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By Mark Fisher
| Friday, February 10, 2012, 06:43 AM
KETTERING — L’Auberge restaurant owner Joseph Reif announced via an email to customers this morning that he is seeking investors to keep the restaurant operating beyond Feb. 20.
Reif said he needs two investors to put up $55,000 apiece to join two others who have already committed to the survival plan. Here’s an excerpt from Reif’s email:
And so dear friends, my time is running out and I have nearly exhausted all resources. I still believe that even in the last hour, 2 additional investors can be found. But if not there will be nothing left but to say goodbye and leave as graciously and with as much dignity as possible. I would then only ask that you keep me and the fine staff of l’Auberge in your thoughts as we are forced to embark on new journeys. Hopefully things will still work out, but if not then I wish you the best and hope you will do the same for me.
If I do not find the investors our last day will be February 20th. Till then and hopefully for many years to come l’Auberge will keep our fine tradition of high standards alive.
In August 2011, negotiations between attorneys for l’Auberge and a Lebanon bank that foreclosed on l’Auberge’s property produced an agreement that canceled a scheduled sheriff’s sale of the building and property, and allowed the restaurant to remain open. A bank attorney said at the time that the agreement did not resolve all of the legal issues that exised between the restaurant and the bank, which foreclosed after claiming the l’Auberge defaulted on three mortgage notes and owed the bank more than $1.6 million.
The agreement was designed to allow Reif to stay in possession of the restaurant and to bring in investment partners in the subsequent months. Lebanon Citizens National Bank had filed the mortgage foreclosure lawsuit in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court in June 2010, about four months after it received its last mortgage payment on three loans it had made to The Inn Inc., the corporate parent of l’Auberge. Reif is president of the corporation.
Reif and the late Dieter Krug founded l’Auberge in 1979, transforming a restaurant known as The Inn into a fine-dining establishment. L’Auberge earned a coveted and rare four-star rating from the Mobil Travel Guide the first year it was eligible for rating, and held the rating for 19 years through 2002. The restaurant has survived even as other highly credentialed fine-dining restaurants such as King Cole in downtown Dayton and the Maisonette in Cincinnati, once Ohio’s only five-star restaurant, have been forced to close.
In his email this morning, Reif cited the poor economy, the loss of corporate headquarters from the Dayton region, and the opening of at least 57 new restaurants across the Miami Valley as among the factors that have adversely impacted l’Auberge, which he said has not compromised the high standards that allowed it to earn the coveted four-star Mobil rating.
Here is the full text of Reif’s email:
Dear Friends of l’Auberge,
After an article appeared in the Dayton Daily News reporting that l’Auberge might have to close due to financial difficulties, I have received many calls and letters from concerned customers asking about our current situation. So I’m writing to give you an update. Since, I think of you more like friends than customers, I feel compelled to share the news with you personally.
Of course, it’s no surprise to anyone that the economy dealt us a severe blow. None of us imagined back in 2007 when the market crashed that the recession we entered would linger this long. It, along with other developments, combined to negatively impact our business. A business that from the beginning I have continued to build up and invest in over the years.
In 1978, we bought l’Auberge, formerly the Inn, for $675 thousand. We did this through a partnership with several investors from the community that believed in us. Over the past 32 years, Dieter and I invested over $3 million: 2 new additions (the Bistro and Bar), renovations of the dining room (twice), the kitchen, the upper level, as well as the wine cellar and the outdoor café — everything was first class and to the highest standard. In fact, one year before the financial crash of 2006, l’Auberge was appraised by 3 local professional companies at $3.1 million. And now the building and property are available for sale.
Of course the real value of l’Auberge can’t be measured simply by money. Our history as a well-know Ohio landmark has brought so much more richness to our community. From Wall Street to Main Street, we put Dayton on the International culinary map through high profile events that attracted some of the most famous international chefs and gained international media attention. We were featured on TV, in the newspapers, and in magazines around the world. As our reputation grew and l’Auberge became famous in its own right, it became the mandatory stopping place for visiting celebrities and dignitaries.
The laughter and celebration of distinctive living became our trademark. More than an eating establishment, we became a refuge for uplifting camaraderie and the refreshing pleasure of good company. How can this ever be measured in dollars?
However, times change. The highly coveted, Mobile 4-star rating that added to our acclaim and the newspaper food critics that kept the public aware of our superior quality faded from existence. So the level of public attention has waned. But the one thing that has never, nor ever will change, is our demand for excellence. And this uncompromising commitment to delivering the best has also added to our financial difficulties.
As I mentioned, the recession started our troubles, but 2 other developments made it worse. The first is when NCR left Dayton. Many of the top NCR executives were regular l’Auberge clients and with their move to Atlanta, we lost a significant amount of business. Our competition to win new business was made even more challenging by the opening of 57 new restaurants in the Dayton area. So now we had to compete for the new customers in an overly crowded restaurant scene.
