Having said that, I’d like to announce the fruits of my labor: Graffitio! You can go to the website or check out the blog to learn about it. Here I’m just going to talk about how it’s affected me.

I had the idea in early April. I talked to some friends about it, and everybody seemed really into it. Then I started coding. It was slow going at first, but as things developed, I became more and more into it.

The deadline for submission to get into the iPhone App Store at launch was last Monday at 3 PM, and I spent the days leading up to then coding my ass off to get something stable enough to send out. I really didn’t think that what I sent out would make it in, and was very pleasantly surprised when I received an email Wednesday night telling me that Graffitio was in.

iPhone 2.0 soft-launched on Thursday. A few users started showing up from all over the world. It was just a handful of posts here and there. Then the official launch on Friday. I was in Chicago this weekend and was pretty much glued to my server logs. It started off slow and then started snowballing.

Users started contacting me. Reviews started appearing in iTunes. I opened up Graffitio in downtown Chicago and walls created by other users started popping up everywhere. Whoa. People waiting in line at the Apple Store to get an iPhone 3G were all talking to each other through Graffitio! I saw a wall for a bar and posted asking about their beer selection and got a response!

I hastily put together a website. I started a blog. I started feverishly started fixing bugs and coding new features. I have become a big ball of stress.

It feels awesome.

On a local level, cVillain gave me a pretty awesome writeup. CBS 19 picked up on that and contacted me for an interview which aired yesterday. Walls are popping up all over Charlottesville and actually getting used.

Thanks to everyone that helped me get this far. I’m hoping it’s just the beginning.

Disclaimer: Dan from Eppie’s is a reader of this blog. Whenever I’m in there, we chat about food and kickball, and we’ve become friendly. That said, I try to be objective, but I figured I’d throw this out there.

With that out of the way…

Tuesday: Turkey Chili: First a picture. This was after I ate about an inch of the chili while walking back to my office.

This is a one quart container filled to about one inch of the top. Also take notice of how large the provided spoon is. I postulate that if you attempt to use that spoon to get to the bottom of that container, you will get chili all over your hand. Of course, I don’t think that my hypothesis can ever be tested because no normal human being can eat this much chili. I made it through about half before putting it in the fridge. This is a theme at Eppie’s which I will address later. The chili was superb. Ground turkey, kidney beans, large chunks of tomatoes and an excellent base all come together for a very robust flavor. I mixed in a generous helping of Cholula, and it tasted like Eppie’s made the chili with that in mind. They complimented each other perfectly. If I could change one thing about the chili, I’d maybe want a few bigger pieces of meat. Despite the fact that there was a lot of meat in there, it didn’t taste meaty. Of course for some people, that might be a good thing. I ended up pulling the leftovers out of the fridge and finishing them off a few hours later.

Wednesday: Chicken Tamales: I appreciate that you’re allowed to choose between one tamale or two. I can’t imagine anyone making it through two tamales and their accompanying sides. Eppie’s tamales come out without a husk. I’m finding it hard to come up with the right words to describe a tamale, but I’ll give it a shot. I really liked the texture: not crumbly and not chewy. The flavoring was a little more subtle than I would have liked, but that was easily rectified with the accompanying salsa and some Cholula. As is always the case with Eppie’s, the chicken was delicious. It was juicy, tender, and worked really well with the tamale. I only wish there was more of it in there. I’d say with 50% more chicken, these would be much better.

Thursday: Turkey Meatloaf: The hunk of meatloaf that came out on my plate was one of the most unappetizing looking things I’ve ever seen. I guess you can’t really control the color of cooked ground turkey, but it was this porous gray block that I found a little disturbing. That feeling lasted until I sat down and took a bite out of it. Mmmmmmm. So good. It did not taste or feel like meatloaf that I was accustomed to, but I just thought about how good it was. Most of the time, I find ground turkey to be really dry, but this was very juicy without being greasy. I think most people would enjoy this dish.

So if I had to rank these three specials from best to worst, I’d say Turkey Chili, Turkey Meatloaf, and Chicken Tamales. Now let’s talk about sides. All of Eppie’s sides are spectacular. All of them. Every single one. The macaroni and cheese is the best in town (although I have not had X-Lounge’s yet). The collard greens are incredibly fresh. There’s nothing fancy about the preparation of the sweet potatoes, but I always enjoy mine. Kate loves their mashed potatoes. Everything is good. And Eppie’s last items, the cornbread and the pumpkin muffin. I’m a big cornbread fan, but something about Eppie’s cornbread doesn’t appeal to me. I feel like it has cake mix in it. I like having a few bites of mine, but I don’t think I could ever make it through a full piece. As for the pumpkin muffin, I’ve only had it once, but I am in love. It’s so sweet and moist, I could have it for desert. Luckily you can sub the muffin for the cornbread, so I’m happy.

