Road Tripping to Eat Lee's Skate

I've made no secret of my devotion to Chef Lee Gregory (formerly of Six Burner), both to his cooking and his low-key personality.

I was truly bummed when he left RVA for western pastures, here.

So it was an easy decision to drive to Charlottesville to meet a friend there and have dinner at his kitchen-of-the-moment, Blue Light Grill tonight.

It was also Restaurant Week (also known as Amateur Week; call it what you will), but I didn't let that deter me.

As it turned out, despite the downtown mall being mobbed like I've never seen it, BLG was actually quite civilized during the dinner hours we were there.

I began my evening by catching up with Lee as he worked in the restaurant's open kitchen.

What I wanted to know, of course, was when he'd be coming back to RVA and he told me what's happening on that front.

And of course we talked about food, glorious food.

I have to give C-ville credit; if all the restaurant menus for Restaurant Week are as creative and extensive as BLG's, they've got us beat hands down in that department.

Four appetizer choices, six entrees and three desserts, with a price tag of $26.

Pairings were available with each course; a flight was $20.

And Lee's imprint was all over the menu (pork belly, BBQ, bleu cheese/red cabbage slaw) so that made me happy to see.

Friend got the three Virginia oysters on the half shell with cuke mignonette and I started with the crab hushpuppies with red pepper honey butter.

The hushpuppies were full of crab and when smeared with that sweet butter, a truly indulgent first course.

I'd considered getting the beet and goat cheese terrine with apple puree and pistachio brittle, except a few questions to our server revealed that it wasn't a true terrine.

Drat the luck.

The entree choices ranged from veggie crepes to BBQ beef short ribs (oh, I was sorely tempted), but I couldn't resist the pan seared skate with green beans, fingerling potato salad and almond brown butter.

It's so rare that I find skate on the menu that I have to have it when I do.

Friend got the grilled mahi mahi over white bean, pork belly and mussel ragout and as good as it was, my skate was the star of the evening with its slivered almond crust and to-die-for potato salad.

For dessert my friend, not a dessert person, ordered the trifle with buttermilk pound cake, fresh local peaches and lime mascarpone.

I skipped over the chocolate panna cotta with bourbon/caramel sauce for the butterscotch goat cheese custard with apple puree and was complimented by our server for having chosen the dessert Lee considers his best.

He'll get no argument from me on that. It was heavenly.

So here's a thought: why not take a page from C-ville's book and move RVA's Restaurant Week to summertime, too?

It seems like a far better time to stimulate independent restaurant business than October when patrons already seem more plentiful.

Who knows, it could even become an anticipated component of the staycation, at least until this interminable recession lets up.

When I went to leave, Lee asked me what I was going to do next.

Music was a possibility, I told him, or perhaps a drink.

I started raving about the food I'd eaten, but he shrugged it off, thanking me again and again for coming in to see him.

"I'll be back, " I told him, taking my leave.

He knows I mean it; his answer was a big smile from under the red baseball cap.

My devotion is still firmly in place.