CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – A new restaurant has bloomed in downtown Charlottesville’s Glass Building. Named after the native Virginia flower, Aster is a fine-dining restaurant with a focus on “New Virginia” cuisine, as described by co-owner and Executive Chef Drew Dunston, and beverage program manager, Caleb Russell, who are also from Virginia.

Dunston came from a lineage of cooks and started his career in food at a restaurant while he was in high school. Dunston brings 15 years of experience working in the country’s top restaurants, such as the two Michelin-starred restaurant Acadia in Chicago, where he was Chef de Partie and Executive Chef at Marigold by Jean-Georges in Keswick.

Aster’s food is meant to feel familiar, but with a menu to stand out from the crowd and have guests try unique pairings like fried chicken and koji hot sauce or fluke crudo with buttermilk curry.

“We want people to come here and question things a little bit, but also balance the menu with what everybody loves,” Dunston said.

One dessert on the menu that is loved by Dunston’s family is the prune cake, which uses the same recipe created by his great-grandmother.

“We’re not cheffing it up in any way,” Dunston said. “We’re just making the cake and putting it on a plate.” 

Aster currently features wines by the glass internationally and the bounty of Virginia vineyards, including bottles from Linden Vineyards in Linden and Domaine Finot in Afton.

For the local music fans, there’s a cocktail named after rowdy Americana band Chamomile & Whiskey, including coconut washed bourbon, chamomile cordial, and local honey.

“I thought it would be quite fun to use Virginia honey into a cocktail and name it after a Virginia band. It’s delicious and if you get it at the right time in the restaurant you can drink Chamomile & Whiskey, while listening to Chamomile & Whiskey,” Russell said.

Russell said eating at Aster is a special experience where guests can eat a dish from a farm right up the road on tables made of White Oak from Virginia, while sipping on a glass of Virginia wine and enjoying a speakeasy vibe.

Aster opened this month and is located at 313 2nd St SE #105, Charlottesville, VA 22902 in the Glass Building, taking over and transforming the former home of Bluegrass Grill and Chickadee. 

Dunston called Aster a passion project.

“We’re kind of writing our love letter to [Virginia], and we hope to share it with everybody,” he said.