In the week since the Dec. 12 death of prolific and beloved restaurateur Will Richey in a single-car accident on Owensville Road, heartfelt tributes have poured forth as management and staff at the restaurants he owned have reopened the doors and continued to serve meals and drinks in Richey’s honor and memory.
“No one had a bigger impact on our restaurant community,” said Simon Davidson, creator of Charlottesville29, in an interview on Charlottesville Right Now.
“He had this great appetite for life and experiences,” said Davidson. “He didn’t have fancy cars. He couldn’t care less about that. But what he wanted to do was sort of share experiences with other people.”
Richey, a father of two, had a hand in a slew of popular Charlottesville eateries including Revolutionary Soup, Bebedero, The Whiskey Jar, Cafe Frank, The Alley Light, and South and Central in addition to The Wine Guild and the new Hogwaller Brewing.
“It became an m.o. of his over time in that he would have this idea for this type of experience that he wanted to create, whether it be sort of the cocktail bar at the Alley Light or a steakhouse or his whiskey bar. And what he ended up doing is he’d create them. He’d get them up and running with talented people who he loves, and then he’d move on. He’d sell his interests. He thought it was in good shape, and that’s because he had other experiences that he wanted to create for people,” said Davidson, who rounded up and published tributes to Richey on his website.
“You were a gentle, steady, funny, badass, and utterly charming old soul,” said Emily Harper of Sugar Bear in the post on Charlottesville29.com.
On Saturday, Richey’s loved ones decorated the Downtown Mall in an event called “Deck the Mall,” honoring his love of the holiday season. On Sunday, a packed memorial service at the Code Building gave the community a chance to come together and remember Richey.
The future of Richey’s restaurants remains uncertain, Davidson said.
“He was very good at just the management aspect of it. It’s not like those people grow on trees as far as who can step in and run a restaurant like the Whiskey Jar… or all these places that he’s been sort of the guy that calls the shots,” he said. “That’s something that folks in the industry hopefully are going to be able to answer in weeks to come.”
