The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - AlbCo School Board Scolds Commonwealth's Attorney; School Board Says C.A. Is Inflaming Sex Scandal

Episode Date: August 18, 2026

The I Love CVille Show headlines: AlbCo School Board Scolds Commonwealth’s Attorney School Board Says C.A. Is Inflaming Sex Scandal Kate Acuff Says Haas Told Her About Scandal In Q1, 2026 Allison Spillman References I Love CVille In Final Speech Prop Bet: Spillman Cries; Judah/Holly Win; Jerry Buys Scotch 20-Minute Interview With Restauranteur Daniel Kaufman Daniel Owns Public Fish & Oyster + Black Cow Chophouse Daniel Will Open “The Hideaway” In Downtown CVille Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air Restaurateur Daniel Kaufman joined me live on The I Love CVille Show! The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible, Rumble and iLoveCVille.com.

Welcome to the I Love Seville Show, guys. My name is Jerry Miller, and thank you kindly for joining us on what is the water cooler of content and conversation for Charlottesville, Almore County, in Central Virginia. You are watching and listening to right now the number one media platform in the entire region we call Charlottesville and Central Virginia. And folks, it's not even close. A 300,000 person region, this platform is a clear cut number one. And it's because we're honest with you. We're unaffiliated. We're unabashed.

we're unafraid with our commentary. There's a lot we're going to cover on the program today. Ladies and gentlemen, Daniel Kaufman in studio in T-minus 17 minutes, the owner of public fish and oyster. Daniel Kaufman, the owner of Blackhout, Chop House, and Daniel Kaufman, he's going to go from atop the Mount Rushmore of restaurants here in Charlottesville and trek back down to the valley and open yet a third restaurant, the hideaway on market store.

and the former tonic location, the former tin whistle location, the former Café Batchie location, the former Uncle Charlie's location. Why is Daniel Kaufman opening another restaurant? We'll talk about that with Daniel on the program in about 16 minutes on the show. We work hard for you. The only thing I ask in return, you hammer the like button, you subscribe to I Love Seville, bust your phone out right now, and text message a friend and say you need to watch.

Jerry Miller right now. There's a lot to cover on the broadcast. We're going to talk Al Morrow County School Board. The board is scolding. They're rebuking. They're calling out. They're throwing shade the school board at the Almero County Commonwealth's attorney. I can't make it up, folks.

Mere days after the last school board meeting where Allison Spillman officially retired, mere days after the last school board meeting where Allison Spillman referenced the I-Love Seville show in her final speech. Mere days after Allison Spillman said she would not cry, promise she would shed a tear. I won't cry, I won't shed a tear. Bobby Beard was offering proverbial flowers to Ms. Spillman

and the tears came a coming as Rebecca Berlin was handing Allison Spillman a bouquet, of the finest cut flowers, perhaps from Don's Flores Shop here in the city. Why the school board was giving each other pats on the back, in the midst of a sex scandal, a child one at that, I don't have that answer for you, but we're going to talk about it on the show. Why the school board is rebuking, scolding, calling out, Jim Hingley's office, I don't have an answer for that, but we're going to talk about it on the show. And ladies and gentlemen, Tom Stardgill, if you're watching the program, Tommy Stardgill,

the Golden Apple Award winner if you're watching the program. We now know who Matt Haas told in the beginning of this year about the scandal that was on the cusp of breaking that was going to rock and ravage our community. Ladies and gentlemen, her name is Kate a cuff. Dr. Kate a cuff at that. Why did Dr. Kate a cuff of the Almorel County School Board do nothing? Why was she quiet?

Why did she sit on her hands? Why did it require the I Love Seville Show to pressure the school board and the one individual, the woman on the board that knew about this in the first quarter of this year. I said on Friday, if you don't tell us who you are

and reveal your identity, I'm going to lump all the females into the same brand and umbrella on the board as a group of women that are unwilling to be honest with our community. Hours after we go off air, Kada Koff said, it was me.

Matt Hoff, told me we're going to talk about that ladies and gentlemen on the program today Tom Stardle's watching the show print radio and television is watching the show city counselors and school board members and supervisors are watching the show juda Wick Cowher will give some attention to John Vermillion to Andrew Vermillion to Charlottesville Sanitary Supply to Charlottesville Swimming Pool Company the Vermilions have proudly served this community for nearly 63 years you can find them on East High Street

East High Street, anything Bono Wood flooring, anything Mela vacuums, anything cleaning related, swimming pool related, anything vacuum repair, it's John and Andrew Vermillion. Online at Charlottesville Sanitary Supply where they offer free in-market delivery and have

all the product line that can beat the big box brands. Daniel Kaufman's walking in. We'll have them sit to the side there at 1250. There's a lot we're going to cover on the broadcast today. I do want to talk about the school board first. I want to talk, ladies and gentlemen, on the program today, as I get my earbuds ready, Daniel Kaufman's looking sophisticated.

