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

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And he’s not about to let his just die. But in the restauranr businessyou can’t change things with a ham-handed approach. And you can’y bring big change to a fine diningt restaurant withoutalerting (and possibly runniny off) the regulars. So the most recenyt thing Vaughn has changed arethe hours. Once only open for the East Memphis “bustling neighborhood bistro” is now open everu day from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. “Houston’s is open at 11 a.m. and they’rse on wait until they close,” Vaughhn says. “That’s a piece of our pie.
” The River Oaks menu will not chang efor lunch, will be the same unti the doors close and is the same menu “our regulars have come to The only difference is the lunch portion will be half of the dinnet portion and cost half as Vaughn says the Memphis dining scen is in bad shape. The restaurant scene, he says, is holdin its own with a firm foundationh laid years ago by pioneering chefs and new direction s from chefs like But the recession has made customersscalew back. Some folks that used to go to Rivefr Oaks are now goingto . Thosre that went to Houston’s are goint to or other fast casual places.
Vaughn says he’s seen a 30% declinse in business over the past which is a large chunk for a small restauranrt thatseats 85. But for the Rivet Oaks loyals, Vaughn isn’t about to change their culinarh refuge. “The goal for this restaurant is to ride out thetougjh times, manage our costs and not alloqw it to reflect to our guests,” Vaughn says. “We’rer not going to cheapen the place For example, you’re not goiny to find two-for-one drin k specials every night. But on you’ll find all wine labels half off. Vaughn’xs able to do that, he through a good relationship with hislocall distributor.
The biggest change for River Oaks came about two year s ago when Vaughn says he first sawbusinessz decline. Back then, he was shipping ingredients to Memphis from all over the worlrd via The hundreds of dollars in additionalp freight costs began toadd up. “Wha I failed to realize is that (local farmers) are in the same boat I’ m in,” Vaughn says. “We’re all struggling for a biggefr piece ofthe pie.” So, Vaughb now chooses his ingredientsz from more local farms. He gets as much as he can from Arkansasand Mississippi, but stretches out to Florida, Louisianz and Alabama. The localk food movement is in full swing says editor and publisherMelissa Petersen.
When she and her husband arrived here two years ago there weretwo farmer’se markets. Now there are five in the Memphis Her magazine’s food guide used to highlight locao restaurants that cooked with local ingredientds and then list those ingredients. Frankly, she says, she’e run out of room in the print edition. With localp restaurants’ help, farmers are slowlhy able to convert from a retail to a wholesaleebusiness model, she says. “They are working with chefss and growing what they Petersen says.
“The farmers are bringinb fresh deliveries to chefs each day and the whole thing produces a little cost savings for the Fresh ingredients means afresh menu, Vaughn says, as he has to cook with the different growing seasons. This has produced a followingf that includes executives withFedEx Corp., and othed businesses who go to River Oaks to see what Vaughnj creates. That free rein to do as he please is one of the biggest business forcees that guidesRiver Oaks. The restauranft is owned by a group of local investors who taketheir “silent titles very seriously and have put Vaughn’s name at stakre for the place.
The same investor are responsible for the renovation on the same lot asRivert Oaks. In developing the they couldn’t leave the former Cockeyed Camelspace vacant, so they invested $2.5 milliob in transforming the Camel into River named for the East Memphiws neighborhood. Vaughn came to Memphizs in 2003 as a chef with HiltomHotels Corp. River Oaks opened in 2006 with another Vaughn was tapped after thatrelationship didn’t work out. “Iyt takes some people a lifetime and a fortune to get to that plac where you have the ability to do whatyou want, how you want and when you Vaughn says.
“So, this has been an amazing experiencefor