As both the source and the sounding board for all things food in this town, Restaurantarama works tirelessly on your behalf to decipher inside scoop from mere scuttlebutt. Typically, we save you, the reader, from the untruths and exaggerations that little birds whisper to us, but this week, we thought we’d let you in on just two of the recent rumors we quashed in our research. And we’d like to speak to some of those gossip mongers directly.
 Shelly Gordon, owner of The Tavern, says that his classic Charlottesville eatery isn’t going anywhere, despite whispers to the contrary—and he has a new four-and-a-half-year lease to prove it. |
Our first message is to all you Chicken Littles out there running around town yelling, "The Tavern is closing! The Tavern is closing!" You are, in a word, misinformed. We checked in with Tavern owner Shelly Gordon and discovered that the place "where students, tourists and townpeople meet" is not only not closing, it’s not going anywhere for at least the next few years. Gordon tells us he just renewed the lease on the building for another four and a half years and would have extended it for even longer if the landlord would have let him.
Gordon and his manager Margaret Podoba were just as perplexed as we by the rumors. They say they’ve been fielding calls from loyal customers panicking over a posting they’d seen "on a Myspace page or something," says Gordon. Podoba wondered if the gossipers could have the 26-year-old Meadowbrook Shopping Center hot spot for hash browns confused with a different closing Tavern. Oh no! Could it be the Court Square Tavern? Restaurantarama had to admit that might make a little sense. The place just reopened a few months ago after a devastating kitchen fire in March 2006. Could it have been a failed recovery? We called owner Bill Curtis to find out, but when our inquiry was met with a hearty laugh, we knew the answer was no. No! Court Square definitely is still on tap.
Curtis, who also owns Tastings, does admit the food business is tough in this town. "There are too many damn restaurants," he says. And he acknowledges that he "doesn’t sleep much" and is "the dullest guy in the world" because of it. But he says, "Like they say in Apocalypse Now, ‘You must make a friend of horror.’" Well said, Mr. Curtis. Well said. So chill out Chicken Littles, the Tavern, the other Tavern and the sky are firmly in place.
Our second message is to all you doomsayers out there speculating that local institution Big Jim’s Barbeque on Angus Road is closing in light of the sad passing of owner Patricia "Mrs. Big Jim" Hope on September 28: Shame on you. Instead of making baseless predictions about the future of the most well-known barbeque place in town, perhaps you should use this time—whatever your barbeque biases or favorite pit might be—to reflect on the enormous impact the Big J has had on barbeque eating in this town (and UVA catering!) since opening its doors in 1981. Oh, and for your information, manager Tom Frederick tells us that while Big Jim’s is not booking any catering jobs at the moment, "the restaurant is continuing as is."
Eating good
O.K., enough of the scolding. Here’s the part where we like to praise local foodies who are feeding our souls, not just our stomachs. This time it’s Hamiltons’ at First & Main, which is hosting a Harvest Dinner on November 18 to benefit Meals on Wheels. All proceeds from the $100-a-plate, six-course dinner will go to the organization that delivers hot, nutritious meals to local homebound residents. Why not eat some delicious Hamiltons’ fare so someone else can just eat? Call 293-4364 for tickets.
Got some restaurant scoop? Send tips to restaurantarama@c-ville.com or call 817-2749, Ext. 48.
