The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Otto Turkish Street Food, Water Street Downtown; Get To Know Otto Co-Owner Haldun Turgay

Episode Date: May 1, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Otto Turkish Street Food, Water Street Downtown Get To Know Otto Co-Owner Haldun Turgay Why/When Did You Open Otto? How Is It Doing? Expectations With Otto Turkish Street Food Is CVille A Good Environment To Launch A Biz? Memorial Honoring Football Players Painted Over Downtown Home Demolished W/Out Approval Louisa Co Supervisors Deny PVCC Funding Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air Haldun Turgay, Co-Owner of Otto Turkish Street Food, joined Jerry Miller 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 and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Wednesday afternoon, guys. My name is Jerry Miller, and thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seville Show. It's a pleasure to connect with you through a network that is a labor of love, a network that we thoroughly enjoy building and working very hard to grow. The whole point of the I Love Seville show and the I Love Seville network is to feature local content and to relay it to you, the viewer and listener, across social media and podcasting platforms.

Today's program has a diverse content portfolio. We're going to talk with a local restaurant owner that is making very quick momentum with growing his brand. He is the co-owner of Otto Turkish Street Food. You will see in a matter of 30 seconds, Holden Turge on set to talk about goals, expectations, the customer experience, some of the freshest food we have ever tasted. A restaurant located on Water Street in downtown Charlottesville that you have to try. We'll talk what it's like to run a restaurant in a competitive market. There are a lot of restaurants in Charlottesville. We all know that. There's certainly a customer base that has

high expectations in Charlottesville. So all those topics, including your questions on today's edition of the I Love Seville show. I want to highlight a storyline that I found compelling today from the Cavalier Daily, the newspaper that covers the University of Virginia. There was a mural created to honor three fallen football players that was painted over recently by the 17 Society. That topic, after our interview with Holden Turgay, we will also talk a North downtown home that was demolished, literally destroyed without City Hall approval. And now, Charlottesville local government has issued a stop work order. And folks, more coverage of the

Louisa County Board of Supervisors denying funding, or at least putting that funding on hold to Piedmont Virginia Community College for what Louisa has dubbed as anti-Semitic behavior at Piedmont Virginia Community College. Judah Wickhauer is our director. If you can go to the studio camera and then a two-shot as we welcome Holden Turgate to the program. Thank you, my friend, for joining us on today's show. How are you doing? Thank you very much. Thank you again for having me. I'm doing great.

It's great to have you. Introduce yourself to the viewers and listeners if you could. So my name is Haldun. I'm the co-owner of Aldo Turkey Street Food. I've been living in Charlottesville since 2013. Okay. So like we own the restaurants almost, three and a half years. Uh-huh.

And it's been going great. We are so happy, so grateful right now, like, with all the things going on in our life, in our, like, business. And every day we are trying to add more and more experience for the community. That's fantastic. You've been in Charlottesville since 2013. Yeah. So almost 11 years. What brought you to Charlottesville?

I came here as an intern. Okay. Like my business partner, Ali. We used to work at Clifton Inn. Okay. So they used to have interns from all around the world back in days. Okay. So we were part of it.

So we worked there for a few years. At the Clifton, in Keswick. That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Clif worked there for a few years. At the Clifton in Caswick. That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Clifton Inn. Uh-huh. Yeah. And we worked there like a few years as an intern.

And then we were not planning to live in here for a decade. And then personally, I just fell in love with the nature, with the kindness of people. I really liked everything about Charlottesville. I'm like, all right. I might live here for a little while. After a little while, I just get used to living here. I feel like I'm from Charlottesville. I love it.

He's from Charlottesville. I love this. I love where this interview is going here. So where did you move from when you came to an internship at the Clifton in Keswick? Yeah. Where did you move from when you came to an internship at the Clifton in Keswick? Yeah, actually, I was born in Istanbul, Turkey, which right now has almost 20 million population. Wow. It's a huge city, almost like twice the size of New York City. Okay.

I mean, that's where I was born and grew up, and that's where I went to college, and that's where I worked in different like a high-end hotels and restaurants technically just right after I graduated from the college I got this internship and I joined the Clifton and Tim that is amazing so you go from Istanbul where you graduate from college yeah to across the world yeah to Charlottesville yeah I mean were you were you give us a feel for your emotions. Were you scared? Were you excited? Was it like, I mean, this is

the American dream right here, right? It is, yeah, 100%. Yeah, I agree. Of course, at the beginning, I was frustrated because I knew a lot of things about the U.S., but I didn't know much about Charlottesville, to be honest. But I got a chance

to travel around around europe during during my college and this was like i kind of knew what i was expecting but it was a totally american dream i cannot agree more and and everything we i experienced here like a personal life like like business life, like education life. I'm so happy. How about 20 million people in Istanbul to 48,000 people in Charlottesville? I mean, was that a culture shock for you? It's a much smaller place. It was more than a culture shock.

It was like a culture crash, you know like i was like what am i do you know like it's saturday like especially like the first year of my first year in charlesville you know i get used to living god i used to go eat at 10 p.m 11 p.m yeah and like night will just keep going but meanwhile i don't know. I just get used to living in the, you know, like the, like a, I, Charlottesville made me feel like I become my comfort zone. I was like, no, like that life. I don't know. It's still good. I still enjoy Istanbul when I go there.

