The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Mel Walker Of Mel's Cafe Passes Away; Legacy Of Mel Walker In Charlottesville Area

Episode Date: May 29, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Mel Walker Of Mel’s Cafe Passes Away Legacy Of Mel Walker In Charlottesville Area Mel’s 1 Of Most Prominent Black-Owned Biz MarieBette Team Members Opening RVA Cafe New Artificial Turf Coming To Carr’s Hill Field Downtown Mall Flower Competition ($1K Prize) 328 Apartments Coming To Albemarle County NCAA Regional: Penn At Virginia, Fri, 12PM Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air 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.

Good Wednesday afternoon, guys. I'm Jerry Miller. Thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seville show. A pleasure to connect with you through the I Love Seville Network, a show presented today by Otto Turkish Street Food on Water Street. Otto Turkish Street Food, locally owned and operated on Water Street with easy parking right next to the restaurant. Talk about a locally owned restaurant. One of the restaurants with some of the longest of tenure and tradition in Charlottesville is Mel's Cafe. And many of you know by now, Melvin Mel Eugene Walker has passed away, the owner and namesake of Mel's Cafe on West Main Street. I want to take a look at Mel's life from a lot of different lenses.

I want to take a look at Mel's life as a man born in the Vinegar Hill neighborhood in the 1950s. I want to take a look at Mel's life as an entrepreneur and business owner. He first opened Mel's Cafe on West Main Street in 1984. I want to take a look at Mel's life through the lens of his prominence in the local community and his prominence in the black-owned business community. When you have a landmark destination that's been around for 40 years, you approach or you garner and you earn, earn is the best word, icon status. His location on West Main Street as a gateway to downtown

and as a gateway to the University of Virginia has made his brand and his personality and his legacy front and center for many generations of UVA students, of locals, of Charlottesvillians, and of tourists. His food was soul food. It was absolutely amazing. Whether it's the one-eyed burger, whether it's the fried chicken, his fried fish, his pies, his desserts, whether it's the ambiance, the personality and the positivity anytime you ordered from him or interacted with

him, the comfort you felt going into his cafe, his diner, he had a way of leaving a lasting impression on you as a customer. And that lasting impression is one of notoriety, of memory, of keepsake. And that lasting impression has influence in the community. And that influence compounded with the location of his cafe front and center in this 10.2 square mile city means you've got a guy that, in his 70-some years on this planet, has touched a lot of lives. So we'll try to unpack his influence and his legacy on the show. I will do my best to try to do justice to Mr. Walker on the program. I've been in this community for 24 years. You've been in the community as long as I have and as long as many of you have.

You're going to find your way to Mel's Cafe, and you're going to realize that it was a treasure of a cafe and diner. We have a lot we're going to cover on the show, including team members from Rebet opening a cafe in Richmond. The cafe in Richmond is going to be a bakery and cafe. It is going to be called Janet's Cafe and Bakery. It's going to open in new development within the Forest Hill neighborhood. We'll unpack this family tree, expanding its branches. You have the Marie Bett team with locations that we know of, very prominent on Rose Hill Drive and Petite Marie Bett on Water Street.

You have the Marie Bett team opening a donut shop, a breakfast joint, on Maury Avenue in a portion of the Anna's Pizza location. I believe that's called... Sprockos. Sprockos. Thank you very much. New Jersey style donuts. And now you have a fourth branch on the family tree with Janet's Cafe and Bakery. We'll give you some of those details on today's show. On the program, we'll also highlight a positive story for downtown Charlottesville, a downtown mall flower competition. The businesses in the most important eight blocks in the city of Charlottesville are competing for a $1,000 prize. And that prize will be awarded to the business in

downtown Charlottesville that has the best or the most impressive green thumb when it comes to creating a box of flowers outside their location. Judges will award a $1,000 prize to the most impressive green thumb. I'm excited for this story because it's so positive. I'm excited for this Virginia baseball regional. Brian O'Connor is hosting a regional again, his 11th hosted regional in 21 years on the job. He's made other regional appearances on the road, but he's hosted 11 regionals here at Davenport, at Dish Room Park in 21 seasons. He's got the Penn Quakers on the docket for Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m.

