Month: October 2005

He’s a snappy dresser. His office above Water Street is beautifully appointed. He’s enormously successful, and unfailingly generous. Locally, his philanthropy extends to the Legal Aid Justice Center, Little League and other causes. Most recently he and his wife donated $5 million to kick-start a post-Katrina Mississippi rebuilding effort with their Rebuild the Coast fund. Though a St. Louis Cardinals fan (a large black-and-white print autographed by the great Stan Musial adorns a southeast wall of his office), he graciously acknowledges the superior playing this year of the Chicago White Sox. He says March of the Penguins is the best movie he’s seen in 2005. He has beautiful manners and looks you right in the eye during an interview. In other words, John Grisham is a likeable guy. A very, very likeable guy.

   Later this week, he’ll lend some of his time and insight to the Virginia Film Festival, first at the pre-Festival showing of After Innocence, a documentary about life after prison for a half-dozen exonerees. The event is a fundraiser for Legal Aid and the Life After Exoneration Project (for more on the program, see page 29). Then, on Friday evening, Grisham will sit down with Hollywood Reporter critic Duane Byrge to discuss the 10 feature films adapted from his novels, and life and work among the Hollywood glitterati.

   In advance of all that, he sat for an interview last week. It’s boiled down here.—Cathy Harding

 

C-VILLE: The New York Times reported that you have veto power over the casting in your movies. Is that true?

John Grisham: Yes. I didn’t always but for the last several movies I had veto power.

 

What are the qualities that you would just reject out of hand?

I’ve only said no twice. I’ll give you the perfect example of why it’s important to have veto power. We were filming A Time to Kill and we were getting close, we had a great cast, we had a director, we had a budget. It was time to sign somebody and the first suggestion to me was Val Kilmer, and I couldn’t see Val Kilmer playing the role of a lawyer in a small Southern town. I mean he’s great in Top Gun, you know he’s that kind of guy, he’s that kind of actor, but not a serious role with a coat and tie in a courtroom in a small town in the South. They came back with Woody Harrelson. I couldn’t see Woody Harrelson with a coat and tie on, either. So a long-winded answer is it just depends on what your actor does and what kind of role it is.

 

It sounds like in part you’re sensitive to the impression that these actors have already made.

Yeah, I think we always are. There are very few actors who can go from one very diverse role to another and pull it off.

 

Does this distinction hold up for you: There’s the actor who goes very deep into a character, portraying the inner life of the character over the course of a couple hours on screen. And then there’s the actor who can really respond on instinct to action, literally working with changing situations.

I think one way that the distinction applies is that you have to start with the story, you have to start with what I write and I’m not looking for real complicated character development. That’s not what I do. I write suspense and I write thrillers and I write books that are really plot driven. That’s one reason that Hollywood has always liked the books, because it’s a pretty simple plot, it’s not a complicated writing style and my goal when I write a legal thriller is to make the pages turn. Occasionally I’ll put an issue in there and wrap a novel around it. But the pages are always turning.

 

You’ve had a lot of these top shelf guys in your movies now. Gene Hackman, Denzel Washington, Danny DeVito, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon. When you’re writing do you find that your mind wanders now to an actor, even if it happens involuntarily?

No, I don’t think of actors. It’s been 12, 13 years ago, when the movies first started coming out. I learned right off the bat that you never get who you think you’re going to get, you never get who you want. I’m writing a book right now, I couldn’t begin to imagine who would play this role.

   I do know that when I write one a lot of people in Hollywood are going to read it and they’re going to make phone calls and this goes on for a while. It’s been that way since The Firm. So I mean, I know it’s going to be kicked around, but for me, the movie stuff—I’m kind of on the downhill side
of it. Maybe I’ve had my heyday in Hollywood.

 

I’ve read that John Steinbeck is one of your favorite authors. What do you think of the adaptations of his novels into movies?

Tough stuff to film, tough stuff to pull off. It’s easier to adapt one of my books because there’s so much more plot.

 

What do you make of this: People will watch Matt Damon take on a crooked insurance company in a fictional health care case but they don’t want to read about health care policy.

I guess it’s just a matter of entertainment; we love to be entertained. I tell people all the time I’m a famous writer in a country where nobody reads. People tell me all the time, “I don’t read your books but I love your movies.” It’s a TV society, that’s what we are.

 

But when you take an issue and you wrap the novel around it, you must feel a certain amount of responsibility.

It’s tricky, you can’t preach and you can’t stay on a soapbox. You can get by with some message-delivering, you know, if it’s a Bruce Springsteen song, great. But you really have to be careful about how much you do. And the best books are those that make people stop and think whether it’s breast cancer or homelessness or insurance fraud. And when you can pull that off, when you can make people think, it’s gratifying as a novelist to do that. I also never forget the fact that people buy these books to be entertained. They want to stay up at night and they want to skip work and all that and finish them in three days.

 

Now that your independent movie Mickey is out and on DVD, any thoughts on being on that side of the production?

Yeah. It’s the biggest financial disaster of my life.

 

Oh, come on, really?

I was advised by everybody to never put your own money into a movie, and I did and [director] Hugh Wilson did. You know, we’ll get the money back one of these years.

 

Your next book is nonfiction, about Ronald Keith Williamson, who was going to be killed for a murder he didn’t commit. Your thrillers tend to be inspired by real-life events, so why go nonfiction with this?

It was not something I had planned to do. Ronald Williamson died the first week of December last year at the age of 51. I had never heard of the guy. I had seen these exoneration stories, thought they were intriguing but had not been tempted to pursue them. I read his obituary in The New York Times. It so compelling that I said to myself: not on my best day could I create something this good. And I picked up the phone and called New York and said this is it.

   He was drafted in the second round by the Oakland A’s in 1971, he was the first player drafted out of the state of Oklahoma. Mickey Mantle was his childhood idol. At some point he started showing signs of mental loss and the fact that he bombed as a player, most people can shrug that off and get on with their life, and he couldn’t. He was first diagnosed with bipolar and then it was depression and even schizophrenia.

   Then he was framed for murder in the small town where he was a hero. He was on death row for seven years. Then they had to move him to this special unit to kill him and all this kind of stuff and he was sitting around just knowing he was completely innocent. He kept screaming, he would scream until he was hoarse. Finally the judge woke up, he got a good lawyer and so five years later—it took five years to get him out—he was exonerated by DNA evidence.

 

Why do you think this issue is creeping into the public awareness at this point?

It is absolutely more common now because of the DNA testing and there are about 35 Innocence Projects around the country—there’s one at UVA—where they take the cases, review them and do the DNA testing. The death penalty system is so screwed up; even if you believe in the death penalty you can’t be happy with the system. There are so many [Innocence Projects] now we’re finally starting to see these exonerations, and so the more you see the more it’s talked about.

 

How’s the work going with Rebuild the Coast? How much money have you raised so far?

We’re pushing, we’re somewhere between $8.5 million and $9 million.

   The local people have been phenomenal. The Downtown merchants gave us a percentage the weekend before last. The golf tournament, we raised $30,000.

   And then the fun parts are about to happen. This weekend on UVA campus Habitat for Humanity are going to build two houses and then we’re going to build four in November on the Downtown Mall. And so the people who are writing these checks here can see where the money’s going.

 

You’re so involved with the Katrina situation now, do you see that as being the context maybe for some future novel?

Who knows? The legal issues are fascinating. I know one lawyer down there who’s got 3,000 cases already.

 

You have said you wouldn’t want to see yourself writing novels when you get to be 80. Do you still feel that way?

My favorite writer today is John Le Carré. He British, he’s 75, he comes out about every three years.

   You know, I can’t speak to 80 but I can speak to 60. I’m 50 now. A book takes six months to write, so what am I going to do for the other six months. If I don’t do a book a year what am I going to do?

   I’m not one to play golf or stuff like that.

 

Goes great with popcorn
Grisham’s stories don’t exactly stretch actors, but they sure do entertain

By Cathy Harding

editor@c-ville.com

It’s good to be John Grisham. It’s good to be Gene Hackman, too, and these facts are not unrelated. For just as Grisham, the man who revived the legal thriller practically single-handedly, has been a godsend to the publishing industry, he’s been mostly good news for Hollywood, too. (Grisham was the best-selling author of the 1990s, moving more than 60 million copies of his books.) The movies based on his novels tend to do very well at the box office—the films regularly gross $100 million or more—and with edge-of-your-seat plot twists around every corner, they’re mostly satisfying pop entertainment.

