Fall-Winter Getaway Gems in Charlottesville

If you’ve ever ordered a dish, eyeballed the fare on your dinner companion’s plate and felt the biting flush of envy and buyer’s remorse, chef Tucker Yoder has created a menu for you. The Virginia-born-and-raised food master at the Clifton Inn (cliftoninn.net; from $155) crafts evenings of culinary giddiness with small dishes arranged in four categories (delicate, light, full-bodied, robust) and says, in no uncertain terms: Go for it.

“We don’t want menus or atmosphere that are frou-frou, because that’s not who we are,” says General Manager Niall Reid. “While we want this to be one of the best dining experiences in Virginia, we also want it to be the most comfortable and laid-back. Forget about pretension. Ask about food, try it, and taste something else until you’re full.”

He’s right. The unfussy wait staff at the Relais & Chateaux property is incredibly schooled in the culinary cradle of every dish. They also honestly chat up an exhaustive wine list, which includes Virginia bottles that, according to Reid, “weren’t good enough to exhaust a fire 10 years ago, but are now worthy of serious attention.”

The menu, which undergoes daily tweaking and significant changes each season, feels like Yoder’s down-home cookbook.

Most of the menu’s ingredients come from within 100 miles of the kitchen, and some even from the Inn’s 100 acres.

Two cozy dining areas, one overlooking a back deck and a wood-lined expanse of hills and flowering grounds, offer a sense of a celebratory, private getaway. Many guests order four or five dishes, but don’t think in terms of appetizers, entrees or even sequence (for example, instead of having cheese for dessert, we opened with a mix of five artisan cheeses—including two Virginia favorites, Blue Ridge and Grayson, and a French, Ossau-Iraty).

Standouts include caramelized onion soup with duck confit; roasted striped bass, fennel, white beans and lobster; wild mushroom risotto with sherry honey, Iron Rod goat’s cheese and lemon thyme; seared scallops; and grilled beef rib eye. With each dish, Yoder’s steady hand in the kitchen blends a yeoman-like simplicity with a daredevil’s penchant for surprise. The results make for a leisurely paced three-hour evening; orders are swapped out, wines are substituted, and appetites become grins.

The tally—excluding drinks—ranges from $58 per person for four courses to $89 per person for six.

But this place isn’t just about the dining, as Clifton Inn also has pedigree: Thomas Jefferson built the main house in 1799 as a wedding gift for his daughter. Cottages were added in the early 1800s. After undergoing a significant renovation five years ago, the 18 rooms and four cottages (bring the family) feel roomy and historically legit—right down to the complimentary Madeira wine in each room, the same strong recipe used to toast the Declaration of Independence.

Expect 100-count linens, Bose stereo systems, his-and-hers robes and overstuffed couches, but also wide-plank oak floors, vintage wallpaper and the quirky angles of old Georgian-style mansions. House-baked pecan-chocolate-chip cookies from pastry chef Christine Ward reside in the kitchen; Clifton Inn tradition invites guests to dip into the kitchen’s cookie jars all hours of the day and night.

And also expect more of what Reid calls the feast of democracy and experimentation with special packages and events, including Virginia wine and microbrew dinners.

Jefferson himself wouldn’t have it any other way.

What to do in Charlottesville this fall and winter.

Virginia Film Festival (Nov. 3−6). A smart city deserves a smart film festival, and this one matches the town’s pedigree. Expect heady documentaries, shorts and feature-length films that give indies a good name.

Artisan Trail Network (artisanscenterofvirginia.org). Virginia is for lovers of quality art, too. See for yourself by following a self-guide trail through Nelson and Albemarle counties. Visit artisan studios, see craft hot spots and even survey intelligent farming practices on “agri-artisan” farms.