Kathleen D.
Yelp
I attended a special event at Celladora a week ago, and the darling wine shop has been on my mind ever since. I loved everything about it and can't wait to return again sometime soon!
Our group (Social Club RVA) had the entire space reserved with a pre-set menu and optional wine tasting. Safe to say, I opted into the tasting.
Upon walking in, it was clear that so much thought had been put into the aesthetic of the space. The vibe was so welcoming, with an intimate setup of two long tables (special for the group, it's usually separated out, I believe).
Megan and her team were lovely hosts, and we had a very relaxed tasting of three different natural wines (Sunset was my favorite) with explanations on each, as well as eight different food items.
We started with the house-spiced nuts, which were cashews with lime leaves, lemongrass, and Thai chili. Delightful all around. I had to stop myself from over-indulging in them.
We also had house-marinated olives with citrus, garlic, and dried chili. Olives are among my favorite foods and when the table almost left some behind, myself and another girl scooped up a bunch of them so they wouldn't go to waste.
Once we were fully settled in at the tables, we were treated to three dips (yogurt and garlic, mahamara, and baba ganoush) with Sub Rosa flatbread. Oh, my gosh. I probably could've finished off those dips and bread singlehandedly if I wasn't with a large group. Sooooo good! I especially loved the yogurt dip. It was so cool and refreshing.
For our next course, we had flounder ceviche with peppers, clementines, and cilantro. I didn't personally love this, but I am also not huge on peppers or raw fish. Others did enjoy it though. Just not my thing!
After that, we had cucumber salad with Szechuan oil, cilantro, and peanuts. Loved this dish, and I'm not usually a big cucumber fan! So tasty.
Once that was cleared, we had queso fundido, of which I had the bulk. People were actually going to leave the cheese behind, like come on, you can't do that!
Oro's gemelli and pork larb were our last two courses. Both were a touch too spicy for me, but pretty much anything is too spicy for me, so please don't let that stop you from ordering them if they have them.
All told, Celladora was the scene of one of my happiest nights of summer thus far, and I'd recommend them to anyone who wants to indulge in delightful food and great wine.