Don’t waste your time wondering why the people behind Camino would open a new restaurant in this climate. In their particular case, there was no time like the present for three experienced food folks to take the plunge with their own place. Co-owners Sean Thomas and Drew Hart, who’ve worked, served and bartended at numerous places around town (and managed to stay friendly with many of their former colleagues and bosses) have resources upon resources in town. So does chef Matt Turner, who was an owner and chef of the former farm-to-table experiment Jarman’s Gap in Crozet. Over the last 17 years, Turner has worked in kitchens all over Virginia, from Richmond to the Northern Neck, forging relationships with farmers and fisherman all over the region.

Couple all that experience and social network with the fact that, as Thomas says, “labor and equipment are cheap right now,” and the opportunity of an empty restaurant sitting for sale for an attractive price—Il Cane Pazzo, which Brian Helleberg was trying to unload to concentrate on his other two businesses, Fleurie and Petit Pois—and you have what seems a surefire recipe for start-up success. 

“Not that we’re ‘blue chip’ or anything, but if you look back through history, many of this country’s most successful businesses were started during an economic depression,” says Thomas.

So far so good. Though Camino currently lacks its ABC license, since opening on October 22 Thomas says the restaurant already has regulars for what he describes as Turner’s “artisinal Mediterranean” cuisine.

“We wanted to find a niche, and so we’re focusing on Western Mediterranean,” explains Thomas. “We are working hard to source as much product locally as possible in balance with imported authentic European ingredients.”

Prior to Camino, Thomas was filming a documentary about the local slow food movement called Dirt to Dinner, and though that project is on hold, he says, “We’re taking the ideas of the movie and putting them into actual existence.”

Menu items will change seasonally and with availability, but currently range from appetizers such as Tuscan style tomato soup ($6), baby squid a la plancha ($6) and country pâté ($12) to entrees such as paella ($18), Fossil Farm natural guinea hen ($15) and cassoulet ($24). 

Thomas is also using the restaurant’s Facebook page to distribute “locavore reports” about the menu. The first report covered the clams used in shellfish stew. According to Camino’s source—Seafood at West Main—the little mollusks hail from the Eastern Shore of Maryland where they are farm raised by a “second-generation family of UVA grads.” That’s not such a long road to your plato.

More thrills at the Villa

Formerly known as Expresso Italian Villa, “The Villa” has a new name and a new menu to go along with its relatively new ownership. Ken Beachley, who bought the popular UVA hangout four years ago, says, “While retaining the most popular Italian dishes, the restaurant is no longer focused primarily on Italian foods, but rather on an American-style cuisine and family dining experience.” That means there’s no smoking, but there are crayons.