E-MAIL CHRIS   PRINT   2008 COLUMNS   ARCHIVES   SEARCH ARCHIVES A BAD NAME FOR A SUAVE, SOUTHERN BAR By Chris Barnett July 31, 2008 -- I've long held that history flows better in the barroom than the classroom. So pull up a leather stool here in TJ's Lounge in Richmond, Virginia, and let me tell you why we devotees of the civilized cocktail today owe Thomas Jefferson a major debt of gratitude. In the late 18th century, frontier farmers were transforming amber waves of grain and harvested fruits into whiskies and brandies. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, thirsty for new revenues to feed the infant government, mandated in 1791 that every whiskey still be registered and a seven-cent excise tax levied on every gallon bottled. Enraged farmers revolted and they tarred and feathered the tax collectors. Fearing yet another revolution, President George Washington mobilized 13,000 troops to quell what was called the Whiskey Rebellion. After Washington died, the merciful Thomas Jefferson, another native Virginian, repealed the despised tax when he was elected President. Jefferson wasn't a whiskey drinker like Washington, who briefly had a small distillery at Mount Vernon and reportedly sold his potent output for 50 cents a gallon. Instead, the genteel Jefferson was a health buff who usually drank claret wine made from his own grapes grown at Monticello, I'm told by Ben Eubanks, director of restaurants at Richmond's palatial, 112-year-old Jefferson Hotel, where the lower lobby itself is intoxicating. Indeed, I am here on this investigative reporting assignment drinking in the magnificent architecture; the marble columns soaring 70 feet to support a gilded, gold-leafed ceiling; and the hotel's steep, sweeping staircase from the mezzanine where U.S. presidents, foreign royalty, dignitaries, debutantes and newly minted brides and grooms have made grand entrances for over a century. TJ's Lounge, meanwhile, is a terrible name for the main bar in this gracious Beaux Arts landmark, one of America's few independent hotels awarded both a Mobil five-star and an AAA five-diamond ranking. It sounds like a corner saloon where wise guys power down boilermakers. But here's the great irony: On this particular night, more women than men are sitting at the bar and this is supposedly not unusual. Kristi, who's visiting from Houston, is sipping a Virginia merlot, having dinner at the bar and reading a book. "I feel very comfortable here," she says, "and it's beautiful." A stool away, Deirdre, a Los Angeles film producer, is also having her dinner at the bar. "It's been a long week, I miss my daughter more than anything, I don't want to eat in my room and everyone [in TJ's] is so very friendly," she says. The courtly Thomas Jefferson always was a ladies man and his legacy apparently lives on in his namesake hotel. The new legacy at TJ's is the Black Angus filet mignon hamburgers for $10 at the bar. In fact, the entire restaurant menu can be served in the lounge. Jacquie DeGroat who, like Eubanks, has good stories and great taste, tends bar at TJ's. "Most of our clients prefer single-malt Scotches, single-batch bourbon and classic cocktails," she says. "We don't do a lot of 'cutesy.' " That said, the house signature drink is the $12 Bellini-tini, a marriage of two classic cocktails. It's made with Grey Goose, fresh peach puree and sparkling wine. Only house-made fresh puree and juices are poured. Prices are reasonable for a five-star, five-diamond hotel. For example, Les Grandes Arbe, TJ's wine by-the-glass Chardonnay, and the Columbia Winery merlot from Washington State are $8. Single-malt Scotch lovers will find the 12-year-old Glenlivet for $12. Six beers, including three local brews, are on tap. The popularity prize goes to Legend Lager, a Richmond microbrew at $4.50 a pint. "We're a Richmond tradition and we keep our prices reasonable," says DeGroat. But one tradition, she says, is long gone: Baby alligators are no longer splashing in the pool on the upper Palm Court lobby near the desk under the opulent 40-foot-high stained glass rotunda dome. This bar, attached to TJ's well-provisioned restaurant, is a way station for interesting local folk and business travelers. Conversations are easily struck up. "I hate the word ambiance," says the stylish Tom Howard, the novelist and retired assistant managing editor of the Richmond Times Dispatch. "But this place has it--a good comfortable Southern bar." We're sipping Woodford bourbon over a couple of ice cubes and Howard is debunking local myths. "That staircase was not the inspiration for the stairs in Rhett Butler's home in Gone With The Wind. Not true." For an historical treat, saunter over to The Jefferson's small museum. It's across the lobby, but the walk whisks you back to 1895. The glass display cases illustrate a story of cotillions and snobby private clubs; of Tobacco Balls when they crowned the Queen of Tobacco Land; of guests like John D. Rockefeller IV, Teddy Roosevelt, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Lindbergh; and of rooms that fetched $1.50 a night. And, of course, Thomas Jefferson, who lost his head when his white marble statue was toppled in a 1901 fire. He stands tall and intact today in the upper lobby facing the entrance. So raise your glass to a true Virginia gentlemen--and come up with a new name for TJ's Lounge.

ABOUT CHRIS BARNETT Chris Barnett writes about business-travel tactics and strategies that save time and money and help minimize hassles. He is based in San Francisco and has written for a wide variety of major newspapers and national magazines. Barnett on Business Travel is syndicated by Creators Syndicate. THE FINE PRINT Joe Brancatelli makes this space available to Chris Barnett in the spirit of free speech and to help encourage editorial diversity and the wider discussion of important travel issues. All of the opinions and material in this column are the sole property of Barnett. This material may not be reproduced in any form without the express permission of Chris Barnett. This column is Copyright © 2008 by Chris Barnett. JoeSentMe is Copyright © 2008 by Joe Brancatelli. All rights reserved.