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We Talk to the Man Bringing 'Salt, Smoke and Soul' to Former Woody's on the Water · Between the Headlines: Columbus

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what he has come up with today to talk about.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not asking you to hide anything.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: You know, put it out there.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Let the people see it.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I've never not worked in a hospital working environment.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: You can't argue with anybody when they're putting facts in your face.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: Zach.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's a hard question.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: I have no answer for it.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: From the opinion page of the Commercial Dispatch.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: This is Between the Headlines.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_03: Hello, hello, to the friendly city.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_03: We've got great news on between the headlines today.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_03: For those of you who have been waiting for a prime seafood and high-end steak restaurant to come to the City of Columbus, we are pleased to announce that Mr.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_03: DJ Mantooth is pushing a deal, and it looks like that deal will go through.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_03: For a high-end steakhouse right there next to the Columbus Marina, former Woody's on the water.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_03: Today we have him on the program and we will talk about it.
• 1:00
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• 2:32
  SPEAKER_03: Well, here he is.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_03: We've got him in the studio today, Mr.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_03: DJ Mantooth, who is a old friend of mine, a native of Texas.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_02: Proud and born and raised.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_03: DJ is also the CEO of Rockwood Property Group and former staff member out at Vibrant Church.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_03: And he's here today to talk about something that all of our listeners have been hyping up on Facebook and elsewhere.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_03: Long time in the making.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_03: Tell us about it.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_02: Well, honestly, we were in the middle of a deal.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um I was right in the middle of a deal in another another restaurant that was you know, there was rumors of it being available, and and uh me and a friend of mine uh we were going to partner into the deal, and uh he ended up wanting to move forward without me.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: I got a call, which was and at first I was a little bit like, man, that that stinks.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: But my timeline and his time were were different.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: And uh honestly, we just another I was talking with another friend and uh he was telling me about the Woody on the Water Old building.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_02: He said that is the best location.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_02: He said you should go look at it and just check it out, see what you think.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_02: So I drove out there and I was actually I was I was setting underneath the building.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: With it looked up day or night.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: Is that daytime?
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: So I was sitting underneath the building, and it was it was probably uh man, it was probably late August, early September, but it was actually a decent cool day, breeze was blowing off that water, and I was sitting under there and I just had this vision.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: I really believe I I'm obviously a Christ follower, and I just believe God gave me this vision of what that place should be and can be.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: And it was clear as day out there underneath the space, and I thought, man, this this would make a great area for people together with their families, with their friends, with business uh partners, whatnot, and just enjoy some scenery, enjoy a breeze, maybe have an appetizer, a nice drink, whatnot, and and just enjoy an atmosphere.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: We don't have a ton of waterfront places that are even some of the places on the river, it's muggy and the trees keep from the breeze blowing, but out there with that, it just it's open air.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: And so I saw the building step back, see the building, and I'm like, man, this is we could do some stuff with this, you know.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_02: And uh anyway, so we we we started uh exploring what that looked like, found out that the city owned it, and so I do what most people should do.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: Don't do anything.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, I don't know what to do at this point.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_02: I've never bought a building from uh a city or anything.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't know what the process was, so I didn't really know.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_03: As I understand it, it was a really complicated procedure because the city owns the building, the county port authority owns the lease, and then like you've got to sublease it from them.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, you've got the Army Corps of Engineers involved.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_03: And they're owned the land.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_03: So how has going through this process been?
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_03: I know it's been described as smoother than previous attempts, but you're almost there, is that right?
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we're almost there.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: We I would say it's definitely smoother than I expected, and what we all kind of expected based on some conversations of things that had happened in the past with another potential buyer.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_02: Uh a lot of red tape, you can as assume.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: So what we did is I I reached out to a friend of mine.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: Uh he was the one that told me about the building.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: He says, Man, I think, I think if you can get from the city, I think this is and he kind of walked me through the process, what I need to do.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: And ultimately that just started with having a just a good old conversation with our mayor.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: And uh so me and me and uh Mayor Jones and our city attorney Jeff Turnage, we got together and just said, hey, you know, what what is there any interest?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_02: What's the process?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_02: Just could we could we make a bid?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, what is it a bid process?
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_02: What is the deal?