Even the Dayton Daily News reported that the Dayton area is over saturated with restaurants, which tips the law of supply and demand out of balance. It has forced everyone to lower their prices to compete for consumers that are eating out less frequently. Frankly, the high overhead of an establishment like l’Auberge puts us at a significant disadvantage. Do we compromise our standards of excellence to reduce costs in order to compete? Again, we say “Never!”
So how do you compete in an over saturated market against restaurants with lower standards and less overhead in the middle of a long, drawn out recession?
Of course, we understand that life is often unfair, which is why we’ve always been a leader in contributing to charitable causes in our community. And contribute we did — somewhere around $150,000 to local hospitals, Hospice, the arts, the universities and many others over the years.
Because we believe that supporting those in need is the right thing to do when you are blessed.
In spite of our misfortune I had 2 good friends come to my aid as investors. And a deal was in the place with the bank. But just before closing it…another unexpected disaster. One of the investors had to back out because of a life threatening illness and the other backed out due to a new business venture that exceeded the budget by $2 million.
However, confident there was still a solution, I made plans to move forward. I looked for 4 investors at $55,000 each to buy the outstanding debt of bank notes on short sale for $835,000. And I initiated plans to remodel and restyle l’Auberge into the next face—the generation switch that we’ve mastered every time in the past. This ability to re-invent ourselves for the next generation has played a key role in our ongoing success story.
It was just like the way we started in 1978. I was certain that I would once again find 4 investors that believed in me enough to contribute $55,000 each. Then the deal would go through and l’Auberge would move forward into the next chapter. I found 2 investors so once again, I was close and hopeful. But close is not enough and hope is now fading.
And so dear friends, my time is running out and I have nearly exhausted all resources. I still believe that even in the last hour, 2 additional investors can be found. But if not there will be nothing left but to say goodbye and leave as graciously and with as much dignity as possible. I would then only ask that you keep me and the fine staff of l’Auberge in your thoughts as we are forced to embark on new journeys. Hopefully things will still work out, but if not then I wish you the best and hope you will do the same for me.
If I do not find the investors our last day will be February 20th. Till then and hopefully for many years to come l’Auberge will keep our fine tradition of high standards alive.
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Local restaurant news
By Mark Fisher
| Thursday, February 9, 2012, 08:29 AM
MIAMISBURG — Alex’s on 725 restaurant and supper club — the former Alex’s Continental that reopened in July 2010 after being closed for nearly three years — was closed Wednesday night and today, and the building’s owner said the facility will soon be for sale.
Signs posted on the door of Alex’s Wednesday night informed customers that the restaurant and banquet center were closed and apologized for any inconvenience. The restaurant’s voicemail greeting says the building’s owner “has decided to close the restaurant” and thanks callers for their patronage.
The building’s owner, Alex Pragalos, said in a phone interview that the restaurant’s manager, Reece Powers III, was “seven or eight months behind on the rent.” Powers, reached by phone at the restaurant earlier this week, declined to comment. Miamisburg Municipal Court records show that Pragalos filed a civil action Jan. 18 against Powers and co-defendant Tami Blankenbecler seeking the eviction of the building’s tenant because Pragalos was owed in excess of $14,000.
Pragalos said that after the restaurant moves out, he would “try to sell (the building) or tear it down.”
The facility just west of the I-75/Ohio 725 interchange near the Dayton Mall has hosted hundreds of high school reunions, wedding receptions and other special events in its initial run of 34 years. Pragalos initially closed Alex’s Continental Restaurant and its lounge in the spring of 2007, and closed the banquet center portion of the large facility in August 2007.
Miamisburg Mayor Dick Church said he “hates to see Alex’s close.”
The restaurant “has a rich history here in the community, and I had great hopes for it when it reopened,” Church said. “I’m sorry to see that it was not successful. It will be missed.”
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By Mark Fisher
| Wednesday, February 8, 2012, 06:39 AM
The OinkADoodleMoo barbecue restaurants in Kettering and Troy will begin serving Young’s Jersey Dairy ice cream on Monday, Feb. 13 under a partnership announced by OinkADoodleMoo’s founder and president Mark Peebles.
The two barbecue restaurants — at 3910 Far Hills Ave. in Kettering and at 1600 W. Main St. in Troy — will give away free vanilla and cotton-candy ice cream to the first 100 children 12 and under through the doors this Monday (Feb. 13) starting at 11 a.m. until the ice cream is gone, Peebles said this morning.