   That’s where Gene Hackman comes in. He has starred in three Grisham thrillers, and each has showcased another aspect of his acclaimed flexibility as an actor. He’s been slimy, slimier and slimiest, even foaming at the mouth as a fourth-generation Klansman who gets the electric chair.

   What about other actors? How do they look wearing Grisham’s material once it’s adapted for the screen? With the 18th Annual Virginia Film Festival running throughout this week, including a Q&A session with Grisham on Friday night on the topic of his novels and their adaptation to screenplays, I held my own GrishamFest to consider the question. The answer: Yup, John Grisham is good for actors, provided it’s the right actor, the right director and the right story.

 

The Firm (1993)

Directed by Sydney Pollack

Screenplay by David Rabe

Starring Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorne, Gene Hackman and Holly Hunter

A bright, blue-collar Harvard law student (Tom Cruise) gets a job offer from a small Memphis firm that really is too good to be true. Something of a legal Hotel California, the firm, as Cruise and his lovely, slightly skeptical wife (Jeanne Tripplehorne) discover, lets associates check out but they can never leave…unless it’s in a pine box. When the FBI gets involved (a strictly business Ed Harris pursues Cruise), the toothy one has to use his wits to get the Feds what they want without compromising his legal ethics.

   With plenty of scenery changes (Cambridge, Memphis, the Cay-man Islands) and well-dressed bad guys lurking behind every credenza, the plot perfectly serves Cruise’s peripatetic acting style. As long as he’s running around or stealing files, he’s doing fine. (You really cannot imagine him faced with one of the societal dilemmas of latter-day Grisham, say, a crooked health insurance company. Too much thinking required!) Pretty girl Tripplehorne gets to pout and rise above her stated if not exactly demonstrated fears.

   But in what presages a trend in Grisham adaptations, it’s the character actors—here Gene Hackman as an incurably compromised attorney and Holly Hunter as a smart, sexy secretary—who lend the movie its humanity.

 

The Pelican Brief (1993)

Directed by Alan J. Pakula

Screenplay by Alan J. Pakula

Starring Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Sam Shepard and John Heard

This is Roberts in her early big-hair period, this time portraying the female version of the classic Grisham hero: the law novice who will learn the hard way that justice is elusive, power is corrupting and Goliath is rarely (but not never) vanquished. She’s Darby Shaw, law student, and though she’s smart enough to figure out the probable suspect in the assassination of two Supreme Court justices, she’s dumb enough to sleep with her on-again, off-again alcoholic professor (Sam Shep-ard, phoning it in). When he gets blown up after he shares her theory, contained in the eponymous brief, with a government pal, Roberts is off and running, having some fun with undercover disguises (bad hats, short hair, a fanny pack!). She’s scared, she’s clever and she can’t trust anyone. Think of Pelican as her audition tape for Erin Brockovich.

   Denzel Washington plays D.C. investigative reporter Gray Grantham, whose cool name and comfortable demeanor earns Roberts’ trust. The highlight of this thoroughly watchable movie is the growing bond between Roberts and Washington —reminding us of how rare it is to see a platonic attachment in American mainstream entertainment.

   As Shepard’s FBI friend, John Heard lends complexity—and a complete willingness to humiliate himself—to the ensemble. Also look for smarty Cynthia Nixon, playing Roberts’ classmate, in a couple of scenes.

 

 

The Client (1994)

Directed by Joel Schumacher

Screenplay by Akiva Goldsman

Starring Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones, Mary-Louise Parker and Brad Renfro

Susan Sarandon plays “experienced.” She’s Reggie Love, a middle-age woman in transition, who happens to be a new lawyer. Her client, a smart-mouthed 11-year-old troublemaker, puts her through the paces as he tries to guard the secret of the mob-related suicide he witnessed. But she’s nothing if not unflappable, at least on the surface. Plus, she knows a little something about Led Zeppelin. At the other end, government prosecutor Tommy Lee Jones, leading an entourage and barking orders in his patented lovable asshole schtick, admires her grudgingly as she plays hardball over the kid’s civil rights. Sexy chemistry. You wonder what would happen if they met at a party.

   The heft of the scene-to-scene running around—dodging hit men and federal agents—is left to Renfro, a one-hit wonder whose career never really saw light again after a series of real-life criminal escapades. Putting the action on the kid leaves the adults freer to get into character. Mary-Louise Parker, tremulous and skinny, chain-smokes her way through her role as Renfro’s single mother. It’s nice watching her relationship with Sarandon move from uneasy to mutually respectful.

 

A Time to Kill (1996)

Directed by Joel Schumacher

Screenplay by Akiva Goldsman

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, Ashley Judd and Oliver Platt

If you ask me, if you can only see one Grisham movie, this is it (unless you see The Rainmaker). This is Grisham at his most substantial, wrapping quick action around a larger societal issue. It’s institutional racism, in this case, and the struggle to find justice in the “New South.” Samuel L. Jackson, slightly bent, basically decent, kills a couple of heavy-drinking crackers after they rape his 10-year-old daughter and leave her for dead. Can Matthew McConaughey, using unfamiliar restraint to play a mildly liberal lawyer who nevertheless likes the death penalty, successfully argue the insanity defense? Can a poor black man get a fair trial in Canton, Mississippi?

   And with the Klan reactivated over the case, is the cost of pursuing justice worth the cause? This is the movie in which Ashley Judd, playing McConaughey’s long-suffering wife, first finds her footing as the damsel in distress who has a cast-iron frying pan up her sleeve. Sandra Bullock, cracking wise as usual, gets her come-uppance for being a nosy Yankee law student who helps out. In what might be considered the Gene Hackman role, Kevin Spacey is a living oil slick, playing an opportunistic prosecutor. And if you’ve ever loved Oliver Platt’s pudgy self-absorption, you’re going to appreciate him as the high-earning divorce attorney who is McConaughey’s sidekick.

   Stellar ensemble cast working provocative material that combines plenty of action with a good helping of thoughtfulness.

 

 

The Chamber (1996)

Directed by James Foley

Screenplay by William Goldman

Starring Chris O’Donnell, Gene Hackman and Faye Dunaway

Chris O’Donnell is going to fight the death penalty. Which is not as crazy as sending maybe Tom Cruise to do the job, but it’s close. What’s the nice way to put this? O’Donnell is out of his depth.

   The man awaiting execution in a Mississippi jail happens to be O’Donnell’s grandfather, an unrepentant Klansman who blew up a couple of Jewish children 30 years earlier. Enter Gene Hackman. He growls, he shaves badly, his teeth are yellow, he keeps his unruly curls tucked into a watchman’s cap. As his visit to the gas chamber approaches, he opens a bit, talks more, relinquishes the monster bit just a tad.

   It’s not Hackman’s best work—what does he really have in common with this coarse Klansman?—but it’s a far cry better than the Faye Dunaway’s histrionic performance as his daughter. How can you depict grief and anger with a face stretched as tight as a rubber band? And, as the reviewer from The Washington Post famously wondered when the movie opened, how can Dunaway be Hackman’s daughter in this movie when she was his contemporary in Bonnie and Clyde?

 

 

The Rainmaker (1997)

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola

Starring Matt Damon, Danny DeVito, Mary Kay Place, Jon Voight and Mickey Rourke

Here’s that character again: the blue collar do-gooder working his way through law school, hoping for something great to come his way, but mostly wanting to pay the bills. And in Matt Damon’s hands, he’s appealing if not exactly complex.

   Damon joins a shadowy ambulance-chasing law firm headed by Mickey Rourke, looking and sounding like the kind of party-boy shark that Joe Walsh might have become if he didn’t play guitar with the Eagles. (Grisham is great with the names; Rourke’s character is J. Lyman “Bruiser” Stone.) In no time, Damon is squaring off with a giant dirty insurance company that has wrongfully denied coverage to a family whose 20something son dies needlessly from leukemia.

   Damon would be in way over his head were it not for a “para-lawyer” in Bruiser’s firm, Deck Shifflet, played like a violin by the incomparable Danny DeVito. Acting without a shred of vanity (he regularly spills food on himself, for example), the diminutive powerhouse ends up being motivated by something more than his promised slice of the payout.

   It seems like Coppola couldn’t make a bad-looking movie if he tried—his classical eye for setting up shots is just that automatic. But for a Grisham movie to work it needs a heavy dose of action, too, and watching the nuanced grief of Mary Kay Place, portraying the mother of the leukemia victim, is rewarding but not exciting.

