Of the many restaurants in Rockbridge County, Heliotrope may do it best. From their salty humus and sourdough flatbread, to the caesar salad and sourdough pizza crusts, Heliotrope knows how to create a dining experience for the customer. From the moment you see the building to the last glance as you walk to your parked car, you can appreciate all of the details involved in helping you experience a quality meal. On a cold night the ease of the lighting and openness of the environment makes you feel warm and comfortable. The open kitchen destroys any misconceptions one may have about the food they are receiving. The pizza oven, the tables, and the dishes demonstrate an authentic feeling of originality.
After walking in, you are greeted by the cooks over the counter, many already enjoying their food and drinks, and the server who takes your order at the front. For an order at the counter restaurant, it feels like a traditional sit down. I met my family there as they had already found a table. We dove into the menu and decided on some dishes to share. The counter server was very helpful as we placed and paid for our order. We grabbed our self-serve water from a jug and sat back down. The food was timely and came out as I would have liked it. We received our caesar salad for four and our humus vegetables and flatbread. I appreciated the shared dishes because I could control how much of each dish I ate.
Our pizza came out, and let me tell ya, it looked amazing. Heliotrope does something special here. They don’t cut up your pizza into slices. They let you decide how big of a slice you want, pizza scissors attend each pizza. We tried the Carnivore, Pig and Goat, Hot Honey, and Za’atar. Each pizza had a flavorfully distinct taste. Don’t let me even get started on the sourdough crust! It provides a lighter weight vehicle for the toppings to enter your system. Of my entire experience, the one critique I have is the centralness of the pizza topping. After enjoying such an amazing pizza I feel like there is wasted space with how big the end crust with no topping is. While it still tasted delectable, I felt like I was filling up with bread (like my mother always told me not to do), instead of filling up with the sauce and cheese and various meats and vegetables.
Overall, Heliotrope has given me the best eating experience I have had in Lexington, VA. The choices and ability to control how much I ate of what we ordered allowed me to have an experience I look forward to having again upon my return. Four stars and nine tenths of a star for Heliotrope Brewery.
Rockbridge Retreat 