Intoxicating Aromas

After Kath’s visit to Charlottesville a few weeks ago, Jess, Jessie, Cara and I had stayed in touch and planned to meet up again for a blogger/blog devotee dinner. Although it took a bit of finagling with our schedules, and I missed the first “foodie fest,” we successfully got together last night at Aromas for a lovely dinner date!I was super excited to try out the restaurant, since Mediterranean food is my fav-or-ite and I had always heard amazing reactions to the ‘cafe,’ despite it’s incongruous location in a strip mall/shopping center. [Granted, this is the Charlottesville version of a "strip mall" so it has a touch of quaintness and class, but...still.]

Upon arrival, I was greeted by Cara and the owner/manager, Hassan, with whom I obviously had to have my picture taken! [He is such a charming man...immediately makes you feel at ease and happy to be at his establishment. The effect is that you are coming to dine at his home and that he has personally prepared everything to your liking and wants you to be satisfied and pleased.]
Jess arrived from dance practice, wearing, as promised, her leg warmers! [Foodies must stay fit!]
We were pretty sure her boyfriend was going to propose to her when she got home (did he?????), and I for one was loving the fact that this might be what she was wearing when it happened. ["Yes kids. Your dad proposed to me while I was wearing leg warmers. No, it was not the 80s. Like Justin Timberlake in the SNL skit with Beyonce,* I was a dancer!]

*If you watch the video, you have to fast forward through the random baby and Georgian music in the beginning…

I, of course, had brought some (Smart) Kitchen Sink Granola and Chai Granola for everyone to sample [including Hassan, the owner, and our waiter, Eric].
As soon as the words “sweet potato soup” came out of Eric’s mouth, I knew that I must have some. I did not care that the humidity was probably 1034.8% and we were sitting outside. Sweet potato + fresh ginger + soup + “made with no cream” = my idea of a good time. [Wow, I need to get out more.]
Of course, I requested four spoons so we could all share! [You cannot dine with foodies if you have a fear of germs.]
Cara and I both loved the spoons, which had slightly squared of ends in the ‘scoop.’
I am a very messy eater….immediately lost some soup to the table…
And because being a food blogger means trying weird things…
I threw some Chai Granola in the bottom of the bowl! Umm…AMAZING. I’m going to have to put some of that on my sweet potatoes from now on. [It is certainly healthier than a streusel topping....]

Our entrees came, and with them, a photo op!

Jessie, Me, Cara, and Jess

And one with our waiter, Eric…because, why not?
Jessie, Cara, and I all ordered the “shrimp appetizer special” (and I quote: “Jumbo shrimp marinated in Moroccan spices and pan-seared, served with pickled turnips”) but opted for the skewers to be put over a salad. [Jess ordered the Moroccan-spiced salmon over the salad, which she said was amazing, despite the salmon not being sufficiently 'spiced,' it was cooked perfectly so it didn't matter!]
We all had our dressing (a delicious lemon-lime vinaigrette) on the side, and I asked that some of the pickled turnips be brought with my salad, since we were told they wouldn’t be included unless I ordered it in appetizer form, and I obviously had to try such a thing. [Much like "sweet potato," "pickled" is, perhaps bizarrely, a buzzword in my food vocabulary.]
Lovely presentation! [Those are dried apricots, not bell peppers, and they were such a great addition to the salad.]
I added my pickled turnips to the top! [So pretty. ]
Clearly, I enjoyed my meal!
We were tempted by dessert, and ended up ordering the special for the evening: a pastry described as a ‘pistachio baklava with pomegranate reduction sauce’ that Eric informed us was actually a Mediterranean pastry called a burma.
I hope you can see how the phyllo dough was actually shredded and reformed with honey, making it look like shredded wheat!
It was very delicious! The Greek yogurt/pomegranate sauce on which it was served, combined with the honey-and-spice pistachio pastry was incredible! Quite rich, though, so I only took two bites.
No one took the last little nibble…we offered it to our waiter, but he declined.
All in all, our dinner at Aromas was a marvelous Mediterranean meal, and we had a lot of fun chatting about everything from the perils of horrific snowstorms, running in humidity, and why you should probably not try to go to a site entitled mymelons.com.

The only thing leaving a slightly bitter taste in our mouths? The price! We were shocked by what we were charged…probably since we made some substitutions and did not take the initiative to check on the prices. [We all are self-described "cheap foodies" and kicked ourselves afterwards for this!] However, since I NEVER go out to eat, I figured it was worth it in the end.

I would still recommend Aromas, because the food was fantastic and the staff is very accomadating….overall, a fabulous dining experience.

Thanks for a lovely dinner girls!