As part of my birthday celebration (from March) and to commemorate T's transformation from a lowly intern to a wise-and-experienced PGY-2, we made a special trip down to Staunton, VA to have dinner at a little place called Zynodoa. I still have no idea how he found this place to begin with, but it has been receiving some ridiculously rave reviews on Yelp and TripAdvisor, UrbanSpoon, etc. It describes itself as contemporary Southern cuisine with an emphasis on local and seasonally fresh items.
Good thing I called ahead, because they literally ran out of reservations by the time I arrived. On a Sunday night! Apparently their last seating is at 8 pm, which is pretty early, but maybe just because it was Sunday.
I couldn't bring myself to take pictures of the outside of the restaurant (can't stand looking THAT touristy....) but it only occupied a tiny space in the middle of "downtown" Staunton - I probably would have walked right by it if I weren't looking for it. The decor inside was interesting and eye-catching. A big bright yellow wall behind the bar, wooden overhangs and modern lighting fixtures. The bathroom (which was the only part I didn't like) was weirdly dark red with black toilets and a faucet shaped like a half cut open bamboo.
I started off with the "115 East" cocktail, which was a blend of Virginia vodka, cointreau, cava, and cranberry juice with a lemon twist. It was pretty as a picture, but also reminded me why I never order cocktails. Probably someone else would have considered it delicious, but I personally just have a hard time drinking vodka disguised as fruit juice. Should have just stuck with the beer.
Keep reading to join us as we stuff our faces!