Each of the restaurants will carry eight of Young’s most popular flavors, including Vanilla, Chocolate, Cookies ‘n Cream, Mint Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter Cup, Butter Pecan and Cotton Candy, according to an OinkADoodleMoo news release. The ice cream will be available in individual serving sizes and in pints for sharing or carryout.
Peebles said the partnership will allow OinkADoodleMoo to grow with one of the state’s most recognized ice cream brands.
“I grew up going to Young’s,” Peebles said in a news release. “I have so many memories on the farm. Now I take my own kids there.”
OinkADoodleMoo began in fall 2009 with the opening of its first location at 322 Union Blvd. in Englewood, where it has a partnership with JD’s Old Fashioned Frozen Custard. In 2010, the restaurant chain added a lunch trailer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and its Far Hills Avenue location, and it opened its newest location in Troy in October 2011.
Peebles said OinkADoodleMoo is looking to expand beyond the Dayton area this year and has deals in the works for locations in Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo. The business was recognized in March 2011 as among the “Top 100 Movers & Shakers” by FastCasual.com.
Young’s Jersey Dairy owner Dan Young said he was approached by the owners of OinkADoodleMoo about a collaboration. “We visited their place and liked the atmosphere and the food, and the fun vibe of the owners, the managers and staff,” Young said. As part of the collaboration, Young’s will sell OinkADoodleMoo’s bottled barbecue sauces in its gift shop.
Young’s Dairy has a similar reciprocal sales agreement with Schuler’s Bakery in Springfield and sells its ice cream in three-gallon tubs to a few independent operators such as The Corwin Peddler along the bike path in Warren County, Fountain on Main in Springfield, Kanoe Cafe in Tipp City, Beans & Cream in Cedarville and Freshwater Farms in Urbana, Young said.
All of Young’s Dairy ice cream is made at the farm on U.S. 68 north of Yellow Springs from a 15 percent-butterfat mix of cream, pasteurized milk and sugar.
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Local restaurant news
By Mark Fisher
| Tuesday, February 7, 2012, 07:43 AM
SUGARCREEK TWP., Greene County — A new restaurant called QQ Hibachi Buffet has opened at 6030 Wilmington Pike, and the restaurant will host a ribbon-cutting at noon this Friday, Feb. 10, according to Chris Ewing, executive director of the Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Area Chamber of Commerce.
The restaurant is not affiliated with the Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet that opened last year on East Stroop Road in Kettering. The new Sugarcreek Twp. restaurant features Chinese, Japanese and American dishes.
For more information, check out the QQ Hibachi Buffet Facebook page or call (937) 848-6833.
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By Mark Fisher
| Tuesday, February 7, 2012, 07:22 AM
Here’s a copy of a story that was published in the Dayton Daily News last Friday, Feb. 3. I got so wrapped up writing the pizza story that ran on page A1 on Saturday that I overlooked the fact that this Restaurant Week story didn’t run online. I hope your Restaurant Week experiences was a positive one!
Comparatively mild weather and the opportunity to enjoy a three-course meal for $20.12, $25.12 or $30.12 brought Dayton-area diners out in droves last week for the Miami Valley Restaurant Association’s Winter Restaurant Week.
The final numbers aren’t yet in, but based on the unabashedly unscientific “drive-by” observation of restaurant parking lots packed with cars, Restaurant Week was once again a hit.
I scaled back my Restaurant Week visits this time around, and hit only two: De’Lish and Coco’s Bistro. But first, let’s hear what YOU had to say when we asked readers to tell us their Restaurant Week experiences via our Taste Facebook page. Here’s a small taste of what you told us:
— “Started at Sweeney’s last night. Excellent crab cake appetizer and house smoked trout salad. The bright lemon taste of the she-crab soup was perfect on a cold night. Both the salmon and mahi-mahi were moist and very flavorful.” — Dennis Hall
— “Troy Country Club: Spouse had culinary tour: small portions of quail with polenta, short ribs with rice, filet with bleu cheese hollandaise, asparagus. I had ocean’s dream: large scallop and portion of salmon with risotto, asparagus. Salad and creme brulee plus fudgey brownie and peppermint ice cream with both. Compliments to the chef! No compliments to Troy CC for adding a service charge to the $20.12 price.” — Joanie Gutermuth
— “We dined at the Chop House last night and the $20.12 specials were excellent. Prime Rib or Filet Mignon with salad, potato, and cheesecake with free toppings!” — Dan Shaffer
— “(We went to) LeDoux’s in Troy. Awesome food, very nice place!” — Nancy Daily
— “First-time visit to Taste (in Trotwood) last night. Beautiful facility — you would not recognize that it is an old Applebee’s. Live jazz quartet was a nice touch. Food was good and a nice wine-by-the-glass list. Look forward to a return visit to check out the rest of the menu, including tapas.” — Dennis Hall
— “We ate at Sidebar 410 last night and it was sheer perfection. This was our first time here and we will definitely be returning.” — Sharon Hall
— “I went to the Caroline in Troy and had the peppercorn steak, which was fantastic. I recommend the extreme chocolate for dessert, too.” — Jon Williams
— “Gotta love the parmesan tilapia at McCormick & Schmick’s.” — Linda Reynolds
Gosh, you folks could SO do this job.