Yeah. But after a few weeks, I start feeling like, oh, I miss Charlottesville. It is good living in a big city. It is so nice, but it's kind of challenging sometimes you know charlottesville is so convenient yeah like you have like you can make time for yourself like during any time of today if i don't go to the gym after work i mean living in the big city right now you know you get in the you get in the subway if you're driving you have to think about finding a

spot for your car it's just convenient here i just get i just like the convenient of charlesville that's amazing um charlesville you go from an internship at the clifton inn to opening a restaurant was there anything in between yes it is i've worked like several restaurants in charlesville like which ones i i used to work uh O'Kirst. Oak Heart Social? No, no. O'Kirst, yeah. Yeah, I worked in O'Kirst with Ali. I spent a few years there.

Okay. And I used to be a bartender in Preston Avenue. There was a place used to be called M&M Lounge. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I used to work. The old Alpac Lounge. That's right. That's right.

And I used to work in it. I worked a couple places in downtown. I was helping some friends. i was taking shifts on the weekends and i was working other restaurants during the week like i've been just all around charles so that's awesome that's great experience what what um motivated you guys or what was the influence behind opening this restaurant auto turkish street food yeah this was our thing. So Ali and I, we... That's his business partner. Yeah, my business partner. We decided to open a business for like six years ago. You know, once you get there, you just want

to do something. After having this much experience in hospitality and restaurant, and then we were like, we were just planning to do some like a business and we were looking for what was what will do best thing what will just make a big hype in charlesville and this concept is such a big thing all around the world like especially in europe in like middle east it's like it's like a big cultural thing and we just figured it out charlesville was missing that there was no such a spot like that you can just go either like a quick bites, like a healthy, like a fresh, you know, pretty much is reasonable. And we just decided to do something like this. It was especially, we have decided this before COVID,

but we were like, we got to do it. It doesn't matter what's happening right now in the world. So when did you open? 2020. You opened in 2020? Yeah. Wow. It was insane. Was it the start of COVID?

It was just like a few months after. Unbelievable. Yeah, yeah. So did you think about not opening with the pandemic? We did, we did, but we knew it was going to end one day. Right. And our food is like you know it's so good to take out it's like everyone can approach the way it's like uh very comfortably

uh-huh and we knew it so that spot just became available we didn't want to miss it but we just want to give it a shot yeah Yeah. Like nothing stopped us. That's amazing. So you opened a couple months into COVID. This is truly the American dream here. Yeah. So you immediately probably go into takeout food because at the time, dining in wasn't an option early.

So talk to us about what was going through you and your business partner, Ali's mind here. Yeah. Were you guys scared? Were you guys scared? Were you like, are we going to make it through this? What tactics did you utilize to find success early on? I think our biggest motivation was like all our life,

we were just like, go, go, go. You know, when you're in the restaurant business, you have like a very active life. You just go take long, like weekend shifts. You just go take long weekend shifts. You just go like, you do something else during the weekdays. And we had so much time and that life didn't mean for us. We were like,

doesn't matter what's happening. Doesn't matter whatever happens in the world right now. We got to do something that will feel, that will make us feel satisfied. And we were just decided this concept before COVID, but we knew it, like we knew it. People will still come, take out, and support us. Juan Sarmiento watching the program, he says this,

I have eaten there. This place is amazing. I appreciate that. Does he say donors not done better in town by anyone dinners not done by uh better than anyone in town so he's giving you some props right here it's located guys on water street water street talk to us about um what the customer can expect when they go to your restaurant so when they come in the restaurant course, it's like it's like it's an ethnic food. Some people they don't know much about it. Yeah, like me.

Yeah, yeah. But it's our priority motivation to make everyone satisfied about our restaurant, about our food. So we like we really enjoy indulging people with the food we make. So what we do, we pretty much do like a, I mean, doner, I mean, you know, all around the world called different, some people call it gyro, some people call it shawarma, some people call it like Central America, El Pastor, it's pretty much the same technique, the same way of cooking, like a stack of meat cooks against the broil by different spices. We call it doner. So we have the broilers in the kitchen. So we marinate the meat and chicken the night before.

And next morning, we stack it up. And we start cooking against the broil. As it cooks, we shave it off and bring to the front of the house. And we just serve it out. That's amazing. And we have other fresh out. That's amazing. And we have other fresh toppings that people can come

and get one of our signature bowls or wraps or pitas, but they can customize the way they like it. I think that's what people like most about it. It is so flexible. So people don't have to stick on the menu. They just create the way they like it

you're gonna love this the comments are coming in so fast here so jen finazzo and i love jen finazzo of the sal's cafe italia family she's giving you some big time props she says their food is so good and i want to give jen finazzo props on this she is in the restaurant business and she is such a champion of other restaurants in town she supports all the restaurants in town and is quick to give props to all the restaurants out there yeah she's giving you some love right now rob neal is watching the program he says quality value the utility is unmatched i love this type of food and auto is the best in town. So you got your customers coming out and giving you some love here. Talk to us about the, the, the street food, um, uh, moniker or what street food means here. Um, because I've noticed, and like my wife, she's from Manhattan. Um, and she swears by street food.

I know she, she, she swears by street food because of some of the things you've already highlighted. It's priced well. Yeah. It's convenient. You can eat it walking on the go. That's right. It's often made right in front of you. And it doesn't have like a lot of the, I don't want to call it pomp and circumstance, but like a lot of the time commitment of like, you know, sitting down, it's an hour later and then you're leaving here. You're eating this on the run.

