Another fine-dining chef goes casual

Dominque Crenn, chef-owner of Michelin two-star restaurant Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, is opening a casual sibling in August called Petit Crenn.

The all-day cafe will be serving Stumptown coffee, omelets, pastries and other light fare for breakfast and lunch, reported sflist.com. But Crenn hopes to attract an evening crowd as well, with a five-course prix-fixe $72 seafood dinner featuring Breton specialties. The meal will be served in two seatings—one at 6 p.m. and another at 8:30 p.m.—putting a more formal spin on the casualization trend.

Crenn is following in the footsteps of such renowned chefs as David Chang, Jose Andres, Donald Link, Bobby Flay and Bradley Ogden in stepped outside fine dining to open fast-casual and cafe concepts. 

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

Restaurant franchisors should put the brakes on share buybacks

The Bottom Line: Publicly traded companies often spend their extra cash to buy back shares. But franchisors of struggling chains might be better off investing that cash in the restaurants.

Financing

Key takeaways from the recent round of restaurant company earnings

The Bottom Line: Full-service restaurant chains are winning, slightly, in a weak overall market. Brands are rethinking unit count, focusing on service and pushing a lot of value.

Emerging Brands

Gavin Kaysen's restaurant group is preparing to double in size in four weeks

A godfather of the Minneapolis dining scene, Kaysen says his restaurants are busier than ever. Consumers may be pulling back, but they're still looking for an experience.

Trending

More from our partners