There is only one thing that keeps me from going to Eppie’s more than I do: The portions are ridiculously large and the food is so good. I always end up spending a few hours in a food coma after having lunch there, which kills my productivity. I suppose I could just exercise self control, but damn it, I’m an American, and I’d like other people to do what’s best for me.

It is no surprise that Eppie’s is one of my favorite lunch establishments. If you’ve been there before, then you know it’s good. If you haven’t been there, then you should really go. When they first opened, I wasn’t impressed, but since then, they’ve turned themselves into one of the best restaurants on the downtown mall. There’s still a huge sections of their menu that I’m yet to explore (salads, sandwiches, and pasta), so there may be another three days at Eppie’s coming up soon.

Monday: Dinner at Cafe Europa: Michael finally convinced me to go see Caribou and Fuck Buttons with him. Then Caribou cancelled. We decided to go see Fuck Buttons anyway. Before the show, we swung by Cafe Europa and I realized I hadn’t been there in months. I was excited. As expected, I ordered the Majorca, and I still maintain it’s the best sandwich in Charlottesville. I also ordered the tomato soup, simply because it had been so long, and it was just as tangy, creamy, and filling as always. I miss you, Cafe Europa. I promise I’ll make an effort to make it down to the Corner more this summer.

Tuesday: Lunch at The Box: Biggest. Disappointment. Ever. All I’ve heard is rave after rave, and I was bursting with excitement when my friends decided to come downtown to check it out with me. We ordered a starter of onion rings. These were incredible. Bar none the best onion rings I’ve ever had. They were coated in tempura and came with a ginger ketchup. After a couple of these, I was chomping at the bit for my noodles to come out. I asked the gentleman at the register to pick something out for me and add chiles to it. I got the green tea noodles, panang sauce, and a skewer of chicken. Ugh. The noodles were overcooked to the point where they just tasted like a starchy mush. The panang curry was thin and watery and just fell straight through to the bottom of the dish. I was unable to get an appreciable amount of it to stick to the noodles. Finally, as far as I could tell, the chicken was not seasoned at all. It was just plain chunks of grilled chicken on a skewer. Despite my high expectations of The Box, I never expected I would be this disappointed. I’m willing to give them one more change, though, in case I caught them on an off day.

Thursday: Aqui es Mexico: Michael and I have been anticipating this evening for a very long time. It was finally Thursday, and we were going to order the Mexican Prime Rib. Here it is:

Unfortunately, the camera angle I chose makes it look much smaller than it is. It was an enormous slab of beef. I’d estimate at least twenty ounces of pre-cooked weight. It came with what tasted like a spicy mexican barbecue sauce and a side plate of beans, rice, salad, and tortillas. The outside of the roast was encrusted with spices and whole rosemary. I made a point of cutting out wedges so I could get a piece of crust with every bite. Near the end, the pleasure turned into work, but I managed to finish the whole thing. I can’t wait to go back.

Friday: Lunch at Christian’s Pizza: For the first time ever, I ordered the Ravioli Pizza:

I’d always seen it, but I always had other things I wanted. I was indifferent today, so I thought I’d try it. Wow. With that first bite, I felt the same rush that accompanied my first visits to Christian’s. In the future, I’ll be ordering a spicy chicken and a ravioli and will be very happy and full.

Friday: Dinner at Amigo’s: No surprises, I ordered the Chili Verde. The only difference is I got it as takeout this time. The takeout portions are considerably larger than what you get in the store! Kate and I discussed how dangerous it was that we could start ordering Amigo’s in our pajamas.

Saturday: Dinner at Monsoon: I’ve only been to Monsoon a handful of times before, and all these visits were years ago. I’d forgotten why I stopped going back, and I was quickly reminded. The wait was ridiculous. I do appreciate their situation, so I’m willing to go back. I’m just going to try to make it back on a weekday. As for the food, I enjoyed it, but it was not the best Panang Chicken I’ve ever had. The biggest disappointment was asking for hot, and not really tasting any spice at all. I’m not sure if the heat never made it in, or if their scale is extremely conservative.

I’m going to go ahead and sneak in my first meal of the next week to make next week’s feature nice and neat.

Monday: Lunch at Bizou: Kate came downtown for lunch, and we crossed the mall to Eppie’s. As usual, I ordered the meatloaf, and as usual, I loved it. I’m amazed at how perfectly textured it is. The pieces all stay hold together on the plate and on my fork, but as soon as I take a bite, they melt in my mouth. If you love meatloaf, this is a must have dish. If you hate meatloaf, I’d say you should still try this dish, because you’ve probably just had bad meatloaf all along.