Yeah. So talk to us how like street food is so prevalent in other cultures and later and then you're leaving here. You're eating this on the run. So talk to us how street food is so prevalent in other cultures, in Turkey, and what you're trying to do bringing it to Charlottesville. Yes, street food is a very big thing in my home country. People really take pride to explore and find real street food. As you mentioned, some people don't want to go, to find real street food. As you mentioned, it is so... Some people, they don't want to go, sit down, see the hostess and spend 10 minutes to take a look at the menu.

And you don't have to wait for food to be prepared in the kitchen and bring it over to you. The way we make it, people just walk in, so we just welcome them with a smile. And we just make their food right away in front of their eyes. And like a street food, you have like a, about having a street food place, I think biggest thing is accessibility. Accessibility.

Accessibility. Yeah. And also freshness. Once you get the high volume, so you serve the freshest food. Were you guys at all intimidated? And Vanessa Parkhill is watching the program on Earliesville. Thank you, Vanessa. You're going to love this restaurant.

Were you at all intimidated or hesitant or nervous to open a restaurant in Charlottesville that has so many other restaurants that are out there? Not really. Okay. I like it not really I mean because as I said we spent so I mean we all and I might call like in my business partner yeah like we studied hospitality we work around around the world we work like a high-end restaurants we knew it what we were doing i mean actually we were believing it uh-huh and it's our passion you know for our passion like we knew it so i wasn't very hesitating is is the charlottesville knowing what you know now you started this a couple of months at the beginning of covid that's so are you at a four-year anniversary? Almost. Almost four years. Oh my gosh, this is amazing.

They're almost at four years here. How would you describe Charlottesville as a good place to run a restaurant, as a challenging place? I mean, here's a good example. The meals taxes are increasing. I know. That's tough. It is tough. We were talking about how Uma's, which is right down the street from you.

Such a great place. Yeah, great place, right? Such sweet people. Such sweet people, right? They talked on Facebook, they put on Facebook that they were selling. Part of the reason they were selling was like, look, the taxes are going up. It's making it tough here. Crazy.

So I'll throw all this topic to you, anywhere you want to go on this topic. That's why, I mean, I totally agree what you say about it. It's challenging, especially like right now with this inflation, like, you know, every week you purchase some ingredients, like goes up, like, you know, and you cannot increase your prices every week. So you have to keep your customers and you have to keep your food affordable and reasonable but at the same time you have to maintain the same quality of standards right so i think the biggest i think the most challenging part is balancing this out but again like if you believe in if you think you are you love what you're doing you will some people will still come and get your food and eat your food.

What's your favorite item on the menu? Other one. Yeah, other one, yeah. Talk to us about that. It's like, I think people already know about our pita bread. It's like a savory, like a fluffy, some people call it pilovi, pocket pita. So we just

stuff with some fresh hummus some roasted red pepper bread some Turkish pickles and it gives a lot of flavor like dill pickles and some onions and you can add beef or chicken doner

or you can make it vegetarian with falafel and we finish it up with some fresh tzatziki sauce oh god i'm so hungry it's so good it's like you know i make that meal every day but even i'm craving right now i just want to go back to restaurant and make one for myself i'm craving it right now as well this this from uh one of our we we rank our viewers and listeners and he's number one in the family he goes by the handle deep throat he says i love auto and i love turkish street food you're gonna have to help me with this in fact why don't we go to the studio camera i'm gonna bring my computer over so he can help me read this here so this is what he says in

the comment here all right so he's familiar with Istanbul. So he goes, help me with that. Merhaba. Yeah, what's that? He's like, hi. Okay. Yeah. Okay, so he's saying hello. Yeah, yeah.

He's just saying hello. He's just greeting. So he's saying, wondering if you're going to ever have... Simit. Oh, yeah, yeah. He says buying it on the street is one of his favorite parts of going to Istanbul for work. He goes to Istanbul for work. Yeah, yeah.

We get that question a lot. So simit is like the very, very big street food item in Turkey. Okay. I will call like a circle bread. It's like a sort of bagel.

Uh-huh. But it is like it is slightly sweeter than bagel and you just eat it with some black tea or with some like a nectar.

That sounds amazing. Yeah. Is it hard to make? a nectar. That sounds amazing. Yeah. Is it hard to make? It is. It is hard to make. I mean, it's hard to keep it because it has to be like a very crispy outside. Okay.

But at the same time, it doesn't need to be burned. And it is a little like a soft dough inside. And people who makes them, what makes it special, everyone in Turkey makes it in like a firewood oven. So it's so hard to find like a firewood oven. Right. And like make that simit, make that bagel every day.

And I miss that. I miss that all the time. So you get this question a lot. Like a lot. Whoever visits Turkey, whoever's been there, and every time they introduce themselves, they're like, oh, are you guys making simit? I would like to have some.

I was like, I wish. I wish, I wish. But maybe one day. I'll highlight some of the viewers and listeners that are watching the program. Teresa Kelly, hello. Erdem Azdo, watching the program. Thank you kindly for watching the show. This question's come in the feed.

What are some of your favorite restaurants in town and why? Oh, that's a tough question. That's a tough question. It's a tough question for Charlottesville.

Because there's so many. There's so many. Also, it's so diverse. I cannot categorize them. I can categorize them by diversity. What's my favorite

Asian restaurant? What's my favorite? What's your favorite Asian restaurant? Now and Zen. Now and Zen is so good. It's my go-to. What's my favorite? What's your favorite Asian restaurant? Now and then. Now and then is so good. I love it. It's my go-to.