We have an apartment complex coming to Albemarle County. 328, Judah? Yeah. That's a lot of apartments. Judah will set the stage on that. And we have a new artificial turf field coming to Cars Hill Field. Cars Hill Field is the field opposite of the tennis courts and the new data science school. If you drive by that area, you'll see that Carrs Hill is just nothing but a patch of dirt now,

and it's because the University of Virginia is putting down some very impressive turf. So a lot we're going to cover on the program. First, I want to highlight Mel Walker. Sad news. Unexpected news. Unexpected news. You're looking at a gentleman born in the Vinegar Hill neighborhood in the 1950s. First opened Mel's Cafe in 1984. Interestingly, he closed Mel's Cafe because the business did not have a lot of momentum. He closed it in 1989. He then reopened Mel's Cafe in 1995. He purchased the building and reopened

the restaurant in 1995 after closing it in 1989. Mel has worked in restaurants since he was 11 years old. He cooked at the Virginian restaurant when he was 13 years old. The Virginian, the longest running restaurant in the community, 100 plus years. Some can say Timberlake's Drugstore, the longest running restaurant, but you know, tomato, tomato. I don't know if you call Timberlake'sstore, the longest running restaurant, but you know, tomato, tomato. I don't know if you call Timberlakes a restaurant or not. The Virginian is a hundred plus years old. And Mel worked there. He had a personality that was larger than life. He had a memory of faces and names and voices. If you called in an order over the phone, he'd occasionally recognize your voice and associate it with your order.

He had a skill set of not just cooking soul food and pricing it fairly, but he had a skill set of human connection and being affable and approachable and likable and kind and understanding that food was a vehicle or a mechanism to much larger aspects of life. We all have that person in our family, whether it's our mom, our grandma, our aunt, maybe it's a friend, that utilizes food and what they can do in a kitchen as a way to connect heart to heart, soul to soul, personality to personality. Food's the gateway to something much larger, and that was Mel. His impact in this community is much more significant than pies and fried chicken and fried fish and one-eyed burgers. His impact was one of prominence. Someone birthed in a neighborhood that was destroyed during urban renewal, Vinegar Hill.

Vinegar Hill, now the site of what? Staples office supply. Vinegar Hill, now the site of Vision Barbecue and that grayish box building. What is it? The Citizens Building? The Commonwealth Building? Where a bank is right there on the corner as you're entering the downtown mall. Vinegar Hill, the site's building, where a bank is right there on the corner as you're entering the downtown mall. Vinegar Hill, the site of asphalt parking lots. One of the largest, one of the biggest disservices and travesties in Charlottesville's history is the urban renewal, the raising of Vinegar Hill. And the fact that even to this day,

a community that prides itself in diversity, equity, inclusion, a community that prides itself in looking at its history and figuring out what it's done wrong and trying to correct it, the R.E. Lee statue removal in Market Street Park, an example of that. Why have we not figured out a way to honor the history and the legacy of Vinegar Hill to this day? It's surprising. Mr. Walker, born in this neighborhood in the 50s, and he utilizes his gift and his experience of cooking in kitchens starting at the Virginian restaurant, and he creates a brand that withstands the test of time. If you're in food and beverage, he opened in 1984, he closed in 1989,

he reopened in 1995. Let's just use the 1995 date. If you're in restaurants and you've been in operation continuously from 1995 to 2024, that is 29 years of running a restaurant. There's few in this community that can say they've run a restaurant for 29 years straight. Off the top of my head, you got what? The Virginian? You got C&O? Sal's Cafe Italia, I think, is in that category.

