Fern & Ember
Glowing embers and charred oak in a wood fire

Fern & Ember

Wood-fired cooking in Charlottesville, Virginia

TonightWednesday to Sunday, 5 to 10

27 Emberfold Lane

The menu

Everything is cooked in the oven, over the fire, or in the embers it leaves behind.

The full menu, ready to print

Starters

To share, or not

  • Hearth bread$7

    cultured butter, flaky salt

  • Blistered shishito peppers$11

    lemon, benne seed

  • Charred cabbage$12

    brown butter, cider vinegar, breadcrumbs

  • Ember-roasted beets$13

    whipped feta, sorghum, pecans

  • Country ham and grilled peaches$15

    black pepper honey, grilled toast

  • Wood-fired oysters$18

    half a dozen, smoked chili butter

Mains

From the hearth

  • Flatbread, tomato and garlic$17

    basil, olive oil

  • Flatbread, mushroom and thyme$19

    farmer's cheese, arugula

  • Ember-baked squash$23

    farro, sage, brown butter

  • Half chicken$27

    roasted over oak, pan drippings, charred lemon

  • Whole trout$29

    cooked in the embers, fennel, brown butter

  • Pork chop$32

    apple butter, mustard greens

  • Ribeye for two$74

    seared on the coals, ash-roasted potatoes

Desserts

While the fire burns down

  • Burnt honey custard$10

    toasted oats

  • Chocolate pot$10

    smoked salt, cream

  • Roasted pears$11

    black walnut, sorghum

  • Skillet apple cake$12

    buttermilk ice cream

Drinks

Poured at the bar

  • Smoke and Cider$14

    bourbon, apple cider, charred lemon

  • Garden Tonic$13

    gin, tonic, rosemary

  • Hearth Old Fashioned$15

    rye, burnt sugar, orange

  • Ember Spritz$13

    bitter orange, sparkling wine, grapefruit

  • Viognier$13

    white, by the glass

  • Cabernet Franc$14

    red, by the glass

  • Lager$7

    on draft

  • Dry cider$8

    on draft

  • Thyme lemonade$6

    made here, no alcohol

Prices are in dollars, before tax. The menu changes with what the fire and the season allow.

A wood-fired flatbread with greens, tomatoes and shaved cheese, two slices already goneAn orange drink in a coupe glass with a slice of orange on it, a bowl of oranges behind

Reserve a table

Choose the evening and we will hold the table for fifteen minutes past the time. Or call (434) 555-0117 any afternoon after two.

Party

9 or more: use the private dining form

Date

The dates appear in a moment.

Time

Eastern Time

Table for 2

A hand lifting wet dough out of a glass bowl
Dough is mixed by hand, twice a day.

One oven, one fire

There is no gas line in the kitchen. We light the oven at two in the afternoon with split oak, and everything on the menu is cooked in it, over it, or in what is left of it.

The bread goes in first, while the fire is high. The trout goes into the embers at the end of the night, when they are low and even. In between, the cooks move the coals around more than they move the pans.

A butcher's block, a cast-iron pan, a mortar and small bowls of salt and spice on a dark wooden table, seen from above

Find us

27 Emberfold Lane
Charlottesville, VA

A map would sit here. There is no Emberfold Lane to put on it.

Hours, Eastern Time
MondayClosed
TuesdayClosed
Wednesday to Sunday5:00 PM to 10:00 PM

The last table is seated at 9:00 PM.

Wine glasses, folded napkins and cutlery on a white tablecloth

Private dining

The back room seats up to twenty at one long table. Tell us the evening you have in mind and how many of you there are.