Toshi Sushi. Oh, they're like a tuna carpaccio. Yeah. That salad. Oh my gosh. It's, it's in the rolls are humongous and you see the owner making the food when you walk in. The quality is so good.

I love it. What are, what are some of your other favorite restaurants by category then? Like, like it sells my Italian restaurant. Okay. My favorite Italian restaurant. You're giving Jennifer Nazo some love right now. Shout out to Jennifer. Yeah.

And on the more like, like I like, I like Ocher Social. Okay. I like their, I like their pizza. They have that wood fire oven. Yeah, they do. They do. It's amazing. Yeah.

Yeah. I like their, I like their food a They have that wood fire oven. Yeah, they do. They do. It's amazing. Yeah, I like their food a lot. And what else? But yeah, it's so hard to come up with restaurant names. There are a lot of good restaurants in Charlottesville. Okay, where do you find yourself going? Like a date night? Okay, so let's go date night. Yeah, or occasional.

A special occasion, date night, drinks, late night, if you're trying to party a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Lunch, breakfast, all the above. All right. My date night place, Alley Light for a long time. Alley Light is great. Yeah. It's been on top of my list for a long time.

Okay. And my, I guess, guess whiskey jar because i'm also very i'm very passionate about whiskey yeah like i love i love anything brown that comes out from the barrel same for me same like rest in power wilson ritchie we love wilson richie yeah we love yeah we love them too so much so whiskey jar is my is my late night place. If I want to go out, like party, that's my place to go. Okay. For breakfast, I love Bell. Oh, Bell is so good.

I love Bell. Yeah. They make their own bread. Yeah. Like their homemade sourdough bread. The Shaughnessy Brothers. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I love it.

I love it so much. For like lunch, that's an interesting question. Well, you're probably working, right? That's what I was thinking. I was thinking, when did I go out for lunch? I don't think it's been a while since last time I had a lunch somewhere. Put your schedule in perspective. What are the hours you work, the days you work?

Here's the thing. People see- Who wants to open a restaurant? They want to know. Everyone wants to open a restaurant, but folks don't realize Everyone wants to open a restaurant. But they don't... Folks don't realize how hard you guys are working. Yeah, that's right. And like when we're off and enjoying our weekends or our nights,

it's when these guys are grinding. Yeah. Yeah, put in perspective how hard you're working. Especially this time of the year, our hours are insane. Because also we have a food truck operation. Yeah. So we're located in UVA. We serve right next to Amphitheater from Monday to Friday. Okay, with the food truck operation. Yeah. So we located in UVA. We serve right next to Amphitheater from Monday to Friday.

Okay. With the food truck. With the food truck. Okay. But now is this time of the year, we just doing like a pop-up events. We go like a concert. We go do like weddings. And also, we do like big caterings.

So right now, I'm having a hard time to track my hours. Like a lot of people come to Charlottesville for special occasions, like a winery brings a lot of people. So right now, our hours are insane. So we get to the restaurant at 7, 8 a.m. in the morning. 7 or 8 in the morning. Yeah, and we start prepping. And we open at 11 o'clock.

So we have to be good to go by 11. Yeah. So by 12, we like, we open at 11 o'clock. Okay. So we have to be good to go by 11. Yeah. So by 12, we get a big rush. We get the rush. So we have to be ready for that every day.

And we are open seven days. Yeah, dude. These guys are open seven days a week. We are open seven days in a week, you know, like, and we are open for like

it's lunch and dinner from 11 to 8 30 during the weekdays and 11 to 9 Friday and Saturday. That's amazing. It during the weekdays and 11 to 9 Friday and Saturday. That's amazing. It is. Has it been difficult to find staff?

It has been at the beginning. Okay. But I was just talking about, Ali, what should I say about we've been working with the same people since we opened. Oh. Like our front of house. Okay. Our kitchen employees. We are so grateful for them. And we are. Oh. Like our, like in front of house. Okay. Or like a kitchen employees. We are so grateful for them

and like we are very appreciate. How have you been able to swing that? I think what I was, what we've been trained to do, we've been trained to create like a peaceful work environment.

Okay. And we just want to keep them satisfied and happy. And they just pace back, you know, they just, they, we, We are so happy to work together. That's amazing.

Peaceful working environment. What are the expansion plans, long-term goals for the restaurant? Yeah, at this moment we are trained to find new items. We are trained to create new meals in our menu.

Of course, in the long term, in the future, we are planning to open our second location. Oh. Any, can I ask where you guys are potentially looking? I mean, I think it's going to be Richmond. Oh, fantastic. Because, like, we get a lot of people. We have a lot of customers. Some people just

drive from Richmond to eat at our restaurant. That's awesome. And like, if we finalize our decision about expanding for the second place, I think it will be Richmond. Fantastic. I got two more questions for you. The last

question is going to be, what is it about Charlottesville that you absolutely love? Before I get to that question, I'm going to throw this one for you. The last question is going to be, what is it about Charlottesville that you absolutely love? Before I get to that question, I'm going to throw this one to you. When you walk by Otto Turkish Street Food and you see, oh, my gosh, it's been almost a four-year anniversary. Me and my business partner created this. Customers are coming in the door and have supported us for almost four years. You walk by it. You can touch it.