My first 2012 Winter Restaurant Week dinner took me to De’Lish, at 139 N. Main St., across from the Victoria Theatre in downtown Dayton, which opened in December 2010. De’Lish had impressed at a Taste of Miami Valley event, and its current chef is Anthony T. Head, a Dayton native.
The restaurant is an elegant, comfortable, relatively narrow space, and on a night that combined a Schuster performance night with Restaurant Week, the place was humming. De’Lish decided to offer diners three different Restaurant Week options at each of the price points. The $20.12 option, Angel Hair Scampi with Shrimp Ragu and Basil Pesto Naan Bread, was well-executed, with a flavorful, if unexpectedly spicy, sauce accenting several large and properly cooked shrimp. The Dr. L Riesling was a perfect foil for the robust flavors of the dish.
The $30.12 option, Rosemary Crusted Lamb Chops with Mint-infused Red Wine Demi Glace, Corn Risotto and a Sauteed Medley of Zucchini and Squash, consisted of three lamb chops, cooked to order, in a rich sauce. The corn risotto was rich, creamy and decadent, studded with whole corn kernels and topped with the julienned vegetables that added texture and crunch. For dessert, the generous portion of muffin-sized chocolate brownies with ice cream were a hit.
Coco’s Bistro is scheduled to move later this year to a slightly larger Warren Street space, and it has a relatively new chef, Matt Klum, who is also a Dayton-area native. Our early reservation found the restaurant quiet, but by the time we left, the restaurant was jammed and rocking.
Coco’s offered four choices, and none for more than $20.12. The Filet Medallion — grilled beef tenderloin rubbed with toasted black pepper, bay leaf and thyme, garnished with demi-glace and roasted fingerling potatoes — was a star, and a fine Restaurant Week value as well. The Cumin-Dusted Mahi featured a pan-seared mahi-mahi fillet served over a brown butter-caramelized apple sauce, all topped with slivers of roasted poblano peppers. That’s quite a cacophony of flavors, but the dish satisfied, as did both dessert choices of Mousse Duet (Strawberry basil and white chocolate) and The Blondie (a blonde brownie with white chocolate & macadamia nuts).
There are good reasons the Restaurant Week promotion has been such a hit with diners, and those were on ample display last week at both De’Lish and Coco’s Bistro.
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By Mark Fisher
| Monday, February 6, 2012, 06:19 AM
RIVERSIDE — A new eatery called Debbie’s Restaurant has opened at 2620 Valley St.
Debbie’s is owned by Debbie Buzard of Riverside, who formerly owned Debbie’s Corner Kitchen on Troy Street until 2006. Buzard said she has wanted to get back into the restaurant business and found the building nearly two years ago. Renovation took more than a year, and Debbie’s Restaurant served its first meal on Jan. 17.
Business has been brisk since the opening, and, “I’m really happy with the way things are going,” Debbie Buzard said.
Breakfast is served all day, and homemade Biscuits & Sausage Gravy has emerged as a customer favorite. Soups, including vegetable and chili, are made in-house. Sandwiches include a half-pound sirloin, pork tenderloin and fried bologna.
Debbie’s Restaurant seats 39 and employs six people. Hours are Monday through Saturday 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, call (937) 236-2220.
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Restaurant openings
By Mark Fisher
| Friday, February 3, 2012, 05:09 PM
Here’s a draft version of a story scheduled to run in Saturday’s Dayton Daily News:
Several brash upstarts are trying to capture a prime Miami Valley slice of the $35.2 billion-a-year national pizza market.
These market infiltrators are poised to open multiple new restaurants in the coming months in every corner of a southwest Ohio market already saturated by well-established Dayton-based chains such as Cassano’s Pizza King and Marion’s Piazza; by the unusually large proportion (11 of 13) of the nation’s biggest national pizza chains that have locations in the Dayton area; and by dozens of independently owned pizza shops that somehow hold their own against an onslaught of competition from national, regional and local chains.
Ohio ranks in the top 10 in pizza restaurants per capita, with about 3,300 stores statewide, according to PMQ Pizza Magazine — and the Miami Valley is certainly doing its part to maintain that ranking. The region is attractive to pizza chains for many reasons: its density of housing, a demographic mix that mirrors the country’s, proximity to major interstates, and a robust proportion of hungry college students. But pizza company officials say they know they have to bring their A-game to the Dayton area because of the fierce level of competition that grows even more intense this Super Bowl weekend, when nearly 6 out of 10 people who order from restaurants for the big game choose pizza, according to the National Restaurant Association.
