CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – A legend in the Charlottesville community — and local culinary world — has passed. Melvin Eugene Walker, the owner and chef of Mel’s Cafe who purchased and established the West Main Street institution, died late Tuesday. Born in Vinegar Hill in 1952, Walker had worked in kitchens at age 11, and had cut his teeth in fine-dining venues early in life. But he had a heart for food everyone could eat, worked at The Virginian for awhile, and purchased Mel’s in 1984.

He had to close the restaurant temporarily in 1989, but reopened in 1995 and it has been a gathering place for everyone in the community since. Mel’s is one of the few black-owned businesses remaining on West Main, in what had once been a predominantly black neighborhood of Vinegar Hill.

“When you think of Charlottesville, especially for cultural impact, food, Mel’s is the place,” said Kimberly Hayes, co-host of the Gospel Sermonette on WINA, a show that her father started more than 50 years ago and which Walker sponsored.

“It’s been that way for years,” she explained. “If you grew up here, you moved away, you always come back and have those familiar places, and Mel’s was one of those.”

Hayes recalls Mel feeding the homeless and welcoming everyone that entered his restaurant.

“When I got the news, I was really searching for someone to tell me it wasn’t true, because Mel’s always there. He’s just very, very loved,” she said. “I don’t know anyone that has a bad word to say about Mel.”

Listen to Courteney’s conversation with Kimberly on Charlottesville Right Now:

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