You can feel it. You can touch it, you can feel it, you can eat there. It pays your bills. It pays your team members, your employees' bills. What is that? Put that in perspective for everyone. I mean, of course I feel proud of ourselves. Yeah.

Like, we put a lot of work, we put a lot of sweat in this restaurant, but it pays back. And there are some days I feel like I cannot believe it. It's been like almost four years and it's been going well. Yeah. And as you said, I think it's such a nice feeling that we created something.

We came up with this concept. People loved it. Also, we are so grateful for the community in Charlottesville. They are so supportive. We are very grateful for every single person thatottesville. They are so supportive. We are very grateful for every single person that's been supporting our restaurant. And it feels so good about yourself. We discussed about this with my business partner, Ali. And we are so grateful. I love it. I love it. This question just got put in the feed. How many languages do

you speak? I speak like three languages. Three? I mean, I don't know, should I consider my Spanish as a flu, but I can communicate well in Spanish too. That's amazing. Yeah, like I speak English, Turkish, and I will say Spanish. That's fantastic. Okay, last question for you.

You have killed this interview. Thank you very much. This is amazing. What is it about Charlottesville that you love? First of all, I love people here. I love the kindness of people. And I love diversity. Yeah. I'm a big mountain biker.

Mountain biker. Yeah. Oh, this is the place for you. And this is the place. Yeah. Every day I get a chance. Like, I want to enjoy the opportunities. When I take my bike to the trails, like, I love it. And this is, I mean, as a hobby-wise, this is what I like about Charlottesville.

But living here is I like people. I like, you know, kindness of community. I like supportness. I like kindness of community. I like support. I like collaboration with businesses. We are here as a local small business. You invited us. We are so appreciated. I don't know.

I love it. It's also like a little wipe that I cannot explain very well. But once you get used to that comfort zone, I don't know. It's like, I totally understand, man. It's so peaceful here. I love it. I totally get it. Um, they call it a, so Charlottesville has a lot of different nicknames. One of the nicknames for Charlottesville is called the hook and the hook because it gets its hooks into you and then you stay. Yeah. Yeah. I felt it too. Like when I first arrived in 2000 as a first year at UVA. So I've been here 24 years in August and I knew like halfway through college that this

was going to be my home because everything you said, it just feels like, you know what, Charlottesville a lot of ways, and it's changed dramatically, but Charlottesville for me almost feels like this, like that warm blanket that you get into bed into and you just like it makes you feel comfortable and safe and makes you feel like this is where i belong that's right that's right yeah so i totally can relate now now i can say that after living here 10 years yeah now i feel like this is where i belong well i i i you you were amazing today thank you very much i i hope everyone that watches and listens goes and supports Otto Turkish Street Food on Water Street in downtown Charlottesville.

They have a food truck next to the amphitheater on grounds of the University of Virginia. This gentleman and his business partner are working their tails off, and they're working hard to serve fresh food at reasonable prices that is absolutely delicious. So thank you so much for your time. Thank you very much. Thank you again.

Thank you very much for having me again. And I would like to have each of you and taste our Turkish flavors, whatever you are looking for, quick lunch bites or big events. Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Absolutely.

Judah, if you go on a one shotshot, I thought that interview was fantastic. Viewers and listeners, I think you're going to love this restaurant. Philip Dow in Scottsville says, great interview. We will be visiting this restaurant very soon. Thank you, Philip Dow. I love to support and to spotlight and champion the small business owner. Our business is 16 years old in, oh my gosh, 16 years old, the 27th of this month. That's crazy. 16 years old in 26 days for our business, for this business. And it is a, small business life is not, is not for, it's not for

everybody. It is hard. It is long hours. And when you're not working on the job, like physically, you're thinking about the job. Often when you're with your family or your loved ones or your friends, kind of put your mind to work and not really being in the moment but once you get a feel or in a taste for it you wouldn't really have it any other way so as we've had success in this community I love to utilize this platform to highlight others that are kind of going through this growth process or this like this this trajectory and when you're four years in with a restaurant four years in with a restaurant is like 16 years in with what I do with branding and consultation

and real estate four years in the restaurant business is like a lifetime and we have an abundance of riches in this community. I mean, we had Jen Fonazo commenting on this show and her family business, Sal's Cafe Italia, man, they're decades in on the downtown mall. We just, I guess, before we get to the other topics that we're going to cover on the show, and I'll weave Judah Wickour in the mix and we'll welcome the Market Street camera into the mix. Keep your dollars with the local businesses that you want to see survive and the headwinds for a small business right now are as challenging as any of I've seen. Whether it's inflation, whether it's labor, whether it's floating debt tied to credit cards

or interest rates that are moving daily, whether it's government raising taxes, whether it's the internet and customer behavior changing because of the internet. There's so many headwinds out there. And if we want to see the folks and the businesses we love survive, we've got to support them. Let's get Judah in on a two-shot. First, I thought the interview was fantastic. Yeah, it was great. Second, you got a feel for the restaurant yesterday

at a photo shoot. I thought the photos you did were excellent. And it sounds like you got a belly full of Turkish street food last night, you and your family. He started putting all the stuff that they had brought out for me to photograph. Started putting it in one of those

aluminum catering trays. I've got the light box and the camera. I'm like, I don't know how I'm going to carry this. He's like, I can help carry it to your car. I'm like, oh, I walked here. He's like, oh, you're like me.

