By Scott Olson, The IBJ
solson@ibj.com
Upscale Broad Ripple restaurant L'explorateur, which prides itself on an avant-garde menu built around locally grown food, is closing Saturday.
Owner Neal Brown, who opened the restaurant in May 2006, informed customers of his decision this week on his blog. Plans for a downtown location are still in the works, however.
Brown could not be reached this morning to comment on the circumstances of the closing, but confirmed in an e-mail that he still intends to open a restaurant downtown.
IBJ reported last April that Brown was looking to move his popular restaurant from Ferguson Street to a location near Monument Circle. At the time, he had been scouting several locations with higher foot traffic, including the former home of Nicky Blaine's at 1 N. Meridian St.
But such a move might be more difficult in an unsavory economy that is curbing the appetites of consumers. Restaurant sales are expected to reach $566 billion in 2009, a 1-percent decline from last year when adjusted for inflation, according to the Washington, D.C.-based National Restaurant Association.
Earlier this month, publicly traded Darden Restaurants Inc. in Orlando told investors its Red Lobster, Olive Garden and Long Horn Steakhouse chains likely would post profit declines of 5 percent to 10 percent during the fiscal year that ends in May. Further, Darden expects to open fewer locations in fiscal 2009 than it planned - between 68 and 72, down from 75 to 80.
Chain restaurants and independents alike are feeling the pinch in Indianapolis, revamping their menus and lowering prices to attract cash-strapped patrons.
Consumers partial to high-end restaurants are stepping down to midlevel eateries, while the middle-income sector is frequenting fast-food establishments more, said Steve Delaney, a restaurant expert at locally based Sitehawk Retail Real Estate.
"With only so many discretionary dollars allocated to eating, they are trading down," he said. "It's the same across the country."
Indeed, McDonald's Corp. proved this week that burgers and fries still can tempt thrifty consumers. The nation's top fast-food chain reported strong same-store sales in its fourth quarter, helping boost profit past Wall Street estimates.
That's no consolation to restaurant owners such as Chicago-based Da Vinci Group, which operates Adobo Grill downtown. Da Vinci saw its Pikk's Tavern on East 82nd Street close within weeks of opening late last year.
"I think it was just the timing of it," Da Vinci owner Paul LoDuca said. "The credit crunch wouldn't allow us to get any more money to keep it going until we could turn a corner and be profitable. It was just like a perfect storm. It hit all at once and wiped us out."
Fellow restaurateurs such as Lyle Feigenbaum and Bennet Ackerman are retrenching by promoting economy-themed specials. Feigenbaum's Scholar's Inn Restaurant & Lounge on Massachusetts Avenue features $5 appetizers and salads and $12 entrees on its "recession menu." Ackerman's two Melting Pot restaurants in Castleton and in Greenwood pitch $49.99 full-course entrees for two - discounted from $80 - on their "economic-stimulus packages."
"It's certainly a tough environment," Feigenbaum said. "But nonetheless, we remain very positive about the Scholar's Inn."
Still, sister eatery Scholar's Inn Bakehouse closed its location at the corner of College and Broad Ripple avenues earlier this month - a decision Feigenbaum blamed on a lack of parking rather than the recession. He also operates two other bake house locations, a bed-and-breakfast and a restaurant in Bloomington.
Ackerman, meanwhile, never dreamed of resorting to discounting. Yet he and his colleagues in the industry remain upbeat.
"People are still willing to go out," he said. "They just need a little bit of an incentive."