Elle Wine Bistro closed its doors today, a little more than a year after the restaurant, previously called Elle Wine Country Restaurant, moved from historic Broadway Village to Campbell Plaza.
“It took me too long and too much money to get opened in the new location. I’ve been behind the eight-ball since the inception” of the bistro version, owner and chef Jeff Fuld said today.
The move was necessary because “the way the economy was going, we needed something smaller, with a much smaller check average, to fill it consistently,” he said.
But it took three months rather than the planned five or six weeks to move, due in part to some construction and permitting delays, but also simply because moves usually do take longer and cost more than you expect, Fuld explained.
About 20 people lost their jobs with the closure, he said.
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“I feel horrible. I’m trying to make it right to the staff and the vendors. I’m behind to the world,” he said. “I put my entire life savings into this. This is my heart and soul and dream. It’s so disappointing. ... I apologize to my regulars and supporters and wish everyone well.”
Elle opened at Broadway Village, at Broadway and Country Club, in 1999, and Fuld bought it in 2005, and later moved to Campbell Plaza at North Campbell Avenue and East Glenn. He previously owned Daniel’s restaurant here.
Read more of this story Saturday in the Arizona Daily Star and on StarNet.
