After nine years, OXO to close
Despite claims made by the new media, the old media is sad to report that the rumors are true–OXO on Water Street in closing.
“OXO bids you farewell,” say owners John Haywood and Alice Kim in a statement to the Hook. “After nine years of food, drink, dance, laughter, chaos, amazing times, stress ridden ones, stupid mistakes, outrageous parties, remarkable friends, wonderful guests, ridiculous assholes, and everything else that made OXO Restaurant one of the most rewarding experiences of our lives, we are now burnt out, craving time off, not enjoying this recession, and needing to participate in life outside our restaurant bubble. So we are changing gears.”
Back in April, event-mistress Kim (conceiver of the the popular Artini parties) announced that she had taken a gig organizing special events at the National Gallery of Art, an opportunity that she described as “too intriguing” to pass up.
“Working at the gallery revealed how burnt out John and I had become running the restaurant,” says Kim in an email today. “While we absolutely loved it, we were also tired of how the restaurant affected our personal and family life. And, this non-recession recession was really stressful. Basically, an opportunity came up and we took it.”
This week, Kim and Haywood plan to run an ad in the Hook announcing the decision, but here’s a preview of what they’d like to say to everyone who supported them over the years…and a little window, we think, into the local restaurant world:
To our guests: Thank you for all your support, compliments, complaints, and the opportunity to serve you.
To Charlottesville restaurants: Continue to kick ass and be fabulous! The pranks, inside stories, borrowing, staff swapping, sales comparisons, amiable competition, proud egos, and shared dread of the slow season made for great friendships and much hilarity.
To our gorgeous staff throughout the years: You are Superstars, Divas, and Phenomenal Human Beings! In the midst of all the love, hate, and drama you were the foundation to our success and longevity. An exceptionally tight, dysfunctional family any therapist would kill to study, the most incredible moments have come from sharing time with all of you. You have touched us in magical ways and we will truly treasure the memories. You deserve to be trust fund babies!
Best wishes to all: Practice safe sex. Drink Virginia wine. Be Green. Vote!
“Despite claims made by the new media, the old media is sad to report…”
I believe this story broke on cVillain at 10:20. You didn’t have it until 11:06.
/just sayin’
Actually this news broke on cVillain @ 3:25 this morning: http://cvillain.com/2008/06/15/arrivals-departures-from-sobriety/#comment-58715
But I’m sure your news team had it first and was just polishing the story.
Also, Dave, The amazing chef/owner’s name is John Haywood, not Hayward. Perhaps a bit more polish was needed?
Love you OXO! Best wishes and thanks for leaving behind great memories for many of us in Charlottesville and beyond.
So the owner pays you to put in an ad and you use that as an excuse to post a news article? All you did was rephrase the ad. You don’t actually have much news to report. And by sarcastically linking to some local bloggers chitchatting about this maybe happening from a few days ago, your attempt to make this “new media” look stupid only does that you you the “old media” because obvioulsy this was news before you got your hands on it. Nice try.
And P.S., the only way I even knew you had this crappy article up was because CVillain.com mentioned it.
@11:35 - So a person calling himself “doof” leaving a comment on a blog posting counts as having the story now?
I read cvillain.com for a while but the comments above remind me why I stopped. What is the huge deal about who posted the info first? Does cvillain.com need to be the most popular girl in school or what?
Believe it or not, a lot of people use the web for receiving and sending information and don’t care one bit about who posted it first.
Dear Shannon-
Get a life…
Shannon, actual quotes from the owner is news- you whining about gossip “me first” is childlike foot stamping. Cvillain doesn’t do real news, it is the rantings of about 20 people read by about 80 more.
You just not a big enough deal to get this indignant, sorry.
Dear :
Lisa: Congrats. You like boring news sources. Clapity clap. We don’t want you on CVillain anyways. And I wasn’t the one contesting who posted first. See the first two commenters for that.
What_evah: Wow, that’s really meaningful coming from someone who doesn’t even use their real name.
D.R.: Um, it’s an ad they were sent that they chose to re-hash for the sake of an article. Hardly real news. They also used that picture without Ms. Kim’s permission. Never said I was a big deal either, but thanks for implying it.
Cvillain may not be the most popular girl in town but she’s definitely the hottest. And the Hook’s blog doesn’t dance on bars.
The ad of closing is news, can’t understand why you don’t think so. The ad won’t come out for days and why let the Daily Progress report it before The Hook. I thought it was news and I liked Oxo for dinner and heard they had a good late night. Oxo leaves a big whole in downtown dining
Do you work there? If so that would explain the bitterness in your response and how you would know if Ms. Kim gave her permission to use a photo or not.
This sucks. Now the people who formerly went to OXO will be back out in the public looking to ruin good places like ten. I’d rather hang out at Applebee’s than Blue Light or OXO on a weekend.
Here’s to late night at Zocalo!
of about 20 people read by about 80 more.
