Then here are the two places I bartend at. Come hang and we'll talk about e-packs.
CLIFFS : I work at two bars.
ARTICLE: Cutting-edge craftsmanship coming to Beach bar (The Virginian-Pilot - HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com)
Cutting-edge craftsmanship coming to Beach bar
VIRGINIA BEACH
Caked in dust and still half-built, the bars inside Guadalajara at Town Center weren't much to look at last week.
The tabletops had a faded, bluish hue, speckled with white. A veneer of soot coated the beveled edges of checkerboard tile. And the stick-frame underbellies were naked, interior wires and piping exposed.
Give it time.
In a few weeks, the bars will be a Hampton Roads first - fiber-optic counters more Vegas than Pembroke.
Crafted by a Canadian firm, they were hand-built in Toronto, snapped into pieces, trucked to Virginia Beach and reassembled by some of the same hands. The two bars house 24,000 optical fibers and 11 metal halide bulbs that light the surface from below like a disco ball at the infamous Studio 54 - not to be confused with Studio 56, new Town Center lofts under construction down the street from Guadalajara.
The technology stretches over 109 feet and is covered by a protective layer of 145 gallons of resin. The edges are finished with imported Italian tile.
The bars - one observer called them pieces of art - cost $180,000.
"This is not Virginia Beach," said Antony Facciponte, a founder of Weezer Industries, the company that built the bars. "This is like bigger city, more cosmopolitan."
The bars - the largest Facciponte has ever built - are the slow-simmering brainchild of Jerry Rodriguez, a successful restaurateur who owns a chain of five Guadalajara eateries in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. The Town Center location is on Columbus Street, across from the Westin Hotel & Residences.
"A lot of people have this concept of a Mexican restaurant being cheap," Rodriguez said. "We want to make it different."
The bars are certainly that.
One snakes 76 feet, with a series of turns and seating for nearly 40 people. A smaller counter is 33 feet long and bent like a horseshoe.
Antony Facciponte of Weezer Industries puts finishing touches on one of the bars at Guadalajara. The bars house 24,000 optical fibers and 11 metal halide bulbs that light the surface from below.
Both are equipped with hidden light boxes where 14-inch color wheels rotate at one revolution per minute. The effect is a slow-motion version of a kaleidoscope as the bar seems to undulate in waves.
The view differs depending on where patrons are sitting. At one end, the bar may appear as a cascade of water. At the other, it may look like rolling clouds. "It's up to you," Facciponte said.
Fiber-optic bar tops are nothing new - at least to Las Vegas casinos, New York City hot spots and Washington, D.C. nightclubs. In Hampton Roads, though, not so much.
"There might be a lighted bar top somewhere," Rodriguez said. "Nothing fiber-optic."
Rodriguez, who travels frequently, said he first got the idea from a Rainforest Cafe he visited three years ago. He saw the technology and found out it was installed by Facciponte's company.
Rodriguez did little with the information because he didn't have any place to put the fancy lighting at the time. Then Armada Hoffler, the developer behind Town Center, lobbied him to open one of his Guadalajara restaurants in the center.
He resisted. The company pushed harder. He relented earlier this year. By May, he decided his new franchise needed just a little something extra.
"Something different," he said. "Something Town Center doesn't have."
He remembered the Rainforest Cafe and called Facciponte. The craftsman was reluctant. He normally worked with casinos and chain eateries that can afford his expertise.
"When we first got the inquiry, I didn't take it serious," Facciponte said. "As an independent operator, it's a lot of money."
But Rodriguez believed the investment was worth it.
The restaurant - at 9,000 square feet - is the largest of the Guadalajara chain. It needed to be upscale enough to work in Town Center, Rodriguez said, but familiar enough to appeal to the local community.
When it opens later this month, Rodriguez thinks it will do just that. And the handiwork of Facciponte and his two-man crew will be a main reason why.
"They're artists," said Stan Belson, who handles public relations for Rodriguez. "I can't call them anything else."
- - - - -
ARTICLE: Modern meets cozy in eatery that blends New York, Paris (Correspondent - HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com)
Modern meets cozy in eatery that blends New York, Paris
VIRGINIA BEACH - Is it New York or Paris?
Garrison's Bar and Grill in Renaissance Place Shopping Center seeks to capture a bit of both.
"We wanted to give it that New York feel or European flair," said Jeff Chance, who owns and operates the restaurant with his wife, Natasha. "We pretty much redid everything."
