The 78-foot yacht Celebration houses the Flatheads restaurant. (Photos by Mark Robinson)
After a two-year string of bad luck – including a brush this week with a fatal incident – a floating restaurant near Rocketts Landing is finally open.
Flatheads, a 78-foot restaurant-on-a-boat anchored at 3125 Wharf St., was almost struck Tuesday by a car that drove into the James River.
“It was something else,” said Flatheads co-owner Benita Johnson, who witnessed the crash from the boat while the restaurant was open for business. “You don’t see a car flying into the river every day.”
Flatheads co-owner Benita Johnson.
The car sped through a narrow space between a telephone pole and a planter adjacent to the restaurant’s patio. The vehicle went airborne and almost collided with the bow of the yacht before sinking into the James, she said.
The boat, named Celebration, had to be moved for emergency personnel to pull the car from the river, Johnson said. The car and the body of the driver were recovered Wednesday, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
It was a close call for Johnson and co-owner Anita Roberts, whose business opened June 20 after several false starts.
Local developer Louis Salomonsky, who owns the vessel, had to hire a company to raise the yacht from the bottom of the James after Hurricane Irene sank it in 2011. Water damage required $250,000 worth of repairs for the restaurant, Salamonsky said. At that time, the restaurant was to be called Mallory.
The original owners ditched the venture, and Salomonsky hired Roberts and Mathew Gleason to take over in 2012. The name was changed to Flatheads, but delays pushed back the opening, and Gleason stepped away from the venture, Salamonsky said.
Johnson joined Roberts this February. The 44-year-old was working as a marketing consultant and previously owned Grapes & Barley in Henrico.
The duo is revamping the Flatheads menu thanks to a new trailer next to the boat that houses the restaurant’s kitchen. Johnson said the eatery would serve more fried catfish, steamed shrimp and crab legs starting Friday.
Flatheads is Johnson’s first foray into the restaurant business. She says the floating restaurant’s previous bad luck doesn’t make her nervous.
“You’re going to have your ups and downs,” she said. “We’re going to have to take from the past mistakes and learn from them.”
Flatheads seats 120 people and is open daily from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.
The 78-foot yacht Celebration houses the Flatheads restaurant. (Photos by Mark Robinson)
After a two-year string of bad luck – including a brush this week with a fatal incident – a floating restaurant near Rocketts Landing is finally open.
Flatheads, a 78-foot restaurant-on-a-boat anchored at 3125 Wharf St., was almost struck Tuesday by a car that drove into the James River.
“It was something else,” said Flatheads co-owner Benita Johnson, who witnessed the crash from the boat while the restaurant was open for business. “You don’t see a car flying into the river every day.”
Flatheads co-owner Benita Johnson.
The car sped through a narrow space between a telephone pole and a planter adjacent to the restaurant’s patio. The vehicle went airborne and almost collided with the bow of the yacht before sinking into the James, she said.
The boat, named Celebration, had to be moved for emergency personnel to pull the car from the river, Johnson said. The car and the body of the driver were recovered Wednesday, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
It was a close call for Johnson and co-owner Anita Roberts, whose business opened June 20 after several false starts.
Local developer Louis Salomonsky, who owns the vessel, had to hire a company to raise the yacht from the bottom of the James after Hurricane Irene sank it in 2011. Water damage required $250,000 worth of repairs for the restaurant, Salamonsky said. At that time, the restaurant was to be called Mallory.
The original owners ditched the venture, and Salomonsky hired Roberts and Mathew Gleason to take over in 2012. The name was changed to Flatheads, but delays pushed back the opening, and Gleason stepped away from the venture, Salamonsky said.
Johnson joined Roberts this February. The 44-year-old was working as a marketing consultant and previously owned Grapes & Barley in Henrico.
The duo is revamping the Flatheads menu thanks to a new trailer next to the boat that houses the restaurant’s kitchen. Johnson said the eatery would serve more fried catfish, steamed shrimp and crab legs starting Friday.
Flatheads is Johnson’s first foray into the restaurant business. She says the floating restaurant’s previous bad luck doesn’t make her nervous.
“You’re going to have your ups and downs,” she said. “We’re going to have to take from the past mistakes and learn from them.”
Flatheads seats 120 people and is open daily from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.