On this New Year’s Eve, I want to raise a glass to Billy’s Ritz, which is closing after tonight.

Billy’s has occupied an elegant, solid corner of downtown Roanoke for about 20 years. During that time, I surprised my mother on her birthday at Billy’s, had many lively discussions about journalism and celebrated the marriage of two wonderful friends, all over some very fine food.

Good luck to the new owner of this beautiful space. And Happy New Year to all!

The folks over at Slashfood or the Amateur Gourmet might accuse me of making a milestone out of a mole hill here, but I don’t care. While I was away from the Fridge Magnet blog last week, someone left the 1,000th comment!
Since the FM blog was first launched in March, we have chewed on a whole smorgasbord of topics, from Buffalo wings and pound cakes to new restaurants and service pet peeves.
I promised before I left for the holiday that our 1,000th commentor would win a very special prize. I’d like to announce that the 1,000th comment was left on Dec. 21 by Sherry, who wrote in to talk up the tasty home cookin’ over at Thelma’s Chicken and Waffles at Orange Avenue and Williamson Road.
Sherry wins a $25 gift certificate to Provisions! All she has to do is get in touch with me at lindsey.nair@roanoke.com to claim her prize.
UPDATED: We never heard from Sherry, so the prize goes to the 1,001st person to comment, Flo. Flo needs to e-mail me to claim her prize.
Happy New Year!