“Dayton is a very competitive market, but it’s a good market,” said Chuck Winters, franchise owner of two Godfather’s Pizza restaurants that are among the challengers to the Miami Valley’s existing pizza hierarchy. “The competition is so high that you have to excel in every area to succeed. Everything you do has to be outstanding.”
Here’s just a small taste of the latest efforts to capture the palates, allegiances and dollars of the Miami Valley’s pizza enthusiasts:
— Romeo’s Pizza, a Cleveland-based chain, is poised to open its second Dayton-area location later this month, in Kettering, a year after opening its Beavercreek location. A third Romeo’s will likely open in the Englewood area in late 2012, and franchise owners will then look to open two more, in Troy and Piqua, according to Stan Combs, operations manager for Romeo’s Dayton-area stores. The Dayton area, Combs said, “is a tough market — and it’s going to get tougher,” but he sees a bright future for Romeo’s in the region.
— Jet’s Pizza, a Michigan-based chain and the nation’s 13th-largest, is a month or two away from opening its second Dayton-area location, this one in Beavercreek. The new store will boost Jet’s local presence beyond the existing store on Far Hills Avenue in Washington Twp., which opened in 2009. Jet’s officials are already looking for a third location, probably in the Springboro area, to open in 2013, according to Drew Jenkins, Jet’s general manager. “The idea is to expand throughout the entire Dayton area,” Jenkins said.
— Cousin Vinny’s Pizza — a Dayton-based chain that has grown to 11 locations throughout the Miami Valley, with much of that growth in the last three years — plans to open two more locations before the end of this year, one in the Mason area on or near Tylersville Road, and one that would serve the Tipp City-Troy area, according to Rick Allen, co-owner of Cousin Vinny’s. “We know there’s a market here for good pizza,” said Allen, whose stores stay open until 3 a.m. or later to capture the late-night (or early-morning) crowd.
— Godfather’s Pizza, the nation’s 10th largest chain and based in Omaha, Nebraska, operates restaurants in Huber Heights and Centerville. “We’ve been well-received here, so we’re looking the whole area over,” franchise owner Winters said about his expansion plans.
— Dewey’s Pizza, based in Cincinnati, is planning a new restaurant in downtown Centerville to add to its existing Dayton-area location near the University of Dayton, while another Cincinnati-based chain, LaRosa’s, now has five locations in the Dayton area and a dozen total in Dayton and northern Cincinnati.
— Established Dayton-based chains are fighting back against this attempted poaching of the local pizza market: Marion’s Piazza later this month will open its first new location in more than two decades — a 500-seat restaurant in Troy — and will follow later this year with another new location, its ninth overall, in Mason, according to Roger Glass, Marion’s CEO. Meanwhile, Cassano’s Pizza King opened a new Centerville store in November that plans to renovate several of its other 32 stores, using the new Centerville store as a prototype.
— And it’s not just pizza shops that are competing for a slice of the market: Dorothy Lane Market, a three-store grocery chain, built a special oven in the middle of its Washington Twp. store in 2011 for the sole purpose of producing Neopolitan-style pizzas that can cook in as little as 90 seconds. And of course pizzas are available from many other establishments, including several local Italian restaurants, from bars and taverns, and from grocery store and convenience store deli cases.
All are riding a national trend. Pizza sales in the U.S. have been on the rise, increasing 2.2 percent in 2010 to $35.2 billion, the most recent year that sales figures are available, according to PMQ Pizza magazine’s 2011 Pizza Power Report released in September 2011. And that gain came despite 1 percent drop in the total number of pizza restaurants nationwide, to 65,283.
The economic downturn has helped drive up pizza restaurants’ sales, as consumers gravitated toward foods they found familiar, comforting and relatively inexpensive, said Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Technomic Inc., a Chicago-based food service research and consulting firm. And pizza restaurants have expanded their menu offerings to include chicken wings, sandwiches, salads and desserts, also boosting sales.
Young families pressed for time are cooking less at home than their predecessors did, but they still want to eat their dinners at home, Tristano said. They can’t afford to eat out frequently, making a carryout pizza dinner eaten at home an appealing option, he said.
But what is it about the Miami Valley and southwest Ohio that makes it such an attractive market for pizza restaurants? Tristano said Dayton’s demographics are representative of the country as a whole, making the region a tempting test market of sorts for companies evaluating new products — and for pizza chains gauging the interest in their style of pizza. And it doesn’t hurt that Dayton is a college town, with a core group of consumers in just the right age range for prime pizza appreciation.
