Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Aesy's continues family cooking without Josephine
Larry Bly
Larry Bly runs an ad agency and does freelance writing in the Roanoke area.
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The first sign of change at Aesy's after Josephine Aesy's recent death was a sign placed outside the front door. It was one of those sandwich boards you see everywhere downtown, and it announced a daily special!
Never in all my years of going to Aesy's had Josephine opted to go beyond the standard burgers, soups, salads and fries. And certainly there were never any "specials" for lunch, breakfast or any other time of day. So I decided to make a visit to the establishment to see what was going on.
Josephine was a character. She either liked you or she didn't. If she liked you, she'd probably say something rude to you from time to time, or better still tell you to behave yourself.
My advertising agency was practically across the street from Aesy's on Campbell Avenue for nearly 20 years, so I had plenty of experiences at the restaurant. And for the most part, Josephine and I got along pretty well.
But she and her nephew Eddy Joe ran the place with a firm hand and a constant scowl. Right up until her death on Feb. 11 she nearly lived at the restaurant, going to work in the early morning hours and staying until late in the day -- even coming in to cook food for her beloved church in the off-hours and weekends.
Though Josephine didn't change much, the customers sustaining her business did. Some local offices closed and many of the evening walk-in drinkers stopped coming around. The hours were adjusted accordingly. Years ago, she started closing on Saturdays -- little to no traffic on weekends didn't make it worthwhile to remain open. But still Aesy's did a great weekday trade with takeouts, breakfasts, lunches and a few bar patrons.
Josephine didn't mind you drinking, but only in moderation. More than a few of my friends were asked to leave after having one too many and getting mouthy.
I once insisted Josephine get away from the standard beers and offer something a little more exotic.
"Well, what would you like, Mr.?" she asked.
I said a Beck's Dark would be nice.
Next time I go in, she insisted I was going to drink one just because she had stocked it. I didn't get back to Aesy's for a while, but the next time I walked in Josephine let me have it with both barrels.
"I want you to know that I haven't sold one single can of that stuff you made me buy...so you'd better be here to drink it, and it's the last of it you'll get here."
It took me a while, but I eventually relieved her of "that stuff" and sure enough it was never offered again.
At the end of a long day, we loved to watch Josephine sitting on the last counter stool. She's sit there half asleep, and we'd take bets on whether she'd topple off the stool onto the floor. She never did, but usually preferred the safer back table for naps. Eddy Joe said she literally fell asleep (and onto the floor) while standing up and leaning against the counter one day.
So let's get back to that "specials" sign I recently observed. Turns out that upon her death, Eddy Joe's wife Judy quit her job to join her husband in running the business -- something that wasn't possible while Josephine was around. She's enjoying it and bringing some new ideas, new food and new enthusiasm to the old place.
As I mentioned before, the menu is pretty basic and each item has to be ordered separately. But now you'll find daily specials -- a one-price combo of a chicken sandwich, fries and drink for example -- and some homemade desserts from Judy too! Those desserts replace the ever-present tray of Little Debbie confections.
There are plans for other changes as well.
The back kitchen will be eventually be put into use for home-cooked items including: mashed potatoes, peas and beef for instance. And a new menu is on the way too.
"We've installed a Coke machine," said Eddy Joe. "Josey used to say 'You're not drilling any holes in my floor' but we found one that sits on the counter, so I don't think she'd be upset."
The restaurant itself is actually in its third or fourth location, though Charles Aesy, Eddy Joe's grandfather, did began the business as a grocery store across from the courthouse further downtown. It later moved to the 400 block of Campbell Avenue in a converted house with a pot belly stove, which Eddy Joe remembers. That's when he started tackling a few tasks in its daily operation.
"Josey's mother would tell her what to do and she did it," he said. Josephine would later tell Eddy Joe what to do.
The store became part restaurant, and moved to its current location in 1958. When Josephine's mother died, she installed a pinball machine and pool table (her mother was opposed to such things). She then instituted Friday afternoon happy hours featuring 50cent beer and Lebanese specialties.
Eddy Joe, who had been working at Aesy's for most of his life, graduated from Roanoke College with a degree in business administration and announced that he was heading out to greener pastures, possibly in another city. But he took the summer off and hung around the restaurant. Eventually this work turned into a full-time job, as Josephine urged him to stick around because she needed him.
Eddy Joe stayed the course. How he endured decades of those slings and arrows, I have no idea.
In the early 70's they hired their first waitress and instituted a new menu, which is the one they still have today. At some point they got rid of the pinball machine and pool table.
By the time I started eating at the restaurant in the early 80's, it was the family bar and restaurant that remains today.
I'll always have my memories of dear old Josephine, like the day she chased a wino out of her restaurant and ran down the street after him, waving her spatula and cursing like a sailor. The old menu said it all: "The premises are clean. The owner is mean. The rule is wait. But the food is great."
A big part of local restaurant-lore died along with Josephine Aesy. I hope she's getting a long-deserved rest.
AESY'S
505 Campbell Avenue
Roanoke, VA
540-344-7525