I think he's got the roly on the wrist. He's got a fantastic set of glasses on over there, and we'll welcome Daniel Kaufman to the show and T-Mont is 12 minutes to talk about the hideaway. Daniel, I'm going to ask you this question. How does a man that is atop the Mountain Rushmore of restaurants in Charlottesville, at the pinnacle of the profession, head down the mountain back to the valley to open a third restaurant in downtown Charlottesville. Public's crushing it. Black

cows crushing it, Daniel. You are the mightest touch and the gold standard, yet you're opening a third restaurant, my friend. I'm excited to have that conversation with you. First, we'll talk school board. Judea Wickcaro, we have some sound ready to go, right? You get those earbuds in. Here's the nitty-gritty. The

Almorel County School Board has issued a statement. We got our hands on that statement. That statement is one that has rebuked and scolded the Almore County Commonwealth's Attorney's The school board in joint signature fashion says the Almaro County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office was inappropriate with their comments in a bond hearing. This was last week when a deputy in the Almaro County Commonwealth Attorney's Office basically said the Title IX report, the investigation done by Almaro County Schools could not be trusted when it came to Mike Sweeney in his alleged child sexual. crimes at Holly Meade Elementary.

Rebecca Berlin, the school board chair said, what you did, Commonwealth's attorney's office was dangerous. It was dishonest and it inflamed the drama that is a storyline that is ravaged and captivated this community.

Rebecca Berlin and the school board have demanded a meeting with two-term Commonwealth's attorney Jim Hingley, a friend of the show, a viewer and listener of this show, a commentary on this show. Perhaps Commonwealth's attorney Jim Hingley is watching

as we speak. He watches most of our content. I have some commentary I'm going to offer. Then we'll welcome Judah Wickhauer into the program. Then we're going to play two sizzle reels or video clips from Thursday's meeting. And finally, we will welcome a man that needs no introduction

Daniel Kaufman to a show that currently right now is being seen by thousands of people. Here are my thoughts, Judah Wickhauer. We'll get you in on a two-shot studio camera and a two-shot. Why the school board believes it has the stability, why the school board believes it has the community confidence, or why the school board believes it has the chutzpah or the chutzpah or the cahones

to offer any kind of documenting, rebuking, or scolding of a Commonwealth's attorney's office that has proudly served this community for two terms with, Jim Hingley as its head honcho is baffling to me. The school board cannot get out of its own way. Issuing a letter, a letter that clearly was going to leak, perhaps a letter leaked to me by other school board members, by a school board member, perhaps, perhaps not, okay, is the definition of not seeing the forest through the trees or reading the tea leaves or the room correctly. I have an eight-year-old son. My wife and I have two boys, a three-year-old and an eight-year-old. With our three-year-old, we're basically trying to get him out of diapers.

We don't understand why he continues to put his hands and his diapers after he does a number two and wipes it all over the wall. We're struggling with that. Our eight-year-old, we're having success. Today, his first day in third grade, he's figuring things out. He's going from Velcro Nike high tops to Nike high tops where you tie the shoe. Got to wrap that rabbit around the loops on and then put Pull it through the bunny's eye, and then you get the shoe string tied the right way.

He's a yes, sir, and a no sir, and a yes ma'am and no ma'am kind of guy. And one thing we talk about with our oldest son is reading the room, understanding your place. And often when you're the loudest person in the room, you are often incorrect or the weakest person of the room. And this is coming from yours truly, okay? So he's got a lot to learn from. Okay? Our son understands the concept of tempo and reading the room. Our school board does not.

We have a scenario where this past Thursday they patted each other on the back. Now we got a scenario where after one of the most insane meetings that I've ever seen amidst of a child sex scandal where they were giving each other literal flowers and proverbial flowers during a meeting during a child sex scandal investigation. they then think it makes sense to issue a letter calling out two-term Commonwealth's attorney Jim Hingley, who is the definition of consistency. Such a consistent, steady leader, I would almost nickname him metronome Hingley. That's how consistent this man is.

What did you make of what the school board did in this letter, Judah Wickhauer, Jack of All Witts, Jack of All Trades? Well, I feel like there's a, I feel like there are a few different things going on. here and I think maybe the letter is not addressing the actual issue. It's hard to tell, though. Obviously, we don't have access to the Title IX report, but where, first of all, we've got Sweeney's attorney who pointed it to the Title IX report saying that the outside consultant had determined that it did not find Mr. Sweeney responsible for conduct that violates Title IX. I'm not sure how that's possible, considering the police are involved, and this is, you know, this has gone far beyond just a Title IX report. Then we've got Deputy Chief

Commonwealth Attorney Lawton Tufts, who is the one that mentioned the question the trustworthiness of the Title IX report. And then we've got this letter from Chair Dr. Rebecca Berlin, basically saying if you feel like we've done something wrong, let's talk about it. People are saying you need to get closer to the microphone. They can't hear you. Do you have your audio levels correct? I should. Let's see.