Officials at some of the chains that are relatively new to the region also pointed out that the Miami Valley has dozens of neighborhoods with single-family houses packed fairly close together — a plus for pizza chains that focus on delivery. Such housing patterns put more potential customers within a short drive of new pizza restaurants, helping ensure delivery of a pizza that is hot and fresh, and making pizza pickups more convenient.
Tristan Koehler, franchisee for 19 of Domino’s Pizza’s Dayton-area locations, said the Midwest has an unusually high concentration of pizza restaurants, perhaps because many of the chains originated here, including Domino’s, which started in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1960. Koehler said his franchise stores, including one adjacent to the University of Dayton that is open 24 hours, had a strong year in 2011, despite higher costs of dough, cheese and other food products as well as other supplies.
Cassano’s Pizza King — founded in 1953 and a pioneer along with Marion’s in the thin-crust, square-cut pies that have become a signature of sorts for Dayton-bred pizza — isn’t about to change its style to emulate the national chains’ offerings, said Chris Cassano, the company’s president.
“We have nearly 60 years of history and a ton of local customers,” Cassano said. “It’s a Dayton thing. That’s something that we can offer that others can’t: your childhood.” The walls of Cassano’s restaurants celebrate that history with nostalgic photos of decades past. And the chain recently resurrected some of the menu offerings of a separate restaurant concept that his grandfather, Vic Cassano, launched in the 1970s, and started offering London Bobby Fish & Chips at its Kettering store, along with its Trenton store.
Roger Glass, the son of Marion’s Piazza founder Marion Glass, said his restaurants are weathering the spike in competition well: the chain founded in 1965 had record sales in 2011, he said. But his restaurants, with their large dining rooms, cater more to the eat-in crowd and to large parties, and does not have delivery, which is the segment that most of the new pizza chains are seeking.
Despite the intense competition from national, local and regional chains, locally owned independent pizza restaurants are finding ways to survive, and even thrive.
“We’re holding steady,” said John Shearer, owner of Joe’s Pizzeria at Smithville Road and Airway Road, which has been around for a half-century and which now shares the intersection with a Domino’s Pizza shop right across the street. “We have a strong customer base that grew up in this neighborhood, and whenever they’re in the area, they have to stop at Joe’s. And we’re still pulling in new customers all the time.
“As long as you put out the quality, people will come.”
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Food trends & eating habits, Local restaurant news, Restaurant industry news
By Mark Fisher
| Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 07:31 AM
OAKWOOD — Sweet Nothings Luxury Confections will become a “pop-up” bakery for two days only, Feb. 13-14, inside Get Dressed! Boutique at 2501 Far Hills Ave.
A variety of baked goods, including coffee cakes, brownies,cookies and sea salt toffee, will be available in the store and can be ordered in advance from the Sweet Nothings web site.
Sweet Nothings, a Centerville-based “cottage industry” business, began selling its sea-salt toffee at the PNC Second Street Market in December.
Get Dressed! Boutique is located in the Shops of Oakwood and offers apparel, jewelry, and accessories. Tracey Schumann, the boutique’s owner, said she carried the Sea Salt Toffee in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and the toffee was a hit with customers.
Pop-up businesses have been a trend on the east and west coasts, allowing businesses to gauge interest in and promote their products and receive customer feedback.
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By Mark Fisher
| Tuesday, January 31, 2012, 03:19 PM
Here’s a draft version of a story that is scheduled to run in Wednesday’s Dayton Daily News:
A closely watched barometer of the restaurant industry nationwide surged to its highest level in nearly six years, the National Restaurant Association announced Tuesday in a development that could help fuel the economic recovery.
Because the restaurant and food-service industry employs an estimated one out of 10 Americans, an expansion in that sector could provide a much-needed spark to what has been a rather bleak jobs outlook.
The restaurant association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) rose sharply in December, assisted by a mild winter, solid same-store sales and a bullish outlook among restaurant operators, association officials said. In addition, restaurant operators’ plans for capital spending on new equipment and renovations rose to its highest level in more than four years, a positive sign for construction and restaurant-supply companies both locally and nationally.
Some Miami Valley restaurant owners said ample evidence of the national surge is showing up in their dining rooms.
Lori Camplin, co-owner of Chappys Tap Room and Grille in Moraine, said that Chappy’s set all-time, single-day sales records twice on consecutive Saturdays in January — traditionally a comparatively slow month for restaurants. And during last week’s Restaurant Week promotion, Chappys sold 512 special three-course meals, up from 394 last year.
“I would definitely say the national data is accurate — we have been on an upward trend since October and November,” Camplin said. “We had a lot of new faces in here last week, and we were thrilled to see that.”