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_02: And they just they're like, we haven't had any interest in this building.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: They've been sitting on it for a while, and they said, Do you want to go look at it?
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, that would be great.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: And so we rode out there and uh they opened it for us, let us see inside.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_02: And condition wasn't you we could tell it's a building been sitting a while.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: It was home, it's definitely made uh nice home and shelter to some raccoons.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, now they're hard to get rid of.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they are.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_03: You said home.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_03: Now there's a building to the left.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_03: What is that building to the left up on Stilts?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_03: It looks like a residence.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: It seems like I don't know.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: Don't know.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: I have no concept, I have no context of what that is, who whose it is, anything about it.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: I like it.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: I want it.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_02: You want to do it.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: If y'all can listen, if y'all can find out who owns it and tell them to reach out to me.
• 7:18
  unknown: Okay.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_04: Well, uh uh talking about just uh your rights in this deal, you bought the the building.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so the building is owned, the the improvement is owned by the city.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um the land is owned by the Corps of Engineers.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: And then it's leased to the port authorities.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: And the port authorities do that obviously to maintain certain aspects of keeping, I guess, uh uh the the government that needs to be, the maintenance that needs to be whatnot.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_03: Conservation, all that.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_03: Uh waterway traffic, all those things.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: And so they they obviously care a lot on both sides.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: Corps of engineers is going to care a lot about what's going to happen in that building.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_02: So is the port authorities.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: And so we had to work out a lease with the uh port authorities, a sublease.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um and so we've been in the process of that.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_02: We've we've got uh we're really close to that.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: We we actually have the sublease uh was drawn up.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um it was already there was already one obviously with the city.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_02: And so we are at a point now where we're real close to being able to get this thing wrapped up.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_02: But right now we're in a due diligence period.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: And so my my belief is that we'll get the um all of this done and we'll get we'll get it wrapped up and closed in the next 30 days.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_04: Aaron Ross Powell What challenges are you gonna have?
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_04: What kind of investment are you gonna have to make once you can get in there, once all of this is closed and you can get in there and start making this restaurant, making this into this restaurant.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_04: What what all's the matter and what all are you gonna have to do, and how much is that gonna cost?
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_02: Well, we're we're still in the due diligence phase, so some of those questions haven't been answered for me yet either.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um but for the majority, I can tell you, we have a we have a probably it I I'll be honest, there's uh elements of the building that were in way better condition than I expected.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: There's elements we don't know.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_02: So we're getting electrical, plumbing, uh, HVAC, all that inspected.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um now we're working towards those things.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_02: Uh there is the kitchen's gonna have to be redone.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh there's there is a vent hood there still that that seems to be functional.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: And um vent hoods, the commercial vent hoods like that are pretty expensive.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_02: So that's a that's a benefit.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: Well, uh, but the rest of the kitchen is gonna have to be, you know.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_03: And that leads into what everybody wants to know about, and that is these high-end steaks that you're talking about.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_03: Look, hey, okay, traditional broiler or um overflame, if you make it.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, it's gonna be overflame.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_03: Overflame.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: So one of the ideas that we have, and these are these are, you know, uh so for me, the restaurant, I had a I had a friend of mine, he he heard about this.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_02: He's actually on the the board for the port authorities.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_02: He contacted me, he said, DJ, I didn't know you were interested in nonprofit business.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I was like, well, um, you know, here's and here's the truth of this matter.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_02: I I really the desire for this is to have something that my family can enjoy as well.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_02: Just like, and and uh for people who don't know me, I'm a very family-focused guy.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_02: We moved some of my family from Texas up here to work with us in our business, and we all have the same need.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: Man, there's just no good place.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: I love, and I'm not talking bad about any of the other restaurants in town.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think they serve us well and they do do a good job, but there's no place that's just a legitimate experience from the time you get there after the time you leave.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I I want to bring and we do things a little different in Texas.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: So when you can I think I I am Texan, so I'm a little biased, but I think Texas uh Texans, I should say, know how to make some meat.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: Like we know we know how to barbecue, we know how to use wood, we know how to use but what I age it?
