Photos by JARED SOARES The Roanoke Times

Gov. Tim Kaine greets diners at Table Fifty, a nonsmoking bar and restaurant in downtown Roanoke, on Thursday afternoon.

Eric DiLauro opened Table Fifty with Mike Caudill in 2006.

Mike Caudill and Eric DiLauro, co-owners of Table Fifty, received an unexpected call from Gov. Tim Kaine's office about two weeks ago. The governor wanted to pay a visit to the downtown Roanoke bar and restaurant.

The restaurateurs began calling regular customers, friends and local business people, encouraging them to eat lunch at the Market Street eatery to fill the seats.

Caudill even postponed by one day an anniversary trip to Charleston, S.C.

The governor stopped at Table Fifty on Thursday afternoon as part of a statewide journey to draw attention to the state's restaurant smoking ban, which takes effect Dec. 1.

Kaine and his Richmond entourage stepped through the doors of Table Fifty, and Kaine began shaking hands with diners, surrounded by flashing camera lights and video cameras. He made his way through the crowd to the back of the restaurant, where a podium was set up between the tables. "It's a great honor that he picked us," Caudill said before the governor's arrival.

Caudill and DiLauro opened Table Fifty at 309 Market St. in 2006 as a nonsmoking bar and restaurant, a decision that DiLauro said made them nervous because of how customers would receive it.

"We've had nothing but a positive response to it," Caudill said.

For the restaurant countdown tour, the governor's office sought eateries that voluntarily were smoke-free.

Bobby Parker, a regional Virginia Department of Health spokesman, suggested Table Fifty, among other Roanoke-area restaurants, because he had enjoyed dining there previously. The health department also checked the restaurant's health inspections to make sure it had a clean bill, said Karen Remley, state health commissioner, who traveled with Kaine by airplane.

Before Roanoke, Kaine visited Panera Bread in Norfolk and Perly's Restaurant & Deli in Richmond, according to his schedule. He was headed for El Pueblo, a restaurant in Burke, after Table Fifty.

"Thank you for letting us invade," Kaine said to the diners. Waiters and waitresses bustled past him, carrying plates of food to tables and filling beverage glasses while he talked.

Kaine spoke about the health risks of secondhand smoke and urged restaurants not to wait until Dec. 1 to ban smoking. Also, eliminating smoking ultimately saves restaurateurs certain costs, such as high health care premiums, decreases fire risks and improves worker productivity, he said.

Already, 69 percent of restaurants in the Roanoke and New River valleys are smoke-free, including fast-food establishments, according to inspection reports from the Virginia Department of Health. Still, this region has a higher percentage of all-smoking establishments, at 12 percent, compared with 8 percent statewide.

The health department will enforce the no-smoking law through restaurant inspections.

After Dec. 1, smoking still will be allowed in private clubs or in restaurants with separately ventilated rooms designated for smoking.

Not every person who dined at Table Fifty on Thursday approved of the smoking law.

Art Heberer, owner of Import Auto Recycling in Salem, was invited by Caudill and DiLauro. Though Heberer supports some of Kaine's work, he said he's not in favor of a law to ban smoking in restaurants.

"I think the government has no business to tell someone what to do with your building," Heberer said while dining with his wife, Linda Webb, and two friends.