savoring Staunton

As anyone who has strolled along Beverley Street comparing menus, or loaded up at the vibrant Saturday morning farmers’ market there knows, Staunton is a real find for food lovers. Recently, the Staunton Convention & Visitors Bureau also realized just what a culinary reputation the Queen City was gaining and launched the “Savor Staunton” promotion to help spread the word.

“Our intention is to celebrate farmers, artisans, and chefs, bringing these vital figures together for enrichment, education, and darn good food,” says Sheryl Wagner, director of tourism. Darn good food, indeed.

Here’s just a partial list of our food-centric favorites in Staunton:

• Cooling off with a big fruit smoothie at Mugshots Coffeehouse & Café.

• Staunton Grocery’s amazing appetizer of grilled asparagus with coddled egg, arugula, and pickled spring garlic salad.

• Stopping by George Bowers Grocery to pick up some Caromont artisan goat cheese and getting tempted by all the other local goodies they stock, such as honey, Blue Mountain Brewery beer, and Polyface eggs.

• Eating Cranberry’s "yeast ’n’ malt" waffles with local maple syrup for breakfast…at 3 p.m….just because we feel like it.

• The rustic filone, a country Italian bread made fresh at Newtown Baking.

• Zynodoa’s grilled honey-brined Polyface pork loin served with Wade’s Mill Surryano grits.

• Rewarding the kids for behaving at dinner with a scoop of gelato from the Split Banana. (Come to think of it, the adults behaved well enough to deserve a scoop, too.)

• The Farmer’s Brunch at Mockingbird on weekends, especially the chorizo hash made with T&E spicy sausage and Singing Earth potatoes.

• Sipping a steaming cup of creamy, complex masala chai and eavesdropping on the always lively conversation at Darjeeling Café.

• Indulging our inner Cookie Monster at Bittersweet Bakery. And our inner Pie Monster.

• Figuring out what to do with all those beautiful peaches we bought from Critzer Family Farm’s table at the Saturday morning farmers’ market at the Wharf parking lot.

Whew, that was even a longer list than we thought it would be...and it’s bound to grow longer this fall, with Staunton’s very first Locavore Fest on Labor Day weekend, and the Staunton BrewFest in October. Thanks Staunton, we could just eat you up. Yum.