THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 25, 1994 TAG: 9408230155
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: ON THE TOWN
SOURCE: SAM MARTINETTE
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
The main event on Colley Avenue this fall should be Wilma's Chili Parlor.
I hope you'll excuse the play on words as I'm referring to the often-troubled former Main Event Nightclub at 3910 Colley Ave., which Fellini's owner Mike Cavish has taken over and is in the process of refurbishing.
Cavish, you may recall, operated the Judge's Chambers downtown from 1975 to 1980, and introduced California-style pizza to Ghent in the late 1980s.
``Essentially, we'll be serving five different chilis, from vegetarian to white chili to Texas hot,'' Cavish said. Plans also call for Southern food, such as fried chicken, meat loaf, ribs and barbecue, all specialties of Cavish's cook Wilma, from the Judge's Chambers, for whom the restaurant is named.
``We'll open for lunch and dinner on Sept. 1, or shortly after that, with the possibility of a Southern-style breakfast buffet on Saturday and Sunday after we get up and running,'' Cavish explained.
The 6,000-square-foot building should seat 75 and employ a staff of 20 at first, ``but we can expand to 125 seats later,'' he added. Cavish plans to offer two different sized portions, regular and Texas-size, ranging from $4.95 to $8.95, he said. ``I imagine everything will be under $10. We're trying to get back some of the folks who abandoned Lewis's,'' Cavish said.
As for qualms about the neighborhood, Cavish said he has none. ``We will have a full-time parking lot attendant.''
Wilma's Chili Parlor will be located at 3910 Colley Ave. (627-7441), and at first will be open daily from 11 to 2 a.m.
If it isn't already hot enough this month for you, you may want to check out the Body Heat. . . It Sizzles party, set for 8 p.m. this Saturday at the Riverfront Cafe in Portsmouth (the former Max Restaurant at 1 High St.), to benefit the Virginia Beach Center for the Arts.
Tickets for the party are $30 per person and include dining on ``Ragin' Cajun'' cuisine, such as Cajun chicken, Creole pasta, red beans and rice, and steamship round and bluefish for those who like their food less spicy. Entertainment will include dance tunes by the R&B All Stars and Belle and the Boys from the Fifth National Banque, the Country and Western palace on East Little Creek Road. There will be a cash bar.
It's billed as the ``grand finale'' to the summerlong ``A Taste for Art'' series, and a look at the list of sponsors shows a surprising number of Norfolk folks hosting the event.
I asked Michelene Gary, a member of the overall committee that planned the series, who lives in Ghent, why Norfolk people would sponsor a party in Portsmouth to benefit a Virginia Beach arts center.
``The real sizzle is the spirit of Hampton Roads arts patrons who generously support institutions beyond city lines,'' she replied. ``Over two-thirds of the 42 hosts of this party reside in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk, and that says a lot about art being able to cross city boundaries.''
``The money raised by the series goes toward the center's education and exhibit programs,'' explained Anne Fleder, the center's director of public relations. ``It started three years ago in a different incarnation and took place over the course of a weekend.'' Now it spans the summer and consists of some 25 parties, dinners and special affairs. ``We've already made about $50,000 this summer,'' Fleder said. ``So while everybody is having a good time, we're the beneficiaries.''
As for the Body Heat party in Portsmouth, the attire is casual, yet ``sultry, steamy and slightly shady,'' Michelene Gary said. ``The whole thing is based on that movie `Body Heat' with William Hurt and Kathleen Turner.''
So if you see a cloud of steam drifting over from Portsmouth Saturday night you'll know what's going on. For information or tickets to ``Body Heat,'' call the Virginia Beach Center for the Arts, 425-0000. by CNB