Greetings!:  Welcome to the seventh edition of the Blackwater Newsletter.  It is
hard to believe that summer has come to an end.  We can now focus on one the
most special times of the year at the lake..Autumn.  However, let me first thank all
of you for your continued support.  It was very encouraging to see so many locals
dining at the Blackwater during the summer.  We love the tourists but the locals
will always be our first priority.      

New Seasonal Hours:  We will be changing our hours and days of operation
effective Sunday, October 4th.  We will be open for Dinner Wednesday through
Saturday nights starting at 5pm.  We will also continue with our
Breakfast/Brunch
on Sunday.  As always, we encourage you to call for reservations so that we can
accommodate you and your guests and meet your expectations.

Wine Dinners:  We will be holding our monthly Wine Dinners starting Tuesday,
October 13th and they will continue through May.  Each Wine Dinner will have a
Theme and pair some interesting wines with some great food.  These events are
normally sold out so we suggest that you make your reservations early.  You can
see our most current schedule of events by clicking
here.  Or to visit our wine
page for more information, click
here.

Jazz Dinners:  As many of you know, we have Jazz Dinners monthly and this
will also continue through the off-season.  These dinners will be once a month on
a Thursday night and you can see our current schedule
here or just call for further
information.  The Jazz is performed by the Charlie Perkinson Trio and normally
starts at 6:00pm and ends at 9:00pm. Reservations are highly recommended.

New Menu:  We will begin offering our new winter menu starting mid October.  
We will keep many of the favorites and Chef Mark and Sous Chef Cara have
created some seasonal items that I am sure you will enjoy.  We will also be
bringing back our popular Shrimp & Grits and Meat Loaf.  As always, Chef Mark
will create nightly “specials” that I am sure will tempt you.

Prime Rib Night:  Our Prime Rib has been very successful during the summer
months and we plan to continue to offer the
Certified Angus Beef Prime Rib on
Friday nights during the off-season.  Come in and enjoy Prime Rib prepared just
the way you like it.  

Holiday Schedule:  While we are a ways off from the Thanksgiving and
Christmas Holidays I thought it would be good to advise you of our plans.  We
plan to be closed on Wednesday, November 25th and Thanksgiving Day and also
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Gift Cards:  Gift Cards make a great holiday gift or a great “thank you” to a
special friend.  Our Gift Cards have no expiration date and can be purchased in
any dollar amount.

Seafood Connoisseurs:  It is our intention to continue to offer the freshest
seafood choices available.  All of our fish is fresh and look for some exciting
offerings from around the world in the weeks to come.

Food Safety:  All of us know about the dangers of unsafe food.  All we have to
do is read the newspaper or listen to the news about recent episodes of food
contamination.  ServSafe leads the way in providing the restaurant and foodservice
industry with an up-to-date comprehensive food safety training and certification
program.  While most restaurants have a person designated to be their food safety
expert I am pleased to say that our kitchen staff and management team are
ServSafe Certified.  We take food safety very serious.

Blackwater Staff:    The Blackwater Staff is excited about our continued success
and look forward to serving you this off season.  We are proud to announce that
we have three culinary trained and educated Chefs in our Kitchen lead by
Executive Chef Mark.  In addition, Sous Chef Cara who has been with us for over
a year is a graduate of Virginia Western Culinary School.  Our most recent hire is
Chef Geran, a recent graduate of Stratford University Culinary School.  We are
sad to say good bye to our summer extern from the Culinary Institute of America
(CIA) Stephen Holasek, who is returning to school to finish his Culinary Degree.  
Nate Flora is our kitchen utility person who does a little of everything and is a
great resource.  The Best Servers at the lake are right here at the Blackwater Café
and they are Barbara, Sue, Kara, Niki, Susan, Tammy, Mike and Miranda.  Paul
and Diane have returned to school and we look forward to them rejoining us next
summer.  Our hostess is Lynn and our General Manager is John.

Economic Update:  The economic conditions have put a strain on most of us, and
the restaurant industry in no exception.  In fact, the restaurant industry got hit
harder than most because when consumers get hurt economically they stop
spending and eating out becomes more of a special occasion.  It is unfortunate but
a few local restaurants have closed.  We think the worst is over and we are happy
that we are still standing.  

We are rapidly approaching our four year anniversary which is November 30th.   
The economic downturn didn’t help but we have plans to be around for many
years to come.  We will continue to focus on being the best restaurant around the
lake community.  We have stayed the course by maintaining our quality mindset,
serving quality food, providing quality customer service and placing a priority on
our customers total dining experience.  The past is always a great platform for
learning and we will take all the feedback we have received and apply them as we
go forward.  

Our passion is to be the best and our commitment is to listen and make the
necessary changes and never forget that
“Your Dining Experience is Our
Priority”.
 

Again, thank you for allowing us to serve you and for being so supportive.           

If you would like to receive periodic news about upcoming events at The
Blackwater Café and be added to our email listing please let us know by clicking
here or send me an email at bwcowner@embarqmail.com.
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Located at Beautiful Smith Mountain Lake
4730 Scruggs Road, Moneta, Virginia 24121
(540) 721-4333
News Page
Fall 2009 Newsletter
Click to learn
more about the
Certified Angus
Beef Brand.
General Manager:  John Gordon          Executive Chef:  Mark Crim
Owners:  Tom and Lynn Gordon