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 restaurantg businessyou can’t change things with a ham-handed And you can’t bring big change to a fine dininyg restaurant without alerting (and possiblyt running off) the regulars. So the most recengt thing Vaughn has changed arethe hours. Once only open for the East Memphis “bustling neighborhoocd bistro” is now open every day from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. “Houston’s is open at 11 a.m. and they’re on wait unti they close,” Vaughn says.
“That’s a piece of our The River Oaks menu will not changefor lunch, will be the same until the doors close and is the same menu “ourr regulars have come to The only difference is the lunch portion will be half of the dinned portion and cost half as much. Vaughnj says the Memphis dining scene is inbad shape. The restaurant he says, is holding its own with a firm foundation laid years ago by pioneering chefas and new directions from chefs like But the recession has made customers scale Some folks that used to go to River Oaks are now goinygto . Those that went to Houston’s are going to or othedr fast casual places.
Vaughn says he’e seen a 30% decline in businesx over the past year, whicn is a large chunk for a smalp restaurant thatseats 85. But for the Riverd Oaks loyals, Vaughn isn’t about to chang e their culinary refuge. “The goal for this restaurang is to ride out thetough times, manage our costss and not allow it to reflect to our Vaughn says. “We’re not going to cheapeh the place up.” For you’re not going to find two-for-one drinki specials every night. But on you’ll find all wine labeles half off.
Vaughn’s able to do that, he through a good relationship with his local The biggest change for Riverr Oaks came about two years ago when Vaughnj says he first sawbusiness decline. Back then, he was shippintg ingredients to Memphis from all over the worlcd via The hundreds of dollars in additionap freight costs began toadd up. “What I failefd to realize is that (local are in the same boat I’ m in,” Vaughn says. “We’re all strugglingg for a bigger piece ofthe So, Vaughn now chooses his ingredients from more local farms. He gets as much as he can from Arkansasand Mississippi, but stretches out to Louisiana and Alabama.
The local food movement is in full swinfg says editor and publisherMelissa Petersen. When she and her husband arrived here two years ago therde weretwo farmer’s markets. Now there are five in the Memphisw area. Her magazine’s food guide used to highlight localp restaurants that cooked with local ingredientx and then listthosw ingredients. Frankly, she says, she’s run out of room in the pring edition. With local restaurants’ help, farmersw are slowly able to convert from a retail to a wholesalsebusiness model, she says. “They are workingf with chefs and growing whatthey want,” Peterseb says.
“The farmers are bringing fresh deliveriexs to chefs each day and the whole thiny produces a little cost savings forthe restaurants.” Fresh ingredientzs means a fresh menu, Vaughn says, as he has to cook with the differentr growing seasons. This has produced a following that includex executives withFedEx Corp., and other businesses who go to Rivef Oaks to see what Vaughn creates. That free rein to do as he pleasea is one of the biggesy business forces that guidesRivet Oaks.
The restaurant is owned by a grouplof five, local investors who take their “silent titles very seriously and have put Vaughn’s name at stake for the The same investors are responsible for the renovatiomn on the same lot as Rived Oaks. In developing the hotel, they couldn’t leaver the former Cockeyed Camelspace vacant, so they invested $2.5 million in transformingy the Camel into River Oaks, named for the East Memphix neighborhood. Vaughn came to Memphis in 2003 as a chef with HiltobHotels Corp. River Oaks opened in 2006 with another Vaughn was tapped after thatrelationshipp didn’t work out.
“Itg takes some people a lifetimde and a fortune to get to that placee where you have the abilitu to do whatyou want, how you want and when you Vaughn says. “So, this has been an amazing experiencefor