   That’s where a domestic violence sub-plot involving a wan Claire Danes comes in. But as soon as Damon is done dispensing advice to her and crushing blows to her bad husband, that storyline is left behind.

   As the insurance company’s unctuous, arrogant defense attorney Jon Voight is delicious, nearly chasing Gene Hackman from one’s mind.

 

 

The Gingerbread Man (1998)

Directed by Robert Altman

Screenplay by Clyde Hayes, a.k.a. Robert Altman

Starring Kenneth Branagh, Robert Downey Jr., Embeth Davidtz and Darryl Hannah

Uh, yeah. Wrong director, wrong screenplay, wrong weather (“Hurricane Geraldo,” apparently a three-week long storm, darkens every scene—literally), wrong leading man. Yes, thanks to his classical British stage training Kenneth Branagh can adopt any accent, so he sounds convincing as a Georgia lawyer named Rick Magruder. Too bad he’s hamstrung by a convoluted set-up, which begins with a desperate one-night stand with Embeth Davidtz (I’m told she’s an attractive woman, but who can say in all that dark lighting?).

   Those who belong to the cult of Robert Downey Jr. will relish his magnolia accent, though his hackneyed barroom scenes are the kind of thing he could toss out before morning coffee. Darryl Hannah is foxy in a red bob wig.

 

Runaway Jury (2003)

Directed by Gary Fleder

Screenplay by Brian Koppelman

Starring John Cusack, Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman and Rachel Weisz

Things are bound to get spicy when Gene Hackman comes on the scene sporting a goatee. He’s the supreme jury consultant, hired to get a firearms manufacturer off the hook in a case involving a shooting spree with one of the company’s semi-automatic weapons. He’s 100 percent sleaze in a finely tailored suit. He enjoys winning at any cost, and it’s fun to watch him rising and falling.

   On the other side of the aisle, Hackman faces Dustin Hoffman, seeming way too Zabar’s to be a bumbling Southern attorney. Hoffman’s come-and-go accent hampers things, too, although his scenes with good-guy jury consultant Jeremy Piven, now famous as “Entourage’”s Ari Gold, convey a nice spark.

   John Cusack is the heart of the movie, and smartly, we can never be sure where that heart lies until the final scenes. You know he’s lying, but you cannot be sure in precisely which direction his duplicity leads. Though he’s losing his crush-worthy puppy-dog looks, Cusack still combines charm with a hidden agenda and plenty of physical energy. He can carry the action (fires, explosions, lunch in a fancy New Orleans restaurant) as well as the morality.

   Rachel Weisz is Cusack’s sneaky collaborator, managing to come off as tougher than she seems at first. But as a female supporting character, she gets the cursory treatment typical of Grisham’s women.

 

 

Mickey (2004)

Directed by Hugh Wilson

Screenplay by John Grisham

Starring Harry Connick Jr. and Shawn Salinas

Harry Connick Jr. plays a tax evader with a heart of gold and an incurable love of Little League baseball. In a departure from his legal thrillers, Grisham wrote this screenplay as a homage to baseball, his dearly beloved pastime. Not that the legal piece is abandoned altogether, as Connick and his teenage son, played by Shawn Salinas, take off across the country with new identities to escape the I.R.S. Along the way, the son, now known as Mickey, loses a year off his birth certificate. Which means, naturally, that he can put in another year on the Little League mound.

   Quite a few locals, including Grisham himself, make cameo appearances in this easy-to-like family flick. Connick didn’t mean for everything to go so far off the charts—in a remark that summarizes the plight of so many Grisham characters, he tells his son, “I planned to cheat a little bit. I didn’t think it would end up like this.” He gets apprehended, but it doesn’t hurt that much.

   In short, the story doesn’t require much heavy lifting from the actors, but the film is warm entertainment for any family that includes little sluggers.

 

 

Christmas with the Kranks (2004)

Directed by Joe Roth

Screenplay by Chris Columbus

Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Tim Allen and Dan Aykroyd

Grisham’s novella Skipping Christmas inspired this comedy, which will not be available on DVD until later this season. Here’s the story: The Kranks, Nora and Luther (Jamie Lee Curtis and Tim Allen), decide to skip Christmas and take a beach vacation being that their daughter won’t be coming home anyway. Their neighbor, Vic, played by Dan Aykroyd, will have none of it. Much hilarity and falling from roofs ensues until the daughter changes her mind.

   Not having seen it, I offer this analysis from the Los Angeles Times: “The more Vic tries to bully the Kranks into submission, the more Nora shrieks and cowers under the bedding. It’s a bit of a shock to see the onetime slayer of Halloween’s Michael clutch the curtains in terror and demand that her husband come home at once because a small suburban mob has gathered on her lawn.

   “At least Allen gets some perverse joy in bucking the system. Newly liberated and getaway-mad, Luther ‘base tans’ himself to a crisp and paralyzes his face with Botox; Allen turns two throwaway minutes of trying to chew his lunch into the best thing in the movie by far.”

Dear Ace: I thought that Charlottesville was hungry for smooth jazz! At least that was what we were told when 107.5 switched its format 18 months ago. Now they are playing Kelly Clarkson and Rob Thomas and calling it the “Best Mix of Everything.” What happened?—Waves Goodbye

Dear Waves: Leave that dial alone, kid, because Charlottesville’s Smooth Jazz 107.5 has indeed undergone yet another format change.

   You see, Waves, it all started back in March 2004, when the owners of what was then called Mix 107.5 decided that the current programming just wasn’t cutting it in the competitive Charlottesville market. So the then-WUMX changed its call sign and programming to WCJX Smooth Jazz 107.5. The station hoped the new formula would boost the mediocre ratings (the original Mix ranked ninth out of the then 15 Charlottesville radio stations).

   But apparently, the formula gamble didn’t work out as planned. According to Abitron radio ratings, by July 2005 Smooth Jazz had dropped in the rankings down to No. 12 out of 18 (Ace found all of this and more at www.radioandrecords. com). So media überconglomerate Clear Channel Radio, which also owns seven other radio stations including WCYK-FM, WHTE-FM, WCHV-AM, WSUH-FM, WBTJ-FM, WKAV-AM and WRVA-AM, made the command decision to switch the new format back to the old format, at least in name if not practice.

   You might be wondering about the difference between the old Mix and the new Mix. Aside from the obvious deviation of the new Mix’s DJ-free broadcast, any other changes seem to be largely a matter of semantics. The old Mix was what industry types would call a “Rock AC” station, while the new Mix, at least according to the media news website Vartv.com, is “Hot AC”—AC being short for adult contemporary. Hot or rock aside, the new Mix claims to be the “Best of Everything”—with “everything” referring to anything that was popular during the ’80s, ’90s and anything that is popular today. So, if on the old Mix you might have heard more Whitesnake and less Clay Aiken, you can now expect the exact opposite to be true. We’re not sure whether that’s a win or a loss for Charlottesville radio rats.

Dear Ace: Why is it that every time I turn around in Charlottes-ville some kind of emergency vehicle is blazing by me with sirens blasting? Is Charlottesville perpetually in a state of emergency or are our civil protectors siren zealous?—Ears Ringing

Dear Ringing: First of all, does Ace know you? You seem so familiar—the colorful diction, the omnipresent emergency vehicle siren that seems to follow you around. Why, surely you and Ace must have crossed paths at some point?

   But to answer your question, Ringing, no, Charlottesville is not perpetually in a state of emergency. And no, our civil protectors are not siren zealous. The problem, Ace has concluded, lies with Char-lottesville’s citizenry, which seems to seriously suffer from what can only be described as the “Cry Wolf” syndrome.

   In 2004, the Charlottesville Albemarle Rescue Squad was named the busiest volunteer Rescue Squad in America by Firehouse magazine. Not the best, not the biggest, but the busiest! To quantify that distinction, CARS responded more than 16,000 times to nearly 12,000 separate incidents. Breaking down that statistic,
on average, someone in our area
receives immediate medical assistance from CARS every 30 minutes, every day of the year.

   The Charlottesville Fire Department, your other cacophonous source of emergency sirens, reported 5,439 situations in 2004. According to Battalion Chief Doug McGlothlin, the percentage of actual fires is relatively low compared to the total number of calls and automatic alarms received by the department. So if you hear a fire truck, Ringing, you shouldn’t automatically conclude that there’s a fire. Were that the case, the County of Albemarle, the City of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia would be nothing but ash.

