ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 22, 1996 TAG: 9609230018
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
The Farmhouse Restaurant, one the New River Valley's best known dining establishments, has a new general manager and a new menu.
Kevin Murphy, 37, started as general manager in January and has an option to buy the restaurant after five years.
The Farmhouse is also unveiling a new menu featuring items customers have been requesting, such as low-fat dishes, salads, chicken and seafood. The restaurant continues to serve its trademark beef selections and has added Beef Wellington and Chateaubriand.
The restaurant, which stopped serving lunch last winter, is also emphasizing its growing catering business and banquet facilities, said Murphy, a certified executive chef, who came to the restaurant from Virginia Tech. At Tech, he was assistant director of operations at the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center and an instructor in the department of hospitality and tourism management.
The Farmhouse's longtime owner, David Leinwand, said his wife will be starting a new job in Wilmington, N.C., in January 1997 and that he will divide his time between there and the New River Valley.
"I'm still the owner, and I'm still involved with the restaurant, but I'm more behind the scenes now," Leinwand said.
To help kick off the changes, the Farmhouse will sponsor a business after hours mixer Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Proceeds from donations will benefit the Montgomery County Christmas Store.
The restaurant began in 1963 in a 19th-century farm house. It now has about 350 dinner seats and 250-seat banquet facility.
LENGTH: Short : 38 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Murphyby CNB