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_02: But I love I love the idea that we have uh here in in the South of when it comes to soul food.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_02: And so our whole thing is gonna be salt, smoke, and southern soul.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_03: And our our idea, I promise.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_02: My idea is we're taking saltwater fish, you know, we're gonna take a Gulf Coast type experience and blend it with a smoked and fire-grilled meat.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: And then our sides will be heavily focused on like collard greens and some of the some of the old recipes that my my Nana has made.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: We she she makes probably the best banana pudding on the planet, so we're gonna bring some of that in there.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_03: You are spot on on what you were talking about as far as Columbus doesn't have well we do have it.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes our own people tend to talk over, you know, old hickory and Prophet's Porch and places like that.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_03: We do have but what the habit is, well, if they want to go to Olive Garden for whatever reason, they're gonna go to Meridian, right?
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_03: If they want to go to Red Lobster, they'll go up there to Tupelo.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_03: But the trend of the kind of thing you're putting together has the potential for the people of Tupelo and Tuscaloosa Meridian to come here instead.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: That's the goal.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: I I'm tired of, you know, when since we moved here, my girl, uh my oldest daughter, she goes, and my and niece, our our second, she's gonna be going to Alabama this year.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: So our you know, Caitlin graduated last year, she's at Alabama.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: So we spend some time in Tuscaloosa.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: But before she went to college, when we went to have a good dinner somewhere, we're traveling to Startville, we're traveling to uh because for the big thing is is Fridays and Saturday nights, uh one of the one of the things that we want to try to solve that I do feel is a problem is if I go somewhere like Harvey's or a Hux on a Saturday night with my family, it it'll be an hour, hour and a half.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_02: And our better call ahead.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: And our and a lot of those places don't always take reservations.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_02: So our waiting then kind of by the time we get to eat, I'm we're already exhausted.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's like so we find ourselves doing a whole lot more ordering or grabbing some groceries, cooking at home.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: Again, environment and vibe is the thing that really matters a lot to me.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_02: I want to be able to sit down with people and not just have good food, but enjoy the experience.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: So in my dining room table, or if it's if my outdoor dining space or my dining room table in our in our home, our dining room, we like candle lit, we low light everything, we have candles lit all over the table, we have nice music playing in the background.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: Why tablecloth?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, uh, we don't really do tablecloth, but we we we do we make it elegant with a lot more luck I'll say like this, luxury, but it's so uh inviting.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's so like somebody doesn't have to be super.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: You don't feel like you don't belong there or something exactly.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: So I can come in off the lake.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: What we want, what I want is for people to come and feel uh that they have been prepared for uh in terms of service.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like so here's some of the things that we'll we'll do and we'll talk talk to our staff about.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: If you see people in and having a conversation, you see them intimately connecting, don't interrupt them.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: Come in, make sure their drinks are filled, do your job.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: Your job is not to sit and have a conversation with these businessmen who are trying to have a conversation or a date.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: When people are coming and they're sitting at a table, we want them to feel served, we want them to feel seen, we want them to feel known.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: But what we're not trying to do is we're not trying to be seen.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: We're not trying to be known.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's not our objective.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_02: Now you could do that and be friendly.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_02: You could be friendly and you should have a smile on your face, and you should love people and you should greet them when they come.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_03: But you're in the background.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: But be in the background, watch my most uh favorite.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: Me and Alicia still today talk about it.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: We were probably three years in our marriage, didn't have a whole lot of money, and somehow we mustered up enough money to go to this really, really high-end nice steakhouse for an anniversary dinner.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_02: And that we didn't feel rushed.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: There was a guy when he comes out and presents the menu.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: Man, I wanted everything on the menu.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_02: Like he presented it in a way my mouth was watering, and I'm like, man, I I want everything.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_02: He he he did a really good job to explain what it is that they had to offer us and then help us make a decision that was appropriate to what we liked and our taste buds and and and uh desires that way.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: But then he sets and we I watched him, he would let us enjoy our conversation.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_02: He would bring out the first course, whether it be a salad or soup or whatnot, and then he would let us enjoy that.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_02: And then he would be, and we were there, we walked out of that place.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: It was four hours, three and a half to four hours.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm I'm telling you, I'm not saying that that will be the experience every time for somebody because you know, there's there's I'm not expecting everybody to stays around for three or four hours.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_03: Some places will turn the AC way down and freeze you.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_03: But we ain't doing that.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and the idea is like we want people to enjoy their space and we want to have a lounge, an outdoor place.