Very few can say they've run for that many consecutive years. And one aspect of the story that should be highlighted is the prominence of Mel's Cafe within the black owned business community the prominence is associated with how long he ran consecutive years 29 straight and also of course the location you look at West Main Street and it's no secret that West Main Street is becoming swallowed by the University of Virginia and out-of-market developers. Right across from Mel's, you have the Heirloom Development Project, an out-of-market developer that completely reimagined the Blue Moon Diner building. Alan Kajin, the bi-coastal attorney that partnered with the late, great Gabe Silverman, owns much of West Main Street. Mr. Kajin owns the public building. Mr. Kajin owns the shenanigans retail, what do you call it, building, strip, whatever you want to call it.

Mr. Gagin owns the parking lot of where the old Wild Wing Cafe was, the Amtrak parking lot, that big parking lot that's underutilized. So you have West Main Street, one of the most important corridors in Charlottesville, the connecting corridor between the University of Virginia and the downtown mall, the gateway to downtown and the gateway to UVA. Such an important corridor that former city councilor Heather Hill and former city councilor Kathleen Galvin, Kathy Galvin, were huge proponents and advocates of the West Main Streetscape Project, a project that was going to utilize UVA money and VDOT money to reimagine the streetscape completely, because they both realized that this streetscape

was critically important as a gateway to downtown and the University of Virginia. Out-of-market development money sees the importance of this corridor. The University of Virginia sees the importance of this corridor. And smack dab in the middle of one of the most important stretches in a 10.2 square mile city sat a diner. Owned by a man. born in Vinegar Hill in the 50s who figured out a way to buy the building and run a diner that served catfish and fried fish and pies and one-eyed burgers at fair prices for 29 straight years. A black man in the South, in a city that has struggled mightily with its past

as it applies to diversity, equity, and inclusion and being frank and straightforward, the fair treatment of men and women with black and brown skin. You're looking at one of the most prominent black-owned businesses in central Virginia, period, that just lost its namesake. There's much more to this story than the passing of a man

who worked on a grill top serving fried food. When you think about what's happened here, realize we've lost someone that may have been the flag carrier, waver, the top champion or most noteworthy or recognizable champion of black-owned business in a 300,000-person market called Central Virginia.

I want you to think of another. Judah, you do as well. Black-owned businesses that have more tenure, recognition, status, history, than mouse. Think about that.

Think about the challenge of running a diner and a cafe and owning a building in a stretch of road where the University of Virginia is trying to control, a stretch of road where out-of-market developers are trying to control, a stretch of road where out-of-market developers are trying to control, a stretch of road where you're navigating city politics, a stretch of road that is literally in the middle of Fifeville, Star Hill, 10th and Page, Vinegar Hill, downtown. That's the center of all those. Running a business where traditionally the shelf life of food and beverage is a few years and certainly not 29 straight. And doing it in a way where pretty much every time you go in there, it's Mel that's making the food and serving you. I mean, think about this story, folks. And today I was uncertain

of how to do the show. I was uncertain how to do the show because I wanted to make sure I characterized the impact of Mel outside of just his menu. And I wanted to do the show in a way that did justice to his legacy, offered firsthand testimony, highlighted his business interests, his real estate interests, his ability to withstand time and competition. You're not looking at a business that's evolving with technology and social media. Prior to the post on the Mel's page, ladies and gentlemen, and I'll go to it right now, Mel's Cafe on Facebook. Prior to the post done yesterday, where 17 hours ago, Mel's Cafe posted, we are closed, period, TBD, sorry for the inconvenience. Prior to that post,

the last one was done December 5th, 2023 on Facebook. The one before that, June 19, 2022, and October 3, 2021. So you have one, prior to yesterday's posts, you have a post on December 5, 2023, February 26, 2023, June 19th of 2022, October 3rd of 2021, and February 19th of 2021. You had five posts done basically in the last three years on Facebook, arguably the most influential website in the world. Do you think there's even an Instagram account? And if there, I haven't even looked. If he's done five Facebook posts in the last four years, probably not an Instagram account. He did it his way. And his way was food served with kindness. His way was food made with love. His way was welcome to my restaurant. Make yourself at home.

