In Williamsburg try the Fat Canary, The Blue Talon, Le Yaca, Opus 9, The Trellis.

In Charlottesville, best bets are Orzo Kitchen and Wine Bar for locally sourced food and great wines ( http://www.orzokitchen.com/ ), Fry's Spring Station for great fire roasted pizza ( http://www.frysspringstation.com/ ), and Tavola for excellent italian food ( http://www.tavolavino.com/ ). Enjoy!

If you are willing to stop for 24 hours in Richmond, there are many, many fine restaurants, from funky soul to very fine dining and pretty much everything in between.

When not eating, you can visit wonderful art and historical museums, gardens, etc.

I agree with most of mrwilliamsburg's suggestions except that I have to say that Opus is a traditional steakhouse and Le Yaca is very traditional French. Both are good and offer a fine meal but I don't think of either as being particularly creative.

I also want to add that Waypoint should be a definite visit on any chefs list. The chefs there have established relationships with local farmers and change their menu seasonally, something Fat Canary, Trellis, and Blue Talon unfortunately do not do.

http://www.waypointgrill.com/

Thanks, Birdie, Waypoint is what we were looking for! Could you also recommend a similar restaurant for lunch?

corrine, Waypoint is open for lunch so you may want to look at these as alternatives for dinner:

http://www.williamsburgwinery.com/cafe-provencal

http://www.achefskitchen.biz/dinner.html

I haven't eaten at the winery in a long time but I have eaten at other restaurants Tim has worked at and the food has always been good. It sounds like he has the opportunity at the winery to use locally sourced products. I don't care for Williamsburg Winery wines but others do.

A Chef's Kitchen may not be what your husband is looking for but it's an interesting concept and the back and forth banter between the chefs and the diners is supposed to be very entertaining.

You and your husband may already be familiar with Virginia's viogniers. They are getting a great reputation. I also really like Rockbridge's cab franc and Horton's port.

We're actually having dinner at the winery upon our arrival & staying at the hotel there. Planning on dining at Waypoint the next night--my husband is not interested in A Chef's Kitchen. We are not familiar w/ Virginia's wines, so, thanks, for the heads up! Just need a nice spot for lunch, & we'll be set!

While in Charlottesville, you definitely want to go to Barboursville Winery. http://www.barboursvillewine.net/winery/vineyard-and-wines.

I second Barboursville Winery, beautiful location and hands down my personal favorite VA wine. In Williamsburg you may enjoy A Chef's Kitchen, which does 3 hour cooking dinner classes. http://www.achefskitchen.biz/index.html

Palladio Restaurant at Barboursville Vinyards is also quite good ( http://www.barboursvillewine.net/winery/palladio-restaurant ).

Agree that there are so many wonderful restaurants in Richmond, now, too. Let us know if you want recommendations. Royal Indian in C'ville is great.

We loved the Downtown Grille in Charlottesville. Excellent service and a really good menu.

My favorite winery was Jefferson. Excellent wines, and a nice deck and tables under the trees to sit and enjoy your wine!