 "Photo: David Reaves")
Reed Clemons said it will be business as usual at his downtown restaurant this Saturday night.
Of course, the only thing different is that Saturday night will be its last.
"If you want your last Bellini, you'd better get there," Clemons said.
Clemons, 43, is the owner of Mezzaluna, an Italian restaurant that he opened in 1989 in Austin's Warehouse District. After a 16-year run, Clemons' restaurant is closing because of problems out of his control.
"The downturn was the technology downturn in 2000, followed by Sept. 11. That affected all restaurants," he said.
He said increased competition by national chains, as well as "the Atkins craze," affected his business.
"So much of our business was corporate, and those people for two or three years would stay away from Italian," he said.
But that's not to say he hasn't had a good run, or that he's finished.
Clemons graduated with a geology degree from UT-Austin during a time that he calls the "oil glut," when there were no jobs. He ended up going to culinary school in New York and working in the restaurant business before he opening the Granite Cafe in 1985 in Austin. Four years later, he opened Mezzaluna.
He said the warehouse district only had the Spaghetti Warehouse and a Mexican restaurant, and that he wanted to establish a restaurant that "wouldn't break the bank."
"I felt that Austin was ready for an Italian restaurant that would combine the energetic atmosphere with the more non-traditional," he said.
Austin must have been ready.
Clemons said he has had lines out the door, at least 1,000 engagements and countless birthday parties and wedding rehearsals. In 2004, he was named Outstanding Restaurateur of the Year by the Austin chapter of the Texas Restaurant Association.
"It exceeded my expectations tremendously for 10 years," Clemons said.
Since word spread that Mezzaluna is closing, Clemons said the restaurant has had a line out the door. He said his customers "are sad and they're excited."
Excited because of what Clemons calls his "new concept" a French restaurant called Capitol Brasserie. He said the restaurant will serve "affordable and understandable food, not fancy French food."
Entrees will range from $8 to $20, and the atmosphere of Capitol Brasserie will be "completely different" from Mezzaluna, he said.
"It's going to feel like your favorite, worn-in leather jacket, with very warm and woody leather booths," he said.
Capitol Brasserie, which opens in November, will be Austin's first "curb-side dining," according to Clemons. With the new restaurant, Clemons said he is "starting from a clean plate." Not to say that it's not full already.
Clemons is president of the San Gabriel Restaurant group, which also owns the Bitter End and Reed's Jazz and Supper Club.
"We've had a great run," he said. "And I believe the new concept will fill the niche that's been needed."
Be the first to comment on this article!