outskirts: life and times in charlottesville

This weekend I noticed Sal was out taking care of his own sidewalk. My guess is that he was threatened with a lawsuit since his servers have to walk on the “pedestrian” mall which is considered a true danger for women, pets, and old people. I’m willing to say I have been witness to at least one trip every single day I’ve been on the mall.

The city continues to say it will repair the mall, but we have yet to see that such a thing could get done. When they tried to do one block the 2 month job became 8, and the cost tripled. Now think about that for the entire mall.

Anyone feel like getting a class action lawsuit going?

And…believe it or not…a restaurant on the mall has now decided their outdoor seating is going smoke free. Erotica (aka Enoteca) had signs on their outdoor tables when I strolled by this weekend. They are also applying for a full bar license, so vodka may be showing up in the near future. When that happens I hereby pledge a minimum of $350 to their coffers for my summertime spending.

The Local seemed to be going for a bit of a “feel” of an Eastern European bistro when they opened (three days ago that is). They had two tiki torches out in front of the restaurant that gave the place a nice feel as you walked in. Very warm and comforting.

Perhaps a bit too warm. The Fire Marshal stopped by this evening and the torches were gone within a minute.

Will we ever see the torches again? Did The Local not have a permit? Were the torches too close to the sidewalk? Would Queen have been able to put out the fire so quickly as the fire marshal did? These questions and more will be answered…on the next episode.

The Local did their second soft opening this evening. Everyone and anyone that is someone was there. Food was half price. Mmmm….

Tomorrow is the official opening. I have a feeling this place will be around for awhile. The interior is gorgeous! It has a “date” atmosphere when the lights get dim and every table has a candle. Classic rock was playing at a nice subdued level. The menu/food could use a bit of tweaking. The wine I chose was quite good for the price. Service was superb, staff was very friendly. The bar is really nice, and when they get the upstairs bar/patio going later in the year it will be a great happy hour location (bar opens at 5, food at 5:30). Interior is smoke free. Not sure about the 2nd floor patio. Might be a few tables getting put out front when the weather gets warm.

A bit of construction going on at Sal’s. Rumor has it a few French doors will be going in. One set will be rather large so it can remain open when the weather is nice outside. This will certainly brighten things up on the inside.

This village is full of kids. Kids rule. All kids are perfect. All kids run around screaming at every establishment - including bars on Friday evenings. I really think all parents in this village snapped and no longer notice what their kids are doing. Once in Bodo’s a result started screaming and pulling napkins and silverware out of the dispensers. The parent said, “stop before I get to 10,” and started counting. The kid stopped at 9 after having removed every napkin. Between each number from 1 to 9 the parent just chatted with another parent.

I still haven’t forgotten the day when I walked in to a pizza place (that shall remain nameless…let’s just call it Christian’s for this blog posting) that is really popular among parents and got to see a parent changing a diaper on a table. I hadn’t really thought about it for awhile until a former C-Ville resident pointed out a blog posting to me.

The blogger talked about how inconvenienced he was when a chain store didn’t have a diaper changing area. The post was clearly by a C-Ville-ish sort of parent, but things don’t get interesting until the comments start up.

My favorite is by Doodle Bean:

Just imagine the idiocy of anyone daring to inconvenience you and your little family, the obvious center of the universe! How dare they!!!

And Starbucks was simply horrible! They should have had a special area set aside for such vitally important people as you and your little family! And why couldn’t they furnish it especially to your tastes?!? What is the matter with them?!?!

Why couldn’t they have a special area for you, perhaps hung with luxurious fabrics and furnished with soft Persian carpets. Perhaps with a selection of special emollients for your special little child’s behind?

How horrible of them to neglect you and abuse your little family so badly. Shame on them!

That of course was the polite/dry/sarcastic comment. Others aren’t quite as family oriented…if you know what I mean. So don’t let your kids read them. 1….2….3….

PS. If you want some books for your kids, here are 40 that are worth a read.

For those that read blogs don’t miss the big party at Crush tonight.

Speaking of crush, I’ve heard the place next door to crush (the as of yet unknown establishment) is getting closer to opening. Rumor has it that it will just be a bar, and not a restaurant/bar.

I personally think a nice Italian place with some rooftop dining (or at least the open roof) that featured wines from Crush would be a great addition to the area. But hey…another place to get trashed isn’t a bad deal either.

Any word on when The Box will open? Will it be smoke free? I spend about $5k/year on happy hour…does The Box want some of that?

A shot from Kikis. iPod, iDrink, iBlack and White.

Has anyone noticed the interior design at The Box? It actually looks a bit like Kikis did before all that brown showed up. Anyone know when The Box will open? The olive green has martini written all over it, although I’m not a fan of olives.

Although not quite restaurant news, a place called Wash & Wag will be opening just below the Belmont Bridge in the near future. I assume it will was pets, but you never know. This is Virginia you know.

Liquid used to be there. Then Atomic Burrito. Now something called “The Box” will be moving in. Booze will be involved. I wonder what will be in The Box. Any chance of a D*ck in The Box?

Apparently the powers that be feel that there are not enough wine bars around here. VaVino got renamed Erotica, Siip is moving to the other end of the mall, and Crush will open this weekend in Belmont.

What is up with the names of these places? What should we name the next few? Sniff. Spit. Swallow. Hmm…

Meanwhile, I think all life has been crushed out of me. My entire goal for the day was to get up, get things done at work, and then go running at the gym. I did the first. The second was the daily nightmare. During the day I went and bought milk so I could eat cereal. I also went and bought some wine (the main thread of this story). I didn’t want to carry both things home, so I grabbed the wine. I would get the milk after the gym.

Well…I got home and just don’t have the energy to go to the gym. I’d rather just curl up in a ball in a corner with a blanket. Since I didn’t go to the gym I decided to eat some cereal. I have no milk. Oh well…cereal with water. No gym. Nothing productive. I’m getting so out of shape and putting on the pounds. Tomorrow I’ll be trying to do the same three things. How many will I get done?

I think I need something they will sell at Crush. Or maybe I just need some Crush.

Kikis lunchtime adventure will be wrapping things up next week. If you want one last chance for a good fresh juice or a wrap, be sure to get there before turkey gets served.

Best of luck!