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_02: This is the part that I'm the most excited about, is where people can come and there will be uh there's a we have to be very restricted of what we do under.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_02: So one of the things with the Corps of Engineers that they would be concerned about, and this is some of the things that has hurt, I think, some of the other potential buyers, was we really can't do a lot in regards to of uh built fixed structure underneath because that floods out.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, water will come up, and so we have some ideas, and we're just gonna have things like a lot of patio furniture out there.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_02: And we just want to have a space where people can come have a cocktail, have a have an appetizer, have some coffee after a dessert or whatnot, and just enjoy the outdoor space that is covered by the entire building.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a 6,000 plus square foot covered space that you could do a lot with just in regards to creating another space for people.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: And then what also that does is it'll allow people to just come and have a place to hang out under the under the in the breeze, out of the weather, whatever, out of the sun, after they just got off their boat.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_02: And we are gonna have a different area, you know.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um we don't know there's still a lot of unknowns.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um I I've got it, I've never done a restaurant before, guys.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: I've never I have no experience.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_03: Good luck dealing with the liquor board.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: My my uh one of the councilmen asked me when we were talking, he says, you know, do you have ask them, do you have it after I presented my business plan?
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: I said, Do you have I asked them if they had any questions?
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_02: And one of the one of the council members just said, Hey, do you have any experience at this?
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: Have you ever done a restaurant before?
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, No.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_02: But I could tell you this.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: I love to cook for my family.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: It's not the same.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: I've done larger events for people, but I I love to create an environment.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_02: But what I'm the best at, I believe in this, what I'll what I bring to the table, I should say, is that I'm a businessman with a vision, but ultimately I'm I'm a leader.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_02: And a leader will surround themselves, if they're not insecure leaders, they will surround themselves with people who are stronger and know more than they do.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_02: And I will 100% commit to that.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_02: So we haven't decided who our general manager will be yet.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_02: We haven't went through that process, but our general manager will be the highest paid general manager in the area by far.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna invest into that general manager.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna make sure that this person is somebody who knows this business like the back of their hand.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_02: And we we have some people from Texas that I've I've got contacts with.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: I am lucky because I have a brother-in-law who's been in this industry for a long time, and he's here, he works with me running a business that we started here called Hometown Haulers.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_02: And so anyway, he's he's he's here, he's he's got a best friend that is a guy that works at uh Olive Garden and does a lot of the upstarts for Olive Gardens.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: He's like a district manager or something for them.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_02: So we get to ask him some questions.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_02: We have some contacts in Texas, so we're we're ultimately going to try to bring somebody in who will, whether it be somebody local or somebody that's from Texas or some some other connection that we'll have, uh, but we want to pay them well.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: We want to pay our staff well.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: I I believe that uh I kind of tell everybody in our business, if I if I'm winning, they're winning.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: And so our whole mantra is that if if we're all working hard and we're all investing, then we should all get the return of that investment back, not just DJ.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: And if I can break, I'll be honest with you guys, I don't I want to make some money on this thing.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want it to fail, but breaking even would be a blessing to me because it would give me a place that I can enjoy to go in with my friends, I can enjoy going with my family, and we could have a nice dinner that's that's unrushed, that has an experience to it, that has a uh, you know, one of the things I'm excited about, we're gonna call our cocktail lounge, is our cocktail lounge will be the place that people will wait to get into the restaurant.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_04: So how I'm just gonna be sitting in a corner just kind of waiting on their name to be called.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_02: You're gonna get to have you're gonna get to have your appetizer order, you're gonna get to eat appetizers, have a cocktail or a drink or whatever it is that you want to have.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that'll make them a little more loose when it comes time to uh come to the expensive side of the background.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: Well, one of the things from a pricing standpoint, we don't want I've I've seen some of the comments out there, and I just tell you, I I commit a couple of things.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_02: This will be accessible for all.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_02: This is not gonna be uh you have to have a certain social status, certain uh amount of money that you make per month to be able to afford this place.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like I want it to be accessible.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: We don't want it to be, I mean, I can't lose money on the flip, and we're gonna we're gonna give people a high-end experience.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_02: But on the flip side of that, we want to make sure there's options out there for people who want to come and experience it without having to pay for the the like you said, the 28-day age dry, dry aged uh cold smoked pork chops and steaks and all that.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_02: Now we're gonna do some stuff that is ultimately it's more of I would say it's more of a niche, but I grew up on a I grew up having a passion.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_02: It sounds weird.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_02: People think I'm weird when I tell them this, so please don't think I'm weird, guys.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_03: But it's too late.
