Comments on: SHORE THING: Eastville Inn Fails Again

By: Dana Lascu

Dana Lascu — Wed, 29 Apr 2015 22:13:16 +0000

Must check out Tim Brown’s then — thank you Jim Baugh and Bob Panek for clarifying. The author mentioned it (but in the same paragraph with Top China).

By: Jim Baugh

Jim Baugh — Wed, 29 Apr 2015 01:37:43 +0000

[To Dana Lascu] — Thank you and very kind. But I did already open a restaurant, probably not going down that path again but it was a great opportunity to feature recipes from our show and old family favorites as well. It is back breaking small margin work, great respect for those that do it and do so for a long time. As far as our recipes, they really are pretty easy, nothing at all too complicated. We just post what we like to cook and it is fun. We like to go to hole in the wall sorts of places. More so, I look for a scratch kitchen. I never associated a good view with good food. It is nice, but not necessary. Atmosphere I do strive for. Walk into a place with bright florescent lights, I wont even look at the menu. The Basement in the [Richmond Fan District] is my fav deli, looking forward to trying more places on the shore. We just don’t get out much. I love to cook and at the end of the day, we are out in the country on the water and it is a drive to get to anywhere. So the rare times we do go out it is a real treat. Never been to the Shanty, will try this spring or summer. We also want to try Tim’s dinners; Donna says very, very good. Had lunch there once and loved it, posted it on Yelp. But the pizza — well, not getting into that here.

By: Robert Panek

Robert Panek — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 23:56:58 +0000

The alternative already exists — Tim Brown’s bistro dinners.

By: Dana Lascu

Dana Lascu — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 19:28:10 +0000

Jim Baugh, let me know if you ever open a restaurant – I don’t dare to attempt any of the recipes on your website, but everything looks exquisite and yummy. Some of my favorite restaurants are neighborhood holes-in-the-wall with great chefs and no view (the Magpie and Tarrants’ Café in Richmond and Floriana in D.C.); something like that might just work in Cape Charles, offering an alternative to the Oyster Farm.

By: Jim Baugh

Jim Baugh — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 16:44:11 +0000

[To Dana Lascu] — I think so, yes. Cape Charles (at least summer months) has a lot of traffic, and it does not extend to Eastville much — some, but not enough to sustain a restaurant. But my guess is that Cape Charles also would have meant high rent\lease, etc., and covering costs is questionable in a seasonal town. In a place like the Eastville Inn, the only way I would do a lease in such a low foot traffic area is as a percentage of the biz that comes in. No guarantee for flat lease payment. The area is too slow to do otherwise. From what I read above, sounds like the Shanty may have cut a deal something like that. Smart biz. Over the past 10 to 15 years, almost all the time I dine within walking, biking, or boating distance. It is just safer and less hassle. Now, I pretty much cook in all the time.

By: Dana Lascu

Dana Lascu — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 14:09:02 +0000

If this restaurant had been in Cape Charles, would its fate have been different? It would have offered weekenders an alternative to the Oyster Farm (Aqua), as they could go on Fridays to one and Saturdays to the other. Tourists and weekenders, after a long schlep to get across the bay, are probably less likely to drive far to a restaurant. We go to restaurants in the neighborhood wherever we live, within walking distance.

By: Andy Zahn

Andy Zahn — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 01:05:55 +0000

It never ceases to amaze that many want the tolls to keep people, money, and prosperity on the other side of the bay. These people don’t realize that folks on the south side of the Bridge-Tunnel don’t need the Eastern Shore, while it is we who need cheap access to the medical and educational facilities on the other side as well as to visit the offices of our state government. Some years back my wife needed surgery for a life-threatening condition. We went to DePaul Hospital, and after a stay of 10 days with an outstanding surgeon, Dr. Chaffe, she returned home with the problem solved. A large expense was the Bridge-Tunnel tolls at $10 per crossing, and with daily visits plus going to the doctor’s office that alone ran about $240 or more. Those who live in Norfolk don’t need to come here for good medical care.

By: Jim Baugh

Jim Baugh — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 00:36:33 +0000

The Eastville Inn and the community was very lucky to have a chef of Brent’s quality here on the Shore. Hands down, no doubt, he knows his stuff, an excellent chef and good with customers. We went to the Inn several times and just loved the dinners. I mean come on, they were making their own from scratch homemade bread and did it every week! I know of no other place that does this, there may be, but if there is I have not heard of it.

I talked to the owner a few times about the business there, and it usually came down to traffic — there just is very little. True, Yuk’s seems to do well, but that is a 7-day a week bar restaurant, and we are happy they are there. (We like Yuk’s). In order for the Eastville Inn to move forward, it would have meant some capital investment (most likely) to open up a bar section, expand hours, and let it be known for fine dining, but also a 7 day a week bar and lunch crowed while still having top shelf dinners at a reasonable price. Now, had Eastville been full of foot traffic and the area strongly supported him, different story.

I have had my own restaurant and I can tell you, like everyone has heard, it is a TOUGH TOUGH business. It is an extremely small margin business and that is the bottom line. All in all I think Brent did an awesome job. Had he started out with both fine dining and a bar crowd, who knows, but that is a big commitment of time and labor plus capitol to do more improvements. With an extremely slow foot traffic area, it just did not make business sense.

One thing is for sure, where ever Brent is cooking — GO! You won’t be disappointed.

On a side note, it is called the Eastville INN. The place would do well as an Inn if you could stay there, dine there, etc. But from what I understand it would take some nice-sized capital bucks to renovate the upstairs. Who knows, but, if it could be done, a B & B \ Inn would probably even bring people down from DC as a cool “getaway.” The town of Eastville is incredibly charming, historic, and close to Cape Charles.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the place.

By: Mike Kuzma

Mike Kuzma — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 17:49:37 +0000

Seems like the restaurants OFF of Rt. 13 in towns that have COMMERCE on Rt. 13 are doing well. Hmm, maybe just maybe there is a correlation between STOPPED TRAVELERS and their desire to sightsee, and eat whilst stopped. But hey, we here in Cape Charles DO NOT WANT ANY NEW BUSINESSES cuz they’ll ruin the “character” of the area. Of course, I have long been a proponent of taking ALL Government buildings off of Mason Avenue, using those as income and tax-producing entities, and oh I don’t know, putting all the Municipal offices in say an old school building that could have doubled as a Community Center.

By: Clarice MacGarvey

Clarice MacGarvey — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 17:13:10 +0000

I do think that no matter how excellent a restaurant is, without an adequate pool of potential customers from which to draw, it will be difficult to meet overheads.

A look at Northampton County shows a small population for the dining out circuit:

• Population approximately 12,000, with 19% under the age of 18.
• 6.9% of population is unemployed, with 20.6% living below the poverty line.
• Taking these figures into account, the estimated MAXIMUM number of potential patrons for a local venue is about 7, 718.

Yes, there is a seasonal influx of tourists and 2nd home owners; however, I do think the real key to sustainability for restaurants on the shore is opening the gates (i.e the toll booths) to facilitate more traffic flow to the shore from Hampton Roads, and more development — controlled and sustainable, of course — in order to boost population figures, and create job opportunities.