Lunch on Tuesday: Lee’s Grill: Chicken Teriyaki. The only reason I still post these is to get those of you that haven’t been there yet to go. Lee’s Grill is one of the best lunch options in Charlottesville.

Dinner on Saturday: Royal Indian Restaurant: Kate and I went back taking Erica, Michael, and Tara in tow. I ordered the Goat Vindaloo this time. While the goat curry was better, the vindaloo was still excellent. We got the same two appetizers as last time, and they were just as good. Finally, everybody else loved everything they got. We’re definitely going to have to make the trek up there for the lunch buffet to see if it’s as good as their dinner.

Over the course of the evening, we ordered the miso soup, Kobe meatballs, seaweed salad, shrimp tempura, calamari, spicy honey and tuna roll, spicy toro roll (a special), the sashimi omakase, and several rounds of cocktails and sake. I’ll review the dishes individually and then review the experience as a whole.

Miso Soup: I’m not really sure why I got this, but I had a craving. It tasted like miso soup, which hit the spot right at that moment.

Seaweed salad: It was seaweed salad. No surprises here.

Spicy Honey and Tuna Roll: We were seated right next to the sushi bar, and I saw the enormous pieces of sushi being prepared. I was disappointed when these came out, and they were six pieces of maki about as big as what you get at Asian Express. The fish to rice ratio seemed kind of low to me, and all in all the roll was tasteless. I would not order this again.

Shrimp Tempura: This actually came out before the Calamari. Honestly, in a blind taste test, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between Ten’s shrimp and fried shrimp from your average seafood place slathered in a spicy mayo. I’m not saying it was bad, but I wouldn’t get it again.

Kobe meatballs: This was the dish I was most excited about trying. I’d never had foie gras before. I gently cut the meatball open so I could sample the foie gras center before eating the dish as a whole. I was startled to find that the center was cold despite the rest of the meatball being fried. The foie gras was OK, but I think I’ll reserve my final judgement after having it as a featured dish. As a whole, I really enjoyed the Kobe meatballs. They were very rich and juicy.

Spicy Toro Roll: Now this is what I was talking about when I mentioned watching the huge pieces of sushi being prepared at the bar. We got four enormous pieces of maki stuffed and overflowing with spicy toro. It. was. so. good. The tuna had a much richer and deeper flavor than I was accustomed to. While the fish in spicy tuna rolls is usually overcome by the sauce, this was perfectly balanced. I hope this is something they feature often, because I would love to have it again.

Calamari: ZOMG. This dish has been mentioned ad nauseum in comments at cVillain, so I knew I had to try it. Everything they say is true. I’ve never had calamari this tender. The chewiness that I’ve always associated with it was completely absent. The sauce was bold but not at all heavy. This is definitely a must have.

Sashimi Omakase: This dish is what won me over and will keep me going back to Ten. The spicy toro roll was the last thing we ordered, and this was next to last. What a fantastic way to end the meal. We ordered the $30 omakase not knowing what to expect, and we were all shocked when our server brings out a plate about a food and a half long covered with huge pieces of fish. Tuna, salmon, yellowtail, red snapper, mackarel, fatty tuna, and I can’t even remember what else. It was at least two dozen pieces of fish for thirty dollars. I was in heaven. I can honestly say it’s the best sashimi I’ve ever had. Up until this came out, I was of the “good, but overpriced” state of mind. The quantity and quality of this dish shifted the entire value equation for me. Another must have.

Between the four of us, we tried all sorts of specialty cocktails and a bottle of sake. Every drink had the right balance of liquor and mixers, and those that used fruit (and in the case of my mojito, mint) were all obviously made with fresh ingredients. Our service experience was wonderful. We had reservations, and as soon as we walked in, we were seated. Our server was fairly busy, but at the same time, he never rushed us or went missing. If I had any complaints about our experience, it would be the pacing of the food. With our first round of food orders, the meatballs came out almost immediately, which was actually kind of disconcerting. After that, there was a long wait for the rest of the dishes which trickled out over time. I can’t even begin to understand the logistical planning that would go into managing a kitchen to properly pace a tapas style dinner for every table in the restaurant, but I’d like to think that it’s possible. Am I asking too much?

So given that I only have that one minor complaint about the entire experience, Ten has moved into my top tier of Charlottesville restaurants. I wish I could have it claim the now empty throne as my favorite restaurant, but while I find that it offers a good value proposition, it’s far from being a value. Despite that, Ten will probably dominate our special occasions (and some not so special occasions) for the foreseeable future.