• 21:40
  unknown: Yeah.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_02: I have a uh passion since I've been a little kid of crossbreeding cattle.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: For marbling and things like that.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, I'm talking for me, it used to not be anything to do with marbling.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_02: It was markings, it was horns, it was you know, as a kid, you're not thinking about cattle.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_02: I grew up around cattle, so I always have a couple of cattle.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: I would draw pictures of them and everything.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: And so as I've gotten older, I've realized that there's a little bit deeper way I could take this.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_02: And so one of the things that we're hoping for, now this is not a promise that I can't commit to this yet because there's a lot of other things that have to happen.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_02: But I really want to do a literally farm-to-table experience where it's coming from my farm.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we're going to raise meat and and a certain type of breed, a certain type of crossbreeding that will produce a certain type of steak.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_03: Keep the cows downstairs so that you can see it.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, there you go.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_02: See what you before you go up there.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: Port authorities might have a problem with that in the marina next door.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: They're like, DJ, this is what we were imagining when you're talking development.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: But I do think that one of the things we do really want to see is we have we have about four or four or five hundred acres down in Blooming Grove.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_02: It's our family, kind of family-owned farm.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: And my stepdad, he's I really don't call him my stepdad, really he's my dad, but he is uh always like he was a he was an aerospace engineer for 40, 40 years.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_02: And so now he just spends a lot of time out there cutting firewood, cutting firewood, just cutting wood down, clearing his land, cutting wood.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: And we have a lot of mesquite out there, life, lifelong supply of mesquite wood.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_02: We have a which is you know native to Texas.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_02: We have we have a lot of pecan trees, a lot of pecan wood.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: So one of the things that we are gonna do, it's just kind of a as a it probably doesn't, honestly, from when I think about it from an economic standpoint, it's probably not the best decision for us to make, but we're gonna haul down a truck.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_02: I got, you know, we got trucks, we have 40 foot trailers, and and I'm gonna send some of my guys down there, and we're gonna pull wood native from Texas to kind of have that whole when we say Texas fire grill, this is legitimate.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_03: Their trees, not ours.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_03: There we go, there you go.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: And most of them are already chopped, so we're we're good on that.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_02: The mesquites are they run so native and nasty that you want to get rid of them.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_02: So it produces a flavor that is unmistakable.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: And so we we want to have like some of the things that you'll see on our menu will be like a mesquite, uh mesquite fire-grilled flamignon.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we'll do uh a ribeye that has a pecan wood flare to it.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_02: And so just little things.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_02: You'll you'll see smokestacks coming up from it.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: Well, one of the things I told uh mayor, I said when we were doing this, I said, I think I'm going to try to do my best to draw as many people off that lake from the smell of barbecue.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: There you go when it's when it's beef being barbecued, it's a different flare.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's a different smell, you know.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely tired of fish.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um I do want to ask you about the event venue.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_03: Are people gonna get married out there?
