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Dish

When I sat down to write my annual restaurant-news-in-review feature and began looking over the 2008 Restaurant Graveyard, as one of my favorite local aggregator sites calls it, I had a striking thought.

I could have called most of these.

Of the more than two dozen -- that's right, two dozen -- restaurants that closed up shop this year, the writing had been on the wall for some time for many of them. At least as far as I could tell.

You see, there are a few things that I know well in this world (emphasis on few). It's not that I have any special talent or education, rather it's through sheer determination, luck, chance, default and an excessive dedication of time that I've become close to being an expert on anything. The television series "Law & Order" and its spinoffs is one of my areas of near expertise, as is the city of Richmond and its dining scene.

Four years of covering Richmond restaurants for Richmond.com has allowed me to garner some better-than-average knowledge about the scene and, in that time, I've talked to a lot of restaurateurs. And it's generally by the end of that first or second conversation with a local restaurant owner that I can predict their restaurant's fate.

Which is one of the reasons it was no surprise to me that the West End's The Piano Club , which opened in late 2006, closed this year.

The concept was simple enough, upscale dining, live piano music and linen table clothes, but the execution was all wrong. I'm all for upscale dining, but I'm not sure that I want to shell out $30 for an entrée in a restaurant nestled between two hair "studios" in a strip mall whose other dining options include a pool hall and a sports bar. But, of course, the final nail in the Piano's coffin wasn't its location, uninspiring food or even its over-priced menu, it was the piano.

The name Piano Club brings to mind an evening of rousing music, Billy Joel sing-a-longs and swilling martinis around a smoky tip jar -- none of which The Piano Club offered.

Take that same restaurant, pair (and price) down the menu, move it into a downtown adjacent neighborhood ( Northside, Southside, East End ), add the piano touches, and you'd have a Richmond dining and evening out destination. What we have instead is vacant retail space.

From the way many restaurateurs behave, you'd think Richmond diners were a finicky bunch. We're not. In fact, we're quite simple. In local dining we want a convenient location, an affordable menu, interesting atmosphere and great food. If you're going to sacrifice one of these then you'd better be prepared to make up for it other places.

Take The Phoenician , which opened in January of this year. Its location isn't exactly inconvenient, but Broad Street in the Near West End is generally more of a quick weekday bite rather than a weekend or date night place to go. But not anymore. Owner Naji Kadi more than compensated for the Broad Street address by transforming the former Mexican spot into a beautiful Lebanese dining oasis. His restaurant is still open and, I hope, will be around for many more years to come.

Of course, there are this year's restaurant openings that hit the nail straight on the head. Acacia, Mezzanine, Sushi Ninja, City Dogs, Patrick Henry Pub and Grille, The Black Sheep, Verbena (I'd price down that menu some though), Gibson's Grill, the new Barrel Thief and Stronghill Dining Company are a few. These spots adhered to the rule of a great menu, affordable (or comparably priced) food (I mean you Mezzanine), great locations and they didn't skimp on the décor.

Even the restaurants that took a risk, like Acacia and Stronghill with their locations, did so strategically, based on the way Richmonders are living, moving and dining out. Especially City Dogs, who took a risk peddling an assortment of hot dogs in upscale Shockoe Slip , but they understood that plenty of Richmonders work in or near the Slip and even more of them drink there. What those people needed was some affordable lunch/drunk food. And it worked.

Then there's Infuzion . By god we wanted that restaurant to work. Richmond's first (and only) ice bar -- one of the first and only ice bars in the entire United States! Infuzion was exciting, gorgeous, unique, expansive, it had an interesting menu, a funky décor and layout and then it had, you know, an ice bar.

So why did it fail?

I have a couple of theories. First, location, location, location. I know, I know, Scott's Addition is supposed to be The Hottest thing in Richmond; I got the memo too. But it was just that. A memo.

I've lived in the city of Richmond proper for 13 years, most of which was apparently spent living next to Scott's Addition. And until last year, I'd never heard of Scott's Addition. I didn't know anyone who'd ever heard of Scott's Addition and, once I drove through it, I could clearly see that there was nothing in Scott's Addition.

Except Infuzion and its ice bar. Second problem with Infuzion … it had an ice bar and it opened in winter.

I'm not sure if the ice bar would have ever really worked, not in Richmond, not when it was too much of a one-time novelty, but take that same bar and put it in a part of town where people are already drinking and congregating -- the Slip, the Bottom, downtown by the National or further up between VCU and Comfort -- and it might have had a fighting chance.  

Again, location is an important factor in determining a restaurant's success. Which, in my opinion, accounts for plenty of the other restaurant closings this year.

Like the restaurants in the West End.

It seems that in the past few years Richmonders have begun to shun the West End proper. We're staying in the city longer, revitalizing the World War II-era suburbs or leaving the city far behind for the exurbs of Short Pump , the 288 corridor of Hull Street , Chester and Mechanicsville . Restaurateurs, however, seem to be slow to pick up on that. The West End diner of 10 years ago is not the West End diner of today. Young families on a budget have replaced the affluent ones of their parent's generation, so upscale dining like La Petite France, Franco's Ristorante and Escabar , which all closed this year, is of little use to them. If they're going out on the town then they're going downtown.

Of course, I shouldn't be so quick to judge. A crappy economy certainly hastened the demise of any restaurant on its way out -- and it may have caused a few that would have succeeded to fail. And so this year we also say goodbye to Jumpin J's, Acappella , Celebrity Room , Miss Hathaway's Café , Old City Bar (though they're open for special occasions), Copeland's Cheesecake Factory , The Corner Bar & Grill  and Red Oak Café , to name a few.

Of course, there's always controversy too (I mean you Easy Street and Cabo's ) and those restaurant that had it coming that caused some closings in '08: Granny Wade's your hours and menu were too confusing (you can't be open three nights a week and serve me 'whatever you're cooking') Cirrus , you were pretty and picked a decent Fan spot, but your food was mediocre and a tad overpriced. Same for you Carlton's .

But all and all, especially considering the economic storm, it's been a great dining year in Richmond. Sure it's been filled with ups and downs and more downs than ups, but we got some great new eateries out of the mix.

Of course, Richmond, if you don't want that casualty list to be this long next year, then get out there and support your local restaurants.

Seriously folks, this is make or break time for local restaurant owners. They need your support and your dining more than ever, so I don't want to see anymore lines out the door at the Cheesecake Factory and TGIFridays. Not in this city, not when we have so many great local restaurants just waiting to serve you.