Virginia’s Darling
We’re the new kids in Old Town. Our menu is an eclectic mix of New American small plates. Our wine list is approachable & focused on female wine-makers. Our cocktails are refreshing & distinct. Our environment is decidedly laid back. Visit us: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday: 5PM, Last Seating, 9PM; Friday and Saturday: 5PM, Last Seating: 10PM
Virginia’s Darling is part of Modest Bread, a collection of idiosyncratic neighborhood restaurants devoted to hospitality in Northern Virginia and includes Mae’s Market & Cafe and Bagel Uprising in Del Ray. We are modest yet passionate; skilled but we like to keep it simple. We think best in class restaurants don't need to be fancy or complicated; they just need to care.
About Nicole Jones, Head Janitor, Chef, and Proprietor of Modest Bread
Nicole’s cooking style is rooted in, but not limited to, her love of southern biscuits and her diverse culinary upbringing. A military brat, she spent her childhood in the Chicago suburbs enjoying her great-grandmother Mae’s Lithuanian cooking. As a tween, she moved to Paulding County, Ga. where she begrudgingly fell in love with the charmingly perplex small towns of the Deep South. She fondly remembers grubbing on Martin’s biscuits, late-night Waffle House debauchery and cooking with her family.
After graduating from the University of Georgia, Nicole started a marketing career at an art nonprofit in Atlanta. At 25 years old, she became the youngest executive at the local Atlanta NPR affiliate.
Chasing her dreams, she moved to Alexandria, Va. where she took a short post in the Whole Foods marketing department. Realizing that cooking had been her true love all along, she began night courses at L’Academie de Cuisine. She completed her apprenticeship at Blue Duck Tavern where she was promoted to a line cook after graduation. From there, Nicole worked as a private chef for busy Washington D.C. executives and their families.
As grown-ups tend to do, Nicole realized something about her childhood -- the best parts were enjoying small town communities, cooking with her great-grandmother and sharing meals with family and friends. She had opened the former Stomping Ground and Rubia’s to build a safe and welcoming community around yummy, handmade food from local sources. As her first foray running her own kitchen, she has shamelessly hired better, smarter cooks to fill her kitchen and your bellies. Her great-grandmother’s recipes often appeared on the Stomping Ground menu without advertisement and, no, she would never tell you the secret ingredients.
Nicole lives in Del Ray and won’t shut up about how much she loves living there.
virginiasdarling.com | Instagram | 277 South Washington Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314 | 703-309-8655 | hellodarling@maesmarketandcafe.com