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's it's it the events are really gonna be more so uh we'll do one a month and it'll be uh more of a a gala type situation, or uh we have the idea of some things called like just some ideas, but uh one that we'll look at is called fire and ice, and it would be where we would do, we would pair, do pairings of certain smoked and grilled meats with a certain chilled cocktail.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um I love I love pairing.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: I love teaching my kids about it, like hey, if you eat this and drink this and do this after, you'll you'll have a mouth explosion, you know.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_02: Like I and so we're wanting to give those same types of experiences to people.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_02: We would have live music, we would have, and it would be more of a cover charge type situation.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: So that one night a month that we do this, it would be a limited capacity, obviously, but we would do a per charge type thing where uh it would just be like built for a date night.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_02: All the food, all the drinks would be included.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_02: You would just yeah.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_02: And and so Valentine's, for example, we have a Valentine's gala that we're looking at would be what that would look like would be you would come in with your date.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_02: There would be servers walking around everywhere with you know, champagne glasses, whatever you can grab.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_02: There would be food available.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um obviously it'd be more of a buffet type style, but also people walking around with appetizer samples and things like that.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_02: We'd have a jazz band playing in the background, some dancing, just creative.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: Well, there won't be a DJ.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: Because that would that would lower the vibe, Dave.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_03: So you won't be there.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sorry.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, you're trying to be I bow down.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_04: There would be waiting on that.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_04: I was waiting on that when the song was.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: There will be a DJ there.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_02: There will be a DJ.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_02: No, but then in that same thing, we will have some some moments where we would have we would have a DJ experience.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: We will have uh like in the summertime, one of the one of the things I'm probably the most excited about is we want to bring what was simply called movie on the water.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_02: And on in the summer, on Friday nights or Saturday night, whichever one we we figure out the right night would be, but we want to have a screen on the back of the restaurant that people can just pull their boats up and watch a movie on the, you know, whether and and that's something that ultimately I want this to be a place that can not just gather people, but like we said, it becomes a uh an event idea.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's not just an event in terms of we're gonna have a wedding there or not.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's it's it's an event that you it's something to do in Columbus besides just show up and eat food.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, and we want we want people to come in off the lakes, we want the uh opportunity, and eventually I'd love to see that whole marina area developed.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_02: I'd really like to see uh I'm excited to have some conversations with.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: So if you're listening to this, what's what's that guy's name that owns the marina?
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_02: Do y'all know him?
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_03: Steve.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_02: Steve uh yeah Steve Art.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_02: Steve, if you're hearing this, let's get together and talk, man.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: Let's let's just drink let's dream up some ideas because I really do want to see there just there that's that's such an untapped resource out there.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's one of the most beautiful spaces in Columbus.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_02: When you think about when you see the landscape, especially the water, waterway that we have there.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_02: If you look across the waterway, it's it's a pretty landscape across it.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I think we could do some stuff.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_02: I think we could see some really nice development happen there.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_04: Aaron Powell All right.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_04: Well let's just uh for a timeline here, you say maybe 30 to 60 days, y'all are closed.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_04: So let's just say that goes the way it's supposed to.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_04: How long before uh my wife and I can come eat there?
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_02: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_02: We we'll we'll know for sure what that looks like after we get done with our due diligence, but at this point we're at probably our our contract to close with the city is in 90 days from to from last week.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_02: So uh I think that'll be sooner.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_02: But so let's just say for the sake of timeline, 60 to 90 days.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna slow roll this.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_02: So I I don't expect that the restaurant itself will be open until sometime in 2027.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_02: So we're gonna slow roll this because I don't uh a lot of people don't know what I all got going, but I got a lot going.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_03: And I don't have so I don't want to just don't slow roll it like the whole group slow rolls.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: I I want to I want to slow roll it so it's done right.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_02: The idea right now is that we would have uh I'm hoping have the renovations pretty much done by the end of by the end of this year.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: It'll be a six to eight month process.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_02: So if we're 90 days right now from I just don't see us getting the renovations wrapped up until this year.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: And then what I want to be able to do is once we get to a point inside the the building, we'll start doing some soft, soft openings, some VIP type situations, which you guys will be invited.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I want y'all to come.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_02: Like what we're gonna do is have some moments where we're gonna utilize some situation for utilize that situation for us to be able to train our staff and and kind of get the environment, the menu, like really.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I would love to then be able to get feedback from that.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna bring people in and we're gonna host events uh once a month type situations, or maybe maybe even twice a month.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_02: We'll have a gathering where people will invite people to just try our foods, give us some feedback.