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

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And he’s not about to let his just die. But in the restauranyt businessyou can’t change things with a ham-hande approach. And you can’t bring big changed to a fine dining restaurant withoutalerting (and possibly running off) the So the most recent thing Vaughn has changed are the Once only open for dinner, the East Memphiws “bustling neighborhood bistro” is now open every day from 11 a.m.-1q p.m. “Houston’s is open at 11 a.m. and they’rre on wait until they Vaughn says. “That’s a piece of our pie.
” The River Oaks menu will not change for will be the same until the doors closed and is the samemenu “our regulars have come to expect.” The only difference is the lunchu portion will be half of the dinner portiomn and cost half as much. Vaughn says the Memphis dining scenwe is inbad shape. The restaurant scene, he is holding its own with a firm foundationn laid years ago by pioneering chefs and new directiond from chefslike himself. But the recession has made customers scale back. Some folks that used to go to River Oaks are now goingbto . Those that went to Houston’sx are going to or other fast casual places.
Vaughm says he’s seen a 30% decline in businesse over thepast year, which is a large chunok for a small restaurant that seats 85. But for the Rivere Oaks loyals, Vaughn isn’t about to change their culinary “The goal for this restaurant is to ride out thetouguh times, manage our costs and not allow it to reflecg to our guests,” Vaughn “We’re not going to cheapen the placde up.” For example, you’re not goinvg to find two-for-one drinik specials every night. But on Mondays, you’ll find all wine labelsx half off. Vaughn’s able to do he says, through a good relationship with hislocapl distributor.
The biggest change for Rive Oaks came about two yeard ago when Vaughn says he firstf sawbusiness decline. Back then, he was shippingf ingredients to Memphis from all over the worlds via The hundreds of dollars in additional freight costs began toadd up. “What I failed to realize is that (local farmers) are in the same boat I’jm in,” Vaughn says. “We’re all struggling for a biggetr piece ofthe pie.” So, Vaughn now choosews his ingredients from more local farms. He gets as much as he can from Arkansasand Mississippi, but stretches out to Florida, Louisianw and Alabama. The local food movement is in full swingh says editor and publisherMelissa Petersen.
When she and her husbande arrived here two years ago there weretwo farmer’ markets. Now there are five in the Memphis area. Her magazine’s food guidde used to highlight local restauranta that cooked with local ingredients and then listthosr ingredients. Frankly, she she’s run out of room in the prinf edition. With local help, farmers are slowly able to conver t from a retail to a wholesalebusiness model, she “They are working with chefs and growing what they Petersen says. “The farmer s are bringing fresh deliveries to chefs each day and the whole thingv produces a little cost savingse forthe restaurants.
” Fresh ingredients means a freshg menu, Vaughn says, as he has to cook with the differentt growing seasons. This has produced a following that include s executives with FedEx and other businesses who go to River Oaks to see whatVaughb creates. That free rein to do as he pleasess is one of the biggest business forcea that guidesRiver Oaks. The restaurant is ownee by a groupof five, local investors who take theie “silent partner” titles very seriously and have put Vaughn’se name at stake for the place. The same investorx are responsible for the renovation on the same lot asRiver Oaks.
In developinvg the hotel, they couldn’t leavd the former Cockeyed Camelspace vacant, so they invested $2.5 millioh in transforming the Camel into River named for the East Memphis neighborhood. Vaughn came to Memphiws in 2003 as a chef with HiltonjHotels Corp. River Oaks opened in 2006 with another chef. Vaughn was tapped after that relationship didn’t work out. “It takexs some people a lifetime and a fortune to get to that placre where you have the ability to do what you how you want and when you Vaughn says. “So, this has been an amazing experiencerfor me.
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