Country ZEST & Style Holiday 2023 Edition

Page 69

A Familiar Face in the Kitchen at Marshall’s Blue Mountain Grill

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and entertainment emporium.

By Leonard Shapiro

Earlier this year, he left his pots and pans behind for about five months, working for a friend’s air conditioning business. It was not exactly his strong suit but at least paid the bills. Still, he always knew that preparing food would be in his future, only this time, in his own place, with his own staff and his own carefully conceived menu.

he American Dream is deliciously alive and oh so tasty in Marshall these days at the new Blue Mountain Grill on Main Street. That’s where Manuel Alvarez, an El Salvador native, recently opened his first restaurant in a journey that began 30 years ago when he was hired as a young dishwasher at the old Mosby’s Tavern in Middleburg.

When he learned Joe’s was closing, he negotiated a five-year lease to start the Blue Mountain Grill. He now shares cooking duties with a new chef, Guatemalan native Marcos Mendez. And, there are several other familiar faces including his girlfriend, Jay Wood.

Located in the A-frame space that previously housed Joe’s Pizza, the restaurant is so new the “Joe’s” sign is still in place while Manuel works on getting a new one designed and installed. But sign or no sign, plenty of appreciative patrons are finding their way inside. And when they leave, many express rave reviews. Word of mouth has spread the scrumptious news quickly about a reasonably priced menu filled with meticulously prepared items—seafood and steaks, salads and sandwiches, big juicy burgers (including veggie), plenty of pasta and definitely no pizza. Beer and wine are available, and a fully stocked bar is soon to come. “I have a liquor license,” Manuel said. “I just don’t have the liquor yet, but that’s the plan.” There was no plan when he came to the U.S. in 1992 at age 19 and reunited with a brother who lived in Alexandria. That first dishwashing job was a start, but Manuel soon moved up the food chain so to speak, eventually promoted to line cook. He

Photo by Leonard Shapiro

Manuel Alvarez and his life partner Jay Wood have opened Blue Mountain Grill in Marshall. spent nine years at Mosby’s, then four years cooking at the Red Fox Inn before he was hired as chef at the Middleburg Tennis Club. He spent 15 years in the kitchen there until the club told him “they wanted to go in a different direction,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. Then came several new directions for him, as well—a year cooking at the Old Ox Brewery in Middleburg, then two years handling the food at The Branch, a Leesburg bowling

The restaurant opened in early October and Manuel admitted “I was surprised how many people started showing up right away. I didn’t do any advertising except putting an OPEN sign outside. But they started coming in and it hasn’t slowed down. We’re getting a lot of familiar people, but it’s from everywhere. And they all go crazy with the food.” He also received an especially warm greeting from another restaurant a few doors down. Neal Wavra, who owns Field & Main, sent over a bottle of his Hearth Red wine with the inscription “congratulations on your opening. Welcome to Main Street. Cheers.” “So many people know me from all these places I worked,” Manuel said. “The support has been unreal.” You might even say he’s clearly living that dream.

Country ZEST & Style | Holiday 2023

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Articles inside

A First Love Lost

5min
page 82

A Day at the Montpelier Races

4min
page 81

Something For Everyone at Littleton Farm

3min
page 80

Head of Highland School Heading Out

4min
page 79

Cousins Meet in Pacific; Littletons Honor Visitors

3min
page 78

Looking For More Faces at the Gold Cup Races

3min
page 77

PROPERTY Writes

3min
page 76

China Folk House Retreat in Harpers Ferry

4min
pages 74-75

Conservation Partnerships Lead to Historic Battlefield Protection

3min
page 73

Edith Blackwell: An Amazing Life

3min
page 72

History Unfolds at Loudoun County’s Ebenezer Churches

4min
pages 70-71

A Familiar Face in the Kitchen at Marshall’s Blue Mountain Grill

3min
page 69

Hill School Auction Just Keeps on Giving Back

3min
page 67

On The ROAD

2min
page 66

Theodore Roosevelt’s Sporting Universe

3min
page 65

Wolver Beagles Are Now So Much History

3min
page 64

HELP WANTED: THE TRADES

3min
page 63

Umpire Mitigation Doesn’t Mess Around

3min
page 62

MODERN FINANCE

3min
page 61

Copper Fox: A Luscious Liquor Made With Love

3min
page 60

CELEBRATIONS

2min
page 58

Perspectives on Childhood, Education, and Parenting A CONVERSATION ON THE PRESSURE OF GREAT EXPECTATIONS

5min
pages 56-57

Another Fabulous West Virginia Breeders Classic

3min
page 55

Say hello to Middleburg library’s new branch manager

3min
page 54

Small Ways AI Enhances Everyday Life

4min
pages 52-53

Survival of the Fittest: Envisioning Wildlife and Wilderness with the Big Four, Masterworks from the Rijksmuseum Twenthe and the National Museum of Wildlife Art

2min
page 51

Meet Jamie Potter: Writer, Illustrator, Musician and Bartender

3min
page 49

Long Branch Traces Its History a Long Way Back

4min
page 48

How Does Wildlife Survive Winter?

3min
page 46

All Hail Haley Making College Football History

3min
page 45

COUNTRY Pursuits

1min
page 44

Sunset In The Field

1min
page 44

SURVIVAL

11min
pages 42-43

Middleburg Film Fest

2min
page 41

A NEW OLD GRANDSTAND FOR UPPERVILLE

4min
pages 38-39

Pot House Has History on its Side

6min
pages 36-37

Meet Middleburg’s New Postmaster

3min
page 34

Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature

3min
pages 32-33

Up, Up In The Air

2min
page 31

The Virginia Fall Races

2min
page 30

“Tis The Season for Maintenance Musts

3min
page 28

Tranquility Abounds at St. Dominic’s Monastery

4min
page 27

Someone’s in the Kitchen at Buchanan Hall

3min
page 26

James Markham Marshall Ambler, Hero of the Arctic

7min
pages 24-25

ROOT to TABLE at AUDLEY FARM

3min
page 22

BOOKED UP

2min
page 21

The Middleburg Orange County Beagles

2min
page 18

'Tis TANNENBAUM SEASON

5min
pages 16-17

Carry Me Back: My Ghost Writer Had Just The Right Stuff

2min
page 15

HERE & THERE

1min
page 14

The Foxcroft Christmas Pageant Remains A Sacred Tradition

3min
page 12

A Garden to Honor Peggy Richardson

2min
page 11

A Buddhist Temple Offers Enlightenment in Aldie

3min
page 10

Love and Nutcrackers at The Christmas Sleigh

3min
page 8

Mike Donovan Sees the Forest Through the Trees

3min
page 7

A Plea for The Trees

3min
page 6

SO MUCH TO CELEBRATE

3min
page 4
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