In the current downward-spiraling economy, a number of restaurants are under pressure to close up shop, and some have already succumbed. The National Restaurant Association is predicting a gloomy year of unequaled closures, encouraging operators to tighten their belts and bring value to their menus with appropriate price points and simpler food. Seems the public is amenable to smaller portions for smaller prices.

A SAD GOODBYE Comfort, Portsmouth. PHOTOS Rogelio Serrano

But it is not only the independent restaurants suffering—national chains are making massive changes in branding, and closing stores that are not holding their own. Everywhere restaurant employees are painfully seeking jobs wherever they can find them. One restaurateur in Norfolk confirms this effect, saying, “I could put an ad on craigslist tonight, and in five minutes I will get five calls from overqualified people.”

Where is that infernal light at the end of the tunnel? According to some local restaurateurs’ hopeful, but tempered hunches, things will change in the second quarter of ’09. But others, sadly, never made it to the new year.

BON VOYAGE, BOBBY Bobbywood, Norfolk

Bobbywood—had it been located in New York, Chicago or San Francisco—may have had a better chance of survival. However, Bobby Huber’s avant-garde culinary offerings were too costly for most wallets (his included), and even with an infusion of cash, he has closed his doors. The restaurant’s location, amid the helter-skelter construction of Norfolk’s light rail and Wachovia’s bank tower, as well as lousy parking and the crippling recession have all played a part in forcing Chef Bobby Huber temporarily out of the arena.

NEW YEAR, NEW STERLINGS The Granby Street restaurant will reinvent itself as Snapper's.

Huber is not alone in this devastation, as other chefs and owners attempt to reinvent themselves and restructure their costs. Sterling’s on Granby Street is changing their identity with an intense, fresh Virginia seafood menu and a new handle—Snapper’s.

Comfort on High Street in Portsmouth has closed its operation. The menu pricing and offerings were not unreasonable, but lowering them and the portion sizes might have made the restaurant more appealing to those Portsmouth doyens of down-home cuisine. And these prospective diners, already aficionados of Southern style, were not buying.
Executive Chef Jerry Weihbrecht of Zoe’s in Virginia Beach is one of the finest chefs in the area. But even performing at James Beard’s house in Greenwich Village last October couldn’t save him from faltering. Presently seeking investors, Weihbrecht is determined to reopen his bistro and continue his culinary excellence for Virginia Beach locals and summer’s touring folks. His menu offerings are avant-garde preparations, and hopefully he can conjure an audience diverse enough to fill his tiny restaurant once more.

Vince Ranhorn and partner Chef Todd Leutner have managed to reinvent themselves in the form of Long Boards Lounge and Café in Old Towne Portsmouth, an affordable and quite tasty neighborhood café. The duo’s plan: simpler fare with a spin on favorite American flavors. Ranhorn and Leutner have felt the financial burden of making it in this economy, but their creativity is best experienced in comparison with their other eateries. Price points have dramatically changed at their Trilogy Bistro in Norfolk and Fusion 440 in Portsmouth. The food is simpler, and the issue of finding qualified staff is temporarily resolved. (To their chagrin, there aren’t enough jobs to fill the demand.)

The Matthews family has closed Hampton Roads’ “Only Historic Landmark Restaurant,” The Circle in Portsmouth. The Circle opened in 1947, and I frequented the restaurant during my high school years in the mid to late-’50s after Friday night football games. My favorite menu sampling in those bygone days was their famous “Hot Fudge Cake!” Then along came the famous buffet with prime rib, fried chicken, green beans with ham hocks, and numerous truly comforting food items so very reasonably priced. The Circle closed its doors December 31, 2008.

Chef Monroe Duncan’s 30-year career in the food industry has included ownership of famed Norfolk restaurants Suddenly Last Summer and Piranha, among others. He has been a Norfolk food writer for over 20 years.