From a little birdie…(not verified)
The rumor is the guy who co-owns Michael’s Bistro is holed up in the restaurant and won’t come out. Supposedly, they’ve been closed for days because of whatever he’s doing in there. One person thinks he’s been locked down in the Bistro for a week.
Popularity: 61% [?]
Tagged as: bistro lockdown, Charlottesville
I guess I’m putting the poor guy out of business with high quality lunches from everyone’s favorite hot dogTM
He realized that he cannot sell beverages in good faith that he has not sampled, so he went into their beer storage room and is drinking one case of each variety of beer, to ensure top quality and taste.
If his initials are MC, he has had problems like this before.
Who ever he is, he must be extremely bored. I mean, ever kid who reads the book about Corduroy fantasizes about being in the department or toy store overnight, but a restaurant?
@3: libelous, my good sir! well, perhaps I’ve been known to stay after hours… and drink … a lot. oh well, my defense is crumbling.
MC!!!
@3: Yeah, I have a feeling it is MC.
He’s probably just having a private party. Just walk past the bathrooms in LittleJohn’s… walk past the ice maker and go up the back stairs.
I’m sure it’s totally an open invite thing. Just go on up.
/you didn’t hear it from me.
shit. at least they have internet in here. And if I poke my head out the window, I can check out all of TJ’s newest young attractive acolytes. In the evening, I get serenaded by the bucket man.
this ain’t so bad, people. Corner penthouse!
Wonder if he is still trying to sort out the $$ on his A & N contract, adding to stress. His rather rough entree to politics a few years back left questions.
Maybe he’s just getting drunk?
Holed Up in Michael’s Bistro is better than a Hold Up in Michael’s Bistro. Just sayin’.
I personally think it would be a pretty nice place to be holed up. Good view, nice trees outside the balcony. The second floor location affords relative quiet adn a sense of security. Plenty of good people watching. Nice cross breeze. Little balcony thingie to sit on. Fully stocked bar and a kitchen. I’m sure there is a computer and TV, too. Of course the lack of couches or a bed puts a damper on things, as does the absence of a shower. But really I f I had to stuck in a restaurant I can think of a lot worse place.
@13
In a pinch, the commercial dish washing machine can be used as a shower. You just have to have someone else to operate the lever opening and closing the doors.
Are the wait staff still reporting to work? Because that would certainly add to experience. You’d have someone to party with, talk to, wait on you, and if they liked you…
/ just sayin
(mom letter joke)
So I got the skinny from a little birdie in the know.
Apparently, it was a dispute among the various owners that sparked the whole kerfuffle. Topic of dispute: unknown. The majority owner, whose initials are in fact MC (not to be confused with mc, the indelible commenter who takes her case in the lower thankyouverymuch), did, according the version I heard, briefly lock himself in the restaurant after changing the locks, but “holed up” is more than a bit of hyperbole. The dispute remains unresolved. The staff is, understandably, not pleased with the situation and hoping for a resolution soon.
And I, for one, hope my favorite bar in Charlottesville re-opens under sunnier skies soon.
for reals. capital letters are gauche.
good luck bistro, I really do enjoy it there.
I heard The Box is going to reopen soon.
@ 17 - I like my version of reality better
He’s had his issues before. Damn Republican St. Anne graduates….
@19 the joke is that The Box is opening, not reopening. keep up, 26.
@21: Yeah, I’d pretty much prefer we left it at that, since we’re talking personal issues here, for the most part.
Agreed Stanley; sometimes things on here get a little too personal for my comfort level. We are actual human beings, right?
No gossip on the gossip site, y’all.
@24 your question should be answered shortly, i’m pretty sure parlie is typing something nonsensical as we speak
@22 you really need to think outside the Box.
@27 well played, 26. well played.
No gossip on the gossip site, y’all.
I mean the personal issues. I’m happy to discuss the temporary shuttering of a fine local establishment. Getting into a particular person’s personal issues is more than a bit squicky, methinks.