This is Ollie I'm talking to. He's like, oh, you're like me. You'd like to get some exercise. I'm like, well, we're right down the mall. You were a couple blocks away. Then he put in a couple bags. Oh, man. It was way too much for one person to eat. So I went, and I called my parents after work, asked if they had dinner yet,

and ended up taking it all over there. And we just had a feast, and it was incredible. You are a great human being. He's a fantastic son as well, Judah Wittkower, taking the food to his mom and dad over in Fifth Street Extended. My parents are great people too, so they deserve a little giving back. Absolutely, absolutely. All right, well, we've got some topics we've got to cover on today's talk show. If you want to do the one shot with some headlines, and then I'll weave you in on a two shot.

The Market Street Cam is in full effect as well with plenty of folks walking by the program. We're on a one shot. the football players that were murdered on November 13th, 2022 on Beta Bridge has been painted over. Lavelle Davis Jr., Devin Chandler, and Deshaun Perry, three Virginia football players who were killed in a shooting at the Culbreth Garage on November 13 13, 2022. This shooting, this murder also had Mike Hollins seriously injured and two other students that were non-football players injured as well.

There was a Beta Bridge memorial that was in effect or painted on the bridge that has been seen for almost, what, 18 months now. It was recently painted over by a society called the 17 Society. The Cavalier Daily covered this story. The 17 Society literally said, we were the ones that did this. The 17 Society said, we want to paint over this bridge because we want to give the opportunity to others in the community to

put their message out there. And this is a way for the community to recover or to heal. This memorial was up for 528 days. Yeah, that's pretty amazing. 528 days, a memorial or a mural that was honoring three fallen football players. I want to take a moment to highlight the fact that something at UVA was up for 528 days, a bridge that I've personally helped paint that generally is changed once or twice a week. Okay, so the commitment to these guys is impressive. Second, I want to ask you this question. Was this the right thing for the 17th Society to do? I think as the article mentions,

it probably should have been, the idea should have been passed around or at least run by somebody. And it also mentioned that the other side of the bridge was unpainted or at least was open to any messages that people wanted to paint on there. So there was space for the narrative on the bridge to change. And I think their heart was probably in the right place, but it needed a little more, what's the word? Communication. Exactly. Clarity, 528 days, one of the darkest days in UVA history, a bridge that is as noticeable as just about any building on the downtown mall. I drive by that bridge almost every day. Thousands of students walk by it every day. How many cars drive by it every day? i mean presumptuous is is kind it's a kind

way to describe what the 17th society's behavior was here yeah um and i understand that they came from a place of we got to let the university help the university heal so they said we're going to take it on ourselves to turn the proverbial page. But the ego and the presumptuousness of a society like this to make that decision without having open dialogue? Come on now. Yeah. Come on now. So we should highlight that another mural was recently painted in its place.

I think it was only a day went by before it was repainted. To honor the football players, including current football players who helped paint the second go-round. All right. Next headline I'd like for you to put on screen with some lower thirds. What do you make of Sean Tubbs' story? This is in the Seville Weekly. Speaking of presumptuous, this continues the trend of presumptuous behavior.

Sean Tubbs, Town Crier Productions, he also freelances for the Seville Weekly. The Seville Weekly had published its issue today. It's on NewsRacks today. Probably like you, you read it online. Sean Tubbs talks about on Friday, April 26. So what is that? Four days ago, 521 Park Plaza in the North downtown neighborhood, a husband and wife, Carrie and Benjamin Yorker, they bought this property last August for $705,000. They got a permit from City Hall to remodel what they purchased for $705,000, 521 Park Plaza. Instead of remodeling, which is what the permit was approved for, they decided to completely demolish the house. This is the first few paragraphs of Sean Tubbs' story from the Seville Weekly. The city of Charlottesville issued a stop work order on Friday, February 26 at 521 Park Plaza in the north downtown neighborhood.

When it served the document, the city discovered the three bedroom house had been demolished. At some point late last week, a yellow excavator smashed the one and a half story structure into pieces. City records listed the home built in 1979 in excellent condition and without a basement. The owners, Kerry and Benjamin Yorker, are tied to a development company based from Charlotte, North Carolina, called Northwood Raven. This development company focuses on markets in the southern United States. Benjamin Yorker has two degrees from UVA, including a Master's of Business Administration MBA from the Darden School. This continues the presumptuous theme here. First, the 17th Society painting over Beta Bridge without communication. Now, a husband and wife getting a permit from City Hall for remodeling that turned into

the raising, demolishing of a home. Where do you want to go with this one? This small story took me on a rollercoaster ride. When I first heard about it or started reading about it, I thought that this was like just somebody's home in Charlottesville that by accident had gotten bulldozed. And I was thinking, man, I hope nobody was home when this happened. Then as I start reading more, I'm like, oh, it was bought by someone. So they weren't in town. And maybe, I don't know, somehow somebody demolished the house while they weren't, you know, obviously they're not there because they don't live here.

And then I get deeper into it. I'm like, oh, wait a minute. Are they trying to, like, get around? Yeah. That's what it certainly seems like. Wild. Absolutely wild. This is an interesting wrinkle of the story.

