Local places to sit, relax and enjoy

Feeling like a human daiquiri? Weary of wrapping up in coats and scarves as thick as neck braces? Completely over the winter weather?

Check. Check. And check.

So last week, we mittened up and set out to find the dining equivalent of a robe and slippers. We craved a cozy spot where we could while away a few winter hours in warmth and comfort.

What we found was a cache of local haunts – a surprising number with fireplaces – that offer a respite from the season.

ZIA MARIA

This flat-topped building in the heart of Chic ’s Beach is a hidden hideaway of the local set, serving Italian comfort food in an unhurried atmosphere that eases the winter blues. Yellow sconces cast a golden glow, Sinatra sings and, in the center of the 80-seat dining room, flames flicker in a two-sided fireplace. The fireplace was a last-minute addition when the place opened 15 years ago, built to conceal a pole.

No need to scramble or wait for a spot nearest the fireplace; it’s visible from all of the restaurant’s deep booths and tables. Or wait it out at the 16-seat, U-shaped bar, where there’s bound to be a friendly local or two.

GPS 4497 Lookout Road, Virginia Beach, (757) 460-0715

Eats Entrees from $9.75 to $24.95, including favorites such as stuffed eggplant and veal saltimbocca, full bar and extensive wine list

Hours Dinner daily from 5 to 10 p.m., bar open until 11 on weekdays and midnight on weekends

Pacifica Little Bar Bistro

A couple of blocks off the Boardwalk, just at the stroke of happy hour, we happened on this little den of a restaurant. Low ceilings, low lights, nine tables and rock music piped in low enough to allow easy conversation. But what really sets the atmosphere is a brick fireplace flanked by deep sofas.

Pacifica opened three years ago and is a popular tapas-style dinner date spot, as well as a late-night haunt of the restaurant worker set. Manager Geoffe Landry, manning the bar sporting a plaid newsboy cap, said the low-key vibe gives way to a more lively bar-like atmosphere after about 9:30 p.m.

GPS 214 40th St., Virginia Beach, (757) 422-5770 or www.littlebarbistro.com

Eats Cold and hot tapas from $3 to $11, including lamb burgers on house brioche, chicken and waffles, and for dessert, s’mores (which cannot be made in the fireplace, although some have tried). Extensive martini and classic cocktail list, wines and beer

Hours 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily with full menu available until 1:30 a.m.

Riverview Coffee Parlor

How have we missed this? Seven years ago, Alice McCoy opened a comfy little coffee shop near the foot of the Granby Street bridge, offering (very affordable) Alice-made sandwiches, fresh roasted coffees and limeade that rivals Doumar’s up the street.

The parlor is set a bit back from the road in a short row of shops, but inside it’s like home, a place where regulars duck in for a steaming cup of spiced chai or latte. The decor is decidedly parlor-like, with roomy floral sofas and worn wooden tables and chairs, a scattering of well-stocked bookshelves and newspapers and magazines on this table and that.

It’s warm in here, there’s an aroma of coffee, and classical music tinkles along in the background. No Wi-Fi here; the proprietress wants it to be a respite from the hurried world of constant contact.

“Sit,” she said. “Relax. Enjoy.”

GPS 4117-C Granby St., Norfolk, (757) 622-1365

Eats Coffees and teas from $1.25 to $4.99; parlor food, including sausage-egg-and-cheese croissants, coffeecake, and homemade chicken-salad and egg-salad sandwiches, 75 cents to $3.99

Hours 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, closed Sundays

The Cellars Restaurant Bar & Lounge

For us sea-level dwellers, a basement in itself is a remarkable thing. But hidden below the Church Point Manor bed and breakfast, a fabulously restored century-old farmhouse surrounded by the upscale Church Point neighborhood, is a genie bottle of a bar.

Just as the dinner hour was starting, we descended a set of brick steps, walked through the intimate dining room and found a six-seat, copper-topped bar with a shallow gas fireplace flickering in the background. The ceilings are low, the walls brick and the service friendly. We were sipping happily at this intimate little bar, massage-type music in the background, when the barkeep – who had been busy polishing glasses – asked if we had seen the “lounge.” And there, through a narrow, curtained doorway, was a hidden chamber rimmed with plush, built-in sofas with plenty of pillows, a couple of small tables and, get this, a wood- burning fireplace.

It felt safe and warm and cozy and like discovering a secret garden.

GPS 4001 Church Point Road, Virginia Beach, (757) 460-2210 or www.churchpointmanor.com

Eats Entrees from $19 to $33, including slow-cooked osso bucco and shrimp and grits – with an emphasis on local foodstuffs, full bar, beer and wine

Hours 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, Sunday brunch 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Cafe Europa

Escape winter? How about leaving the continent?

Cafe Europa, a 24-year-old mainstay in Portsmouth’s Olde Towne proper, harkens to the atmosphere of centuries-old European eateries. The walls of soaring dark-wood paneling and exposed brick in this 100-year- old building are hung with oil paintings in heavy frames, setting the scene for intimate, upscale, yet unpretentious dining.

Tables are arranged in a series of rooms. Service is like a whisper, the pace unhurried European-style. The fare – Mediterranean-style and old European classic versions of seafood, lamb, veal and inventive daily specials – has won numerous awards.

GPS 319 High St., Portsmouth (757) 399-6652

Eats Dinner entrees $14.25 to $16.95, including veal martini and shrimp Mediterranean, a dish finished with Pernod. Full bar and selective wine list

Hours Lunch, 11:30 to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays; dinner from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; closed Sundays and Mondays