Ron Eyester, the chef-owner of Diner in Atlantic Station and founder of Grateful Tables restaurant group, confirmed Tuesday the closing and pending sale of his two original Morningside-North Highland Avenue restaurants, Rosebud and the Family Dog.
Eyester closed his third Morningside restaurant, Timone’s, in July.
“I’ve been in the process of selling both Rosebud and the Family Dog for the past couple months,” Eyester said by phone. “The reason is, we got overextended. Even with the closing of Timone’s, which stopped the bleeding on a certain level, there’s still blood to contend with. We got to the point where the whole structure lost its stability on all levels.”
Rosebud and the Family Dog were both doing pretty well, he said, “but they weren’t doing quite what they’ve done in the past, mostly due to the fact that my attention has been dominated by dealing with challenges, rather than doing what I know how to do best as a restaurateur.”
In addition to his business struggles, Eyester, who may be most famous as the Angry Chef on Twitter, cited recent personal struggles as part of those challenges.
“I got divorced, I got sober, and I’ve been sober for 14 months,” he said. “That was huge, and it continues to be a process. To be honest, how I haven’t gone off the wagon through all this is pretty miraculous.”
Eyester said the stability of Diner “is not great right now. But my saving grace is that the Hines group, who just bought Atlantic Station, are very supportive of the concept. And they really want to see me make it work.
“The fact that I was able to tell them that I was ready to part ways with North Highland Avenue and exclusively focus my attention on Diner, I think showed them the commitment I have to that space.”
Eyester said he’s been asked why he doesn’t sell Diner and keep Rosebud. “The reason is, Diner isn’t worth anything at this point.”
He said Rosebud is being sold to “a very well established restaurateur, who is planning to keep it closed for the next couple of months and then plans to rebrand sometime in January. The deal for the Family Dog is still pending. We’re working through some parts and there’s a chance I may stay on in a limited capacity for the transition.”
Eyester said his appearance on the 12th season of “Top Chef” was a factor in his troubles. “Me being away for six weeks certainly did not help the situation. I’m trying not to let myself look back to that exact point in time and hold that responsible, because I think that’s a fallacy.”
Eyester said he doesn’t want to “assign all the blame to Timone’s. But, financially, that was definitely the crossroads that caused the most severe pain. Basically, we would have some more capital that would have made getting Diner open much easier.”
If he had never opened Timone’s and had never entertained the idea of doing Diner, “then chances are we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” he said. “But, again, I can’t undo that at this point. I have two options. I can grab what little opportunity I have in front of me and try to make the best of it. Or I can just completely fold and fall off the radar.”
Looking to the future, Eyester said he still has “a passion for this business. My personality has not undergone any radical transformation. I’m still going to be vocal in certain areas. And I want to re-emerge as a relevant figure in this dining scene — and not for the benefit of just being out there.”
The moral of the story, he said, is “we grew too fast. We got overextended and I got too enamored with the idea of growing on a grassroots level. The reality is, you can’t do it without money. You’ve got to have money behind you.
“Moving forward, I always need to keep in mind that there’s not a set recipe for success. What you did in one space isn’t necessarily going to translate to another.”
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