On a walk to see the Grand Illumination last night we noticed that Pasture was open and took a detour. Needless to say, we never made it to our original destination. We had already eaten dinner at home and settled in at the bar for a beer and peek at the menu for next time. As if the nice selection of local and local-ish (east coast) beers was not exciting enough, there were pickles on the menu. And Kite’s ham, which my grandmother and mother have used on ham biscuits for years. And fried oysters, another family favorite, especially around the holidays. And countless other amazing sounding things.
But back to those pickles . . . One of my favorite things growing up was the pickle bar at the (now-closed) Hardware Store on the downtown mall in Charlottesville. Recently, on a trip to Denver, I was delighted to find a pickle sampler on the menu at Euclid Hall (orange pickles and hop-seasoned pickles – so ridiculously good). Now, the pickles have arrived in my neighborhood. And that, in my humble opinion, is even more grand than a bunch of lighted deer grazing outside the James Center.
*Obviously there’s a lot more awesome-ness to Pasture than the pickles. You can read about it here: http://bit.ly/sk0yE2 And no doubt in countless other reviews to come soon. The space itself is amazing; with soaring ceilings, deceptively simple décor and an unfinished floor that “works” in a way that is hard to describe.