@29 agreed. I think “Christian’s Rule” applies.
@ you weren’t here for that! were you a lurker? or did you used to have a previous identity?
/26 world is Max Bacon
@30, duh
WTF is Christian’s Rule?
@31 I was here for it all, and then some.
/and I’m Banksy, too.
He’s not Max Bacon. MB isn’t cool enough to own a pit bull.
@34 damn, just when I thought that 26 world wasn’t parlie, now everything is fucked up again.
@29 true, true,
But i also hear there is an issue of outstanding pay checks? If the payroll is being squandered away due to said “personal issues”, the issues then are no longer “personal” - they affect a few dozen people.
or have they gotten their outstanding paychecks yet?
26 world is definitely not parlie. He can actually form coherent sentences.
I wish I could get an OUTSTANDING paycheck. Mine are always so average.
or have they gotten their outstanding paychecks yet?
As of about noon today, no, and you are correct that’s topical and sucky. I absolutely endorse discussing the restaurant-y aspects of this story. It seemed the thread might be careening towards Squicksville with #21.
Also, I thought 26 world was a she not a he. Not that it matters. Perhaps a ze?
@38 for awhile, I just thought that 26 world was Parlie when he wasn’t stoned.
OMG this place is bonkers today. Nice Newman is jerk-face Gobbler. Upstart is a gay man. Max Bacon is still lurking. 26 World is a chick. WTF?!
26 world is a girl? shit, what happens when you guys find out i’m parlie.
From the sound of a few previous comments (3, 7, 10, 21), it seems as though this guy’s personal issues are pretty common knowledge?
Not saying I take delight in whatever is going on, especially since the ripple affect is touching the Bistro staff.
Basically, when there’s a story of unbelievably epic deviance, tread lightly.
@42 That would require Parlie to not be stoned on occasion. Flaw.
@41 Because I defended kittens?
next thing you know, we’ll find out that Shen has a heart (for humans, not the kitties)
@44: You wish
@45: Oh you mean that time that Christian got beat up in my basement?
Because I defended kittens?
Nah. Something else you said once. I forget what. I’m happy to leave it mysterious, however, if you care not to clarify.
@45.
Its not like this stuff was not all over the newspapers with pictures and everything a few years ago. Oh wait, it was.
@51 did Christian get jumped a few years ago? because the incident everyone is referring to happened within the past year (someone with some effort should link it from the archives)
@49: me calling out parlie/26 was just a cover… for my lack of anything interesting to type about.
@51 Just another reason OLD media is evil!
someone with some effort should link it from the archives
Fine. But read lilith’s words of wisdom in the comments.
There you go. That’s what I was talking about.
About a month ago, someone brought it up when I was out somewhere and they seemed to have more details than I remember hearing when it first happened.
Here’s the post about it and I think this is where Thor first said to lay off the really personal gossip. I could be wrong…
I don’t see this as “personal” gossip. The personal becomes public right about the time that business is shut down, people are thrown out of work, and the beer taps are shut-off. Seriously, this post isn’t about the owner, it’s about the restaurant
not saying anything personal, but….
what bar/restaurant in this town HASN’T had owners/managers with some kind of substance problem? (current or recovered)
So, is it still going on? Is he still holed up in there?
@4 I used to fantasize about getting locked into the grocery store at night.
Being locked in a grocery store for me would mean in a few hours the store would be entirely out of whipped cream in the can, shaving cream, and expensive cheese and tricuit’s……
no s on triscuit. it’s its own plural.
@61 Shaving cream? What the fuck?
Ethan, Nitrous Oxide used to power the shaving cream on Edge Gel!
Thurston, you’d probably enjoy being locked in a restaurant supply store more than a grocery store. People buy Sams Club sized boxes of hippie crack at those places.
I can barely do long division now, alas, the hippie crack days are long gone…. Maybe I could get locked in a room with 100 Bagel Bites. Now that would be something.