The modern-meets-cozy look features a marble-topped bar, red walls, tablecloths and original art by Duke 9. The bar's polished meta l and the eclectic menu were inspired by the couple's travels as international models.
Jeff is originally from Virginia Beach, while Natasha hails from Serbia. She learned her way around a kitchen living in Italy during her modeling career.
She handed her recipes over to chefs Christina Newbern and Austin Horn. Their pasta is all homemade.
"Freshness is the key," Natasha said.
The Chances cooked together in Italy for five years, and spent 10 years working at high-end eating establishments and modeling in New York. Jeff learned from renowned chef Conrad Gallagher at Traffic, a five-star restaurant. Natasha managed Valbella, a four-star restaurant.
"We traveled in London, Milan, Paris and Germany, modeling in all those places," said Jeff, who tended bar in New York clubs when modeling season was slow. "We said maybe we should open a bar and restaurant ourselves. We have a passion for the business, and want to cater to the people and make them happy."
Appetizers such as Buckwheat Fried Oysters, Mediterranean Dipping Plate, Risotto Balls, and Warm Crab Dip tempt palates. Creative salads prep patrons for entrees such as Seared Sesame Tuna, Chicken Ala Martini, Gnocchi, and filet mignon.
Jeff Chance chuckled over one of the lunch choices, a Coney Island hot dog with Cincinnati chili.
"I was born in Ohio," he explained.
One of Garrison's specialties is martinis specially developed by Natasha, who won a Grand Prix Martini Certificate for her martinis in Italy.
Garrison's Signature Martini is an infusion of pineapple vodka and elder flower syrup. Other tasty concoctions are the Lychee Martini, made of vodka, lychee syrup and lemon juice, and the Watermelon Martini, made of vodka, watermelon juice and sugar syrup.
Kim Yarborough visited the restaurant with her sister, Susie Scott, and raved over Garrison's Pomegranate Martini.
"I know Cosmopolitans and pomegranate martinis, and this is the best pomegranate martini I've ever had," she said.
Scott lauded the calamari with homemade marinara sauce.
"We're getting the crepes, and I'm sure they will be good, too," said Scott. "This is awesome."
CLIFFS : I work at two bars.
ARTICLE: Cutting-edge craftsmanship coming to Beach bar (The Virginian-Pilot - HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com)
Cutting-edge craftsmanship coming to Beach bar
VIRGINIA BEACH
Caked in dust and still half-built, the bars inside Guadalajara at Town Center weren't much to look at last week.
The tabletops had a faded, bluish hue, speckled with white. A veneer of soot coated the beveled edges of checkerboard tile. And the stick-frame underbellies were naked, interior wires and piping exposed.
Give it time.
In a few weeks, the bars will be a Hampton Roads first - fiber-optic counters more Vegas than Pembroke.
Crafted by a Canadian firm, they were hand-built in Toronto, snapped into pieces, trucked to Virginia Beach and reassembled by some of the same hands. The two bars house 24,000 optical fibers and 11 metal halide bulbs that light the surface from below like a disco ball at the infamous Studio 54 - not to be confused with Studio 56, new Town Center lofts under construction down the street from Guadalajara.
The technology stretches over 109 feet and is covered by a protective layer of 145 gallons of resin. The edges are finished with imported Italian tile.
The bars - one observer called them pieces of art - cost $180,000.
"This is not Virginia Beach," said Antony Facciponte, a founder of Weezer Industries, the company that built the bars. "This is like bigger city, more cosmopolitan."
The bars - the largest Facciponte has ever built - are the slow-simmering brainchild of Jerry Rodriguez, a successful restaurateur who owns a chain of five Guadalajara eateries in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. The Town Center location is on Columbus Street, across from the Westin Hotel & Residences.
"A lot of people have this concept of a Mexican restaurant being cheap," Rodriguez said. "We want to make it different."
The bars are certainly that.
One snakes 76 feet, with a series of turns and seating for nearly 40 people. A smaller counter is 33 feet long and bent like a horseshoe.
Antony Facciponte of Weezer Industries puts finishing touches on one of the bars at Guadalajara. The bars house 24,000 optical fibers and 11 metal halide bulbs that light the surface from below.
Both are equipped with hidden light boxes where 14-inch color wheels rotate at one revolution per minute. The effect is a slow-motion version of a kaleidoscope as the bar seems to undulate in waves.