   To address the high number of false alarms, the Charlottesville Fire Depart-ment has recently changed its response protocol. McGlothlin explained to Ace that if the Fire Department is notified of an emergency by an automatic alarm, fewer trucks are dispatched to investigate the situation. But if smoke or fire has been reported through 911 services, the Fire Department will send out the full fleet of trucks. Insofar as it reduces the number of sirens, Ace imagines this new policy will be music to your ears.

Aberdeen Barn

Barn Potatoes

Why is the potato the king of vegetables? Because it requires so very little to make its majesty known. Consider the truly excellent Barn Potatoes at the superior steakhouse that for lo these 40 years has been owned by the same family in the same location. On paper, these quartered spuds are nothing more than good upstanding Idahos, baked, then deep-fried and sprinkled with oregano. But try convincing your mouth of their simplicity. Crisp on the outside, flaky-soft on the inside, they give your taste buds the royal treatment.

 

Albemarle Baking Company

Granola

When I was growing up, my nemesis once called me “the Granola Bitch.” Oddly enough, I didn’t like granola at all—until I tried Albemarle Baking Company’s recipe. Flavored with honey and maple syrup, the toasted nuggets burst with earthy sweetness. They’re also healthy: Chock full of almonds and sunflower seeds, the granola has protein as well as fiber, Omega-3 fatty acids (your heart loves those) and whole grains. We granola bitches like healthy, but we also like sweet and tasty.

 

Bang!

60-Second Sirloin

A half-dozen rectangular slices of barely seared beef come dressed with black and white sesame seeds. The green sauce backing them up—cilantro and lime are in there—is as surprising as the first sweet (sweet?) bite of sirloin. The tapas-style dishes at Bang are meant to be shared, but we say blame your restrictive high-protein diet and consume this meatfest all by yourself.

 

Bashir’s Taverna

Coffee

Bashir Khelafa has long blended his own coffee, and those in the know regularly duck into his Downtown Mall restaurant hours before he officially opens for lunch to grab a morning cup. With beans roasted by Mountain View Coffee Roasters in Ruckersville, Khelafa creates a full-bodied, slightly smoky, slightly sweet joe that packs all the flavor and none of the pretension of other, perhaps trendier, cups.

 

Blue Ridge Country Store

Banana Pudding

A few thin slices of banana line the bottom of a shallow plastic container, covered by about an inch of lightly sweet banana pudding. Three or four Nilla wafers sit atop it all, soaking up the moisture, becoming soft, but not mushy—a pleasant plain oasis in a sea of nanner. The pudding itself is thick and more filling than you’d expect. At only 99 cents, it’s the perfect snack for Downtown workers.

 

Boar’s Head Inn

Breakfast Buffet

In the gluttonous world of the buffet, you often compromise quality for quantity. The exception to the all-you-can-eat rule is the Breakfast Buffet at Boar’s Head Inn. All of the nearly two-dozen dishes satisfy and rarely sit for long in their chaffing dishes. A few items stand out so much you’d consider ordering them a la carte, such as the inexplicably creamy stone ground grits, the spicy pork sausage and the made-to-order omelets.

 

Bodo’s Bagel Bakery

Egg Salad

The beauty of Bodo’s egg salad is its simplicity. There’s a minimum of mayonnaise and a dearth of extraneous gourmet ingredients: It’s just egg, fluffy and unadorned. The serving is never skimpy, either. Bite down on the crisp-then-soft bagel, and the plentiful dollop smooshes out the side (expect to get messy). Best of all, the meal doesn’t end when you finish your bagel. You still get to scoop up what’s left on your plate and lick it off your finger. Who can resist?

 

Buddhist Biker Bar & Grill

$6 Steak Special

The key to this Corner staple is getting a little bit of everything in each forkful. The combination of juicy steak, buttery mashed potatoes, sweet grilled onions and spicy barbecue sauce makes for a savory sensation. The potatoes are authentically home style, with the chunks and the skins, just like Mom’s. For only $6, this dinner leaves you satisfied, with just enough room in your stomach—and cash in your pocket—for dessert.

 

Café Cubano

Egg Biscuit with Veggie Sausage

This non-meat option can satisfy the most carnivorous of carnivores. The fat patty packs all the seasonings and flavor you’d expect to find in a traditional sausage, but none of the pork. The crispy fried egg on top and gooey melted cheese between the flaky biscuits soak up the flavor. A great way to start your day—especially at just $2.50.

 

Café Europa

Chocolate Muffin

Everyone likes an excuse to eat sweets. Since chocolate cake first thing in the morning seems a little too decadent, try the chocolate muffin from Café Europa instead. This not-so-little piece of baked heaven—it’s the size of a baseball, folks—features a sweet chocolate base sprinkled with even sweeter milk chocolate chips. The result literally melts in your mouth, especially when served right out of the oven. Dessert for breakfast, anyone?

 

Cassis

Warm Apple Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream and Caramel Sauce

Call this elegant dessert apple pie and ice cream done one better. Situated in the middle of a serious-size plate find a perfect circle of flaky-crusted tart crowning a baked half apple. The demi-globe of warm fruit is dribbled with tangy caramel, while the quiet intensity of the vanilla bean ice cream mellows out the cinnamon tones that ride underneath the whole thing.

 

Chandler’s

Grandy’s Delight

More like “Glutton”’s delight: A banana split container coated in hot fudge and melted caramel, filled with soft-serve vanilla ice cream, topped with M&Ms, Reese’s peanut butter cup chunks, whipped cream and, of course, a cherry on top. The superiorly sweet ice cream almost gets lost amid the rich sea of fudge and caramel, but its crisp saccharine taste wins out in the end. The toppings add welcome texture to an otherwise soupy concoction. Warning: One person devouring an entire Delight risks a sugar coma, so for the love of Edy’s, please share.

 

Clifton Inn

Gimlet

The world-weary Terry Lennox tells Philip Marlowe in Raymond Chandler’s novel The Long Goodbye, “A real Gimlet is half gin and half Rose’s Lime Juice and nothing else. It beats Martinis hollow.” Made according to this recipe, the gimlets at Clifton Inn beat all other gimlets, well, hollow. For the perfectly balanced cocktail, be sure to order the Tanqueray gin, which amplifies the limes’ sourness. Throw in a handful of candied walnuts and you’ve got yourself a meal.

 

Cocina del Sol

Chili-Dusted Pork Chimichanga

This Crozet hotspot knows a thing or two about presentation. Even messy dishes arrive at the table like they’re straight out of a beautifully styled cookbook photo. The chili-dusted pork chimichanga is a treat for the eyes and the stomach. Cut in half and garnished with fresh mixed greens, salsa and sour cream, the homemade fried tortilla is packed with thin slices of tender pork, sautéed onions and green peppers, rice, beans and melted pepper jack cheese. Anyone with a TexMex aversion can relax: It’s not as spicy as you think.

 

Continental Divide

Tuna Caesar Salad

Unlike other places I can name in town, the Divide never skimps on the sushi-grade tuna for its salads, and the price (roughly $10) is just right. The dressing is Caesar to perfection—salty, not too fishy—and there’s nary a limp romaine leaf in the bunch. The two large slices of tuna, lightly grilled and delicately raw on the inside, nestle on the greens. The whole thing is topped off with buttery, flaky crisps that satisfy the inevitable carb craving that comes with all salads.

 

Court Square Tavern

Franziskaner Dunkel-Weisse

Brewed in Munich, Germany, Franziskaner rarely finds its way to the States. But local brew fans can dig up this Old World treasure on Court Square. The Dunkel-Weisse is cloudy brown, quite malty and comes in a 16.9-ounce bottle. The label on this frothy brew tells you all you need to know—an aged friar tilts a hefty stein toward his face, which bears the beatific smile of a man well acquainted with the joys of both heaven and hops.

 

C’ville Coffee

Lemongrass Chicken Noodle Bowl

Having another “What’s for dinner” dilemma? Try this dish, one of Charlottesville’s best-kept secrets. A heaping portion of succulent lemongrass chicken skewers, carrots, snow peas, red peppers and sesame seeds top a mass of egg noodles cooked Vietnamese style. A creamy homemade peanut sauce finishes off the healthy medley. The end result is a blissful wedding of redolent spices and savory aftertastes.

 

Dürty Nelly’s Pub

The Lady Godiva

According to legend, Lady Godiva rode naked through the streets of Coventry to promote art and protest high taxes. The sandwich that bears her name is a lovely composition of turkey, bacon, muenster cheese, lettuce, tomato and parmesan dressing bursting out of a scandalously thin pita. It will definitely make you appreciate the art of deliciousness.