And let me make something that's going to make your soul happy. And that's the type of approach that bridged tourists and students and townspeople alike. The old saying from the tavern rooftop across from Barracks Road. He was able to galvanize all those classes and groups of people. Now we're left with questions, what's going to happen with the diner, with the cafe, who carries on the legacy, is that location,

which is one of prominence and significance, is that one going to be swallowed by out-of-market developers or the University of Virginia? Are we going to wake up one morning and it's going to be raised much like Vinegar Hill was? And is it going to turn into a 12

story apartment complex? $2,500 studio apartments for 600 square feet. Like much of the character in this town is becoming. And if that's the future of that location then that's a travesty just like Vinegar Hill was a travesty.

Charlottesville lost a good man. Two good men lost this year alone. Wilson Ritchie and Mel Walker. Yeah. Yes, different, but similarities abundant. We'll relay some comments on air. Rob Neal watching the program. His photo on screen, Mr. Neal. My heart goes out to those who knew Mel

deeper than the casual patron like me. Mel's is a foundational part of Charlottesville charm and nostalgia. Name a better lens on all that make us love Seville than sitting under an umbrella table at Mel's on a warm summer evening and student town gown all walk by along with travelers from the Amtrak station. Infuse a plate of fried chicken, stewed tomatoes, and greens paired with a cup of crushed ice-filled drink served with a smile and care. Would friends who have left

Seville say they miss it? Many mean they miss sharing that meal at Mel's in that location over good conversation with friends and strangers. I would say, Rob Neal, this was your best comment in the history of the I Love Seville show. Thank you, Rob Neal, for sharing this. I'm going to respond to that right now. Amen to everything you just said. Stephanie Wells Rhodes, valued member of this family says, so very sad, tags her fantastic husband, Larry Rhodes, and highlights it's Larry's favorite place. Mr. Larry Rhodes just built a fantastic playground for his granddaughters. Larry Rhodes, you're a skilled, skilled man.

Bob Yarborough, king of Redfields, watching the program. The loss of beloved institutions is painful in communities, particularly towns our size. My hope is the city, because of the diner's historic designation, does not allow a developer to raise the building. Amen. Amen. Amen. Bob Yarborough. Curious to see how the city responds to this. Very curious to see how the city

responds to this. Logan Wells-Clela, we appreciate you watching the show. We've got local media watching us as we speak. Judah, two-shot you, if you could please, sir. Anything you want to include into this topic? There's not much I could say. As I mentioned, I'm sad to have never visited Mel's Cafe. So I can't really speak to how good the food was.

But I'm touched by how many people he managed to touch through the course of keeping his business open. John Blair watching on LinkedIn. Rest in power to Mr. Walker. His restaurant made the best apple pie in Virginia. He was a good man. He also says a question about Mel's Enterprises. What was the connection, if any, of the Mel's Barbershop on Dice with Mel Walker and his cafe on West Main? That's a good question. I don't have that answer. Anybody have that answer, the connection with Mel Walker, his cafe on West Main, with Mel's Barbershop on Dice? John also highlights this little-known fact Barrett Early Learning Center on Ridge was a black nursery started in 1935. I have a list that is on the United Way Seville website, unitedwayseville.org,

of black-owned businesses in this community. And there are many which I find amazing. The Barrett Early Learning Center is on this list. It's the Black Business Guide, Greater Charlottesville 2023-20 2024. Barrett's Early Learning Center, one of the most prominent, certainly. I ask you this question with the passing of Mel Walker. Have we lost the most prominent Black-owned business owner in the community or region. Antoine Brinson, with his business, he is fantastically prominent and influential with Culinary Concepts AB. Heck, he was just in an

HBO TV series, Mr. Brinson. He's come on this show. Hugely impactful. Educating front of the house and back of the house staff at Culinary Concepts AB to place them in restaurants around the region with more experience in coaching and education prior to their employment. I love the concept. Previously worked at Common House, Mr. Brinson. But I have a sincere question for you. Did we just lose the most prominent man or woman

that owned a black-owned business in the region? Perhaps the most storied, but I don't know about the most prominent. What would be the most prominent? I mean, we've got Ralph Sampson. Ralph Sampson's Tap House? We saw how he was fested in the streets when he left the studio. Not the majority owner of the Tap House on Barracks Road but still your point is taken when Ralph Sampson left our studio on Market Street and

headed to his car parked in front of our studio he stopped traffic on either side of Market Street with folks looking for pictures and selfies with Ralph in front of our studio. This is much more than the passing of a man in a diner. And I hope that's how the story is told by traditional media, many who are watching the show right now. The show must continue.