That growing optimism helped prompt Lori and her husband Dave Camplin to decide to renovate Chappys patio this spring, to “give it more of a courtyard setting” and possibly add music, she said. There’s no cost estimate for the renovation yet, but such spending on renovation and expansion projects by restaurants has a positive impact on other businesses.
Dan Young — owner of Young’s Jersey Dairy and the Golden Jersey Inn at 6880 Springfield-Xenia Road (U.S. 68) in Clark County north of Yellow Springs — said he too is seeing several positive signs both inside his restaurants an in the broader restaurant sector.
“Our sales were up in November and December, and are up quite a bit in January,” Young said. “I think it’s due in part to the very mild winter, and of course, last year was especially cold and snowy, so being up in sales and guest counts compared to last year isn’t that amazing. But still, we’ve had a strong beginning for the year.”
Young’s Dairy customers, Young said, “are feeling better about the economy than the past few years — not anywhere near wildly optimistic, but better. Other operators I have talked to are seeing similar trends. I certainly hear more talk of upgrading/remodeling and opening new units here and there. I think the current economic conditions in Ohio, and in the Dayton-Springfield are specifically, are looking better for the first time in many years.”
Dan Bushong, owner of Bushong Restaurant Equipment in Dayton, said he sees a brighter outlook than he did three or four years ago. Many independently owned restaurants have been holding off on replacing equipment for the last couple of years because of the soft economy. “At some point they just can’t duct-tape things together anymore,” Bushong said. “We are seeing a lot of activity in the replacement market because of that.”
New construction by independent restaurants started to accelerate about six months ago, although corporate-owned restaurants, which have been the driving forced in equipment sales, remain “very conservative” in their expenditures, Bushong said.
Ohio Restaurant Association spokesman Jarrod Clabaugh said the state’s restaurants employ about 525,000 people and are a driving force in Ohio’s economy. “In addition to representing 10 percent of the state’s employment, restaurants are the cornerstones of their communities, and stronger food-service sales often reflect upticks in both consumer spending and overall optimism in the economy,” Clabaugh said.
The National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry, although it doesn’t break down its numbers by state. The RPI stood at 102.2 in December, up 1.6 percent from November. In addition, December represented the third time in the last four months that the RPI stood above 100, which signifies expansion in the index of key industry indicators, association officials said.
“Aided by favorable weather conditions in many parts of the country, a solid majority of restaurant operators reported higher same-store sales and customer traffic levels in December,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the association. “In addition, restaurant operators are solidly optimistic about sales growth in the months ahead, and their outlook for the economy is at its strongest point in nearly a year. Coupled with the solid November results, the RPI’s impressive December performance bodes well for continued positive industry momentum in the year ahead.”
Sixty-nine percent of restaurant operators reported a same-store sales gain between December 2010 and December 2011, while only 18 percent reported a same-store sales decline. This marked the strongest net positive sales performance since February 2004. Customer traffic counts also were up, and 55 percent of restaurant operators plan to make a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling in the next six months, up from 47 percent in November and the strongest level in more than four years.
The RPI is based on the responses to the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Industry Tracking Survey, which is fielded monthly among restaurant owners and operators nationwide on a variety of indicators including sales, traffic, labor, and capital expenditures.
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By Mark Fisher
| Tuesday, January 31, 2012, 06:59 AM
KETTERING — What’s old is new again: Cassano’s Pizza King has brought London Bobby Fish & Chips back to the Dayton area, about 30 years after the last London Bobby restaurant closed.
The London Bobby Fish & Chips menu was added to the Cassano’s Pizza King restaurant menu at 1680 E. Stroop Road. The headquarters and commissary of the 33-store Cassano’s pizza chain are housed in an adjacent building.
The first of the second-generation London Bobby restaurants opened in Trenton in late 2010, also in an existing Cassano’s. If the newly offered fish and chips menu goes over well, it will show up at a handful of other Cassano’s locations in the Miami Valley, perhaps later this year, according to Chris Cassano, president of Cassano’s Pizza King and part of the third generation of the Cassano family now operating the local chain.
Cassano’s founder Vic Cassano launched the London Bobby Fish & Chips chain in the 1970s and operated several free-standing stores in the Dayton area until the early 1980s. Chris Cassano said he and his siblings — company CEO Vic “Chip” Cassano III and Lora Cassano Hammons, the company’s director of community relations — wanted to bring back one of their grandfather’s other restaurant concepts. The response has been encouraging, and several customers remember the previous incarnation of London Bobby, he said.
Additional expansion will occur within existing pizza stores; there are no current plans for free-standing London Bobby locations, Cassano said. That will keep the costs of expanding the London Bobby brand down, since the overhead and employees are already in place in the pizza restaurants, he said.
The London Bobby locations offer beer-battered fish, shrimp and chicken, with sides of fries, hush puppies, onion rings and creamy cole slaw.