Of course the service has never been stellar, and I understand that their attitude is part of their schtick. While they’ve always maintained this attitude, they were never rude or dismissive until today. Our experience started when Kate, Jeremy, Tasha, and I walked in and put our name down. As usual, they told us how many people were ahead of us, but didn’t mention a time (which I actually appreciate). I went to the bar to get drinks for us. I then waited, waited, and waited. It wasn’t that the bartender didn’t see me, I really felt like I was being ignored. She was definitely avoiding eye contact. At one point she stopped, had a few drags off another customer’s cigarette and was talking while she looked up and down the bar, scanning right over me. When I was finally able to get her attention, I placed our order: two margaritas, grapefruit and vodka, and a beer. She took the order, continued down the bar and took another order, and then made their drinks before ours. I was dumbfounded. When she finally got to our drinks, she brought three drinks over and walked off. I delivered the three drinks, came back, and she informed me that they don’t have grapefruit juice. I consulted with Tasha and asked for orange juice instead. The bartender then proceeded to make the drink with pineapple juice. Whatever. I took the drink, put down a credit card, and waited around for a receipt. It never came, so I just left my card at the bar and rejoined my party.

I informed the hostess that we had additional friends coming, so we would like a booth, and she made a note of it. When a table freed up while we were in the bathroom, she went to seat my friends at the table, and then I got back and told them that my friends were coming (I hadn’t told them earlier), and we had to get up and wait again. This was totally my bad.

When we finally get a table, things improved, but not by much. Since Continental Divide always runs out of specials, I make it a point to ask the server from the get-go if they are all available. She checks with the kitchen and says they are. Two members of our party order one of the specials, and of course, they were out of them. Grrrr. Strike one. Next, one of our appetizers never shows up. (To their credit, it wasn’t on the check, either). Normally I’d have asked about them, but we never saw our server between our appetizer coming out and the entrees coming out. Finally, when it was all said and done, we sat around waiting for a check forever while our server was sitting a couple booths over doing closing work. At that point we just wanted to get out of there.

As always, the food was good, but Continental Divide has become more trouble than it’s worth. I hereby revoke the favorite restaurant designation I had bestowed upon them. Unfortunately, I don’t know what will take its place.

And now, here’s Jeremy’s review. Lacking the affection I have developed for Continental Divide, his review doesn’t pull any punches:

Anoop took me on a culinary whirlwind tour of Charlottesville. Our Friday night eats were at the Continental Divide.

Good thing(s) (tasty food):
1). I got the bean and cheese burrito which was extremely tasty. The beans didn’t overpower it as they often do. Anoop got the Thai Chicken burritos which were absolutely delicious. I think I ate almost a whole one of his without really asking. The roasted pepper quesadilla was a tasty appetizer. That was one of three appetizers we ordered.

Bad things (everything else):

1). Second app : red hot blues. For these, they substituted normal chips for the spicy chips. The nachos were bland. I have not had these nachos before, but I would compare them to what you might get at Applebees minus whatever deliciousness Applebees could possibly add. Bland bland bland.

2). Third app: hummus. I dunno how it was, because it never came.

3). We asked the hostess what the specials were when she sat us and had her double check nothing was out. All in. Yay! There was a tasty tasty sounding carne azada special. This sounded delicious. They were, of course, out of it when we tried to order it. Missing things seem to be a theme at this establishment. Let me jump in the way back machine…

4). Let me start back to when we first arrived. I know, this review is all out of sorts but that’s the kind of meal it was.

We got there and had to wait. Understandable. Anoop decides to get us some drinks from the bar. Well, he tried to get us some drinks. For a good five minutes. I watched as he seemingly got ignored. The bar was mostly full, and I get that sometimes you just have to make eye contact. However, anyone that knows Anoop knows that this is not an issue for him. Unless someone is (seemingly) blatantly ignoring him. He gives it another solid effort and finally makes eye contact. 2 margaritas, a beer and a vodka and grapefruit juice. I shit-you-not the waitress proceeds to take orders and fill them for other customers before getting to Anoop’s drinks. I’ve seen some sorry-ass bartending and have had my share of being ignored, but this got to the point that you feel that the bartender is offended by some aspect of our party. It is most likely simple incompetence. Extremely simple. But it was such astounding incompetence . Uncomfortable. The Office awkward. The British one. Mouth agape.

