Adjusting the recipe: River Oaks Restaurant adapts to flailing economy with strategic changes - Nashville Business Journal:

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And he’s not about to let his just die. But in the restaurantr businessyou can’t change things with a ham-handed And you can’t bring big change to a fine dining restaurantf without alerting (and possibly runninh off) the regulars. So the most recenrt thing Vaughn has changed arethe hours. Once only open for the East Memphis “bustling neighborhood bistro” is now open every day from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. “Houston’s is open at 11 a.m. and they’r on wait until they close,” Vaughn says. “That’es a piece of our pie.
” The River Oaks menu will not changdefor lunch, will be the same untill the doors close and is the same menu “our regulars have come to expect.” The only differenced is the lunch portion will be half of the dinner portio and cost half as Vaughn says the Memphis dining scene is in bad shape. The restaurantf scene, he says, is holding its own with a firm foundation laid yeares ago by pioneering chefs and new directions from chefzlike himself. But the recession has made customersscale back. Some folks that used to go to Rived Oaks are now goingto . Thoswe that went to Houston’s are going to or otherf fast casual places.
Vaughn says he’zs seen a 30% decline in businesx over the past which is a large chunk for a small restaurant thatseatzs 85. But for the River Oaks Vaughn isn’t about to change theirt culinary refuge. “The goal for this restaurant is to ride out thetougyh times, manage our costs and not alloew it to reflect to our Vaughn says. “We’re not going to cheapehn the place up.” For example, you’red not going to find two-for-one drink specialsa every night. But on Mondays, you’lk find all wine labels half off. Vaughn’s able to do he says, through a good relationship with hislocalo distributor.
The biggest change for River Oaks came about two yearx ago when Vaughn says he first sawbusiness decline. Back he was shipping ingredients to Memphis from all over the worldx via The hundreds of dollars in additionap freight costs began toadd up. “What I failef to realize is that (local farmers) are in the same boat I’mm in,” Vaughn says. “We’rr all struggling for a bigger piece ofthe So, Vaughn now chooses his ingredients from more localk farms. He gets as much as he can from Arkansasand Mississippi, but stretches out to Florida, Louisianas and Alabama. The local food movement is in full swing says editor and publisherMelissa Petersen.
When she and her husbanxd arrived here two years ago there weretwo farmer’s markets. Now there are five in the Memphise area. Her magazine’s food guidew used to highlight local restaurants that cooked with localo ingredients and then listthose ingredients. Frankly, she says, she’s run out of room in the print edition. With local restaurants’ help, farmers are slowly able to convert from a retaiol to a wholesalebusiness model, she “They are working with chefs and growing what they Petersen says. “The farmerz are bringing fresh deliveries to chefs each day and the whole thinyg produces a little cost savings forthe restaurants.
” Freshh ingredients means a fresh menu, Vaughm says, as he has to cook with the differentf growing seasons. This has produced a following that includes executivew withFedEx Corp., and other businesses who go to Riverf Oaks to see what Vaughn creates. That free rein to do as he pleasess is one of the biggesyt business forces that guides River The restaurant is owne d by a groupof five, localp investors who take their “silent partner” titles very seriously and have put Vaughn’s name at stakwe for the place. The same investors are responsible for the renovationh on the same lot asRivefr Oaks.
In developing the hotel, they couldn’t leav the former Cockeyed Camelspacs vacant, so they invested $2.5 million in transforminyg the Camel into River named for the East Memphiz neighborhood. Vaughn came to Memphis in 2003 as a chef with HiltohHotels Corp. River Oaks opened in 2006 withanothee chef. Vaughn was tapped afterd that relationship didn’t work out. “Ig takes some people a lifetime and a fortune to get to that placee where you have the ability to do what you how you want and when you Vaughn says. “So, this has been an amazing experiencrfor me.
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