My bf used to work at the Bistro and he says the owner is an asshole. He once stopped by, saw my bf’s tips on the bar and helped himself to $60 and left. When my bf went to his manager to complain, he was told there was nothing he could do. i won’t tell you what my bf thinks he took the cash for but it rhymes with “trugs”.
Whoa! I can’t even imagine what I’d do if that happened to me. I guess that lines up with locking the staff out and leaving them in financial limbo for a few days, which seems to be the case.
Here I was thinking he came from a family that had money…I guess I’m mistaken.
Any update from a Bistro staffer?
What I heard was that the staff who showed up for work got fired.
What a brilliant management decision! Fire the people who actually show up. Ha!
It sucks because they are nice people and they made it a fun place to go and eat/drink. So, screw you Michael’s Bistro owner.
The h-o-o-k has a good story about it today,
http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2008/07/29/bistro-brouhaha-michaels-midsummer-mutiny-explained/
Seems Michael Crafaik has hired Clive from Boheme, and did have a key-changing spat with his father Crafaik, longtime Corner restaurant manager & owner & partial oppressor. Clive is hell of a cook, worked at the Virginian in one of its good eras.
Michael is republican! Gross!
Explains his screwing over his employees
Bill Clinton screwed over one of his employees.
/1990’s again.
funny that the owner is Republican, because the last time i went there (and the last time i’ll EVER go there) was just before the ‘04 election and my friend and i were refused further service (after one drink) when the hippy-dippy crunch-fest bartender asked us who we were voting for (for their little chalkboard poll) and our answer offended her Gauloises smoking lefty pinko snobby self.
@75 - Good for her!
@76: Yeah! Because that’s the way to win hearts and minds and make people consider voting for a certain candidate, by denying them service. Right on!
@75 Do you really want to refuse service to somebody because of his/her politics?
/I thought liberals were supposed to be open minded
//or maybe I missed the joke
@78 I meant @76
yeah, me too Smiley. i know the whole “mgmt reserves the right” spiel, i used to use it when i was a bartender, but that’s just dumb.
This MC guy sounds like a complete nut in that article.
The Hook lifted heavily from cVillain…why else would they have thought to link to the health code violations? It would have been nice to at least mention their sources.
Michael Crafaik is a thief. And my bf is friends with people who work there and he says they got fired.
I’m more apt to believe what other say after reading the three articles about MC. He’s on another planet.
(others meaning Shenanigans’ boyfriend and his colleagues)
I think MC comes off loud and clear as a lier in The Hook’s article.
He’s on another planet.
Specifically, Jupiter:
Best bar in town: gone for all intents and purposes.
As for UNCUS: quoting the health statistics was shite reporting. They compared numbers dating back to 2003 with numbers from another restaurant dating back to 2006? Get a fucking source besides MC, you cranks.
for fucks sake, i need a new name.
No you’re lower case mc. Haven’t we been over this?
people don’t respect the lower case. See #6 for just one of many examples… whatever, I’m keeping the name. The crazy man can suck it.
The Hook: getting stories from Liars
CVillain= The Truth
New cVillain motto: “You report. We deride.”
@ 77-80
YES!
You have a right to your political views and I have a right to be pissed off that your “views”
– re-elected the most incompetent president in our nation’s history
– supported the illegal invasion of Iraq
– led to over 4000 US military deaths and tens of thousands civilian deaths
– harmed effective techniques to halt the spread of AIDS and other STD’s by denying funding to NGOs that advocate sex ed and the distribution of condoms
– weakened our nation’s security by indebting us to foreign countries
– put the economy in a tailspin
– cut taxes on the rich while effectively raising them on the poor
– overseen the largest redistribution of wealth from the poor and middle class to the wealthy in the nation’s history
– forsook american values of freedom, individual rights, and justice in the pursuit of power, in service of “unitary executive”, and by claiming that it was *necessary* to protect our nation
– destabilized global geo-politics, derailed middle east peace plans, treated diplomacy with enmity
– alienated our allies, squandered our moral authority, and inhibited our ability to lead globally for years to come
– celebrated stupidity, superstition, and obfuscation and the expense of science, rational thought, and truth
– betrayed the nation’s historical dna by treating with contempt the enlightened ideals upon which our nation was founded
– treating the justice department as a political tool to advance partisan ends
– attempted to disassemble the socio-economic programs of the new deal, undue the reforms of teddy roosevelt, and generally return the nation to a time that never was
So sorry if I take your “views” personally, but that f*cker ruined the country and you made it happen
/not a hippie
*cough* no politics *cough, cough*
But what about smoking the Gauloises?
