FanHouse Closed Again?

FanHouse Restaurant is temporarily closed … again.

We have Nathan Hughes (@rvabusiness) to thank for the scoop – he tweeted a pic (see above) on Wednesday, April 18 of a sign posted on FanHouse’s door:

“We are temporarily closed. Please check our website for additional information. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

The sign was still there around 1 p.m. today (Thursday, April 26), so apparently FanHouse is temporarily closed … again.

There is no additional information on the website, though it, the phone line and the restaurant’s Facebook page remain active. Calls to FanHouse owner Sunny Zhao were not immediately returned.

Richmond restaurant fans and regular readers might remember, however, that this is not the first temporary closing for the restaurant – it closed for a few weeks late last summer and reopened with a new partner (a partner who left soon after).

Read the original post below for the full saga and we’ll let you know when we know more.
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Original Post from Feb. 3, 2012:

The restaurant may have lost its partner and celeb bartender, but it’s still open, and the change could mean new greatness from both parties.

It’s a dizzying story if you don’t know the history or the players, but I’ll try to break it down as simply as possible.

FanHouse restaurant opened nearly two years ago in the old Verbena (which was the old Carlton’s, which was the old Konsta’s, which was also something in the middle) at 2526 Floyd Ave.

It was opened by first-time restaurant owner and local artist / filmmaker Sunny Zhao as an Asian-fusion spot with two floors of bars and the former Cabo’s chef running the kitchen.

Things went fine at first – well, in fact. Critics loved the food and the young professional crowd flocked to the two-stories-of-bars-in-the-middle-of-the-Robinson-strip spot.

With so much success, roughly a year in Zhao began construction on a patio in a space that to the naked eye appears to be set aside exactly to be an outside patio.

Then things started going not so well for Zhao and FanHouse. Neighbors, concerned about noise and what they were calling strictly a bar, complained to the city, and since Zhao didn’t have any permits for the work, the patio project was shut down.

In the process, the Fan District Association discovered that Zhao had done other work on the property without permits – specifically constructing the downstairs bar (in all previous incarnations of the restaurant, there was only one, upstairs bar).

The neighborhood association wanted the downstairs bar removed. Zhao dropped any plans to challenge the patio ruling in the hopes of keeping his two bars, but the neighborhood refused, so Zhao spent the next few months fighting to keep his bar.

He lost.

In June 2011, Fanhouse closed for a few days so Zhao could rip out the bar and reconstruct the space, and everything seemed fine for a few months.

Then Richmond.com got word in September that FanHouse was closed, and had been closed for weeks.

Meanwhile … down in Shockoe Bottom, for nearly a decade, local mixologist Bobby Kruger had been building a reputation for himself and Julep’s New Southern Cuisine as one of the best craft bartenders running one of the best cocktail programs in the city.

Kruger had even established Mint, an after-hours speakeasy event held at Julep’s. Sure, we’d (I’d) heard whispers that Kruger was looking to branch out on his own and open his own spot, but who isn’t looking to have something of their own … and everybody whispers about everybody in this town.

Still, when word got out last year that Julep’s owner Amy Cabaniss was snatching up the old Davis & Main spot to open a new restaurant called Mint, everybody (I) assumed Kruger would be very much involved.

So we’re in September 2011, and I’d just reported that FanHouse had closed, on the heels of reporting that Mint was coming. And I get a call from Bobby (fine, a DM).

Kruger saw the piece on FanHouse closing, he said, and was surprised to see it, since it was not closed-for-good. Did I want to meet him at FanHouse to talk about it? [Food writer thought bubble: Did I want to meet Bobby from Julep’s in the what-the-hell-happened-to-FanHouse to talk on a story nobody else in town has yet? Hell yeah I do!]

So I hauled butt to FanHouse to get the scoop, and it was this: Kruger was now in FanHouse as a managing partner and the space would be reopening the next night with a craft cocktail and craft bartender theme, a new chef taking over the kitchen and launching some small plates, and Zhao was still on-board.

It was definitely an … intriguing concept. But could it work?

The critics had loved the food the first time around, but that’d been several chefs ago. The bar scene had worked out great for FanHouse, but it had lost one of its bars, and Kruger brings craft cocktails, and those aren’t Jägerbombs (not that the Robinson Street crowd drinks those. I’m sure they don’t).

So did it work? Apparently not. Bobby Kruger is out of FanHouse, as of about two weeks ago, and Sunny Zhao is pushing forward, launching a new menu and new wine list in the next few weeks.

Zhao is also bringing back happy hour specials at FanHouse, moving out the craft beers at 40 percent off in the coming weeks (among other deals) and rotating in a lot of Virginia beer and wine in its place.

"I just want people to come in and have a good time … I don’t want to jack it up so people can’t afford the place," Zhao said.

He promises a priced-down menu and - awesome alert - Thursday night piano night, with a live musician playing requests on the newly installed grand piano.

As for Kruger, he’s got plans of his own. He’s currently scouting a spot for his own restaurant (all he’ll say is that he has the spot, and it’s never been a restaurant before). Kruger plans to bring a sophisticated menu and stellar cocktail program to his new restaurant, which could possibly open in November 2012.

In the meantime, he’s talking to a couple of different places about working the bar a couple of nights a week. Nothing is set in stone, but (whisper) I hear he’s already been spotted at a brand-spanking-new Carytown pizza place that shall remain nameless (I think it rhymes with ExhaleFrog … no, that’s not it). Wherever he is, Kruger says he’s using the gestation time for his new restaurant to learn everything he can, front and back of the house, from the best in town.

In both cases, it sounds like good news for Richmond dining. And both Zhao and Kruger are quick to point out (repeatedly) that the split was on good terms and they wish each other the best of success in their very different concepts and very exciting futures.