The property is zoned Residential A, which means three units can be built on the 0.11 acre lot under the new zoning. So here's where my mind went. First, is this a developer trying to buy a property and build three units on it to drive as much revenue as possible for his family? First thing I wondered. Second thing I wondered was this, is this a developer that tore down an older house, a house built in 1979 to try to build a much larger one in a very tony downtown neighborhood of North downtown. Third, is this a developer that was so fed up with the red tape and bureaucracy of city hall and neighborhood services that he just went with the decision, I'm going to do it myself despite approval,

and then they can slap me on the wrist later. It's like, don't ask for permission, ask for forgiveness later. What was interesting about this article is there's not really punishment or there's not really a true pain point for this type of work. As Sean Tubbs reports, Neighborhood Development Services requires a permit for partial or full residential demolition, but it is unclear from the code what the penalty is if someone does not submit one. The cost to apply for a permit ranges from $75 to $1,500, depending on the permit.

So could these guys actually do the work without approval and get away with it? Well, here's the other thing. Anyone who takes down a building outside a historic district without permission has to pay a $150 stop work fee per day that work continues without permit. But it sounds like the work is already done. Right. The house is destroyed.

Yeah. What are you going to do? It's not like you can force them to, like, unraise the house. Exactly. So did the homeowner, did the homeowner who got an MBA from the Darden School, who's clearly a business person, who works for a development company, weigh the scales of justice and say, I could go through this bureaucratic period, this long period of time before I get a demolition permit, or I can just do it myself without approval and if I just do it myself without approval I'm just going to pay this trivial fine and I'll have the demolition

done and it will create a much shorter cycle of me getting to market whatever I want to build yeah $150 stop work fee I mean even if I I don't know if the city could, uh, could drag this out and charge them a stop work fee per day for, I don't know how that would work or if, you know, they could make it, uh, actually painful for, for these people, but it doesn't sound like they would care a whole lot. I mean, they bought this, uh, what they bought the property for over $700,000. It was assessed just last year at $460,000. And I don't even think this is their primary residence. No, it's definitely not. Yeah.

They're obviously planning on doing something with it. spend, what, $140,000, $145,000 more than the House was assessed at, I don't think they care about whatever stop work fees they're going to get slapped with. Janice Boyce-Trevillian watching the program. Who are they? What do they represent? You've got a guy with two degrees from UVA, including an MBA from Darden, who works for a development company out of Charlotte that targets cities in the Northeast, the development company for their projects. A guy who's sophisticated and savvy, well-financed, and understands how to manage red tape, local government, and loopholes. Has he found a loophole here that others will exploit? What will the city of Charlottesville do to close said loopholes? Is this something else that could happen in the near future? If the fine is so trivial, what would keep somebody

else from doing it themselves and just say, oh, sorry, I didn't know. I'm asking for forgiveness now. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think, I think most fines that people not like you and myself and most of those in, you know, most of those listening, I would imagine most of those fines are slaps on the wrist anyways. When businesses and corporations get hit with fines, it oftentimes sounds like it's more, is pro forma the right word? It's basically more of a cost of doing business than a... Is demolition now the cost of doing business? Do it. Like you said, ask for, apologize later rather than asking for permission beforehand and then waiting.

I don't know how long it would have taken them to get, if this is all they wanted to do, tear it down and build something. Obviously, they're still going to have to go through the process of submitting plans for whatever they want to build there. But I don't know how long it would have normally taken them to get this approved for demolition. I would love to get more details on this story. I would absolutely love more details on this. But we thought it compelling enough to relay to you. This is another one that's extremely compelling if you want to put the Louisa County Lower Third on screen. Should I read the letter or do you want to read the letter? I can read it.

The Louisa County Board of Supervisors have basically held the funding that they provide to Piedmont Virginia Community College in hostage. I have the letter if you want me to read it. You go ahead. You go ahead. All right. Let's see. Whereas. This is from the Louisa County Board of Supervisors, ladies and gentlemen. In a meeting that was on the record, there goes Ty Cooper in the Market Street cam. Did we get him? The filmmaker. There he goes. Ty Cooper, local luminary right there. I can definitely consider him a local luminary. Get the Louisa County Board of Supervisors letter. Read that to the viewers and listeners. I think this is a great letter. It's

a little bit sassy. It's extremely sassy. Whereas the Louisa County Board of Supervisors finds it fitting and proper to consider funding requests from outside entities, including educational facilities, on an annual basis, semicolon, and whereas the Board of Supervisors supports education beyond high school for those desiring such and has accordingly provided annual funding for piedmont virginia community college pvcc over the years and whereas it has come to the board's attention that pvcc recently hosted a film screening presented by students for justice in palestine and whereas anti-semitemitism remains a serious concern on a worldwide basis and the Board of Supervisors condemns any discrimination in the strongest terms,

and, whereas public funds should not support platforms for antisemitism or discrimination, now, therefore, be it resolved on this 29th day of april 2024 that the louisa county board of supervisors hereby resolve to suspend funding for pvcc in fiscal year 2025 pending an in-person explanation by pvcc of the college's stance on discrimination and anti-Semitism. What do you make of this story? Dylan's Rule and Ginny Hu, thank you kindly for sharing the show. Mr. DL, thank you for sharing the show. I love it.

You love it? Wow. In a news cycle where we've been talking about city councils getting pressured into, what is it, disinvestment, de-investment, whatever. What, the ceasefire from city council? Yeah. Ceasefire resolution? We've got city councils are either not wanting to confront students or are calling for the cops or the National Guard. In one case, I believe the Columbia students have taken over a building. Right now, there's a protest on grounds at the University of Virginia. It started last night.

