Blue Ridge Country September/October 2022 - 87

FLAVORS
Older and even closer to the UVA campus is The White
Spot, home of the Gus Burger. It's an alcohol-free restaurant
that stays open until 2:30 in the morning.
Dating to the early 1950s and in the location of a former
barber shop, The White Spot, as its team of owners
will readily tell you, is a true hole-in-the-wall, at some 400
square feet in size. It was named for the spot in the floor
that was left when the swivel barber chair was removed.
The business is owned by a group of 15 UVA alumni,
including Marvin Bush, of presidential family fame; Ashley
Manning, wife of NFL and University of Tennessee
quarterback Peyton Manning; and Ralph Sampson, perhaps
the greatest basketball player in UVA history, whose
seven-foot-four-inch likeness dominates one of the restaurant's
walls.
Rivaling them all in the memories of UVA alumni
was a man named Gus. Dr. Gus Egor, a physician, earned
immortality not on the basketball court, in the political
arena, or even in the operating room. His memory lives
on in the form of an egg-topped burger.
" He was fond of The White Spot and routinely crossed
the street from the hospital in the 1960s to have lunch
here, with his stethoscope still around his neck, " says Rob
Jiranek, who works for the restaurant's team of owners.
" He needed extra protein, something to continue to power
him through the afternoon, so one day he requested
a fried egg on top of his cheeseburger, and he ordered it
again the next day. "
Sam Cruz has been cooking Gus Burgers for 20 years,
always making sure the egg is done. " I treat the grill well,
the way I treat my customers, " he says. " I season it every
morning to get ready for the first Gus Burger. "
For a mid-afternoon snack, we chose Bodo's Bagels,
so close to the UVA campus that you expect a graduate
seminar to break out at any time. There are three Bodo's
locations in Charlottesville, all making bagels, boiled and
then baked, in-house every day. We
chose a cinnamon-raisin bagel with
cinnamon sugar and butter and a
sesame bagel with an avant-garde
jalapeño and lime cream cheese
schmear.
Our dinner choices were both
within walking distance of the campus,
just a few blocks away. Public Fish
CLOCKWISE FROM
LOWER LEFT: Victory
Point oysters topped the
specials board at Public
Fish and Oyster. The Gus
Burger was named for a
Charlottesville physician.
Citrus-flavored pound cake at
Maya. Batter for the Villa's
Belgian waffles is house-made.
and Oyster is such a popular Charlottesville gathering place
that reservations are pretty much mandatory. The large
chalkboard is filled with oyster choices. Right at the top,
on our visit, were Victory Points from Gloucester, Virginia,
farm-raised in the Chesapeake Bay-York River Estuary. Each
oyster listing is accompanied by tasting notes. These were
described as having a mild brine with a mineral finish.
Continuing the oyster theme, we chose an appetizer
version, dipped in buttermilk and fried in a rice flour
coating. The specials board also featured a beautiful
seared halibut, with a sauce made of butter and saffron.
In an adjoining block is Maya, specializing in the flavors
of the South, where we love to fry things, including,
even, pimento cheese. Maya's incomparable pimento
cheese fritters are served atop chive sour cream and covered
with a house-made pepper jelly.
We were also captivated by Maya's greens, which we
both proclaimed the best we've ever had in a restaurant.
The side dish featured a combination of beet greens and
turnip greens and cubes of turnip, seasoned perfectly
with bacon and onion.
A serving of citrus pound cake and a slice of peanut
butter pie at Maya made the perfect ending to our quick
food tour of the University of Virginia neighborhood.
Fred and Jill Sauceman study and celebrate the foodways
of Appalachia and the South from their home base in Johnson
City, Tennessee.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022 87
Blue Ridge Country September/October 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country September/October 2022
