It’s no secret that Northern Exposure went south this year. The 13-year old W. Main Street establishment stopped serving regular meals in January, less than a year after rolling out a new menu under the new ownership of dining darling Coran Capshaw. Back then, longtime Northern manager Jeff Hale told us that going forward the space would be used as an event location for Applause Catering, but all year the place seemed spookily quiet and deserted. And then a ray of Carolina sunshine!
Spry’s BBQ, billing itself Carolina’s Finest BBQ & Fish, opened September 19. Restaurantarama checked out the scene and found Northern’s Yankee-leaning interior hasn’t yet changed much, but with blues music blaring and the aroma of smoked meat and beer wafting, the vibe certainly has. Within a week of opening, owner George Spry told us he had to invest in a $4,000 buffet station to accommodate the massive lunch crowds. The UVA hospital employees who flooded the establishment told Spry they loved the food—the vinegar-based Carolina barbeque, the hickory-smoked pork ribs—but that it took too long. “That kind of hurt my feelings,” says Spry. “We’re not McDonald’s.” But then Spry discovered that many customers only had 30 minutes for lunch. “I’ve always worked for the state and had hour, hour-and-a-half lunch hours,” Spry says with surprise. So feeling for the time-challenged folks, he splurged on the service-expediting buffet.
George Spry, owner of Spry’s BBQ, cures the hunger of many UVA Hospital employees with 30-minute lunch breaks, now that he’s put in a buffet station.
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It’s no surprise that Spry could make that quick adjustment. He’s an experienced pit master—he grew up smoking pork butts on a farm in South Carolina, and he’s been catering events around the state for about nine years. He has a mobile pit operation as well as a base out of the Hickory Hill Service Station on Route 29 south of Charlottesville. He’d been looking for a Charlottesville location for about a year when the Northern Exposure space became available for sublease from Capshaw’s restaurant group.
And all of this is in between Spry’s day job whipping real butts into shape. Spry was a probation officer for 15 years (the last 10 in Charlottesville) and now works with at-risk youth as a special counselor at Charlottesville Schools Alternative Program (Spry plans to get some of those kids involved in the barbeque shop through a mentorship program). And when he’s not doing that, he’s raising two kids with his wife, a teacher at Walker Upper Elementary.
Sheesh, all that sounds busy enough to us. Why add a third career to the mix? “There was no Carolina-style barbeque here,” Spry says bluntly. Oh, well, there you have it—George Spry is doing his civic duty in more ways than one. So do yours, and get yourself some of his grub—before we kick your butt.
Double trouble
We at Restaurantarama have been talking about The Law so much these days, it’s easy to forget that we’re dealing with food here—and not even, like, crack-burgers or crystal meth-meatballs or anything. Although, apparently, if the meat was sent to a certified slaughterhouse then those dishes would be the right side of legality—from the perspective of the Virginia Department of Agriculture, at least. However, the fresh pork from Nelson County-based local farm Double H—a favorite supplier of many local dining establishments from Hamiltons’ to Revolutionary Soup—has not been so sanctioned. Richard Bean, who runs Double H farm with his partner Jean Rinaldi recently was arrested by Virginia State Police on one felony count and 11 misdemeanors, including illegally slaughtering his own pigs and mislabeling his produce “certified organic.” (Check out Government News on page 19 for the full story). Among other things, Bean is forced to henceforth drive his pigs to a certified slaughterhouse in Fauquier County. Restaurantarama checked in with some of Bean’s loyal customers for their reaction. Michael McCarthy of Dr. Ho’s Humble Pie had this to say: “To have to take that pig to a slaughtering house will really break his [Bean’s] heart and his pocketbook…but, he’ll survive.” And Will Richey, who buys Double H’s chicken and produce for Revolutionary Soup, added: “I guess you’ve got to follow the rules, but we need to look more closely at these rules. Richard’s a great guy—he’s proud of what he does.”
For more on the Double H story, read "Double H farmers busted for selling pork" in this week’s Goverment section.
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