Sounds like the Hook’s online presence needs a hug and a juice box. And though you may not know who “doof” is, many people do, and I can assure you, he would know.
a lot of people use the web for receiving and sending information
No shit? Never thought of that. “Information”, you say? Personally, I use if for porn.
And the Hook’s blog doesn’t dance on bars
Interesting point. Does the hook even throw parties? Do any charity?
Personally, I could care less who posted what first, but I do get a kick out of watching medium fish fight it out in a small pond. I think we all need to get out of town more.
Oxo leaves a big whole in downtown dining
*snicker* a big whole what?
/smarm
boney motel are you implying that both cvillain and the hook are both medium fish? If so that’s pretty funny and so very cvillain. Will you also take the “umbrage” as you were told to?
@Jim: I was at both OXO and Zocalo this weekend, and oddly enough, I saw a lot of the same people at both.
This line from Shannon:
“We don’t want you on CVillain anyways.”
explains exactly why cvillain.com is a waste of cyber-space.
Why not just do your personally yackity yacking on MySpace? It seems a bit smarter than actually spending money and I am fairly certain would serve most of your technical needs.
Lastly, The Hook’s blog would probably be happy to dance on bars if it found it to be worthwhile use of its time.
Why not just do your personally yackity yacking on MySpace? It seems a bit smarter than actually spending money…
cVillain doesn’t cost money. Where did you get that ludicrous idea?
http://www.spicybear.com/2007/12/28/welcome-to-spicy-bear-media/
Everything takes money honey
Boney…. do you think DR gets all his groceries at Holefoods?
Oh echo, SNAP!
Oh to run the site? This site also costs money, so I find it a moot point. It sounded as though you were implying it cost money to post on the site. I foresee cVillain making its creators more than enough money to cover its operating costs.
Where do yo get them floozy, ho’foods?
I am implying exactly that DR! Very astute! Hook, cvillain, me, you and practically everyone and everything in this small pond is at best a medium fish. To think otherwise is preposterous. Maybe you are a puffer fish? Who knows? Not me.
And “the” umbrage was my idea, baby. Do you fancy I am some attack dog for cvillain… hilarious! A cheerleader perhaps? I definitely have a lot more fun over there, but that’s because i find just it a touch less self important that such a serious bastion of journalism like the hook. Dont get me wrong, they have their moments too, but hey, don’t we all. And I am sure there are some very serious “needers of information without silliness”" that like things over here better.
There’s room for all of us in this goldfish bowl, that is, if we all stop puffing ourselves up. Whatever though, do what ya gotta do.
The sarcastic way this post begins is why I prefer to read C-ville weekly. They are a kinder, gentler publication.
/out with the old, in with the new
Lastly, The Hook’s blog would probably be happy to dance on bars if it found it to be worthwhile use of its time.
I’ll bet you are real fun at parties.
Ha ha D.R…. I like a man that tries to make fun of others and in the process draw further attention to his own inadequacies. You sound like a hole lot of fun…
don’t worry dearest ‘old media’ - until I can take the ‘new media’ into the crapper with me, there’ll always be a place for you…
Cvillain and the hook are equal? That some funny stuff boney motel:
If it weren’t for cvillain nobody would be checking out the spicy bear. CvilleSTYLE- not so much but it is new. CvilleMUSE- that place is has more tumbleweeds then comments.
The Hook has won a ton of awards and this site is an extension of a successful paper. Cvillain is a local gossip site with a cast of funny characters that is to local media what the Drudge Report is to traditional media- often early but rarely long lasting.
Floozy I’m floored by your latest bon mot. The cvillain is a regular algonquin roundtable and you must be it’s Dorothy Parker.
“All I need is room enough to lay a hat and a few friends”
D.R- such flattery… I will even let you away with your misquote. (p.s I tend to stick to friends…. the last Fedora I laid gave me a very nasty yeast infection)
Hey thanks for talking about cVillain everyone. Just a few things:
D.R. - We are actually more highly read than you think. Sure, there are regular commenters but we have well over 1,200 readers on a daily basis. Not everyone wants to comment and that’s fine with us.
Mike - There are very few people who contribute frequently to the site whom we don’t know personally. We obviously have to deal with a lot of speculation, but our facts come from real people who want to participate in creating a site about Charlottesville. We make an effort to use trusted sources when it comes to touchy topics. Believe it or not, we verify particularly touchy rumors!
Lisa - Sorry to hear you left! We invite everyone to participate, but things get snarky sometimes. C’est La Vie.
To Everyone - It’s a pretty exciting time for the news, overall. It’s a quickly changing time and news really doesn’t have the same meaning as it once did. We report facts, both unique to our site and from other media places all the time and just because we don’t have a journalist going out there with a pen and a paper doesn’t mean we don’t think of ourselves seriously.
We are serious about serving the community in which we live; that’s why we ask everyone to participate and welcome discourse on our site. In fact, we promise that the site will always be what you want to talk about. We listen to our readers and let them control the direction of our site. Sure, it isn’t for everyone, but the numbers don’t lie. We keep growing and with cvilleStyle.com and cvilleMUSE.com we are very happy to offer a lot of different places for Charlottesville to visit and learn about local things.