 

Feast!

Antipasto Platter

European noshing doesn’t get any better than the antipasto platter from Feast. With a rotating selection of Old World delicacies, you can sample a variety of aged, young, goat, sheep and cow cheeses. Try the mild Spanish Manchego with a sliced apple or pear to create a balanced blend of salt and sweet, so good you can skip the bread. Make sure to savor the Feast olive mix, a blend of meaty southern European olives in herbed oil brine.

 

Foods of All Nations

Puur Noir Bar

Belgium is the Pennsylvania of Europe, which would make Cote d’Or the Continent’s Hershey. Made with 63 percent dark chocolate, Cote d’Or Puur Noir bar, sold at Foods of All Nations, slowly dissolves with an even consistency of cacao, sugar and butter, layering the bitter and smoky flavors. Each of the six sections is imprinted with the silhouette of the African elephant—the mark of the colonial Belgian Congo. While it might be amazing chocolate, it’s something of a PR nightmare.

 

Harris Teeter

Sushi

Watching your weight and your wallet when you’re a working girl on the run ain’t easy. But Harris Teeter sushi offers the solution to all these problems. First, it’s light. Why else would sushi be the only food you ever read about Mary-Kate consuming? Second, it costs a mere $5 for your average selection. Third, it’s located right at the front of the store so there’s no time wasted running around looking for it. Add to all these pluses the fact that it’s tasty, and there’s nothing to argue with. So eat up!

 

Hot Cakes

Farmhouse Apple Cake

This sumptuous autumn dessert is essentially a candied apple in cake form. Equal parts sweet and tangy, the cake is moist and fluffy like Mom used to make (assuming your mom could cook). Dashes of cinnamon and nutmeg punch up the cake’s sugary base. The glaze on top holds crushed walnuts in place, so if you’re sweating the nutritional value, focus on the protein they offer, enjoy the rest and remind yourself that winter’s big sweaters are coming.

 

Littlejohn’s

Five Easy Pieces

The “5 EZ” (in Littlejohn’s parlance) takes classic New York Kosher deli ingredients—turkey, cole slaw and Russian dressing—adds muenster cheese, bacon and Littlejohn’s’ herb mayo, piles ‘em between two slices of pumpernickel, and toasts (that’s the key) to warm, crispy, melted bliss. The mix of dressings infuses each bite with subtle sweetness. The perfect choice for lunch, dinner, 2am drunken snack—any time, really; the restaurant’s open 24 hours. The choice is just too easy.

 

Mas

Bacon-Wrapped Dates

The definition of sophisticated comfort food. They’re served piping hot, and you might fear taking that first bite when they’re brought, sizzling, to your table. Trouble is, you can’t wait: The first bite is crunchy, almost tough, with a slightly charred taste on top of the traditional salty stamp of fried pork. Then comes the date, not quite soft and not quite sweet, but subtler versions of both. It coats your mouth so that the flavor lingers long after you’ve finished the dish.

 

Mel’s Café

Potato Salad

It’s a classic summer scene: Dad at the barbecue grill, burgers and dogs stacked on paper plates. But the picnic table isn’t complete without a big bowl of yellow potato salad. If you’re lazy and late for the potluck, the creamy texture of Mel’s potato salad is exactly what you need to capture that summertime vibe and turn your picnic into a freaknic. This basic version features boiled potatoes, mustard and mayo dressing, and red and green peppers to spice it up a bit.

 

Mellow Mushroom

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pizza

Instead of marinara sauce, this pizza boasts a hearty olive oil and garlic base covered by a generous layer of mozzarella cheese. The pie is then topped with strips of grilled chicken, slivers of roasted red peppers and thin slices of salty ham. The best part of this pie, however, is the signature spring water crust, which is dusted with a thick coating of grated Parmesan cheese.

 

Mesob Ethiopian Cuisine

Sorba and Lentil Wrap

With autumn’s chill setting in, a piping hot cup of sorba is a great way to spice up the afternoon. Mesob serves this onion and lentil soup as a lunch special, with more lentils wrapped in injera, a spongy Ethiopian bread. The wrap is flavored with olive oil, ginger, garlic and ground pepper. The defining flavor is tumeric, which gives both dishes a slightly bitter flavor and an earthy aroma to fortify one’s spirits against the cold.

 

Milan Indian Cuisine

Baigan Ka Bharta

Traces of Punjab and Rajasthani are hard to come by in this town, but you’ll find them and more in Milan’s Indian specialty Baigan Ka Bharta. The name translates into “mashed and sautéed eggplant,” and the richness of its fried spices, onions, tomatoes, green chilies and garlic are unmistakably aromatic, appetizing and un-American. Served as a chunky and grainy paste, it pairs well with its complementary basmati rice, or with a side of traditional naan bread.

 

Mission Home Bakery

Cookies

Each time you have one of these “can’t eat just one” treats—be it the M&M-laden Monster cookie, the gingery sweet molasses, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter or plain chocolate chip—your gorging is for a great cause. Each sweet is made by functionally impaired children and adults who engage your snacking habit in exchange for food and shelter at the Mennonite Home in Free Union. Pick them up locally at Blue Ridge Country Store, Giant and C’ville Market.

 

Miyako

Spicy Tuna Hand Roll

A spicy tuna hand roll is the Japanese equivalent of a soft taco. Only instead of ground beef or grilled chicken, you get raw tuna; instead of shredded lettuce, you get narrow strips of cucumber; instead of beans, you get lots of sticky white rice; and instead of being wrapped up in a soft tortilla, it’s all ensconced in a sheet of nori seaweed. It takes a bit of work to get through the chewy nori, but once you do you’ll find a core of energizing cayenne-infused fish with a playful spiciness that lingers on your tongue.

 

Mona Lisa Pasta

Pizza di Parma

Topped with Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, the Pizza di Parma from Mona Lisa Pasta is as close to an authentic Italian slice as you’ll get in this time zone. Blending mozzarella and provolone, the thin-crust pizza features a simple sauce of crushed tomatoes. The prosciutto topping crisps along the edges to make a slightly crunchy, salty topping. Not too thin, not too thick and not at all chewy, the light bite of the hand-tossed pizza crust is the real deal.

 

Mono Loco

Chips and Salsa

Mixed among the batch of standard tortilla chips are homemade crunchers that pack some serious flavor. They’re big, they’re flaky, they’re oily, they’re hand-fried and they’re perfect for dipping in either the restaurant’s standard salsa fresca or the spicier green salsa. Either way you can’t go wrong—both options are thick enough not to run off the chip and juicy enough to taste like more than a medley of diced tomatoes.

 

Monsoon

Beef Satay

Six thin slices of beef come grilled on wood skewers. Lean enough to offer a satisfying gamey taste, the meat still holds enough fat to bring the full lip-smacking flavor. A generous (very generous) slathering of peanut sauce threatens to overtake the entire dish, but hints of the spicy marinade (are those chilies?) and a zippy fruit aftertaste make this an appetizer worth skipping dinner for.

 

Moore’s Creek Family Restaurant

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

On Saturdays, Moore’s Creek restaurant opens at 5am so hunters can grab a hearty breakfast before venturing into the woods. Fortunately, for the rest of us, the down-home diner tucked in the southwest corner of Belmont serves breakfast all day—just don’t let the guy in the camouflage overalls hear you order an omelet with prosciutto and goat cheese. Instead, try a pair of biscuits smothered in stick-to-your ribs white gravy with chunks of sausage that will stay with you all day, whether you’re keeping vigil in a duck blind or just hunkered down behind your desk.

 

Mudhouse

Goo

Ever want to drink a Hershey’s chocolate bar? Try Goo. The thick, rich liquid only comes in shots—a good idea, since drinking more than a hit at a time would send your pleasure sensors into space. Goo is less sweet than its immediate antecedent, European hot chocolate. Since the process for producing it is practically Frankensteinian (the poor barista hits all kinds of levers and switches), take a moment and breathe in the invigorating aroma and remember: The existence of chocolate proves that life can’t possibly be all that bad.

 

Petit Pois

Escargot

Can’t get to France anytime this decade? Let the Gauls come to you with this traditional dish, served with a meaningful difference: no shells! Clean, satisfyingly al dente and ready to soak up plenty of flavor, six snails come dressed on a silver platter that is trés chic. Standing up to a puddle of thick, warm, parsley-speckled butter-garlic sauce that’s made special with a slight zip of citrus, the escargot are backed up by grilled baguette toast that provides a refined way to sop up all the extra sauce. Ooo la la!

