ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 20, 1996 TAG: 9608200067
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
Hotel Roanoke's head chef, who returned as part of the facility's reopening last year, is quitting to operate a Roanoke steak house.
Wayne Knowles said Monday that he, in partnership with his top assistant, Brian Murtagh, will buy the Charcoal Steak House in Roanoke from John and Tina Peroulas. The deal is expected to close Aug. 30, Knowles said.
Knowles, a Roanoke native, worked as a rookie chef in the late 1960s at the landmark steak house, which opened in 1957. He left to train at a New York cooking school and made a career running Walt Disney Co. and Hyatt hotel restaurants.
When Hotel Roanoke announced his hiring and return to Roanoke in late 1994, General Manager Gary Walton had tremendous praise for him, saying Knowles was good enough to cook for any resort in the world.
Knowles is responsible for every meal served at the hotel and conference center. But in nearly three decades in kitchens, he has never owned a restaurant.
"If you're going to work hard, which you always do in this industry, you come to a point where you want to be doing it for yourself rather than someone else," said Knowles, 49.
Murtagh, 30, with about 10 years in the business, had similar designs for his future. The two men first thought of running a restaurant together when they bumped into each other shopping separately for a restaurant to buy. Knowles wouldn't say at which restaurant the encounter happened. It wasn't the Charcoal Steak House, but it led them there.
The two chefs intend to make few changes at first, except to improve intangibles that in the restaurant business go by such phrases as "customer value." That may involve different presentation - the way food is arranged on the plate. But customers still will find a menu that ranges from an $8 pasta dish to a $27 Porterhouse steak cooked over hot coals, Knowles said.
John Peroulas said he is comfortable turning over the restaurant he and his wife bought in 1971. The new owners "are going to keep up the quality and service and everything else. That makes me happy," he said.
The couple want more time for family and relaxation, but they are not retiring. They will keep open another restaurant, Pete's Deli, at Crossroads Mall in Roanoke.
In October 1993, a jury awarded $75,000 to a Charcoal Steak House waitress who accused John Peroulas of sexual harassment.
The steak house will close Sept. 1-3 and reopen Sept. 4 with Knowles and Murtagh in charge of all or most of the cooking.
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Knowles. color.by CNB