After filling other people’s orders and taking a few drags off someone’s cigarette breaks she finally brings the drinks. Well, 3 of them anyway. She’s out of grapefruit juice. We ask for OJ instead. 5 minutes later (after taking and filling some more orders) she brings a pineapple and vodka. Whatever. Anoop gives her his credit card and asks to close out. She grabs it, takes some more orders and doesn’t come back. I feel karma telling me to steal something since they are taking a little part of my soul. I resist.

5). Meanwhile our seating situation is confused. We finally get a table, but Anoop has additional people coming that the rest of the party was unaware of. We pass up our table (sniff) and request a booth. A two top proceeds to get seated right in front of us in a booth while a 2 top table is available. I want another drink. I think better of it.

6). Back to the future. My Calvin Klein underwear is getting in a bunch while 3 of our table’s waters sit empty for over 10 minutes.

7). We ask for our check and watch as our waitress does closing work for a little while before finally calculating our tab. I beg anoop not to tip as much as he is about to. He is too generous.

So was the food good? The food was great. Would I ever go back? Hell and no.

We started at Seafood @ West Main with a Blackened Fish Po’boy. I went there with the intention of getting fish tacos, but unfortunately they were out. I’m almost glad they were out because everything about this sandwich was perfect. It came on a nice roll, and the fish was spicy, well seasoned, and not at all overcooked. While it was still tartar, the sauce on the sandwich was very different than what I would expect. Once again, it was very good. Tasha said she really liked the sandwich despite the fact that she normally doesn’t like fish on bread.

Next we moved to Feast. Jeremy chose the Prosciutto and Mozzarella baguette. It took a really, really long time. We waited over 20 minutes. They were working on two platters of sandwiches and rather than work our sandwich in, they fully prepared both platters and then got to ours. If we didn’t have the po’boy to eat in the meantime, I’d have been much more annoyed than I was. Compared to the po’boy, this sandwich was a really big disappointment. The boldness of the spices on the fish rendered Feast’s more delicate sandwich nearly tasteless. Finally, the baguette was hard and chewy, which relative to the soft and crusty bread of the po’boy, was just not satisfying. I’m sticking with Seafood @ West Main when I go to Main Street Market for lunch.

We then walked down to the mall, and I dropped into Revolutionary Soup and picked up a Gulf Coast Shrimp Salad. I saw that they had some pulled pork Cuban sandwiches they’d made that day, but I fought the urge and walked out with the salad. As usual, it was great, but in hindsight, I don’t think it was representative of just how good of a restaurant Revolutionary Soup is. Next time I’ll add a sandwich into the mix also.

I sent Jeremy into Christian’s to grab a slice or two of pizza for us to split, and I was dismayed when he came out with a slice of pepperoni. With all the choices available to you, why would you go pepperoni?!? I let him and Tasha split it. They both thoroughly enjoyed the slice, but as with the salad at Revolutionary Soup, I don’t think a slice of pepperoni is representative of what Christian’s is all about.

Dessert time! We went to Splendora’s and split a sampler. The flavors I can remember are Pear, Black Currant, Mango, Irish Cream, Jack Daniel’s, Mexican Coffee, Mint Chocolate and Ginger. I recommended Jack Daniel’s and forgot to also recommend Chocolate Hazelnut. Of these flavors, the Black Currant was definitely the biggest hit, while Pear was a miss. Next time I’ll push for more creamy and chocolatey flavors, as I find them to be the best.

The original plan was these five restaurants, but then we happened to come across Carpe Donut. How do you say no to that? We split a couple of donuts, and they were so hot and fresh. I’m not into cakey donuts, so I was pretty happy that these melted in my mouth. I think I’ll go back today.

Stay tuned! I’ve got some detailed reviews of Continental Divide, Ten, and Blue Mountain Brewery coming up including a couple of guest reviews by Jeremy. Enjoy!

Monday: Dinner at Amigo’s: Chili Verde. Always and forever.

Wednesday: Lunch at Revolutionary Soup: I ordered Adam’s Chicken Sandwich. It was a little dry for my taste. Some sort of zesty sauce would have definitely brought me back.

Thursday: Lunch at Wayside: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I need to remember not to go to Wayside during off hours. The reheated chicken sucks.

Thursday: Late Night at Boheme: We joined other cVillains at Boheme for their late night soft opening. We enjoyed some tasty beverages and free appetizers including BBQ pizza, bruschetta, sweetbreads, and others I cannot recall. I’m not huge on the late night scenes of most of the restaurants in town, but this was chill enough that I want to go back. Too bad I’m too beat to go back tonight.

My BFFs Jeremy and Tasha came to visit and made it to Boheme with us. I’m cutting this week short so I can document our dining adventures in greater detail: Ten Charlottesville dining establishments in three days!