It’s an interesting time in the restaurant business, watching owners adjust to changing times, markets, and trends.
Last week, Mike Randolph announced he was closing The Good Pie in U City and replacing it with Randolfi's, a more broad-based, casual Italian restaurant. And today comes word that OG Hospitality Group will be closing Cucina Pazzo, their broad-based, casual Italian eatery located in the CWE and replacing it with their second location of The Tavern Kitchen & Bar.
OG’s managing partner Brant Baldanza said that the Cucina would close on June 28 and The Tavern would open no later than August 3.
Baldanza had this to say about why he felt it necessary to shuffle OG's restaurant deck:
“Everybody's first inclination is to assume that Pazzo was not doing well…it was, just not as well as we had wanted,” he admitted. “The winter was rough and the social unrest played a part, but the funny thing is, as soon as we decided to make the change, Pazzo had the best week we had in a long, long time.”
The reasons go deeper. “The Tavern is a known name and very successful concept," Baldanza explained. “It was Restaurant of the Year a few years ago and people came to Valley Park from all over the city to eat there, so we thought we'd make that experience more easily accessible. A lot of The Tavern’s business came from closer to the CWE.”
“Another factor that’s not so apparent is it’s convenient for us,” the multi-unit opoerator said. “Restaurant owners like to brag about having all these different concepts, but it when staffers need to take off or take vacations, filling those gaps is a whole lot easier when you have duplicate restaurants. We had four concepts [The Tavern, two locations of The Corner Pub & Grill, two locations of the Shack, and Cucina Pazzo]. Having two of each will be easier for all involved."
The décor will change, but not drastically: acoustic wall panels will be moved to the ceiling and restored wood will be strategically added, to make it more resemble the flagship Tavern. The signage will be in the same size and typeface as the existing Cucina Pazzo sign.
Baldanza was quick to mention that Pazzo will not be jettisoned outright, however. "The menu at the new place will be an 80/20 combination of Tavern and Pazzo items," he said. “It would be short-sighted of us not to include Pazzo’s most popular items,” like Rigatoni Al Forno, Maine Lobster Risotto Carbonara, Beef Short Rib Pappardelle, Meatballs al Forno, and Chopstick Pig Pasta.
To retain the existing staff at Cucina Pazzo, OG will pay them during their time off and during retraining.
When asked the biggest reason for the change, Baldanza replied, ”You know, there are a lot of Italian places to eat in this town…but until now, there was only one Tavern.”
