Have you been to Julia's yet?

As everyone knows, you need to do a lot of off-site research before you can open a Restaurant of your own...which gives us a great excuse to eat out often. Not that we need one. (an excuse, that is)

Ever since we've been home from WeGo, people have been asking us if we've been to Julia's yet. It's a sweet little place in downtown Centreville, and yes, we have been a couple of times since they opened three years ago. But never for dinner. Until last night. And we had a great time.

Kevin worked the Grill at Andy's Friday night, and afterwards he ran into David Clark, who, with his wife Valerie, owns Julia's. Chef Clark was there with his Sous Chef, Mike Stoltzfus, who did a great job with us at the Kennedyville Inn years ago. All that this means is, when we checked in at the Host Stand, they were ready for us!! They had saved a nice window table, but you know, I really didn't want to sit there in the window, so they graciously set up Table 99 instead, which is in a much cozier spot in the back corner. We were excited to be out on a Saturday night!

Mike sent out a tasty little bite of Cheese Flan, atop an onion/fennel confit, with smoked paprika, a few drops of balsamic reduction, and some chive oil dashed nearby, while we were looking at the Menu. The paprika with the flan was especially tasty. Dinner began with a shared bowl of Oyster Stew Rockefeller - which was quite a successful take on that popular oyster presentation. The Shrimp Sambal I had to start with was made with a spicy/buttery wine sauce, served in a deep white bowl, the shrimp tender and moist. Kevin began with the Duck breast, which perched on a pile of apple and pea-shoot slaw, along with a butternut squash blini. Dinner - followed by salads of Caesar and House - included the Monkfish special (they saved one for us!) and the Veal piccata. The Monk fish was with bacon and lobster, and a mushroom risotto, making for a rich plate of food, but so good you had to eat every bite. The veal, also garnished with a nice chunk of lobster, was in a classic butter sauce of capers and lemon, on a bed of pasta, pasta which was cooked just right. This was also a very rich dish - or maybe it's just that we haven't been eating like this lately. I couldn't even manage to eat a bite or two of the roll that the busboy brought to the table (and it was hard not to put it in my purse for breakfast the next day, as we were wont to do on our travels...) Plus we had to skip dessert, which was too bad, since it seems they are Valerie's doing. But it was really delicious, well worth the drive to Centreville and while a little pricey, not over-priced by any means. We left feeling happy, not abused. (Of course three glasses of wine help make you happy too!)

We stopped in their kitchen afterwards, and it was a compact and tidy spot, looking very efficient and well thought out. We are friends with the couple who first started with a restaurant in this spot - calling it Courtyard Cafe - but this was the first time we've seen the kitchen. Not big at all - and with a very slippery linoleum floor - but it seemed seriously workable. David and his crew certainly seem to be making it work for them!

Next stop - the Kennedyville Inn. "Have you been to the KI yet?"