More politics.
Michael Crafaik ruined our country! That bastard!
@91: You forgot single-handedly killing the planet and personally clubbing baby seals.
But seriously, what does Crafaik being a Republican have to do with anything?
@95: He ruined our Bistro!
and what does my being a Republican have to do with drinking at a bar that has great beer on tap?
well, you can use that saved Bistro money to write a check for he who shall not be named, but I don’t really know what I’m talking about. look over there, a ball.
and what does my being a Republican have to do with drinking at a bar that has great beer on tap?
Well, the cost of beer has risen in line with shipping costs as a direct result of the foreign policies of the current GOP cadre of no-talent ass clowns who are pulling the levers. And I’m firmly against a rise in the cost of beer.
/see? it’s restaurant gossip!
@98
had*
@100: The rising cost of beer is also due to a shortage of hops which is directly related to the hippie liberals wanting to use all of our farmland to grow corn for ethanol. FAIL
@100 there’s another good/bad side to the extra corn growth, echo, that being that once the treehuggers realize that ethanol isn’t the miracle cure, there will be more corn left over to sell to Milller, AB and Coors to make mediocre beer.
the good side being that it will also mean more corn is available for bourbon production, which is fine with this guy!
I do love bourbon, but I would like to be able to drink beer that is actually made with hops. This is why I think Blue Mountain Brewery is going to be successful. They grow their own hops.
Dear echo,
The US was already growing way too much corn. They just find new ways to market the surplus.
Read the Omnivore’s Dilemma, dude.
Love,
FAIL
why I think Blue Mountain Brewery is going to be successful. They grow their own hops.
They *are* successful because they make good beer and good food. They also educate the public about hops, hops production, and the current hops shortage. But you’re joking if you think their (really awesome! don’t get me wrong! woo hops!) pittance of hops plants is even a plurality of their supply. I’ve asked. They come from elsewhere mostly, just like at most brewhouses.
What hippies are in favor of corn ethanol fuel? I thought it was agribusiness.
Dear shenanigans,
While you are correct, the US was already growing too much corn, US corn production has increased by 19% since 2006 due in large part to the increased demand caused by ethanol production. The farmers can make a greater profit growing corn, and as I said @102, this is causing a shortage of hops. But what is really sad is the amount energy and water it takes to produce a single gallon of ethanol from corn.
Sincerely,
echo
P.S. MC ruined the best beer selection in cville
@106: It takes time to develop a farm. Are they planning on growing the majority of their own hops? If not, it seems like a wasted effort.
@108
did MC do something to Mellow Mushroom? i feel like they have one of (if not the best) tap beer selections in Cville. or did you mean the massive amount of stale bottles at Michael’s (and the old Court Square Tavern). that’s the problem with a large bottle selection, it doesn’t get consumed, the beers go bad.
Who was the beer nerd who started Michael’s Bistro? Was it MC himself? He had a hand-pulled beer tap back when it was rare in the U.S. There were only one or two hand-pulled taps in Manhattan at the time, methinks.
Are they planning on growing the majority of their own hops?
Hearsay (that is, I heard it a few pints in on a tour), but nah. At least not in the near future. Can’t compete with the PNW. Maybe later though, and I certainly hope so. Hops farm link.
mmmm…hand pulled beer is good.
the Wharf Rat in B’more usually has 3 or 4 Ollie’s varieties on cask.
…bad side to the extra corn growth
My doctor just gave me an ointment.