Pomme

Crème Brulée

Crème brulée isn’t all that difficult to make—mix a few egg yolks with some sugar, vanilla and cream and throw it in the oven. Sounds simple, right? But as any dessert lover knows, there’s crème brulée and then there’s crème brulée. For the latter, head to Pomme in Gordonsville. Topped with a raspberry and a mint leaf, this light and airy treat is creamy and smooth (no grit here!) and encrusted in a crispy shell of caramelized sugar. Definitely worth the drive—even if you live in Richmond.

 

Route 11

Potato Chips

These tater crisps made in Middleton put Lay’s to shame. They come in eight regular flavors: Lightly salted, barbecue, dill pickle, sour cream-n-chive, Chesapeake crab, salt & vinegar, garlic & herb and sweet potato. For our money the original lightly salted variety is the way to go. The hand-cooked chips boast an impressively sturdy body not found in most fried foods. The infused oil tastes faintly of peanuts while the measured coating of salt is just enough to get your taste buds working—but not overworking.

The Shebeen

Fish and Chips

The Shebeen’s fish and chips are so authentic that if you close your eyes you can imagine dining at a wind-whipped Glaswegian shipyard. Unwrap the layers of newspaper (C-VILLEs, naturally) and behold three pieces of deep-fried, golden cod. Take a bite and the buttery crispiness of the outside gives way to the melt-in-your-mouth cod on the inside. A pile of seasoned dirty (read: skins still on) fries on the side makes for a perfect, artery-clogging meal with not a green in sight.

 

Splendora’s

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Best known for its gelato, Splendora’s has an underappreciated sweet we’re wild about. The café’s homemade chocolate chip cookies favor the chunk rather than the chip, resulting in a milk chocolate truffle center. The unusual high-butter, low-flour recipe creates a chewy dough, which is cooked to a crisp golden brown along the edges. That means that the otherwise sophisticated treat still deposits the oh-so-important corner-of-your-mouth crumbles to remind you of your life-long affair with cookies in general.

 

St. Maarten’s Café

Cajun Cheese Fries

First off, hooray for the waffle fry. The choice to go with the more structurally substantial potato option was wise—necessary, even, to make this excellent bar dish work. A massive bowl of the aforementioned cross-cut taters is covered in clumps of gooey melted cheese and sprinkled with a mix of Cajun-ish spices (don’t worry; it’s not too hot). Ignore the Ranch dipping sauce and go straight for the smoky BBQ, which nicely complements the mouth-watering spices and chewy cheese.

 

Starr Hill Restaurant & Brewery

House Smoked Twin Oaks Tofu Sandwich

So many reasons to love this vegetarian sandwich: Locally produced, firm tofu served fresh and grilled to a satisfying outer crispiness; the contrasting coolness of tomato, lettuce and slightly sweet aioli; the crusty baguette that holds the whole thing together. Back it up with sweet potato fries (double-plus yummy) and what’s it all add up to? A good reason to forego meat for an evening’s meal.

 

Sticks

Kibbeh

“Kibbeh” are Middle Eastern sausages. At Sticks, each order comes with four very lightly fried patties. Inside you’ll find a pleasant, delicate blend of spices so subtle and mild you’ll almost wonder if you’re eating sausage at all—and that’s before you encounter the occasional pine nut to break up the mix (this is Charlottesville, after all…). But first tastes can be deceiving. Pair the kibbeh with the fiery roasted red pepper dipping sauce and contemplate the contrast—what once seemed mild is in fact quite wild.

 

Tea Time Desires

Dumplings

These little bundles of yum come in pork, beef or vegetable varieties, first steamed, then fried. A portion of eight may not seem that mighty, but after sinking each one in the sweet and tangy sesame dipping sauce we guarantee you won’t go home hungry. Plus the price is nice: just $2.50.

 

El Tepeyac

Spicy Shrimp Fajita

The thoroughly authentic El Tepeyac doesn’t skimp on the goods, offering a piping hot plate of a dozen carefully seasoned jumbo shrimp resting on a bed of Mexican rice. Onions, lettuce and a bit of tomato come carefully cooked on the side. Fill up the five flour tortillas to create a fajita that suits your liking while checking out the boss Latin music videos playing on the TV. Just be warned: Es muy caliente.

 

Tiffany’s Seafood

Steamed Shrimp

Seafood just tastes better when eaten beneath the gaze of the taxidermied fish and relics from the briny deep hanging on the wall at Tiffany’s. The same ol’ bar scene just can’t compare to a cold beer and a pound of steamed shrimp seasoned with Old Bay. Spend a night pulling the legs of scrumptious crustaceans with someone you love.

 

Timberlake’s

Mr. Tilman

The day after Thanksgiving is the best day of the year for sandwiches. Timberlake’s Mr. Tilman sandwich, however, can substitute for the remaining 364. Lightly toasted on multigrain bread with lettuce, mayonnaise, cranberry sauce, pickles and the imperative meat-off-the-bird, it’s a satisfying blend of sweet and savory tastes. Bite in and the potent rush of cranberry greets you, followed closely by the protein-packed mayo and turkey. Then, the somewhat curious addition of pickles finishes it off with the best of both bite-worthy worlds.

 

Tip Top

Eggplant Parmigiana

Talk about comfort food. The eggplant—breaded, fried and smothered in tomato sauce and mozzarella—comes in one dish, with spaghetti and tomato sauce as a side. The pasta adds substance, but the eggplant is the star of the show. See, eggplant is hard to perfect. Overcook it and it’s bitter, undercook it and it’s bitter. Cook it right (as Tip Top always does) and find sweet slices of goodness. Add the words “breaded” and “fried,” and life doesn’t get much better.

 

Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar

Chai

Cardamom. That’s the secret to the best cup of chai in town. Eighty percent of the masala that spices up this black tea-and-milk brew comes from the aromatic plant known as Elettaria Cardamomum. Your tea missionaries brew black tea with a spice mix that also includes nutmeg and anise seed. After it steeps, they add milk and let the whole mixture heat through. Spicy, pungent and delish, every cup has a prize at the bottom: ground-up spice crumbs. Trust us, they taste better than they sound.

 

Zazus Fresh Grille

Mediterranean Bowl

Known primarily for wraps, Zazus’ ingredients work just great “naked.” This dish features tender grilled chicken, juicy diced tomatoes, earthy black olives, fresh mint leaves and creamy yogurt on top of a generous helping of steamed white rice. As you work your way through, take time to notice the subtle shifts in flavors from tangy to sweet to spicy to salty to zesty, all tied together by the neutralizing yogurt.

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Great Tastes Directory

Aberdeen Barn 2018 Holiday Dr. 296-4630

Albemarle Baking Company 418 W. Main St. (in the Main Street Market) 293-6456

Bang! 213 Second St. SW 984-2264

Bashir’s Taverna 507 E. Main St., Downtown Mall 923-0927

Blue Ridge Country Store 518 E. Main St., Downtown Mall 295-1573

Boar’s Head Inn 200 Ednam Rd. 972-2230

Bodo’s Bagel Bakery 1609 University Ave., and two other locations 977-9598

Buddhist Biker Bar & Grill 20 Elliewood Ave. 971-9181

Café Cubano 112 W. Main St., Downtown Mall 971-8743

Café Europa 1331 W. Main St. 295-4040

Cassis 214 W. Water St., 979-0188

Chandler’s 921 River Rd. 882-6116

Clifton Inn 1206 Clifton Inn Dr. 971-1800

Cocina del Sol 1200 Crozet Ave. Crozet, 823-5469

Continental Divide 811 W. Main St. 984-0143

Court Square Tavern 410 E. Jefferson St. 295-2800

C’Ville Coffee 1301 Harris St. 817-2633

Dürty Nelly’s Pub 220 Jefferson Park Ave. 295-1278

Feast! 416 W. Main St. (in the Main Street Market) 244-7800

Foods of All Nations 2121 Ivy Rd. 296-6131

Harris Teeter Barracks Road Shopping Center, also in Hollymead Town Center 984-2900

