Amuse: Eats and Art

Being the self-proclaimed art geek that I am, I couldn't be happier to have a new restaurant at what is destined to be one of my favorite haunts again.

Tonight I made my second trek to the VMFA and this time I brought a friend who hadn't been since the reopening.

We were going to dine and then walk a gallery (or hopefully two) before they threw us out at 9:00.

Arriving at Amuse shortly after 6, we were told there was a 20-minute wait for a table, but of course we wanted to sit at the bar anyway, so there was no wait at all.

Over the next 45 minutes though, the place filled to capacity and the bartender was a non-stop whirling dervish trying to keep up.

We started with a cheese plate (six local and not-so-local selections with crackers and honey) to buy some time to peruse the menu and take stock of the room.

The woman sitting next to us was shortly served the fried green tomato and crab cake "sandwich" with apple-wood smoked bacon and a side of pimento cheese.

She said she'd ordered it because the woman at the other end of the bar had gotten it and raved about it.

She was just as impressed, although it was clearly not edible sandwich-style.

It was quickly becoming obvious that we'd better get our order in if we hoped to have any time at all for admiring art.

I asked for the Surry sausage and Yukon Gold potato timbale with local fried oysters and chive creme fraiche while my friend got the cauliflower bisque with truffle oil and fried collard greens and the scallop seviche with blue corn tortillas.

The oysters were plump and perfectly breaded and fried, but the star was the timbale with its spicy, earthy pig and potato flavors.

The bisque, which screamed cream, whispered cauliflower.

His ceviche couldn't have tasted any fresher and as a big fan of blue corn, I found the combination perfect.

Amuse is well-staffed and our wait for food was not long, especially for how pleased we were with everything we ordered.

My only complaint was with the wine list.

There are only two wines by the glass that are less than $10 and both are Chardonnays; a glass of Sauvignon Blanc or Viognier is $13, Merlot $15 and Bordeaux $16.

One woman ordered a glass of Merlot and handed the bartender a ten dollar bill.

When he told her the price, her jaw dropped.

She turned to us and mouthed "Fifteen dollars?"

Hopefully they are still figuring out their by-the-glass pricing and some adjustments will be made.

With bottles starting at $21 and going to $68, that's probably the way to go anyway.

After a most satisfying meal and engaging conversation from three different solo bar sitters, we ambled over to the Art Nouveau and Art Deco galleries, figuring to start at the top of the museum and, over the upcoming months, work our way down through all of them eventually.

It took us most of the rest of the evening to see everything in these galleries given the breadth of the VMFA's collection of these movements.

Furniture, jewelry, lithographs, household items and books, Art Nouveau and Art Deco touched almost every area of life with its graceful curves, streamlined modernity and organic qualities.

As the non-jewelry type, I could only be so impressed with the ornate belt buckles, necklaces and bracelets, but my heart beat faster in front of some of the magnificent desks and beautiful bookshelves.

We had just enough time to check out two of the Focus galleries on our way out; these small, short-term shows are only on view until July.

One was 'The Young America' showing art from the early years of our nation and then for something completely different, 'German Expressionism,' paintings from that period of disillusionment after the First World War.

 Both were worth seeing.

I was pleased to learn that the museum is planning to start staying open on Friday nights as well as Thursdays.

With the leap from 20,000 objects on display pre-renovation to 50,000 now, I've got an awful lot of gallery strolling to do.

Perched at the bar, with a view of the grounds where the sculpture garden will be laid out, my friend and I agreed that Amuse was a terrific way to kick off an evening of art.

And should I find myself amused by someone interesting, I've got a better than average shot at him being an art geek.

Interesting food and reasonable prices aside, that could be Amuse's greatest strength.

At least in the eyes of this art geek.