Middletown >> A year and a half since it opened, Chef Steve”s, a vegan and vegetarian restaurant in Middletown, is closing its doors. Steve Tenneson, owner of the establishment, plans to set up shop in Monterey. He decided to make the move in large part due to space issues rather than economical reasons. More specifically, he has far too much room.
“I”ve got a three thousand square foot building here,” Tenneson explained. He couldn”t find a location small enough in Lake County. “When I looked at scaling down there wasn”t a good opportunity to do that and I got a chance to move to Carmel and that”s a nice place.”
The demand for vegetarian food wasn”t the issue, even in a smaller market. “I found there”s a good interest, there”s a good steady market here but the location I”m in is just way too large,” he said. “A vegetarian market would support a small caf? ? There is a desire, it”s just my business model is too large.”
When Tenneson first opened Chef Steve”s, he had high hopes for the restaurant, which is housed in a 140-year-old Victorian building. “When you first start you don”t know what the market is,” he said. “There”s a market here but it”s not large enough ? I was hoping to have enough business here to keep this place up but it”s just too big a place.”
The restaurant has received high praise from many of its customers, who are surely sad to see Tenneson go. “The reviews have been really good,” he said. “People are really happy about it.” Half of his customers are new to the establishment, while half make repeat visits. According to Tenneson, this is the perfect ratio to keep a business up and running.
Though Tenneson has some somber feelings about leaving, he”s excited for the time ahead of him, in Carmel. “The weather is perfect, it”s by the ocean, the market is much better, the economy is much better there,” he said. “The price point at a restaurant is significantly higher than it is here. That gives you the opportunity to use high quality ingredients and enough staff to do a nice job ? The median income there is significantly higher.”
Chef Steve”s will be closing its Middletown location by the end of the month, but die-hard fans will have to wait a while before they can visit the Monterey location and get their fix. Tenneson is taking some time before his new business launches. “Probably in a year or so I”ll probably open up a new restaurant,” he said.
After learning the tricks of the trade, Tenneson is making some adjustments to his business model. “I”m going to start out with a smaller caf?. I”m going to go to a caf? style lunch restaurant to begin with,” he said. “If I do a dinner style restaurant I”ll probably do that in a different location ? The biggest difference is just the location. That”s just a much, much better market.”
Even with all the advantages, it will be hard for Tenneson to say goodbye to this place that”s he”s been happy to call home. “I”ll miss the people here,” he said. “I have some good friends here in Middletown.”