Can you hear me now? So Rebecca Berlin is essentially saying we gave the information to the police. We didn't have to give it to you. Let's discuss how we can do things differently this time, which doesn't really address anything in the Title IX report. Why did Rebecca Berlin and the school board think it was a good idea to issue a written statement that certainly was going to get leaked to the media? A written statement at a time when the public schools of Almorro are entangled in a sex scandal that involves a non-licensed social emotional learning coach doing the most deviant and devious acts on school grounds that we could possibly think of short of murder, right? Why do we think it's a good idea for the school board then to create a brew ha-ha or try to start a fist of cuffs with Jim Hingley, the two-term commonwealth attorney and his office?

It is the definition of terrible optics, poor timing, terrible PR, and it again calls into question the mental stability, the foresight of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, a question. of six or seven people, one just resign, that are entrusted with the top line item in a quarter of a billion dollar jurisdictional, or three quarters of a billion dollars, jurisdictional yearly budget. Alamara County's yearly budget is basically $750 million. The number one line item,

more than 50% of that budget, is Alamara County Public Schools. We have had seven people, now down to six, We have to question the judgment of them. What are you doing with that statement? We now have more information. Kate Akoff, the most tenured member of that school board, found out from Matt Haas, the disgrace former and superintendent

in the first quarter of this year about this sex scandal, and she did nothing. On Friday, I called out the school board as they were watching this show, and I said, whoever the female on that board that was told by Matt Haas in the first quarter of this year, they must reveal themselves. Or I was going to paintbrush all the women on the board. We do know it was a woman. Jim Dillon Beck on the board confirmed it was a woman.

New in the first quarter of this year. Alison Spillman said it was not her. I said Judy Lee, Ellen Osborne, Rebecca Berlin, and Kate a cuff. One of you must reveal yourself before a close of business Friday. Or we're going to paintbrush all four of you. 90 minutes after I went on air or I got off air on Friday, Kata Cuff issued a statement and said it was me. 90 minutes after I got off air.

She said it was me. We now know it's her. In the first quarter of this year, Matt Haas told her about what was going on, and she was quiet and did nothing. Now we're going to play two video clips from Thursday's meeting, and we will welcome the distinguish, the sophisticated,

the nuance, the sharply dressed, the well-spoken, the cosmopolitan Daniel Kaufman to the program. clip number one as I put our earbuds in Daniel Kaufman I sincerely meet it you're well-traveled you know about wine you have great eyewear great wristwear you're opening another restaurant I mean geez Louise what does this man not do well over here and he could hear me in the green room over here I Daniel Kaufman moments away I'd like to play clip number one okay this is Allison spillman of the Almero County School Board in her final speech to everyone in Almero County referencing the I Love Seville show in our program. Why is a school board member while residing from the school board referencing a little tidily podcast with Judah Wickcaron Jerry Miller? I don't know. Let's play the sound in three, two, one.

Apparently, a would-be podcaster recently thought it would be entertaining to place bets on whether I would cry tonight. So let me address that. I might. And I am not embarrassed by that. Crying is not a weakness. Sometimes tears are simply evidence that you cared enough for something to cost you. And I have cared deeply. I've cared about these students.

I've cared about these teachers. I've cared about this community. And I've cared about doing this job well. And there is nothing weak about that. In fact, I've come to believe that it is often the people who are willing to feel deeply, the women who weep and then wipe their eyes and keep fighting who are going to save this country. I leave the board knowing that I gave this position everything that I had. I asked the hard questions. I fought battles people knew about and many you never knew.

I made mistakes. I learned. I listened and I stood my ground when I believe it mattered. And through it all, I remain the person I told this community I would be. So now it's time for me to give more of myself back to my children. who are here tonight. They deserve their mother, and my family deserves my presence. And I deserve the opportunity to live a life which my physical, mental, and emotional health

are not continually sacrificed at the altar of public service. But I leave with enormous hope for this division. And I leave with one request. Someone has to keep fighting. Someone has to keep asking the uncomfortable questions. someone has to keep standing beside the student who thinks no one sees them. Someone has to keep standing beside the teacher who feels abandoned. Someone has to be willing to walk into the room when it's hostile,

stand up anyway and say, these kids are worth it. I hope someone takes up that fight after tonight because they deserve it every single time. Thank you for allowing me the extraordinary privilege of serving you. And I didn't cry. That's Allison. Spillman. That's Allison Spillman in her final speech referencing I Love Sebo. And I need to clarify something. I have no problem with crying. I crying is not a weakness. I am all for showing emotion. The older I get, the more emotional I get. My children are two sons are absolutely making me a big softie. Why in the toy story series, especially in the one with the daycare, where those toddlers so mean to the toys. It made me cry. I will admit

