THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 29, 1996 TAG: 9609270253
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: ON THE TOWN IN PORTSMOUTH
SOURCE: Sam Martinette
LENGTH: 72 lines
Writing about Portsmouth restaurants is like a homecoming of sorts for me.
Both of my parents grew up in the city: my father, Sam Sr., in what used to be called Cock Island, later Newtown, and my mother - the former Susie Keay - in Cradock, where her father was chief of the fire department.
For some years there was a street in Cradock named Keay Street, after him. Whenever I meet someone who calls me by the old pronunciation of my last name, Martinetti, I suspect they are from Portsmouth.
As for this column, it will be written from a different perspective than that of a food reviewer, and I thought it might be instructive to point out the difference right from the start. I hope you'll indulge me while I give you a little background about my approach to writing about restaurants and food. One major influence that comes to bear is having worked for years in the restaurant business. My first job, in fact, was peeling potatoes and mopping floors at a fast-food operation back in 1964. I was fresh out of high school and waiting for my orders to report to basic training, where I would further learn the intricacies of professional kitchens under the gentle guidance of U.S. Army cooks who were happy to instruct me on the proper cleaning and care of dirty pots and pans, grease traps and other essentials of an Army mess hall.
Following the service, I worked as a bar-back, running a glass-washing machine in the old Officers Club at Naval Base Norfolk, then as a waiter and bartender in college bars near Old Dominion University. Over the next 20-odd years I would fluctuate between a writing and restaurant career, holding down virtually every job available in a restaurant with the exception of working as a line cook.
Although I would broil a steak after the kitchen closed for a regular customer on occasion, most of my duties after the first few years were in what is known as the ``front of the house,'' where I worked as a manager in several eateries during the period when the ``restaurant district'' of Norfolk's Ghent was taking shape.
That experience (and the demise of a weekly newspaper I was publishing) led to my covering the restaurant and entertainment scene for WNOR Radio, as entertainment editor at FM-99 back in the late '70s and early '80s, a decade in which I turned my attention solely to writing and publishing for a living.
During that decade I co-authored a 500-page relocation and travel guide to the area, ``The Insider's Guide to South Hampton Roads,'' which went through two editions, and wrote extensively for the special sections of The Virginian-Pilot, features that covered virtually every aspect of human activity from the outer reaches of Suffolk to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. During that period, I also wrote a number of food features for the Food and Flavor sections of the newspaper.
I tell you all of this not to blow my own horn but rather to show that my approach to the food and restaurant business is more from a feature writer's perspective, a feature writer who has washed dishes and bussed tables in restaurants just like those we'll visit over the weeks. Because of my experience in the food industry, I feel I have a fair idea of what it takes to get a meal prepared and presented table-side.
I have been writing a similar weekly column for the Norfolk Compass since January 1988, featuring restaurants from mom-and-pop eateries to the most exclusive fine-dining experiences available locally. In my columns, I might write about food-related charity events - such as the upcoming Portsmouth Host Lions Club's Annual Bar-B-Que Fundraiser, set for 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 8, to support the Manning Convalescent Home Auxiliary and benefit elderly shut-ins (175 Hatton St., 399-1321) - or highlight a new eatery or chef.
As the parent of three school-aged children, I am also keenly aware of places that are kid-friendly (or at least active enough to absorb their chatter), and hope to pass along information that will benefit readers, whether they are looking for a romantic evening for two or an energetic, active family night out.
I look forward to your feedback on this and future columns. I can be reached directly at 624-1346, by mail at P.O. Box 6163, Norfolk, Va. 23508, or through the Currents office. by CNB