Community Hero Jud Blount commits to vision, growing business despite pandemic

Each morning the team at fine-dining restaurant Ravello watches owner Jud Blount watering the plants outside. They see him move on to do the same thing at his other three Montgomery restaurants. And they speculate.

Maybe he’s doing it because it needs to be done. Or maybe Blount just likes watching things grow.

From his start with Cloverdale’s Filet & Vine, to taking over and vastly expanding the ambitions of Vintage Year, adding sister restaurants and launching building rehabilitation projects, hometown growth has been a constant for Blount, who is the Montgomery Advertiser's Community Hero for July, an honor sponsored by South University.

Even through the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, hammering echoed down Commerce Street as work continued on Ravello.

Montgomery native Brad Armagost at CB&S Bank has handled financing for some of those projects. “When he first told me about Ravello, I was like, ‘Oh, dear Lord, you're not going to do that. Please, you're really going to do that?’ ” Armagost laughed. “Then COVID hit…

“You can count on your hands, nationally, how many people would have the guts to push through it in the middle of COVID in the restaurant industry. They did it, man. They did it, and it’s booked out a month in advance.”

Weeks after it opened, Blount was on to his next project: bringing nightly live music back to the city’s riverfront through Vintage Hospitality’s new Red Bluff Bar.

Meanwhile, he and Tom Blount — his uncle and business partner — are renovating and rehabbing downtown’s historic Grove Court Apartments. That massive project will rescue a 1940s structure that’s on the National Register of Historic Places. He and his uncle previously worked together in 2018 to convert an old drive-through bank building into a neighborhood café.

Ask Jud Blount about any of those projects, and you’ll get an answer delivered in as few words as possible, with plenty of credit for those around him. “I'm the youngest of four and I'm an introvert, I guess,” Blount said. “I just, you know, keep my head down and work hard.”

Others are happy to speak for him.

‘He ain’t for show’

Annie Lee beat addiction then spent the rest of her life dedicated to the people of her Chisholm community. That inspired her son, Charles Lee, to get involved and start a youth program, That’s My Child, in the neighborhood.

He would watch his mom go to work at 3 a.m. every day so she could get off in time to pick up kids and drive them to the youth center, where they learned everything from dance routines to job skills.

She died during the pandemic, and the dance students she loved led her funeral procession for one last trip through Chisholm.

Charles Lee remembers Blount calling to check on him after his mother’s death. He was grieving, but he was also thinking about the next steps for the kids and the community. Lee had a dream: He wanted to build a dance studio dedicated to his mom and everything she meant to Chisholm.

“Instantly he brought a check to get it done. I’m talking about within a matter of a couple of weeks,” Charles Lee said. He asked to take a picture and post it to social media to thank Blount and celebrate the donation. But Blount said no.

Instead, Blount sent contractors to the site to get started on the plans for the Annie D. Lee Center. They’ll be able to triple the number of dance students while offering a learning center, an events area and a study hall. The building opens in December.

The donation came from The Mary Katherine Archibald Blount Fund, named for Blount’s grandmother, who was the matriarch of a legendary family of local philanthropists. It’s a foundation that has helped local causes for years, from saving civil rights sites from the wrecking ball to helping people honor those they’ve lost.

Asked about the donation, Blount talked instead about the importance of the work being done by Charles Lee, who is also a former Community Hero. “We need more people like Charles,” Blount said. “If we can change one or two generations, then that'll help the whole community.”

After hearing that Blount was being honored by the Montgomery Advertiser, Lee said he couldn’t keep the story about the donation to himself anymore. “My whole family, when they saw it, they instantly cried,” Lee said.

“He ain’t for show. So many people say he blessed their life, and you’d never know it unless you knew them personally.”

Planting the seeds

Executive Chef Eric Rivera admits that the past few years have been tough in the restaurant industry. Or, as he put it, they’ve been “a growth opportunity.”

That’s literal in the case of MGM Greens, the hydroponic crate farm Blount and Rivera set up on site before the pandemic. Rivera said that’s helped their restaurants source fresh-grown produce during the pandemic and that it will continue to help as the operation expands.

The growth has been more figurative in terms of staff size, but it’s no less dramatic. Vintage Hospitality went from six employees in March 2020 to 93 employees today. And they need more — Blount wants to open Ravello for lunch each day as soon as they can.

“We are starting to attract more people downtown,” Rivera said. “I think that's a big vision of Jud’s and myself just to bring more people downtown and to keep the tourists close by and investing in small businesses downtown.

“It's all about Montgomery and revitalization, and doing stuff that matters to the community.”

Lenard Flennoy worked in restaurants in Memphis, Tampa, Atlanta and other cities before taking over as general manager at Vintage Year about a year-and-a-half ago. He said Blount is an anomaly as a boss in that kind of environment.

“He’s very laid back, easygoing,” Flennoy said. “He enjoys knowing about your family and he wants to know that you are spending enough time with your family. … He knows you have to get a job done, but you can't get a job done unless you're happy at home.

“Honestly, you never hear about that in the restaurant industry.”

Hanna Brown remembers the delivery guy who always dropped off the pastries at her last job and how he looked familiar. She didn’t realize at the time that it was Blount — the owner of the entire hospitality group. Now, she works at Ravello.

“I think that good people gravitate toward good people,” Brown said.

“… I came from running restaurants in Atlanta, and I've never had that type of like, close relationship where he's just here all the time. But not just here. He's present at all of his concepts, whether it's Vintage Café, or Vintage Year, or Red Bluff, which he's been there every night. … I've never seen such intentional leadership, and I think that really is a testament to his character.”

Industry accolades have followed Blount through each of those concepts. Last year, the Alabama Restaurant and Hospitality Association named him Restaurateur of the Year. And last month, Wine Spectator named Vintage Year and Ravello as the city’s only Award of Excellence winners for their wine programs.

As for Blount, he always seems focused on the next vision. Right now, he’s picturing more live music, spring festivals and more people downtown.

And he’s willing to put in the work to help make it happen.

“I guess I have a great faith that there are better days coming,” Blount said. “There are ups and downs throughout life, but I tend to always look on the good side and be optimistic.”

About Community Heroes Montgomery

Community Heroes Montgomery, sponsored by South University, profiles one person each month.

The 12 categories the Montgomery Advertiser will focus on: educator, health, business leader, military, youth, law enforcement, fire/EMT, nonprofit/community service, religious leader, senior volunteer, entertainment (arts/music) and athletics (such as a coach).

Do you know a Community Hero?

To nominate someone for Community Heroes Montgomery, email communityheroes@gannett.com. Please specify which category you are nominating for and your contact information.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Brad Harper at bharper1@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Community Hero Jud Blount commits to vision of growth despite pandemic