when the toy stories, when they got beat up in the toddlers in the daycare, I cried. But Ms. Spillman, what you are doing is manipulating emotion. You are manipulating emotion. There's a difference between authentic emotion and one to curry

favor. And at that point in the school board meeting last week, I thought I had won the bet. I said Holly Foster from Henrico, who's covering Judas action, is going to be bringing me a McAllen 12 scotch bottle. I was going to enjoy the McAllen 12 scotch with an Alec Bradley cigar, have one drink, ask my wife very humbly to drive me to Blackhout Chop House for a dinner date, the two of us,

after I enjoyed two McAllen 12s at home. She was going to drive. I was going to be completely within the law, and then we were going to have some steak frets at Blackout Chop House on West Main Street. Then Bobby Beard of the school board in the Samuel Miller District lives in my neighborhood. More grandpa than school board member. I think he's in over his head right now. Very round face. I just want to poke his belly and watch him go,

he-he like the Pillsbury dough boy. Bob Beard decides to give Allison Spillman her flowers, proverbial. This is in the middle of a sex scandal. They take the large portion of the school board meeting when parents that were vulnerable and concerned that their children may have been scandalized by an alleged offender, sex offender. I'm sure some of whom were.

In attendance, we're watching the school board give bouquet of flowers to an individual that in her final speech referenced the I Love Sevo show. You can't make this up, ladies and gentlemen. This is exactly how it played out. Let's play, He-He-hee, Bobby Beard, giving the proverbial flowers to Allison Spilman as Rebecca Burlin gives Spilman the actual flowers. And this is where I lose the prop bat. to Holly Foster and Judah Wickhauer. Bobby Beard's commentary makes Allie Spillman hit the tear duck emotional slopes. Judah Wickhauer and three, two, and one.

Thank you so much, Vice Chair Spilman for your service. I'm going to grab something, but if anyone wants to make a comment, and thanks of Ms. Spilman. I would like to take a moment and celebrate our departing at large schools. board member Alison Spillman. Allison, thank you for your years of service to Albemarle County and our public schools. I will surely miss your voice, your business and school experience, and your extraordinary passion and commitment to ACPS, especially to our marginalized our special education students and others.

I appreciate your bravery as a mother and a community member in the face of everything you experienced. You always focused on the well- of kids. You and your whole family have been through threats and anger. So much pain and controversy over the last year would be impossible for anyone to bear. But you did it and did it well and without losing your voice. You bore the brunt of criticism with grace and grit and intelligence and that shows true unflinching leadership. You and your family did not deserve what happened to you. And all of us in this county are poorer for the behavior those who prefer hate over respect and compromise.

So in the spirit of what we'd like to teach our kids, I hope we can put down our anger going forward in this county and disagree in a constructive way. Our kids deserve no less. Thank you again, Allison, for taking on this mighty challenge. Well, now I'm crying. Alison, I just wanted to share an apple and flowers as a thank you from the board for yourself.

service. Thank you. I appreciate it. Oh, okay. Thank you very much. I really appreciate the kind words. All right. That's our recap from Thursday's meeting. In the midst of this scandal, the first hour of this meeting on Thursday was dedicated to the proverbial and actual flowers, giving a flowers to the exiting school board member, Allison Spilleman, ladies and gentlemen. It makes absolutely no sense to me, but that's par for the course. We will now welcome Daniel Kaufman to the show. Daniel Kaufman is sitting across from me. I'm going to embarrass them a little bit, but it's all factual and actual.

This guy goes from a seller finance deal with my client, Richard and Meg Zaken, who owned one meatball place where public fish and oyster is right now. We help Richard and Meg bring the brand to market. They are of Paul Manning fame. BBM Capital. Good people. Richard and Meg are great people. Extremely likable.

Still live in the area. Tremendous ties to New York. They fell in love with a restaurant in Manhattan called the Meatball Shop. And the concept was to bring the Meatball Shop to Charlottesville, and we came up with the idea one meatball place. We helped them bring it to market.