Dear echo,
We believe there was a shortage of hops due to extreme temperatures in the West as well as Australia having the worst drought on record and hail storms across Europe. Also acre reductions were due to low prices in the last ten years due to over-supply.
Love,
If at first you don’t succeed, FAIL FAIL again
I have designed my own synthetic, crime fighting hops in my secret underground laboratory- soon the world will be ruled by RoboHops.
@91 Point of Clarification: I never said I was a Republican, nor that I voted for Bush. I only asked if denying a person service because of his or her politcal views was appropriate.
/foaming at the mouth leads to poor reading comprehension
Point of Order!
I’d like to order a beer.
/from the Bistro; dammit.
@117 i HAVE said that i’m a Republican (which i’m sure puts me in the minority here on the site as well as it does in town) and i think it was inappropriate to deny service based on political views, especially when she was the one that brought it up, asked us for her little straw poll, etc.
@118 That would be a Pint of Order, methinks.
God I hate Politics. November can’t get here soon enough!
@120: nice.
Michael’s Bistro guy is notoriously strange. He’s a stalker for one. And is directly responsible for my place of business having to go on lock down and now we have to have a secret handshake and badged in and go down an elevator with a shoe phone and the cone of silence just to get into work.
He stalked someone I work with. He met her at Planned Parenthood. (I know) and someone found out the street she worked on. He went into the building next to mine and was wandering around there and creeping everyone out looking for this chick. Then he wanders into ours…this time wearing a wig (I know) and someone amidst the brain trust pointed him directly to her office.
So the UVA police got involved and again now I have to go through a KGB type of system to open a door. Stupid Michael’s Bistro schizophrenic. Not the first story I’ve heard about him.
Since this all started, I’ve asked a few people about this guy. Someone told me he used to show up at bars wearing really bad disguises. The person didn’t seem to know why…it was just his “thing.
I need to get out of Tiny Toon Town for a few weeks. I love this insane little burg but if you don’t leave there are no tales to tell. And, I love the narrative. I need to go where people are sane. So obviously I’m choosing Maine. Nope..no strange tiny town stories to be had in that state.. That will be a relief. Where the fair Taliesin will be buying a summer home. I have to go stalk a crazy person up there. /half kidding. Not really. Wish me luck fellow Villains. Anyone know where I can get a wig? Or a Batman costume? Or a Cat Woman?
Dress like George.
I don’t think I could pull off the look
DON’T FORGET TO BRING A TOWEL!
I WILL BRING A TOWEL! AND A 38 TAURUS! I will be the tool in the scenario. Hammered and screwed.
@ 104
bourbon & beer??? Blue Mountain too???
Dark Hallow is (or was last week) on tap. All i got to say is: it’s the best of both worlds.
mmm…tasty
So obviously I’m choosing Maine. Nope..no strange tiny town stories to be had in that state..
word. as I’m sure you’re alluding to, Stephen King is from Maine and clearly nothing strange ever came out of that dude. good luck, godspeed, home and back again.
Taliesin, enjoy Maine. I hope that all works out for you. I’ll do what I can to make sure South Street is still standing when you get back.
echo, you can’t even stand!
/he will make sure it’s leaning and zig-zagging
Good morning caroline! If you had seen me the last 2 nights you would know just how accurate that statement is.
maybe I did see you babycakes.
@125 i have a batman costume.
@134: Maybe you did. I wouldn’t remember.
Barfaroni…long night. CDC isn’t bad…glad it was at Zydeco last night b/c that was that bartender’s (Joel) last night, he one of the better ones at the corner.
I was on a date with Floozy, we were undercover at SS.
Caroline…..Don’t you mean under THE covers at the Econo Motel you horny little sprite.
/Mornin’
C… I’m out for most of the day. Can you remail me because last one got eaten by the AOL monster.
[…] the haze hanging over the Michael’s Bistro affair seems to be lifting. The latest version I’ve heard (from a chorus of little birdies) is that […]