What's the next headline, Judah Wickauer? And speaking of black-owned businesses, Marie Bett on Rose Hill. Yeah, Jason Becton. Co-owned with his husband. The Marie Bett team, another branch in their family tree it starts with uh the rose hill location the second branch the water street location petite marie bette the third branch on maury avenue are Are you talking about Sprocko's Donuts?

In the old Anna's location. Now the fourth branch. A cafe and bakery opening in Richmond and Forest Hill. Will Darcy and Janie, I hope I'm not, I apologize if I'm missing your last name up Janie Janie Giosa they're opening Janet's Cafe and Bakery

and Janet's Cafe and Bakery is taking about 2,000 of a new project's 8,000 square a new project's 8,000 square feet. This project will include 40 apartments above the ground floor commercial space. There'll be bread, croissants, croissant sandwiches, breakfast sandwiches, some specialty lunch sandwiches, salads, and chocolate chip cookies. A neighborhood feel is what they're going for.

Janet's will operate as counter service, just like the Water Street location, and have seating for around 25 people. The cafe is named for an inside joke between the two, Janie and Janet, iPhones autocorrect, Janie to Janet with text messages. I love seeing local businesses birth other local businesses

by positioning team members of significance into positions of ownership and influence. We've seen this with the Wilson-Ritchie family tree. We've seen this with what Andy McClure has done. We've seen this with what Marie Bett is doing. It's fantastic. I think they're going to have a lot of success in Richmond. That's a booming market. A market of affordability, a market of housing density, a market of walkability, and a market of employment opportunity. Many,

Richmond in a lot of ways is the yin to yang to Charlottesville. How so? Housing affordability in Richmond, that's there. Housing affordability in Charlottesville and Alamoire County, it's not. Walkability in Richmond, bikeability in Charlottesville, bikeability and walkability in Richmond, bikeability in Charlottesville,

bikeability and walkability in Richmond, absolutely there. Bikeability and walkability in Charlottesville and the urban ring, you want to risk your life. If you want to play Frogger. Employment opportunity in Richmond, jobs galore across different sectors. Employment opportunity

in Charlottesville and Elmore County, yeah, if you work in high finance and if you work in data and if you work in science technology, besides that, good luck. Good luck. That's why you're seeing a jettison or a migration of OG Charlottesville to Richmond. Downtown Mollflower competition. This is a positive story. Get that lower third on screen if you could. More than 50 businesses in downtown Charlottesville are showcasing a flower box outside their business. The name of the competition is the Downtown in Bloom Celebration.

Friends of Charlottesville's leading the charge. A friendly competition with $1,000 on the line. The winner announced in June. Put flowers, make them look nicey-nice and beautiful outside your business in a box. Create positivity around downtown in eight blocks that desperately need it.

One of my favorite times of year is right now. The youth in our community at many of the local schools have done artwork that is hanging in the storefronts of many downtown businesses. And there's some good stuff out there, too. Phenomenal stuff. And this is coming from a man, Judah Wickower,

who's a fantastic artist. One of the things you may not know about Judah Wickower, Savannah College of an Art and Design Educated, a tremendous artist across many different formats, Judah Wickhauer. Thank you. I love seeing the classrooms as the school years are winding down, the teachers on field trips with their kids to look at the artwork in the windows. I love seeing the positivity downtown. I love this flower concept, this flower idea of Friends of Seville leading this charge.