Immediately, I'm not speaking out of turn. I realize that Richard and Meg may have been out of their depth here. They had money. They had a fantastic. professional career with Paul Manning, as a Paul Manning lieutenant, Richard did, and they had the dream. Some might call it a nightmare, depending on how you look at it, of opening a restaurant. Oftentimes, that's what happens when you get some money, you earn it, and you like the vanity

concept of restaurant life. This restaurant is, the life is brutal. It is grueling. It can break you physically, emotionally, and financially. They immediately look to exit and enter stage left or stage right on this program, Daniel Kaufman. He is a wine expert. He does a seller finance deal with Richard Zakin, and he turns one B-Paul place to public fish and oyster. Welcome to the show. Thanks. You take the storybook from here. Thanks. Well, in that case, somebody's misfortune was my fortune as well, because when I opened my first restaurant public 12 years ago, I had very, very little money. So the only opportunity I was going to have to open a place was somebody who was going to do a seller finance for me because I had no

collateral myself. A bank wasn't going to give me any money. And Richard wanted out and I wanted it in. I gave him a little bit of cash. I financed the rest over seven years. And when I wrote my last check to him, probably five years ago now, he said he never thought he'd see a penny of that. And I was, and he got every penny of it. This is before, I've never told you the story before I met you. And Richard Zekin mentioned to me that he was going to sell one meatball place to a guy, he actually called you, to a young man named Daniel. You put, how much was the down payment, 25K? I think I put down $25,000.

And I had like $75,000 maybe in the bank. So there were a lot of other expenses getting open as well. So the day I opened the restaurant, my bank account was almost nothing. Right, right. He literally mentioned to me, I doubt I see another cent from it. Yeah, yeah, you got every penny back. And he got every penny back with interest from you, on time. On time.

$1,59.99. a month. What happened? And what may be one of the most successful seller finance deals in Charlottesville City history for both the buyer and the seller. Now we have public fish and oyster, which is, oh my goodness gracious, I've said this on the talk show so many times. Revenue by square foot, the gold standard. I have no idea what it is. We do a lot out of a little space. Anybody who's been there knows, you know, I'm sort of unapologetically packed in there. And most people don't mind. It's kind of part of the fun. There's the occasional ones who do. At the end of the day, I just say it's not the restaurant for you. But we're very loud,

we're very tight. But our food's really good and our service is great. We've got some really good people working for us. And that's a good segue as well because, you know, this, so little of this has anything to do with me. Honestly, my life is not that hard anymore. I'm not working that hard anymore. It took a long time to get there. But I'm really fortunate to have some very talented people working for me now. I've had some, very talented people working for me now. I've had some very talented people working for me in the past who weren't with me anymore that, you know, I'm just as appreciative to, regardless of how it ended. So, you know, everybody's had a role to play, but, you know, it's been a good 12 years.

And it's a perfect segue to the hideaway. Public, Fisher, so crowded, so busy. It's not, I wouldn't exactly, that, that wasn't the mentality of getting there. Okay. But, you know, I had vowed never to open another restaurant again after COVID. You told me that. I'm the show. Yeah, I think it was the last time you and I talked here was during COVID.

I think I was sitting at the bar. We were doing it over Zoom. That's really a time I'd like to forget. Those were a horrible couple of years. But, you know, emotionally and, you know, for one's mental wellness, when everything seems so vulnerable, it was a rough time. But we got out of it and we got out of it in a good position. But, you know, Black Cow came along.

there was one human being in the world I would have worked with at the time, and that was Greg Dion, my former chef at public, who left at the beginning of COVID for another thing. When he proposed that to me, it was a no-brainer, and I was really happy to be able to work with him again. But this time, I had really said, I'm not doing anything else anymore.

I don't want to say things are on cruise control, but my life had gotten easier, and everybody really understood their role, and everybody was doing their role so well that it required very little of me to all of their credit. But I was approached by one of my employees about the possibility of doing something together

and I was really apprehensive at first. So I said I'd go look at a few spaces with him sort of thinking this is not something I have any interest in doing right now. This would throw a big wrench into my life. But we saw this space that was formerly tonic and it had so much potential. And some of the ideas he was.

pitching to me and some of the ideas I was thrown back at him, a really cool concept kind of came together. We started talking to some culinary people, you know, what their ideas might be, and it just became a stronger and stronger idea to me. And then I was sold. So we're bringing some young talent on from a culinary standpoint. Johnny Garver, who's currently the chef at public, is going to come on as a bit of a consultant. He has a lot of expertise in building and running restaurant. So he's going to be a great face to oversee that culinary department. And Alex Balbis is the gentleman that was referring to who's worked for me for a number

of years at public. One of the best oyster shuckers I've ever worked with. A hell of a nice guy. A lot of good ideas. He'll most likely kind of take care of the day to day. But yeah, I'm really stoked about it. It's going to look a lot like public as well. I mean, you were saying that this was kind of an extension or public wasn't going to get any bigger. always wanted to make it a little bigger. That wasn't going to happen. There's no way we can expand that. So the concept for this isn't going to be too far from it. We're going to focus a little more on small plates. We're going to do fish and chips, which I wanted to do for years, but wasn't able to pull off at public. But it's going to be oysters. It's going to be shellfish towers. It's

going to be lots of different seafood small place. There'll be some vegetarian options. It'll be dinner at first, five days a week, but the goal is very much to think about working lunch in there somehow, and then working late night in there. We walk before we crawl before we walk. I think you're going to crush it, dude. I hope so. You know, it's a space that I've always, when it was Tin Whistle, I talked to Jackie about possibly getting that from her.