Hot Cakes Barracks Road Shopping Center, 295-6037

Littlejohn’s 1427 University Ave. 977-0588

Mas 501 Monticello Rd. 979-0990

Mel’s Café 719 W. Main St. 971-8819

Mellow Mushroom 1309 W. Main St. 972-9366

Mesob Ethiopian Cuisine 104 14th St. 963-9700

Milan Indian Cuisine 1817 Emmet St. 984-2828

Miyako 112 W. Main St. 984-3000

Mona Lisa Pasta 921 Preston Ave. 295-2494

Mono Loco 200 W. Water St. 979-0688

Monsoon 113 W. Market St. 971-1515

Moore’s Creek Family Restaurant 1710 Monticello Rd. 296-4150

Mudhouse 213 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, and four other locations 984-6833

Petit Pois 201 E. Main St., Downtown Mall 979-7647

Pomme 115 S. Main St., Gordonsville 540-832-0130

The Shebeen Vinegar Hill Shopping Center 296-3185

Splendora’s 317 E. Main St., Downtown Mall 296-8555

St. Maarten’s Café 1400 Wertland St. 293-2233

Starr Hill Restaurant and Brewery 709 W. Main St. 977-0017

Sticks 917 Preston Ave., also at Rivanna Ridge Shopping Center in Pantops 295-5262

Tea Time Desires Inside York Place, Downtown Mall 293-8768

El Tepeyac 221 Carlton Rd., Suite 12 295-4748

Tiffany’s Seafood 2171 Ivy Rd. 293-5000

Timberlake’s 322 E. Main St., Downtown Mall 296-1191

Tip Top 1420 Richmond Rd. (Route 250E) 244-3424

Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar 414 E. Main St., Downtown Mall, 293-9947

Zazus Fresh Grille 2213 Old Ivy Rd. 293-3454

Foods we’ve loved before…
124 dishes that made past lists

Aberdeen Barn Prime rib

Aficionado’s Smoke Shop Macanudo Café cigar

Albemarle Baking Company Pear tart

Arch’ s Frozen Yogurt Black Caesar

Atomic Burrito Grilled chicken burrito

Baggby’s Gourmet Sandwiches Sundown sandwich

Baja Bean Kahlua milkshake; Black ‘n’ white quesadilla

Bake Mmm Bagels Bagel

Baker’s Palette Cinnamon bun

Bang! Joe martini

Bashir’s Taverna Ham sandwich

Bellair Market Farmington sandwich

Best of What’s Around Eggs

*Big Mouth Pizza Blue Print pizza

Bizou Meatloaf

Blue Light Grill Oysters on the half-shell

Blue Ridge Country Store Salad bar

Bluegrass Grill & Bakery Chorizo potato dish

Boar’s Head Inn Braised breast of Guinea hen

Bodo’s Bagel Bakery Caesar salad

Breadworks Bran muffin

Brix Marketplace Oatmeal chocolate chip cookie

C’ville Coffee Co. Vietnamese grilled chicken pho

Café Europa Venetian sandwich

Carmello Manicotti

Casella’s Meatball sub

Chandler’s Bakery Rye bread

Chap’s Chocolate egg cream; Chocolate fudge walnut ice cream

Christian’s Pizzeria Spinach stuffed pizza

Ciboulette Langre cheese

C&O Vegetable soup

Continental Divide Tuna tostado

Copacabana Paella

Court Square Tavern Shepherd’s pie

Dippin’ Dots Mint chocolate ice cream

Downtown Grille Brandy

Downtown Thai Thai iced tea

Dr. Ho’ s Humble Pie Ragin’ Cajun pizza

Duner’s Crab cakes

Dürty Nelly’s Pub Barrister sandwich

El Puerto Chicken soup

El Rey del Taco Enchiladas poblanas

Escafé Horseradish crusted salmon sandwich

Feast! Grilled 9-Cheese sandwich

*Firehouse Bar & Grill Frosty PBR

Fleurie Foie Gras Cuit au Torchon

Foods of All Nations European candy

Fossett’s Study in Pear

Fox’s Café Coconut cream pie

Fuel Egg Florentine

Garden of Sheba Tostones

Gearharts Fine Chocolates Maya

Gravity Lounge Cucumber sandwich

Greenberry’s Palmier

Guadalajara $3.50 Lunch Special

Hamiltons’ at First & Main Vegetarian Blue Plate Special

*Higher Grounds Breakfast burrito

Hot Cakes Sesame noodles

Italian Villa Cavalier Country Breakfast

*Jarman’s Gap Baby back ribs

Jak ‘n Jil Footlong hot dog

Java Java Hot chocolate

Jinx’s Pit’s Top Barbeque sandwich

Kokopelli’s Café Yo Yo Ma’s Oriental Wrap

Korner Restaurant One-Eye Bacon Cheeseburger

La Cucina Linguini with classic tomato sauce and homemade sausage

L’ Etoile Chicken tarragon and walnut salad

*Liquid Fusion shake

Littlejohn’s Nuclear Sub

Ludwig’s Schnitzelhouse $2 Beer and Brat Special

Maharaja Samosas

Marco and Luca Dumplings

Mas Sangria

Mel’s Café Mel Burger

Michael’s Bistro and Taphouse Iron City Beer

Milan Cucumber salad

Milano Spumoni gelato

Ming Dynasty Sweet and sour vegetarian meatballs

Miyako Sake

Mona Lisa Pasta Chunky marinara sauce

Mono Loco Hibiscus tea

Mudhouse Carrot and orange juice; Café Breve

New Deli Lemon squares

The Nook Special Nook tea

Northern Exposure Grandma Sylvia’s Classic Beef Lasagna

*Our Daily Bread Challah

Oxo Seared scallops appetizer

Padow’s Deli Italian sandwich

Pizza Bella Mushroom, onion and green pepper pizza

*Pupusa Crazy Pupusa platter

Revolutionary Soup French Onion Soup

Rivanna Grill Coconut shrimp

Riverside Lunch Double cheeseburger

Root 66 Root beer

Saigon Café Bun Thit Nuong

Sakura Bento Box

The Shebeen Sadza cakes and mash

South Street Brewery Nachos

Southern Culture Grits

Splendora’s Affogato

The Spudnut Shop Spudnut

Starr Hill Restaurant and Brewery Amber Ale

Sticks Falafel

Take It Away Sandwich Shop Blondie Bar

Tastings Kir apertif

The Tavern Chocolate chip pancakes

Thai ’99 II Pad king

Timberlakes Macaroni salad

Tip Top Gyro

*Tokyo Rose Cajun soft-shell crab roll

Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar Goat Herder’s Platter; Royal Phoenix Tea

Vinegar Hill Theatre Buttered popcorn

Vivace Bruschetta al Vivace

Wayside Takeout Old Virginia Fried Chicken

The White Spot Gus Burger

Whole Foods California shrimp and crab sushi

Wild Wing Café Boss Wings

Wolfie’s Smokehouse North Carolina pulled pork

Zazus Fresh Grille Teriyaki chicken wrap

Zocalo Drunken New York strip steak

*R.I.P.

Al Weed has been doing a lot of thinking.

   Since November 2004, when he lost his U.S. Con-gressional bid to Fifth Dis-trict incumbent Virgil Goode, Jr., Weed has been pondering the big question: What’s wrong with the Democrats?

   “Politics are not like I thought they were,” says Weed. “Demo-crats think if they just tell people the truth, we’ll win. That’s not true.”

   This week, Weed—a Vietnam veteran, Yale graduate and Nelson County winemaker—announced that he will take another shot at Goode’s Congres-sional seat in 2006. While Tim Kaine’s gubernatorial victory over Jerry Kilgore last week has bolstered Dem hopes for a resurgence [see story, page 9], no one thinks it will be easy to unseat Goode, the epitome of political entrenchment.

   Weed, however, has ideas. “It’s never too early to get out there when you’re running against an incumbent,” he says. “A year will go by very fast.”

 

Back on the Virgil Goode Highway

Last year, during Weed’s first campaign for Con-gress, C-VILLE traversed Virginia’s Fifth Con-gressional District to see for ourselves what he was up against.

   His first obstacle is geography. The Fifth District is the size of New Jersey, stretching 140 miles from the northern tip of Greene County all the way down to the North Carolina border, where the district is about 150 miles wide. The district includes Char-lottesville—one of the most liberal, affluent pockets of the Commonwealth. Most of the district, however, is rural, conservative, wracked by tough economic times and likely to view Charlottesville as “effete intellectual snobs who won’t build a bypass,” according to John Fisher, a columnist for the Danville Register Bee.

   The Fifth District is “an example of the problems of
partisan redistricting,” says Connie Jorgensen, legisla-tive aide to retiring Dem Delegate Mitch Van Yahres,
and who sits on the Fifth District Democratic Committee and teaches political science at Piedmont Virginia Community College. “It was definitely incumbent protection. They were able to negate the Democratic influence of Charlottesville.”