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, that that's that's a little too spicy, DJ.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we don't I've been told a lot of people in Mississippi like spice until they start getting the Texas spice, and they're like, oh, that's a little too spicy.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't want to kill people's palates, I want to help their palates, you know.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: We want to and then the the environment, you know, uh really want this to be.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: I think restaurants, the the reason that restaurants, I've done a little studying on this, and and in most cases restaurants don't succeed because it's usually somebody who's a chef or a cook trying to run a business and they don't have no business experience.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_02: I would I would like to do the opposite of that.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm a business guy, I'm not a I'm not a cook, I'm not a chef.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I'd rather go out and hire those people, hire the right people, and then let them have the time and that they need without because a lot of times, and even the business side of it, you don't have the time.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you're like, I need to get this open and start making money.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I'd rather say, hey, let's let's be okay investing into this thing up front.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and let's let's not put a rush on it for the people to uh be able to, when people start coming, when you when you come to the restaurant and you come in with your wife for the first time, I want your experience to be amazing.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_03: Well, thank you for coming in today.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, for those of you listening who have that friend that likes to complain about how there's nothing to do in the friendly city, this right here is the episode to share.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_03: So I wish you well.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks, Matt.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: Thank y'all so much.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: Thank y'all for having me.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, you betcha.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_02: And uh one thing I'll just say is you know, none of this, none of this would even be possible, and it wasn't possible, the vision of it, the idea of it, and even the way it's happened with a city and the process without God's help.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_02: So to him be all the glory.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_03: Amen to that.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, man.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_03: Ladies and gentlemen, Mr.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_03: DJ Mantooth will take a break and talk about some headlines.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_03: Since 1935, Lowndes Farm Supply has supported the Greater Columbus Trade Area with products and knowledge for the farm, ranch, and garden markets, along with lawn, hunting supplies, outdoor clothing, and boots.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_03: Go check them out at 69 Co-op Road in Columbus.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_03: Well, Zach, it's been a relatively quiet week news-wise, but I guarantee that you've got three things to know about.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_04: I've got three things to know, and they're good ones.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_04: Uh number one, the Alva Temple Museum is a go.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_04: The city announced Tuesday it's been approved for a$15,000 grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council, the America 250 program, to install a museum honoring Temple and other Tuskegee Airmen at the Columbus Lounge Airport.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_04: The$30,000 project, which includes City and County Match, will fund memorabilia, infrastructure to display the exhibits, and a documentary film.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_03: So for that, uh is that going to be located you say Columbus Lounge Airport?
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_03: Is that the one on Idlewild?
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_04: It it really is neat.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_04: And uh, you know, you've got somebody with that kind of history that lived here for so long.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, he he retired here, passed away, I think, uh in the early 2000s, and you know, somebody with that kind of history and those types of stories and family that's still around here.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_04: I think that I I think that's going to be nice.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_04: Number two.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_04: Lownds County is moving forward with a marble marker honoring 14 soldiers, twelve of them black, who died in World War I and whose names were omitted from the original marker created in 1933.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_04: MSMS student research brought the omissions to the county's attention, and the new marker will sit at the foot of the original monument on the courthouse lawn.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_04: Number three, the downtown spring open house is set for this weekend in Columbus, organized by Main Street Columbus.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_04: Downtown businesses will be open Friday and Saturday, offering promotions and chances at door prizes.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_04: Also, bring your kids to Leadership Plaza between 11 a.m.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_04: and 1 p.m.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_04: March 28th for photos with the Easter Bunny.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_03: Well, thank you for supporting the program.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for joining us here today.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_03: Uh find that one special friend of yours that needs to know what's happening here locally so they can listen in, and together we can help make our hometown a better place.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_03: Reach out to us.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_03: Tips at cdispatch.com.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_03: You can also follow me on Facebook or X at D Chisholm DoubleZero and leave us a public comment.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_03: Talk to us about this project.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_03: We want to know how excited you are about having a restaurant and event venue such as this.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_03: Keeping it real here in Catfish Alley Studio in historic downtown Columbus.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_03: Your host has been Zach Player.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_03: I'm Dave Chisholm.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_03: Y'all stay friendly.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just a simple old country boy, but um, I think that makes sense.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: I've stepped out and I've said what I had to say.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_03: You've been listening to Between the Headlines with Zach and David.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_03: That's what old people do.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: That is Peter Rimes, publisher of The Dispatch.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: One of our hosts of Between the Headlines is the managing editor of our newsroom.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: Typically, we try to keep news and opinion separate, but reporters have a unique insight into the workings of local government, and their analysis can be helpful for readers and listeners.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_00: The Dispatch remains committed to journalistic integrity, and our reporting will always reflect that.