Charlottesville X Lounge owner J.F. Lequth has taken the lease on the restaurant space in the Old Trail Golf Clubhouse and installed executive chef Justin Juillerat in the kitchen.
Juillerat has recently worked under chef Ian Boden at the Blue Light Grill and was trained at Scottsdale Culinary in Arizona, a Cordon Bleu school. He described his style as “classical French.”
“We want to be the best restaurant we can be in Crozet,” said Juillerat. “We want to draw from Charlottesville, too. We’re going for Crozet, not for golfers. We’re not a hot dog shack. The market in Crozet is big enough for us.”
Juillerat took over in April and for two exhausting months ran the pub with just one other person.
The supper menu will change every week, he said, including a weekly dessert and cocktail, and though the lunch menu has the standard variety of choices, it will get shaken up too. “No dish will be over $20 if I can help it,” he said.
“I can change whatever I want. I’m doing shrimp and grits now because folks kept asking for it. We’re using Wade’s Mill grits.
“We’ll be using local food in season,” he said. By local he means both actually local and things raised or made in Virginia. He will be offering area wines and beers, too.
So far the popular items are the steak and cheese sandwich, the crab cake, burgers and wilted salad. The dinner entrees for the week offered steak, fresh pasta, a pork chop and steak tacos. A smoker is coming so that Juillerat can offer pulled pork.
“We try to stay healthy with the things for kids, too. The only thing fried is the French fries.”
The wall separating a former club room from the original café seating area has been removed, giving the enlarged dining room a woodsy northern view across the golf course. The restaurant now has seating for 60 inside and for 30 more outside on two terraces that have umbrella-covered tables. The bar seats 10.
The pub’s hours are 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, with brunch served all day.