Yeah, it sounds like a great— There's a quasi-tent town that's been birthed on grounds at the University of Virginia. It started last night. Yeah. There's a quasi-tent town that's been birthed on grounds at the University of Virginia. I believe they've been asked to, I believe they've been told that they can't. Camp out. Can't put up tents. Okay. Because they initially started with tents. They can camp out. They can't put up tents.

Okay. And so they have respectfully taken the tents down. Okay. And so they have respectfully taken the tents down. Okay. From what I've heard, it sounds like a very respectful group of people at UVA. But this is, you know, I think it's a fairly symbolic gesture. Their money is not going to cause PBC to, you know, miss any programs or, you know, I don't think it's going to be veryBC to miss any programs or I don't think it's going to be very painful. I'll push back

on that a little bit. And here's how I'll push back. It's $6,000 that Louisa County is holding in hostage. That according to Tammy Purcell who covers Louisa County better than anyone from a media and journalist standpoint.

While the $6,000 seems paltry, louisa county um better than anyone from a media and journalist standpoint while the six thousand dollars seems poultry if other counties do the same that's going to add up secondly if other big-time benefactors and donors follow suit of Louisa County, that's where they're really going to feel the sting. I can bet you a buck, hell, it's inflation, I'll bet you $10, that PVCC, Piedmont Virginia Community College brass or executives or decision makers have discussed this gaining momentum because the first to market gains attention and the first to market that does this kind of holding this money until we get a statement from you could lead others to do the same and if other counties or other jurisdictions do it even worse for pvcc if other benefactors or donors do it. Then they've got a real problem on their hands. Also, there's the problem that comes with the negative attention associated with media. This is the second consecutive day, for example, we've talked about it on

the I Love Seville show. This storyline seems to only be gaining momentum currently we have a protest on grounds at UVA and I think this is what I'm watching with the protests on grounds the pro-Palestine protest that's happening right now on grounds at UVA

I'm watching how Tim Longo's police department handles this will it be handled in similar fashion like Virginia Tech did? I think this, to me, this sounds like a completely different animal. Because you're saying at this moment it's peaceful protest. It's peaceful. It sounds respectful. They've taken down any tents that they put up. I think they're trying to make a statement

rather than, you know, they're not trying to, I don't know, they're not trying to break anything. They're not trying to, you know, cause an uproar. That's just my take from what I've read so far. But from what you, this is why this document is so smart. But from what you... This is why this document is so smart. Because they're not...

This isn't some cancel culture. We're not going to support a university that... It's not like they're saying because you allowed the viewing of this movie. The movie is Israelism.

And I looked it up before the show. They're not saying because you allowed this movie on your campus, you're cut off. They're asking for an explanation for how PBCC, what their stance is on discrimination and anti-Semitism. But do they have to ask for that statement, which I think is a fair ask, without holding the money hostage, the funding hostage?

But again, it's a very small amount. I think this is more... You're right. This could lead to other institutions, other areas choosing to defund PVCC. But this is a very rational document. It's not asking for a whole lot, and it's not holding a whole lot over the school's head,

so to speak. And I think... Yeah. Yet. Yeah, yet. Maybe the school bucks against it. Louise is conservative. Louvain is also conservative. Green's conservative. Nelson's conservative.

Orange is conservative. Curious to see if the fellow jurisdictions follow suit. Yeah, it'll be interesting. Curious to see if any donors follow suit. Then that becomes an issue. True. Curious to see what happens on grounds at UVA. Curious to see if a protest continues to linger

if police have to get involved. Curious to see if this makes the Palestine, the pro-Palestine purchase protests on grounds gets to graduation timeline, to the point of graduation. That's, I think, one of the bigger questions is... Does the momentum continue to graduation weekend, the most important weekend of the year in Charlottesville? somebody make a really really salient point in that this is the same group of uh of kids students who four years ago had their uh basically had their uh their high school graduations destroyed cut short yeah marginalized diminished because because of COVID. Put on over Zoom or however

they managed it. That would be a real shame for these kids. Because it would be their second milestone impacted. Time will tell. You did a good job today. Thank you.

I hope you guys enjoy the show. We work hard. Spread the gospel. Let folks know about the I Love Seville show, please. And support businesses like Otto Turkish Street Food. These guys are doing it right. On Water Street, downtown Charlottesville. Fresh does not begin to describe the menu.

Everything was so good last night. And speaking of food, Little John's just had a release to statement. Oh, yeah? Little John's on the UVA corner. Is this about their pricing? Yeah. You know, I saw...

They said they cut the prices. They said, we heard from you guys that our food was too expensive. We've reduced every sandwich price across the board. It's on their Instagram stories right now. Nice. Yeah, I was

curious. I saw their sign, and I could definitely understand not putting the prices on because there's an awful lot of information there. And as somebody mentioned as well, it makes it difficult if you do want to change the prices down the road. But yeah, some of the sandwiches seemed like they were a little bit on the… $18, $19. Yeah.

I mean, that sandwich better last me three or four days if it bit on the... $19. Yeah. I mean, that sandwich better last me three or four days if it's going to be $20. You did a hell of a job today. Thank you. Judah Wittkower, guys. My name is Jerry Miller. It's the I Love Seville show on a Wednesday afternoon in downtown Charlottesville

in the shadows of Thomas Jefferson's University, less than two miles from a protest that's currently happening on grounds. Thank you kindly for joining us. So long, everybody. Take care. Thank you.