Virginia Guide and Deals

The glint of sunlight off the Empire State Building. The Statue of Liberty's outstretched torch. The crack of another home run echoing within Yankee Stadium. New York City's iconic scenery was built by hard-working people who knew the value of an honest day's work and, more importantly, a hearty sandwich to keep them going. Though it may be a little outside of Manhattan proper, The Route 58 Deli replicates the sights and scents of the borough's traditional delicatessens. Boasting a recently revamped menu, the Virginia Beach outpost teems with meaty mainstays, from an overstuffed reuben that earned perfect scores during HamptonRoads.com's reuben taste-test to Sabrett all-beef hot dogs whose natural casings sizzle and split with seared-in flavor. The deli also throws open its doors early on the weekends, fueling morning errands with four-egg omelets, plate-sized pancakes, and bagels schmeared with cream cheese and dressed with nova lox. Guests can wash down these gargantuan eats with a real New York egg cream or cans of Dr. Brown's cream soda, or end meals with sweet finales including Carnegie Deli triple-baked cheesecakes.

Much like some of the dishes its chefs create, Bella Monte is a combination of eclectic ingredients. Tables draped in striped cloths gather around artificial Roman ruins, under Asian-style parasols, and around an upside-down Christmas tree—hung from the ceiling, in the European tradition. The 7,000-square-foot indoor market’s varied decor hints at the restaurant, grocery, and delicatessen found within. In the kitchen, Executive Chef Erika Weisflog oversees a seasonally changing menu and designs dishes with ingredients from local producers and Italian importers. Her culinary team draws primarily from Italian and Mediterranean cuisine as they craft classic dishes such as seafood risotto, chicken roulade, veal saltimboca, and bella meatloaf.

Wednesday through Saturday nights, performer Charlie Wiseman plays and cavorts around the 9-foot grand piano during a cabaret-style show that’s filled with music, theater, and comedy. In the marketplace, shelves teem with home decor, international imports from France, Italy, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Japan, as well as goods from small organic producers in the United States. The collection includes rows of international wines, exotic olive oils, international cookware, and gift baskets. At Gourmet to Go, the on-site delicatessen, staff members serve fresh-baked Italian-style bread, artisanal cheeses, imported and housemade meats, and specialty foods such as gourmet butters, marinated artichokes, and dried fruits.

At 7 Martini & Tapas, diners share the chef's freshly prepared feasts of hot and cold tapas in a relaxed, nightclub-esque lounge. Like auto-tuned readings of The Joy of Cooking, meals present delicious cuisine with a contemporary flair, with elegant platings including columns of tuna tartare, oven-roasted salmon floating on haricots verts, and slices of cheesecake and pie latticed with grids of chocolate and caramel. Guests belly up to the full-service bar for wine or specialty martinis such as the classic cosmopolitan, the Choco Chip Raspberry Tart, and the Cherry Popsicle. On Saturday nights, a live DJ pipes in catchy tunes until 2 a.m.

Beyond the striped awning of Fern Street Gourmet lays a deli case, shelves of bottles, and a host of cardboard boxes and wooden crates. The culinary connoisseurs behind the counter want you to know where their goods come from, from fine Spanish wines at budget prices or hard-to-find European candies. Shoppers can browse hundreds of cheeses, meats, beers, and party snacks on their own or turn to staff, who can assemble towering custom gift baskets and point them toward the perfect hostess gift to say "Welcome to your new home" or "Sorry I ate that entire cheese platter last time."

Juicy tidbits of chocolate-dipped fruit arrive on the doorsteps of family and friends, done up in colorful baskets, bouquets, and gourmet boxes by the skilled fruit arrangers at Edible Arrangements' more than 1,100 franchises worldwide. The company's Fruit Experts drizzle strawberries, daisy pineapples, apples, bananas and oranges in semi-sweet and white chocolate. These are supported by undipped but still-delectable fruits such as honeydew, cocount, mango, kiwi, grapes, watermelons, and cantaloupe. Once properly chocolated, the workers organize the preservative- and sweetener-free treats into lush arrangements that resemble flowers in bloom. Arrangements come in a variety of vessels, including vases, mugs, and sports- or holiday-themed containers that add a personal touch to the edible gifts, which can also be supplemented with cards, plus bears, and mylar balloons. Alternatively, customers can opt for the cheery, red-lidded gourmet chocolate fruit boxes, nestling 12 chocolate-dipped morsels inside to build anticipation and determine if loved ones have x-ray vision as they guess whether fruit will come dusted in shredded coconut or rolled in crushed almonds.

“I’m sorry, but our espresso machine is broken.” It was these words—a lie uttered by a server too intimidated to operate the machine—that inspired Larry Epplein to ease espresso service for restaurants and cafés everywhere. Today, he helms Virginia Espresso along with a staff that boasts more than a century of combined foodservice experience. They are a factory-authorized service center for commercial machines and coffee-brewing robots and also tout a map-full of 100% Arabica beans available at wholesale prices to both vendors and the public.

In addition to coffee, a selection of more than 40 loose-leaf teas ensnares shoppers with aromas of white peony and passion fruit. Monin gourmet syrups bloom in more than 50 flavors—all sweetened naturally with agave nectar, pure cane syrup, and kisses from honeybees—and can be used to infuse the showroom’s inventory of soda water and gelato mix.