Owner Waller Perrow cuts the ribbon with representatives from the Bedford Area Chamber.

Small Plates Restaurant has opened at Smith Mountain Lake. Here is a press release from the Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce:

On Thursday, September 2^nd, the Bedford Area Chamber was pleased to perform a ribbon cutting ceremony for its new member, Small Plates Restaurant, in celebration of the opening of this new gourmet tapas restaurant at Smith Mountain Lake.  Located at 16111 Smith Mountain Lake Parkway in Huddleston (former location of the Sportsman Restaurant), Small Plates is owned by Waller Perrow and offers three distinctively unique features. Read more »

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We reported yesterday that Zorba, the Greek and Mediterranean food stall in the Roanoke City Market Building, is moving to Salem once the market closes for renovations.

Today, Zorba, aka The Falafel King, posted this sign thanking customers.

You can talk about the politics of the City Market building in this post on our new Blue Ridge Caucus political blog: Who Lost China? How about, Who Lost Zorba?

Do you have business photos you’d like to show off? You can share at news@bizjournal.com.

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The City Market Building closes Saturday for renovations.

For the last few days of its current life, patrons can look at this artist’s rendering of what things will look like. These drawings are now posted on the front doors.

The Botetourt Chamber of Commerce is holding a wine tasting dinner that will feature Botetourt’s three area vineyards. Here are the details from the chamber:

The Botetourt County Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a Wine Tasting Dinner on Tuesday, October 12, at the Pomegranate Restaurant in Troutville.  Enjoy fine dining at one of the Roanoke Valley’s premier restaurants and sample a variety of wines from Botetourt County’s three vineyards.  The evening begins with social time from 6:00 pm to 6:30 pm.  A five course tasting menu will be served beginning at 6:30 pm.  Each course will be paired with a sampling of wine from Blue Ridge Vineyard, Fincastle Vineyard & Winery or Virginia Mountain Vineyards.  Cost is $75 per person (includes tax and gratuity).  Contact the Botetourt Chamber at 473-8280 for more information or to make a reservation.

Michelle Bennett says she’ll open CUPS Coffee & Tea, a coffee house beside Rockfish Food & Wine at 1402 Grandin Road in Roanoke, next Tuesday.

Bennett, of course, is well-known in the Roanoke Valley arts community through her work at Center in the Square and Mill Mountain Theatre.

Business writer Jenny Boone has more on Bennett’s coffee house venture in this post on her retail blog, The Storefront.

Adel Eltawansy, the owner of the Zorba Greek and Mediterranean food stall in the Roanoke City Market building, was telling customers today that he intends to move to Salem after the market building closes Saturday.

Zorba is often the busiest of the vendors in the market building, and customers have been asking Eltawansy for months what his plans were.

He said he intends to re-open in a building on Salem Lynchburg Turnpike near Virginia 419 on Sept. 15.

The cover story of the current issue of The Blue Ridge Business Journal deals with the Roanoke City Market building.

Gov. Bob McDonnell is, as you know, pushing to privatize liquor sales in Virginia. Sell off the ABC stores, and use the money to fund transportation. There are some folks who think voters should decide this in a referendum, not the General Assembly. After all, they say, Virginians have historically decided liquor issues in a referendum.

Here’s some info on the politics behind that question — and the history of how Virginia first started holding referenda on liquor sales – both on our new politics blog, The Blue Ridge Caucus.

As for the impact on business, The Blue Ridge Business Journal had a cover story earlier this year on what privatizing liquor sales would mean.

The city of Roanoke sends out this reminder:

The City of Roanoke reminds residents and visitors that the Market Building will close for renovations at the end of regular business hours on Saturday, Sept. 4.

A special section has been created on the city’s website to enable citizens to follow the progress of construction at the Market Building through regular updates. This section includes information about design, project management, milestones, contacts, and more. The direct link is www.roanokeva.gov/marketbuildingrenovation.

We previewed the closure and what it means in the current issue of The Blue Ridge Business Journal.

As previously reported on this blog, the Taco Bell on Hershberger Road in Roanoke is being razed to make way for a “new and improved” Taco Bell building.

After the restaurant served its last taco, but before the first whack of the wrecking ball, Taco Bell joined with the Boys and Girls Club for a charity fund-raiser. For a price, you could write graffiti on the building.

These photos show the results — and the current pace of the demolition.

No word yet on how much money was raised for charity. We’ve asked, and when we hear, we’ll post the info here on The Ticker.

You can find details on the Taco Bell project here.

Matt and Kelly Edwards are opening the pizza outlet in Botetourt County on Aug. 24.

We have details on our Botetourt County community news site, The Botetourt View.