Ben Giles

Behind Ben Ali: His Family, His Legacy, His Restaurant

On Oct. 7, Ben Ali, the founder of the legendary D.C. restaurant Ben’s Chili Bowl, died at the age of 82. Over the years, Ben has become just as famous for his legacy as a D.C. citizen and community leader as he is for his restaurants famous half-smokes. There is always an audience for stories on Ben and his restaurant, even more so with his death. And as business continues to grow, new customers are looking to learn the story behind the place.

Story Elements:
Video and Audio Interviews
Interviews will be done with members of the Ali family, particularly Ben’s two sons who still work in and run the restaurant. Interviews may also be conducted with patrons and employees, if allowed.

Interviews will be conducted to provide anecdotes from Ben’s life, as well as first hand accounts of experiences with the restaurant.

Music, Video, and Photos
The other elements will provide B roll clips, visual elements to be shown during particular audio elements, which could include the interviews discussed earlier, or sound bites from the restaurant and musical clips as well, since U Street was know as a musical destination when the Chili Bowl first opened.

B roll may also include photos from inside and outside the restaurant. Hopefully, B roll may also contain historical photos of Ben and the restaurant, which may be obtained from the family or other sources.

The use of multiple media elements will create a lively photo/video montage for the story, providing a unique view of the story. Rather than a traditional obituary of photo slideshow, a montage combining three elements at once will create a more complete and visually appealing news package.

People
The Ali family, primarily Kamal and Nizam, who run the restaurant
Virginia, Ben’s wife
Maurice Harcum, restaurant manager
Various restaurant patrons
Marshall Brown, D.C. native, political advisor, and sort of a historian of the restaurant
Other local business owners who were in organizations with Ben for the improvement of the 14tha dn U Street corridor
Possibly D.C. councilmembers, including Jim Graham and Marion Barry

Contacts will need to be made with members of the Ali family, as well as other local businesses. With my previous reporting experience on this subject and others in the U Street neighborhood, I should be able to easily make contact with the necessary subjects.

Location
Ben’s Chili Bowl
General locations on U Street, including Lincoln Theater and U Street Metro
Howard University
Possibly Ben’s home in Northeast D.C.

These locations provide the backdrop for important aspects of Ben’s life, and visual elements from each of these locations will help tell his story.

Equipment
Camera
Video camera, preferably that separates audio from video.
Digital voice recorder

I may require assistance for some of the video work I had in mind, hopefully from someone with more experience behind the camera.

Expenses
Necessary equipment is already either in my possession or may be rented from the University of Maryland. Travel expenses are minimal, since the restaurant is within a reasonable distance.

Publication
This story will take time to research. I imagine in the coming weeks, as Ben is honored in the community and by the restaurant, the family will be able to take some time to heal, and may be more willing to accommodate some of the requests necessary to complete the story in a timely manner.

There are no crucial dates or deadlines that must be met for the story. It will take time, but when finished, it will be the most complete effort to publish Ben’s story.

Previous Coverage
Ben’s death has received plenty of national coverage, and his restaurants experienced its 50th anniversary in 2008, so plenty has been done about the restaurant in the past few years. My hope is create something that captures the story in a way no one else has.

Washington Post Video
New York Times Article