Happy reading.
Kyle
If it weren’t for cvillain nobody would be checking out the spicy bear
Surely you realize why this statement is a vast conveyor belt of fail, no? Hint, the opposite is true.
CvilleMUSE- that place is has more tumbleweeds then comments
You are right. Unlike your blog which has… which has… oof! Maybe you shouldn’t have gone there. I had to go back to May 21st to find the last time you broke double digits, with an awful lot of goose eggs along the way. But I am sure you are aware of that.
The Hook has won a ton of awards and this site is an extension of a successful paper.
So you are a puffer fish! I kinda had an inkling, but who am I to judge? “My awards. Let me show you them. No seriously. My awards. Have you seen them? Cough coughmyawardscough”
often early but rarely long lasting.
A familiar phrase? Sorry, nothing personal. I just find it hard to resist such low hanging fruit. Plus, Im twelve.
/neener neener!
Boner Motel… that was a bit below the belt.
I’m sorry. I’ll stop.
Seriously, I mean no harm, just getting my immaturity on. I will go back and play with the other maladjusted lunatics on the new media side of things.
Peace and lovely to all forms of media!
Anyone who thinks dancing on a bar is a waste of time has clearly never danced on a bar.
Bony motel - Hint the opposite is true- so everybody comes to the spicy bear for CvilleSTYLE and CvilleMUSE- Um no- sorry not true not even close. Check out the Alexa ratings and find out for your self.
Bony it’s not MY blog and if you haven’t figured it out yet I do read yours and yes I would put page views and comment on this blog against the two aforementioned blogs. But you keep believen’ that you have the goods.
They aren’t my awards but please make fun of Virginia Press awards because all the cool kids DON’T have them. Because I’m sure your knowledge of the media in this state is superior to anything I might say? Just because you can snark at it doesn’t make it any less important.
Answer me this cvillains, talk to the average resident of this area and guess which is better known and respected, Cvillain or the Hook.
No one saying yours isn’t a fun little blog but putting yourself on the same level as the Hook journalistic wise is to quote you a meaningless “neener, neener” .
the Hook misquoted me in a blog months ago and in their Dish? or whatever section of that horrible waste of paper. The only award I see fit for the Hook would be “Biggest reason to Recycle”…
“Practice safe sex. Drink Virginia wine. Be Green. Vote!”
I do like that though! = )
Hint the opposite is true
spicy bear is cvillain. cvillain is spicy bear. but whatever…
s not MY blog and if you haven’t figured it out yet I do read yours
but you dont. because mine is not cvillain. but you knew that from the Alexa reports, right?
yes I would put page views and comment on this blog against the two aforementioned blogs
sigh. ok. you have the biggest e-peen in the universe, cool? wave it with pride.
you keep believen’ that you have the goods
i have not claimed a god damn thing. just pointing out my point of view, which apparently is met with derision by the hyper sensitive traditional built to last media. jesus.
They aren’t my awards but please make fun of Virginia Press awards because all the cool kids DON’T have them. Because I’m sure your knowledge of the media in this state is superior to anything I might say? Just because you can snark at it doesn’t make it any less important.
No but seriously. My awards.
Look, I aint in no contest with you chief. You obviously know EVERYthing about media in this state and have the brass to show it. You should be proud! Why so defensive about some lame random comments from someone who obviously knows so little? Methinks thou doth protest too much. Damn it, there goes my opinion again. My bad.
No one saying yours isn’t a fun little blog but putting yourself on the same level as the Hook journalistic wise is to quote you a meaningless “neener, neener
1) That’s some fine writing right there.
2) For the last time, its not MY blog. Go fight Kyle in a tub of jello for all I care, I am just some random loser trying to eke a little fun out of this life, and as it stands, the “new media” seems to be A LOT more fun than the cluster of self important buzz killers you got over here. Why I ever jumped in this I haven’t a clue. It really isn’t my battle.
3) You win. You win it al! A winner is you! Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go hide in my shame closet having been bested by your superior verbal dexterity and logic. Cheers.
Thanks to everyone for this entertaining exchange. I find it interesting only one person has expressed sorrow that OXO is closing. Even more surprising no one mentioned dredging the Rivanna!
I enjoyed my lunches there until my guested spied the chef licking his digits while preparing food. Licking fingers for me is a REAL turnoff, especially while handling other’s food. Needless to say that was the last lunch in OOO.
Hopefully they at least fattened their bank accounts after the deal for their commitment and hard work, harsh reality is that the were “burnt out” five years ago, the space really needs new life.
It’s too bad that OXO just closed up and left other customers hanging. I know of one group who had reservations for a big dinner (35+ people all arriving out of town). They found out by reading the papers. How hard would it have been for OXO to help find another restaurant or venue or at least have the common decency to CALL them and say, “We’re closing.”? Their number’s already been disconnected so no one can call and ask for any help in any case.