Jackie Dunkel, our client. I think she wanted out for a while. We named Tin Whistle Irish Pub. I had no idea. We came up with that name. We did the logo. We built the website. I literally gave her a list of 50 names.

It was initially going to be called Jackie Dunkel, front of the program, has the mouth of a sailor, as you know. It was initially going to be called the effing pub. Yeah, that's a terrible idea. The partner financial backer for Jackie said no way. Yeah, smart man. And then we went to option number two, tin whistle Irish restaurant. This is an interesting location.

I have said on this program, and bear with me here, that this might be one of the most cursed restaurant spots in the entire region. I reference Cafibachi. I referenced Tonic, Tin Whistle, Uncle Charlie's. Yeah, everybody says that. It's always followed by the same statement as well. Oh, that place is curse. Great patio, though. But if there's one, 100%, if there's one person that can break the curse of the Bambino,

it is Daniel Kaufman. And there's another positive element here. Alan Kajeen is Daniel's landlord at Blackow. At every place. And at public and now at Tonic. I first heard about this through the grapevine because of this. I think this is a matchmate in heaven for you guys. I think it's a match made in heaven.

I think you're going to, ever, crush it here. He's been a good landlord as well. Well, you pay your rent on time. He speaks in legalese, but I do pay my rent on time. But, you know, he's been good to us over the years, and I'm very happy with him as a landlord. I think you're going to crush it, dude. I always thought that public in this market,

that public fishing oyster could be your current location. I thought it undoubtedly could be Hollymead, Forest Lakes. I thought it undoubtedly could be Crozé. I thought it undoubtedly could be a pantops. I thought this market could accommodate four or five of them. You know, you're forgetting one of my misses, though. You know, I opened Public West a couple years after Public Fish Noistur and Crozay and Old Trail. And honestly, I wish I had waited 10 years to do that.

The timing wasn't right. The timing was really bad. Yeah. It was a good restaurant as well, I thought. You know, a little difficult. I like that all my spaces are within walking distance. You know, I can get to, you know, that place was a little difficult to oversee. But the Daniel Kaufman that opened in that is not the Daniel Kaufman today, nor is the personnel around you.

No. No, I had good staff there as well. In fact, the gentleman I sold it to, Brian Sewell, who I think is still the head chef at Ivy Provisions, he turned it into Wheelands Crossing Tavern. I still tell this story to this day. You know, Brian got diagnosed with cancer when we were working together, and he was going through treatment. That dude never missed a day of work. I mean, like, that guy had such amazing work ethic and always made it work. there were other outside factors that that

prevented that restaurant from really thriving. It always did fine but it never thrived. But I'm really lucky to have worked with a lot of really talented, hardworking, dedicated people over the years and I hope this is no different, you know, the people that I'm bringing on. You're going to crush you, too.

I hope so. Viewers and listeners are asking what can we expect with the location that's different from public on West Main Street? More focus on small plates. we'll be doing killer fish and chips. My mother was British, and anybody knows me knows. I spend a decent amount of time in England.

And that's something that I've always wanted to do. So that's going to be a big part of this menu. But you should expect a really frequently revolving menu. I mean, we're talking chalkboard menus. You know, it could be every day. That thing changes. Again, a lot of stuff coming off the raw bar. Alex is going to be running the raw bar program.

I think you'll see probably a little more. flexibility with what we could bring. Public is, you know, I have the foundation, and then I kind of had everything, I had to make everything work in that space. With this one, we're building it out a little bit to have a little more flexibility to what we want to do, rather than adapting what we want to do to what's already there, if that makes sense. We don't have anybody to run our bar program yet, but we're going to look for somebody with some

good experience, who we can really jive with. with that being said, if you're interested, info at hideawayceeville.com, send your resumes. John Blair watching the program, he says, please tell Mr. Kaufman, good luck, and that black cow is a 10 out of 10 restaurant. Johnny Garver watching the program right now.

This comment comes in. Public has the best lobster role I have ever had. This comment comes in. Life hack, go to Black Cow for Happy Hour and sit at the bar. That's where you really get. the good food at the good prices. This comment comes in.

Public has the best happy hour in town. This comment comes in. I used to sing karaoke regularly at one meatball place, hated to see it go. This comment, I mean, good Lord. I can't keep up with the comments right here. I should probably mention as well, happy hour, you know, as it is in my other couple restaurants,

is going to be a big part of this as well. So I think you should expect us to be open from 4 o'clock every day and offer some smoking deals on oysters and cocktails. And something else as well. which we are, we're working on what that, what that angle is going to be for happy hour. Can I, let me answer you this question. How does a guy that literally is, if you're talking Charlottesville's Mount Rushmore of restaurants, okay, you're going to go, I'm going to throw some names out in no particular order.

