit dry, but still good!

Sean got the burger, our friend Holly got mussels and I had the Fried Green Tomato BLT with fries. It was SO SO SO good. Like, I don't know if I can ever have another BLT. I ate every last bite.

The BLT had a thick bacon, arugula, fried green tomato and smoked paprika aioli. If I can just figure out how to replicate that bread, I'm going to be trying to make this from home for the entire summer.

For dessert, we split a very fudgy brownie with milk stout ice cream. You could taste the beer in the ice cream and it was a perfect pairing. We also ate every last bite of that!

You might think this is a picture of Sean, but it's actually a picture of the kitchen, which has a big open window so you can watch the staff work. While we were there, they made fresh pasta.

If you go for dinner, you can enjoy wine pairings, hand-picked by the staff sommelier. The best part of the restaurant, however, is its casual vibe. No gimmicks, just good food.