SNACK PICKS AS DISTINCT AS CANDIDATES

Published: Tuesday, November 3, 1992
Section: DAILY BREAK

, page B1
Source: By Ruth Fantasia, Virginian-Pilot/Ledger-Star staff

© 1992 Landmark Communications Inc.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS, decisions. First you must decide whom to vote for - or against. Then you need to choose your corner of the couch and pick which network to watch tonight as election results coming rolling in. And finally, you need to select your favorite comfort food, something to snack on as the fate of the free world hangs in the balance.

For those watching the returns at home, TV reporter Joel Rubin suggests ``warmed over anything.''

Rubin, a political reporter and analyst since 1975, says keep it light. ``What happens in California may be very important,'' he says. ``You don't want to fall asleep too early.''

But Rubin's low-cal approach to election night is just one side of the what-to-eat issue. Some viewers are going to be taking the returns a slice at a time.

``Pizza, definitely pizza,'' says Mike Kennedy, manager of the Pembroke Cinemas in Virginia Beach and an ardent Bill Clinton supporter. ``It has a quality that lends itself to watching what promises to be a very exciting drama.''

And, of course, some folks will have trouble getting anything down. ``I'm going to be eating antacids,'' says Michael Rau, state communications director for the Ross Perot campaign.

Party-goers at the Princess Anne Country Club will spell relief

B-E-E-F. As in roast tenderloin, executive chef Bob Gronda says. It will be accompanied by ``never-ending shrimp cocktails and Jamaican chicken.'' With a menu like that, they probably won't care who wins.

Meanwhile, the guys down at the Union Mission in Norfolk will be dining on less extravagant fare - chips. Maybe.

``That's if anyone donates something,'' staffer Ron Jolly says. ``If not, they can get a candy bar out of the machine, if they have money.''

And what about the big guys, who've swallowed everything but their pride during the campaign?

Clinton, a good ol' Southern boy, can eat red beans and rice at a street festival in Little Rock, Ark., tonight if he wants.

The George Bush/Dan Quayle menu isn't known, but odds are against potato(e) and broccoli casserole.

But Monroe Duncan, chef/owner of the Piranha restaurant in Norfolk, knows one thing for sure: At least two of the candidates will have a little bedtime snack.

``And,'' he says, ``crow served any number of ways is divine.''