Daniel Kaufman's up there. Wilson. Kit Ash is out there, the late great Wilson Richie's out there. If we were going current, if I was going to go current, I'll go Kid Ashie, I'll go some Daniel Kaufman, some Annie McClure. I'd be crazy not to include an. Angelo or a Craig Hartman up there. I mean, you literally are on the short list with living and legends that are in heaven. Wilson Ritchie, another example here.

Dean Maupin's got to be up there. Okay. You know, I think the Fianazzo has helped build downtown Charlottesville. It's a culinary scene in a lot of ways with the length that restaurant's been on the mall. I mean, how does a guy that's at the pitiful of the profession go through the, walk me through the headspace of saying, oh my gosh, I'm opening a third restaurant right? now on the downtown mall and on Market Street and this spot. I think, number one, I think you speak too highly of me.

Whilst it's very appreciative, I think you speak a lot highly of me, higher of me than I think of myself, but I really appreciate that. It's my pleasure. It's all true. It's all fetic. And again, I'm just, you know, the guy who brings people together to do these things. You know, everything I have is owed to the people who have worked with me over the years. But, you know, things I mentioned before, my life has not been terribly hard lately. I'm ready for a new challenge. I'm excited to offer some equity in this to some people who deserve it as well.

I wish I could give a little peace to everyone who's worked with me, but it's just impossible at this time. But I'm excited, you know, it took me a little while to get excited about this. You know, it was a little daunting. But I'm jazzed for this now. I've spent every minute of daylight over there getting things ready for this. And it's going to continue the second I leave here today. But I'm going to this very, very excited about being part of something new, particularly so close to downtown because I've never had a restaurant so close to downtown.

You are at. I've never had a restaurant. I guess I'm not on the mall. Yeah, but this is downtown. It's downtown. Yeah. And being even more straightforward with you and putting pressure on you here, downtown needs the Daniel Kaufman's of the world

needs the what's the what's the I'm drawing a blank here the former Dave Matthews keyboardist Peter Greiser yeah I read that today what I don't subscribe to the Daily Progress I couldn't it was beyond a paywall I couldn't open it he's opening in the old Bonnie and Reed location I saw that yeah the old Stefan Freeman location what's the concept he's not revealing it but the work public is in the brand I think it's public seeds okay is what he's calling it

or I have nothing to do with it I know right I know you have nothing do with it public is in the brand but downtown needs you guys to be successful. I think so too. Downtown needs Ryan Rooney. We talked about this. Ryan Rudy's opening South Street Brewery at South Street

Tavern. He's on the short list. He watches the program. I would be remiss not to mention him. He owns Coops. He owns Trinity. He owns Boylan. He owns the Fitzroy.

And now South Street Tavern. Yeah. It's nice to see things opening down here. Yeah. That are not cannabis shops. Right. Thank you. And, dude, I am.

The biggest cannabis proponent out there, okay? But having half a dozen weed stores on the downtown mall is what the, not, it's not what the downtown mall is not, it's not, it's what you're doing is what it's about. I hope so. And dude, I sincerely mean this. And with that being said, don't, you know, I'm not

anti-cannabis at all. I know, neither of us are. I'm anti-smelling it every time I walk, you know, which is everywhere in Charlestville. But, but that's, that's different. I'll throw this to you. This question's come in from the mayor of McIntyre. Will you give your fish and chips a southern flare and use catfish? No. Okay. He's a traditionalist with the fish and chips.

Yeah, no, no, no. No, in fact, you'll probably never see catfish in my restaurant at all. You're not a catfish? No, I'll eat catfish. I just think it's kind of a, you know, it is what it is. Okay, this question. You won't see tilapia, you won't see catfish in my restaurants. Okay, this one's come in. What can we expect from an oyster menu? Will it be as deep as public's? I think it will be equal to or more as deep as public. Wow.

It could very well be, yeah. Because you have more space? Because I have, number one, I have more storage, which is great. Yeah. That's always been the biggest challenge at Public. But, you know, Public's got 12 years of history behind it, you know, 12 years of wins and losses and a very built-in clientele. So, you know, we've got to throw some wow factor out there if we want to, you know, if we want to be here in 12 years as well. And I'd sure like to be. This comments come in. Has he considered taking public to other markets? No, I don't want to do that. You don't want to do that? No, I can't control it. I mean. I'm a little bit of a control freak at the end of the day. No, even opening a restaurant in Crozet, I found challenging,

making sure that things were going as I wanted to, even just, what, 12 miles up the road. This comment comes in for Daniel Kaufman. Will the Happy Hour be as competitive as public at Black House prices? Yeah, most likely. Wow. This is going to crush you. If anything, if I'm going to have one moniker, okay, you want to put me on like the...

