Coastal Virginia Culinary Awards Winner 2024
From the Nov.-Dec. 2024 issue of Coastal Virginia Magazine:
Circle the day in 2013 that chef-restaurateur Charles Thain bade farewell to his Eastville Inn and crossed Chesapeake Bay to launch Blue as a red-letter one for Virginia Beach foodies. Especially sea-foodies. His Blackened Tuna, Fried Eastern Shore Oysters, Broiled Lump Crab Cakes and freshest, finest local catch sparkle. Service, too, is topnotch, and titular spirits elate (another hibiscus martini, please).
No wonder word spread beyond the Beach: Blue hooked Yelp’s 2024 Top Seafood Spot in the country. Reviewers weren’t suckered in by Blue’s view; it’s landlocked in a Red Mill strip mall. Mounted fish and aquatic videos constitute the humble décor as Thain prefers to focus on his dishes. From the inspired amuse-bouche he personally delivers and complimentary sweet potato biscuits to warm Chocolate Bread Pudding with Crown Royal Crème Anglaise, they’re all worth waiting for. And you might have to. Not to sound Bourdainish but Blue takes “no reservations.”
