Lane Cardwell

Tuscany in a Lifestyle Center

It is getting harder and harder to make an impact in the chain Italian restaurant segment.  From the early 80's, where chain Italian was almost non-existent until Olive Garden exploded on the scene, until now; the public has been there and done that. Romano's Macaroni Grill, Carrabba's, Bertucci's, Carino's, and others have made chain Italian available across most larger cities in the country. Why do I keep referring to it as chain Italian? For one thing, there have always been large numbers of independent Italian restaurants around the country. Mom and pop eateries, mid-priced casual, and high-end Italian fine dining have been a part of the restaurant scene for as long as most of us can remember. They are part of the landscape of our cities.
 
But chain Italian is a different animal altogether. Most chain Italian restaurants either try to hedge their bets by making the food affordable and approachable, or making the building affordable and efficient, or both. There have not been many examples of Italian concepts, with growth plans, trying to impress the public with both food and building. A concept worthy of note is Brio Tuscan Grille.
 
I have noticed that as you work your way up the price ladder in the Italian category, many concepts go from less region specific, to more region specific. You start with Italian, or maybe Southern Italian. To signal that a concept is more upscale, many operators designate their concept as Northern Italian. After that, concepts started specifying regions of Italy. For example, Il Mulino of Greenwich Village represents the Abruzzo region. In New York you can find examples of the regions of Sardinia, Veneto, Campania, and others.
 
Tuscany has been a popular region for Italian food for quite a long time now. When Olive Garden wanted to signal a new culinary emphasis on their food, they opened a culinary center in Tuscany. People wanting to experience the Italian lifestyle will often pick Tuscany as the region that they visit for an extended period of time. The regional capital of Tuscany is Florence, which is both an art and culinary Mecca.
 
But back to Brio. Rick and Chris Doody, of BDI Development, opened the first Brio Tuscan Grille in Columbus in 1999. They had been opening locations of their other Italian concept, Bravo, since 1992, but needed a more upscale concept for the new Easton Town Center.  Brio, meaning "lively" in Italian, was the result. It is the best definition of "polished casual" that I have seen. It recreates the feeling of a Tuscan villa with a light and airy atmosphere. Venetian plaster, marble countertops, light colored walls, white flowing drapes throughout the restaurant, and lots of light fixtures create a festive, inviting mood. The concept has evolved to make greater use of outdoor spaces with soft seating that make mingling, and visiting with friends, an integral part of the experience.
 
Brio has 29 restaurants in 15 states. I recently visited two of their newest locations in Las Vegas and Allen, TX (a Dallas suburb). They have managed to continue to build them grander and more spectacular than the earlier locations, a difficult achievement in these days of escalating investment costs. The menu does a good representation of Tuscan foods by being more heavily weighted on steaks, chops and seafood than many other concepts. The bar is an important element, contributing 22% of sales. With a $16 dollar lunch check and a $30 dinner check, Brio is certainly targeting a more affluent customer. Their $6 million unit averages attest to their success in hitting this target.
 
Brio has expanded into lifestyle centers around the country.  For those of you who have heard the term, but keep waiting for a definition, a lifestyle center is an open air mall, kind of a Disney-designed little village. They are boutique-like and seldom have a large anchor store. They encourage walking around the streets, and spending time on activities other than shopping. Brio was designed for this type of center, and pretty much has exclusively located within them.
 
With the battering that the dollar has taken against the Euro, and the rising prices of international airfares, let me recommend an evening in Brio Tuscan Grille, rather than a week in a Tuscan villa. It's not the same, but it's better than another meal in a restaurant from the Corporate region of Italy.
 

Posted by Lane Cardwell on June 11, 2008 | Comments (6)