Friends of Seville is the 2024 version of the Downtown Business Owners Association. That's pretty much fallen by the wayside. More families, more kids, more flowers, more art, more hope, more positivity, more foot traffic, more energy. Love it all. Get draft tap room open, Stefan Freeman.

Come on, Stefan Freeman. You're doing great things with Vitae Spirit and Bonnie and Reed. I love doing great things with Vitae Spirit and Bonnie and Reed. I love the idea of combining Vitae Spirits and Bonnie and Reed. With a combined sitting waiting area for people to enjoy the spirits while they're waiting for seafood at Bonnie and Reed or their table. Now get Draft Tap Room open. Right.

You may have gotten a little behind schedule with the Ace Biscuit and Barbecue disaster. And by disaster I mean a disgruntled employee destroying the restaurant. I love Ace Biscuit and Barbecue. New artificial turf is coming to Cars

Hill. I was wondering what was going on. Now we have a little bit of insight, so I wanted to relay it to you. Cars Hill is the field that is across from the outdoor tennis courts, across from the data science school, right down the road from Memorial Gym. New turf for the club and intramural sports, the marching band to practice, and outdoor activities associated with UVA curriculum. That area is in a flood plain, so they're being very strategic with the turf they're putting in.

It often is flooded or is muddy. UVA continues to improve its holdings. I want you to set the stage, if you could, as you rotate the lower thirds for the 328 apartments coming to Albemarle County, please. All right. Okay. I mean, this is good news. It's a multifamily development. It's going to be called the Rio Point Apartments. It'll be bringing 328 units of which I believe 15% will be affordable housing.

And, I mean, it's, hopefully this is something that will help take pressure off of housing in Charlottesville. Obviously, we need more of this. Location. Location is just off of, what is it, just off of, what is it, just off of, I think the Parkway. Let me double check. Who, what, when, where, why?

John Warner Parkway and Rio Road. and this is from Dominion Realty Stony Point Development and Quad Capital Partners Stony Point, Chris Henry's outfit, the team behind Dairy Market front of the program? Yeah. To think that something like this could have been right in the center of Charlottesville. You're talking Phase 3 Dairy Market? Yeah.

Different type of project, but still, to your point, additional or new housing? I mean, it was apartments, right? It was apartments. Those apartments would have been at a higher price point. No doubt. But it would have had some affordable housing included in it. I mean, I don't think most of this is going to be affordable housing for anyone.

But, yeah. Very curious to see how this multifamily project and how the multifamily projects that are coming to Ivy Road, what kind of impact they have on the community across the board. Yeah, I think the belief is a lot of UVA students have been, because of the lack of available housing for them, they've been going into places like 10th and Page and Fifeville and occupying housing that obviously displaces long-time residents who've lived in those areas as the prices go up. So hopefully this will again ease some of that pressure.

Time will tell. We'll see. Because I would imagine population influx will continue with this community. No doubt. We learned on real talk with Keith Smith this morning, and I have the slide in front of me, that in Albemarle County alone, if you compare the first 90 days of 2024, the first quarter of 2024, with April and May of this year, so the first 90 days of 2024 compared with April and May of 2024, in Albemarle County alone, the median sales dollar value for units sold jumped from $446,000 in Q1 of this year to $475,000 through the first two months of the second quarter.

The housing is getting more expensive. No doubt. I'll close on this. Virginia baseball hosts the Penn Quakers. First pitch, 12 o'clock Friday. Davenport. Dishroom Park. Virginia hosting a regional for the 11th time,

and O'Connor's 21 years on the job. Mississippi State and St. John's also in this regional. The winner advances to the NCAA Super Regional. On paper, it would look like a UVA-Arkansas matchup. You're looking at Brian O'Connor as one of the greatest coaches in Virginia athletic department history right there, folks. You have two coaches in Tony Bennett and Brian O'Connor that are on your Mount Rushmore of coaches.

I want you to think about that. We'll follow this baseball team closely. Judah Wickauer, Jerry Miller, the I Love Seville show on a Wednesday afternoon, the day after Melvin Walker's passing. Rest in power, Mr. Walker. Amen. Thank you.