Two facts:

1.  The Tavern (on Emmett) been closed since at least Saturday, with a sign on the door about re-training. (Although I haven’t looked today.)

2.  The Health Department report. Do you ever look at the Virginia Dept of Health Restaurant Inspections site? Huuge time-waster. Anyway, the most recent report for the Tavern was extremely negative [link].

Those are the facts.

Here is the speculation:

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Thanks to Frenchy for tipping us on a new Tapas place that he/she says could fill the old Star Hill Building.  Is it funded by a wealthy man from Richmond?  Who is the chef?  We are still curious about the details on this one, so please share.  No word on the service expectations.

Secondly, a birdie let us know that the executive chef Bryan has left Ten and left C-Ville.  Ten has recently hired a new executive chef.

[1st pic]

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We just got more secrets from another birdie which totally contradicted our prior set of rumors/news on OXO and Boheme.  Who knows if they are true or not, but they come from a very reliable source. So, what is going on at OXO and Boheme?!  Details after the break…

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One of the things that old man Parlie has talked to me about in the past is PWR (posting with regularity) and so today, slightly later than will be the eventual norm, I am inaugurating my Monday Morning Inquiries. It’s like the Spanish Inquisition, but you know, different.

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If you’ve been following our coverage of The Upstairs, you should be excited.

B’YO sends in two pictures of the interior!  Looks awesome!  Exposed brick is totally in.

What do you think?

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I See You Baby!

I love the “I Saw You” section of The Hook because I always dream that I will be seen! But I never am. I guess I can’t be seen very well behind a wall of books. So I thought I’d start such a post on cVillain. Since it’s free and interactive, maybe more people will write who they saw and slathered over. And maybe the median age of the people posting won’t be twice mine, like in the C-ville and Hook personals pages. And maybe someone will unknowingly slather over me.

If you are the guys who rolled past me in the black sedan one dark night last August…please forget you saw me.

Spring’s liberation of citizens onto Charlottesville’s sidewalks is what inspires this idea, so I’ll kick it off with my own heretofore unpublished I See You Baby’s. »Read More

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but its still a good rumor

and it could be true

and wouldn’t it be nice

A little birdie who recently moved to Fredericksburg reports:

Last night I was talking with some local restaurateurs, and found out that a local business owner, Chris Dunbar, has bought Starr Hill. It will be a restaurant and music hall. They already have a show booked (dark star orchestra) and should be opening by midsummer.

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Is tonight closing night for Orbit? Still waiting for details… (and skeptical given April Fool’s jokes).

Update:

OK just found out they aren’t opening tonight.  And they are for sure CLOSED!

It has been sold. To who I don’t know nor do I know any more details right now

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The Hook got invited to the space above Escafe.  What did they find?  They confirmed our rumor from January about it being a high end steak and whiskey joint.  It’s going to be called “The Upstairs.”

What a stupid name... anyway, I’m pretty psyched about a real steakhouse in the area, even if they can’t think of something more creative.

My suggestions for names:

• Steak & Bitches (ok, not really)
• Silver Steak House
• Prime
• S&W (Steak & Whiskey)
• Jefferson’s Steak House

Highlights from The Hook article:

[Mark Brown’s] also putting in a brand new kitchen, complete with a top-of-the-line char-broiler he says is a real “kicker,” and some kind of fancy machine that cooks delicacies like fois gras. “You can hard boil an egg so the center is like jelly,” he says.

Brown says he imagines an upscale but casual bar scene, serving up high-end cognacs, scotches, and tequilas (and wine, of course), and a restaurant serving up prime USDA steaks and seafood straight from the briny deep.

[Read more at The Hook]

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One of our birdies send in the following info about the new name for the restaurant/bar to replace Kiki:

New name of Kiki is going to be Ventana. It’s named after his bike or something.

Now for the private club… to replace 2:16?!

So I don’t know how reliable the source is for this but I have been told that someone is looking at the old Live Arts space for the purpose of turning it into a private club. Nothing has been filed with ABC as of yet but if this info is true we should see something in the next coming months start to materialize.

Boheme wants us to visit tomorrow night:

we are releasing a FREE preview of our new late night menu on Micah’s first night which I am aiming for next thursday [TODAY?]…

so ALL FOOD is FREE after 10pm till I guess till 2am (ABC SUCKS!)

our drinklist is VERY underpriced considering what goes into them.

so FREE FOOD… salty tater tots… frog legs… foie gras… cheese… bbq pizza? wtf are we doing?

whatever… very special drink prices (I am talking our drinklist like 50% off for villains only) and delicious rich I need to goto the gym tomorrow type stuff to eat… FREE.. look for the “lillith” (although retired) and the “b’ yo!” the first few “villains” that expose themsleves will have a placement as well on our drinklist… r&d is so much fun! so bring it! develop it and its yours. hooray for the social … ISM?

Ah, gotta love the birdies!

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