The view differs depending on where patrons are sitting. At one end, the bar may appear as a cascade of water. At the other, it may look like rolling clouds. "It's up to you," Facciponte said.
Fiber-optic bar tops are nothing new - at least to Las Vegas casinos, New York City hot spots and Washington, D.C. nightclubs. In Hampton Roads, though, not so much.
"There might be a lighted bar top somewhere," Rodriguez said. "Nothing fiber-optic."
Rodriguez, who travels frequently, said he first got the idea from a Rainforest Cafe he visited three years ago. He saw the technology and found out it was installed by Facciponte's company.
Rodriguez did little with the information because he didn't have any place to put the fancy lighting at the time. Then Armada Hoffler, the developer behind Town Center, lobbied him to open one of his Guadalajara restaurants in the center.
He resisted. The company pushed harder. He relented earlier this year. By May, he decided his new franchise needed just a little something extra.
"Something different," he said. "Something Town Center doesn't have."
He remembered the Rainforest Cafe and called Facciponte. The craftsman was reluctant. He normally worked with casinos and chain eateries that can afford his expertise.
"When we first got the inquiry, I didn't take it serious," Facciponte said. "As an independent operator, it's a lot of money."
But Rodriguez believed the investment was worth it.
The restaurant - at 9,000 square feet - is the largest of the Guadalajara chain. It needed to be upscale enough to work in Town Center, Rodriguez said, but familiar enough to appeal to the local community.
When it opens later this month, Rodriguez thinks it will do just that. And the handiwork of Facciponte and his two-man crew will be a main reason why.
"They're artists," said Stan Belson, who handles public relations for Rodriguez. "I can't call them anything else."
- - - - -
ARTICLE: Modern meets cozy in eatery that blends New York, Paris (Correspondent - HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com)
Modern meets cozy in eatery that blends New York, Paris
VIRGINIA BEACH - Is it New York or Paris?
Garrison's Bar and Grill in Renaissance Place Shopping Center seeks to capture a bit of both.
"We wanted to give it that New York feel or European flair," said Jeff Chance, who owns and operates the restaurant with his wife, Natasha. "We pretty much redid everything."
The modern-meets-cozy look features a marble-topped bar, red walls, tablecloths and original art by Duke 9. The bar's polished meta l and the eclectic menu were inspired by the couple's travels as international models.
Jeff is originally from Virginia Beach, while Natasha hails from Serbia. She learned her way around a kitchen living in Italy during her modeling career.
She handed her recipes over to chefs Christina Newbern and Austin Horn. Their pasta is all homemade.
"Freshness is the key," Natasha said.
The Chances cooked together in Italy for five years, and spent 10 years working at high-end eating establishments and modeling in New York. Jeff learned from renowned chef Conrad Gallagher at Traffic, a five-star restaurant. Natasha managed Valbella, a four-star restaurant.
"We traveled in London, Milan, Paris and Germany, modeling in all those places," said Jeff, who tended bar in New York clubs when modeling season was slow. "We said maybe we should open a bar and restaurant ourselves. We have a passion for the business, and want to cater to the people and make them happy."
Appetizers such as Buckwheat Fried Oysters, Mediterranean Dipping Plate, Risotto Balls, and Warm Crab Dip tempt palates. Creative salads prep patrons for entrees such as Seared Sesame Tuna, Chicken Ala Martini, Gnocchi, and filet mignon.
Jeff Chance chuckled over one of the lunch choices, a Coney Island hot dog with Cincinnati chili.
"I was born in Ohio," he explained.
One of Garrison's specialties is martinis specially developed by Natasha, who won a Grand Prix Martini Certificate for her martinis in Italy.
Garrison's Signature Martini is an infusion of pineapple vodka and elder flower syrup. Other tasty concoctions are the Lychee Martini, made of vodka, lychee syrup and lemon juice, and the Watermelon Martini, made of vodka, watermelon juice and sugar syrup.
Kim Yarborough visited the restaurant with her sister, Susie Scott, and raved over Garrison's Pomegranate Martini.
"I know Cosmopolitans and pomegranate martinis, and this is the best pomegranate martini I've ever had," she said.
Scott lauded the calamari with homemade marinara sauce.
"We're getting the crepes, and I'm sure they will be good, too," said Scott. "This is awesome."
