
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 15, 1995                   TAG: 9509150023
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

HOME PLATE SPECIAL

Some things in life are absolutes - death, taxes and the fact that it's impossible to watch sports on TV without eating. (Well, mostly, except for those boxing matches that last only long enough for you to make an end run to the refrigerator.)

If cheering and chewing is your game, here's a sublime combination: You walk on an Astroturf floor and sit in a giant baseball mitt-shaped booth along the sidelines. A waiter dressed as a referee serves you an authentic Dodger or Yankee or Wrigley Stadium Dog, Philly Cheesesteak, Buffalo wings or field of greens.

An arena-sized scoreboard at center court/ice/field and 100 monitors broadcast the top games of the day or highlights from the greatest moments in sports history.

On the walls are Wayne Gretzky's hockey stick, Ken Griffey Jr.'s Louisville Slugger, Joe Montana's helmet, a smashed backboard and other memorabilia touched by the heavy hitters of sports. You can outfit yourself with anything from baseball cap to basketball jersey to boxer shorts a la Andre Agassi.

Though it may sound like sports Heaven, it's really another restaurant - namely, the Official All Star Cafe, coming to New York City's Times Square in December.

Kind of gives new meaning to ``step up to the plate.''

by CNB