THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 3, 1995 TAG: 9508020174
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
A restaurant's unadvertised opening, planned as a small-scale staff training event, turned into ``Nightmare at Main Street's'' last Thursday as crowds packed the new eatery and the computerized ordering system malfunctioned.
By this week, however, Main Street's owners were having sweeter dreams after resolving the initial problems. They had closed for a few days, then held a grand opening Wednesday with live music in the raw bar.
But on Aug. 27, customers overwhelmed the wait staff - about 40 employees, most of them inexperienced. The managers expected between 75 and 100 people, said chef Matt Musolino III, who's worked in restaurants before in other areas. About 400 people showed up at the upscale facility in the Suffolk Shopping Center, he said.
The owners - Suffolk native William T. ``Billy'' Nelson Jr. and Virginia Beach resident Fred Perkins, who are both in the construction business, and Michele Musolino, Matt's wife and a Suffolk newcomer - wanted to open without fanfare. They hoped to serve a few people the first night to let the staff learn the ropes. Unlike the managers of chain restaurants, they had no other facilities where the employees could practice, working alongside experienced personnel.
They didn't promote the event ahead of time but put up a notice on the billboard out front about five hours earlier.
``It was a training session that was thrown right into the cooker,'' Matt Musolino said.
To complicate matters further, the computer failed to handle the customers' orders, which are punched into a terminal, then relayed to the kitchen.
``We weren't able to get the tickets into the kitchen,'' Musolino said.
After the electricity was shut off for a final building inspection, the computer apparently ``crashed.'' And though the system was running again early in the evening, the staff didn't realize it wasn't operating properly.
Some orders were being left out and others were being doubled, Musolino said.
``We were making food that wasn't being ordered,'' he said.
The managers gave complimentary meals to hundreds of people who were inconvenienced.
The next day, the restaurant remained open with a limited menu, mostly sandwiches, to allow additional training.
``It's really difficult to train people without having people to serve,'' Musolino said.
The managers also held training workshops and practice drills. And they made sure they got the kinks out of the computers.
Now, the restaurant is ready, Musolino said.
Main Street's offers lunch and dinner, with medium-priced entrees, including seafood - their main emphasis, beef, chicken, pork and pasta. There is a salad bar, a cappuccino bar and a raw bar with four large-screen TVs and an outside deck. Another deck is available off the banquet room, which can handle an overflow crowd or can be reserved for private parties.
The decor includes abstract paintings, various faux finishes, two hand-painted murals, a ``running aquarium'' of panels depicting fish scenes in the main dining room, a marble fireplace in the banquet room and a mahogany bar and tables in the raw bar.
The owners have relied as much as possible on local companies for the renovation of the building, the former Western Sizzlin Steak House. Their seafood, which will be supplied by Leggett Seafood, will be market-priced, Musolino said.
``That's the only way we can guarantee freshness,'' he said.
And live music will be offered occasionally in the raw bar as the restaurant settles, hopefully, into a more normal schedule, Musolino said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Matt Musolino III, the chef at Main Street's, sorts photos of
celebrities that will hang on walls in the restaurant in the Suffolk
Shopping Center.
by CNB