   Not only is the Fifth District friendly to conservatives, but Goode has carefully crafted a good ol’ boy image that builds on the district’s reverence for his father, the late Virgil Goode, Sr. Highway 220 (which Weed must drive when he campaigns in the Fifth) is named the “Virgil Goode High-way,” after the Congressman’s father.

   Goode, Sr. was a Commonwealth’s Attorney in Franklin County and a legend in southern Virginia politics. Groomed by his daddy, the junior Goode won a seat in the Virginia Senate in 1973 as a Democrat. After go-ing to Congress in 1996, Goode became a Republican in 2002 and cast his lot with the ascendant right-wing. Meanwhile, he’s mastered the art of down-home politics.

   “Everywhere you go, people talk about Virgil like he’s their best friend. It’s hard to oust your best friend,” says Shelia Baynes, who sits on the Fifth District Democratic Committee in Danville. “If you ask people what he’s doing, they can’t tell you, but they like him.”

   Facetime is the key to politics in southern Virginia, says Baynes, “and Virgil has already beaten Al to it. People here have met Virgil, talked to him. He hands out pencils at the country store. That’s tough to tackle.”

   In a culture where most people don’t know the names of any elected official besides the president, Goode’s popularity is considerable. During C-VILLE’s excursion into the Fifth District, we found that everyone from bartenders to tobacco farmers to hotel clerks know “Virgil.” Frustrated Democrats even have a name for his almost mythic popularity—“the Goode mystique.”

 

Reframing the Goode mystique 

In November 2004, Goode smoked Weed by a huge margin—64 percent to 36 percent. Goode even beat Weed on his home turf, winning Nelson County by 458 votes. In fact, the only Weed stronghold in the entire district was our own hippie haven, Charlottesville, where Weed took 71 percent of
the votes.

   In the same election, George W. Bush won by a narrow margin over John Kerry, despite the fact that Bush had spent the previous four years giving tax breaks to the rich, ballooning the deficit and taking the country to war on false pretenses. Republicans also added to their majorities in the House and Senate, and easily passed 11 State ballot initiatives to ban same-sex marriage.

   For Weed, 2004 was a wake-up call.

   He believes that the problem for Kerry, and many other Democrats, is that they have approached politics too much like marketing—picking issues like Social Security or prescription drugs, studying which ones sell best across the political spectrum, then running on those issues. The result is that Democrats end up sounding as if they have no moral foundation or overarching beliefs.

   “You don’t energize the Democratic base like that, and you don’t convert Republicans,” says Weed.

   Democrats across the country have been wringing their hands over Bush’s re-election. Weed, like many others, found refuge in George Lakoff’s recent book, Don’t Think of an Elephant. Lakoff, a professor of linguistics at Berkeley and progressive political activist, argues that Republicans have dominated recent elections because they understand better than Democrats how language influences politics.

   For example, immediately after the Bush inauguration, Republicans started advocating for “tax relief.” Newspaper reporters and even Democrats began repeating the phrase, oblivious to its metaphoric resonance. “Relief,” says Lakoff, implies that taxes are an affliction and the reliever is the hero, while anybody who opposes relief must be a villain.

   Lakoff suggests Democrats could reframe the issue by talking about taxes as “paying dues.” When viewed through this frame, taxes are the dues that Americans pay to live in a civilized society with a stable infrastructure. Rabid anti-taxers would appear not as heroes but as cheapskates trying to get something for free at the expense of the country. Lakoff points out that Republicans have been crafting and articulating their frames since the early 1970s, and Democrats must take the same long view if they hope to regain control.

   Weed took this to heart when he founded the nonprofit Public Policy Virginia last year. The mission, according to PPV’s website (www.ppvir.org), is to “show the contradictions between the conservative moral structure and Republican governance; to construct and articulate a compelling moral structure, buttressed by both secular and religious philosophy; and to provide focused information on selected issues important to Democrats.”

   To compete with Goode’s pencil distribution, Weed plans to rent an apartment in Danville this winter, which he hopes will give him more time to talk with people one-on-one. When he does, Weed says he’s going to talk about “building a strong foundation” in the community.

   “Most folks have just been left behind [by conservative policies],” says Weed. Instead of acting like watered-down Republicans, he says, “Democrats need to show strong support for a decent living wage. We need to support unions.”

   One of Goode’s favorite tactics is exploiting the Southside’s resentment against illegal Hispanic immigrants. Globalization is an important issue in the Fifth District, where the economy has never recovered from the collapse of the tobacco industry and the relocation of factories to Mexico in the wake of 1994’s North American Free Trade Agreement, a Republican initiative. Weed argues that Goode stokes animosity against immigrants without trying to help southern Virginia relieve double-digit unemployment.

   On economic issues, Weed says he’s ready to play offense. He will continue pushing the Commonwealth to create a major new research university in Danville that will revitalize that city the way UVA and Virginia Tech invigorate Char-lottesville and Blacksburg. “Globalization and free trade are here to stay,” says Weed. “These are jobs that won’t get exported.”

   Weed also wants the Fifth District to cultivate switchgrass, a perennial plant that can be either burned with coal or processed into ethanol to produce cleaner energy. It may sound like a far-out idea now, but if Democrats frame alternative fuels as “energy independence” and stay on message with the same discipline as the GOP, progressive ideas could gain traction even in conservative areas.

   “The most important thing is to identify yourself before your opponents do,” says Weed. “There’s opportunity right now, because Republicans are on the defensive.”

 

Uncertainty in the Fifth 

Even as Weed arms himself with frames and talking points for another contest with Goode, he must first win a fight within his own party. Not all Fifth District Democrats want to see Al run.

   Danville’s Baynes, for example, believes Goode is “pretty much unbeatable,” and suggests it would be a better for Democrats to wait until Goode retires or seeks another office (Virginia Senator John Warner is soon to retire, and rumor has it Goode wants his seat). In the meantime, money could be better spent on more competitive races.

   “I’m not sure if going after [Goode] every year is the best strategy,” says Baynes.

   “I know Al is sincere in wanting to help the Southside, and that will make an impression on people,” she says. “But I’m not sure if it’s going to be enough to oust the thinking that Virgil is the good ol’ boy and that they have to vote for him. People in Charlottesville don’t realize that’s how people in my area feel.”

   In May, the Fifth District Democratic Committee elected Fred Hudson as their chair. Hudson, who leads the Albemarle County Dems, reportedly sought the position because he wanted Democrats to run a more aggressive campaign against Goode.

   “It does not help anything for Mr. Goode to be given a bye when the status of this government is in such question,” says Hudson. Noting that Kaine carried the Fifth District last week, Hudson says that “we have every reason to believe that with the proper message and the proper candidate, we can replace him.”

   Weed will have some competition for the candidacy. Bern Ewert, a former city manager in Roanoke and deputy city manager in Charlottesville, also wants to challenge Goode. In May, a convention of about 200 Fifth District Dems will choose their candidate. Hudson says that Southside Dems have a strong volunteer organization in place in the wake of Kaine’s victory, and that bodes well for whoever runs against Goode.

   With Democrats smelling blood, Weed says now is no time to play conservative. “I’m not waiting around,” he says. “[Goode] has this idea that he’s a statewide candidate, but I think there’s a lot stronger Republican candidates out there. I’d rather drive on.”

 

Who is Al Weed? 

This week Al Weed announced he would make another bid to oust Republican Virgil Goode, Jr. from his Fifth District seat in the U.S. Congress. Here at C-VILLE, we’re psyched because it means another batch of “Weed for Congress” yard signs. Some Democrats, meanwhile, think Weed has the resumé to win in rural Virginia.—J.B.

 

Albert C. Weed II

Age: 63

Military Service: 1962-1966, with service in Vietnam. In 2002, Weed retired from the Army Reserve as a Command Sergeant Major, Special Forces. Decorations include Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star.

Education: Yale University, graduated 1968; Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, graduated 1970. 

Work: Worked for two years at the World Bank, then worked for a year as a private investment banker before founding Mountain Cove Vineyards in Nelson County in 1973. 

Family: Wife Sui Ling is a retired UVA nurse. Son Albert III is a general surgeon on active duty in the U.S. Army. Daughter Julie teaches middle school science in Albemarle County. 

Religion: Member and Senior Warden, Trinity Episcopal Church, Oak Ridge.