The King of Happy Hour? I'd like to be the King of Happy Hour. Which I think you are. I'll take that. Yeah, that's a moniker I will gladly own. But I think what you did at public, which was genius, was leverage the happy hour to create, to capture demand and build market share. Yeah, I got the lobster rolls, the beers, the cocktails, Danny behind the bar, one of the best bartenders ever, now an incredibly successful real estate agent. Yeah, Danny's with me three days a week. John's with me the rest of the week.

Yeah. A lot of people say John is their favorite bartender as well. I have two very popular people. I've got Josh at Black Cow as well, another extremely popular figure in the partending scene. So, you know, I've got great people working. So from here on now, I should moniker and brand you is the king of happy hour. I'll take it. Okay.

I will do that. I'll take that one, yeah. Okay. How about this? My wife and I, on the first few days that you're open, are going to be there to support you. Please do. As we get at Black Cow, as we always do at public, my father-in-law is from Long Island has the access to the freshest seafood out there. And he's like, anytime he comes to visit us, he says, we must go to public.

That means a lot. I appreciate it. Literally a guy that's in Southampton, we must go to public. Okay, literally says that. My wife and I will patronize the hideaway immediately. What should we order? The fish and chips. The fish and chips.

And a dozen oysters. Okay. Because the fish and chips is hard to find locally. I think there's a few people doing it. Yeah. Who do you tip of the cap to? I don't. Okay.

I like that. I don't frequent any of the restaurants that I know are serving it. Shabine had a decent one back in the day. Yeah, Walter. Yeah, that was a decent one back in the day. But, yeah, I'm looking forward to this. How's the family feel about a third restaurant? I think they're supportive.

They like the space. Yeah. Yeah. Both my kids are working at my restaurants now. Owen, my son is working at Black Cow one day a week. Aileen, my daughter is working at public one day a week. So, you know, they're getting their hands dirty. It is officially a family business now.

My niece also works at public full-time as well. I always said never work with your family, but, you know. You have a great family. As long as you're their boss, it's okay. Yeah, yeah, and you seem to be, as long as people are getting stuff done, a pretty easy-going boss. I have a great family. And that's one of the things about being able to slow down lately, you know,

not having to be at work for every meal service. In fact, I'm very rarely there during service anymore. You know, I'm in during the day I do anything to do. And usually, you know, I let the professionals run the place now. But it's been really nice being home for, dinner, you know, every night and spending time with my wife and my kids and seeing them grow up. My favorite thing, too. Yeah. Life has changed. I have driver's licenses now. That's nutty. That's wild. My son is driving a manual transmission. That's the biggest win I will take in my life

that I taught my son to drive a... How long did that take? A long time. Okay. How many clutches did you go through? We're on the second. He burned up, he burned up the first clutch. That was $2,800 to repair that. I was going to say. He's also had his first accident as well. Sounds like he needs to go five nights a week at the restaurant. Maybe so. Maybe so. We'll close with this. 25 minutes with the King of Happy Hour,

a guy that is just a good human, Daniel Kaufman. I try. Final thoughts to close the show here, Judah, as we sprint to a design meeting with Corbin Snow, it snows down Avon extended. A word or a

conversation or a parting thought for the thousands that are watching you on the show. Joe. Maybe a thank you for the support. This community has been very supportive, you know, from the day we open through COVID through today, I think this is an amazing community. I'm really happy to be a part of it. I'm really happy to have been serving the community as long as I have.

You know, I appreciate all the support I've got and I hope to keep it up. I will speak for the community. I try not to, but in this case I will. Charlottesville and Almore on Central Virginia are a better place because you're here. Well, that means a lot. Thank you very much. Public and Black Cow, public especially, black cow will get there, but it's still in the newer stage. Public especially is a culinary icon.

Thank you. And when people talk the best restaurants in Charlottesville, that list is, you know, the IBM, the Aberdeen Barn, the C&O, and a public fishing oyster. When you're on a list with that kind of, you know, institutional memory and talent. That speaks to what you have done. I'm a fan of all those as well.

Me too. Very good restaurants, yeah. Me too, me too. His name is Daniel Kaufman. He is the King of Happy Hour. He's opening the third restaurant in his portfolio. It'll be called the Hideaway, the Market Street location formerly of Tonic and Tin Whistle. 609 East Market. He's going to effing crush it.

As soon as we posted this news on the Islander Seville Network, Chief Mike Cottes to Police Chief, was all about it, giving it props on the program, right across from the police department where he's working right there for for for Daniel Kaufman Judah Wickhauer my name is Jerry Miller and we got to be at uh snows for a design meeting at T minus 12 minutes you crushed it thanks buddy thank you kindly for joining us thanks for all your support as well it's absolutely my pleasure so long everybody and thank you for joining us