Cassano’s Pizza King began in Dayton in 1953. Two months ago, it opened a new restaurant in Centerville, the decor of which will serve as a model for upcoming renovations of existing stores, Cassano said.
The Kettering restaurant’s hours are 10 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10:30 a.m. to midnight Sunday. To place an order, call the Cassano’s call center at (937) 294-5464.
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By Mark Fisher
| Friday, January 27, 2012, 02:41 PM
Don’t forget, Restaurant Week isn’t over — it extends through the weekend and includes Sunday, at most participating restaurants, anyway.
I haven’t made it out to as many dinners as I have in the past, but I’m still interested in hearing about your Restaurant week experiences, and I hope to compile them for a story in the Dayton Daily News. So please link to our Facebook page below and let us know where you dined and how it went!
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By Mark Fisher
| Thursday, January 26, 2012, 03:30 PM
We all know about the traditional Valentine’s Day dining destinations, the most romantic (and often rather pricy) restaurants in town.
But where would YOU go for an alternative Valentine’s Day celebration? You know, something in the spirit of White Castle’s Valentine Day, but not exactly that. An inexpensive place, a place that won’t be busy, something, we daresay, unconventional.
Post your suggestions on our Facebook page (the link also is below this entry), and we might just come up with a little list …
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By Mark Fisher
| Thursday, January 26, 2012, 06:27 AM
TROY — Marion’s Piazza’s newest restaurant — the Dayton-based pizza chain’s first expansion in more than two decades — is scheduled to open in Troy on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, and another new restaurant will follow later this year in Mason, according to Roger Glass, CEO of the Dayton-based pizza chain.
The new Troy restaurant — located at 1270 Experiment Farm Road off of West Main Street (Ohio 41) near I-75 — will employ 50 and will seat about 500, including 80 on an outdoor patio, Glass said. It will include a game room and a banquet room that will be available for general dining.
This is the eighth Marion’s pizza restaurant in the Miami Valley and the first new location since 1991, when 46-year-old chain opened a restaurant at Town & Country Shopping Center in Kettering. In 2008, the company also built a new restaurant on Kingsridge Drive in Miami Twp. after fire destroyed a previous store there.
A ninth Marion’s Piazza is planned for Mason later this year, Glass said. It will be located at the Tylersville Road and Snider Road intersection, across Snider Road from a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant. Construction is scheduled to begin this spring, with a target opening in early to mid-November, Glass said.
Troy and Mason were attractive sites for expansion because both cities are doing relatively well economically and have a solid base of industries and other development, Glass said. In addition, the two cities are far enough away from Dayton so as not to compete with existing Marion’s Piazza locations, but close enough to be supplied out of the Dayton-based commissary, he said.
There are no immediate plans for additional expansion. “We don’t grow very fast, but we do it on our own time frame,” said Glass, the son of the chain’s founder, Marion Glass. And the chain is careful to avoid significant debt when it builds new restaurants.
“The Troy store will be paid for on the day it opens,” Glass said. “That’s the way my dad did it, that’s the way we still do it, and it seems to work.”
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By Mark Fisher
| Wednesday, January 25, 2012, 07:06 AM
DAYTON — Thai 9 restaurant at 11 Brown St. in the Oregon Historic District will celebrate its ninth anniversary from Monday, Jan. 30 through Thursday, Feb. 2.
Diners during the dinner service on those four nights will receive a free dessert with every entree purchased, according to Thai 9 owner Rob Strong. In addition, special menu offerings will be available each of those four nights from the kitchen and from Thai 9’s sushi bar.
Strong recalled the “crazy” first night of Feb. 1, 2003, when the restaurant was “completely overwhelmed” by the first-night response. “Nine years later we have a staff of 50, and we are constantly busy,” Strong said. “We are thanking our lucky stars for that.”
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By Mark Fisher
| Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 07:16 AM
CENTERVILLE — Culinary Company at 101 E. Alex Bell Road in the Cross Pointe Center has added a few new options to its restaurant service.
The combined restaurant and kitchenware store is now serving set-menu dinners on Friday and Saturday nights, by reservation only, according to Jeff Aylor, the store’s owner and the host of the “In the Kitchen with Chef Jeff” show on WHIO radio Saturday mornings from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. The restaurant is rotating a set of 10 menus, and menu details are available on the Culinary Company events page. The theme of this weekend’s five-course dinner is Mexican, and the first weekend in February features an Italian-themed dinner. Prices vary by the types of cuisine.
“The fun thing about the dinners is that they are very interactive and quite different than the normal restaurant experience,” Aylor said.
In addition, the Culinary Company has started serving a Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for $12.
For more information, go to the Culinary Company Facebook page or call 937-433-4335.
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