During the COVID-19 pandemic, Carpaccio added an outdoor dining area in Ryan’s Alley. Courtesy Sandra Ferer.
Ristorante Carpaccio closed after over 36 years in Menlo Park due to what the owner claims is an “impossible” challenge created by the Menlo Park City Council: the loss of outdoor dining.
Carpaccio, which has won The Almanac’s Readers’ Choice Italian Restaurant every year since it opened in 1988, was the longest-running restaurant in downtown Menlo Park but closed permanently on June 22.
“It (the final night) was a night to remember. At least five customers stood up from their tables and expressed how much your restaurant has meant to their family and friends. Men were shedding tears. It was so important to these customers to stand and speak. The atmosphere was electric,” Carpaccio’s bar manager said, according to Aaron Ferer, the sole owner of Carpaccio.
Within hours of news of the closure circulating, the restaurant was packed. On social media, long-time patrons mourned the community staple.
“Carpaccio was the only act in downtown. It will be so missed. Thanking owners and staff for so many, many wonderful meals and memorable time,” one Nextdoor commenter said. Others called it sad and heartbreaking to lose their “favorite happy place.” Some community members even started a GoFundMe that raised almost $17,000 to be split among 13 long-time employees.
“We did everything we could to keep Carpaccio open. The fact is, to be honest, during COVID we should have abandoned the restaurant. We kept it open because we felt the community needed something, they needed to be able to have that relief. We stayed open even with all the masking… there are many villains here,” Ferer said.
“There’s a standard joke in the restaurant industry: if you have a $5 million bank statement and want to turn it into $1 million, open a restaurant,” Ferer added.
While Ferer has his complaints, he said his customers were the highlight of the business’s three-decade history.
“I don’t want to be whiny and a cry baby and give a list of things that were done. I think we were good stewards of the restaurant, provided a good product at good value to our customers. It was appreciated by them and they treated us well,” Ferer said.
People drink wine at Ristorante Carpaccio in Menlo Park. Courtesy Christina Schmidhofer Photography.
While Aaron Ferer owned the restaurant, his wife, Sandra Ferer (known by Carpaccio regulars as Sandy) managed the restaurant.
“She gave her heart and soul to the restaurant. She also reached out into the community. She didn’t know anybody when she came to California and was only involved there because of me. She was born in Washington and has been in Utah. She was obviously well-loved and liked,” Aaron Ferer said.
Sandra Ferer became the vice president of the board of Peninsula Volunteers Inc., before leaving earlier this year. For the past two years, she did not take a paycheck for managing Carpaccio.
“She’s a real lady. I’m the one that bites,” Aaron Ferer said.
Ryan’s Lane closure
One of the many decisions made by the city council that Ferer claims hurt his business, and the one that caused the eventual decision to shut down the restaurant, is the decision to reopen a portion of Ryan’s Lane where Carpaccio had outdoor dining.
A block of Ryan’s Lane between Carpaccio and Clark’s Oyster Bar was reopened by the city to vehicle traffic. Courtesy city of Menlo Park.
The closure was originally made to allow outdoor dining during the COVID-19 pandemic and the street was left closed while Clark’s Oyster Bar was under construction. Carpaccio needed to close a side street for outdoor dining since it had no parking in front of the restaurant on Crane Street. Other restaurants downtown, like Bistro Vida and Left Bank Brasserie were able to use converted parking spaces for outdoor dining. There is not enough space on the sidewalk by Carpaccio to have outdoor dining on it.
“We would have been the only major restaurant in all of Menlo Park that wouldn’t have outside dining making us totally uncompetitive. As an example, Steve Hilton (a candidate for governor of California) wanted to have a fundraiser on our patio. We had to turn him down. Starting in the spring and through the wonderful ‘Indian summer’, as they call it, people won’t even consider us, they’re going to go where they can sit outside,” Aaron Ferer said in an interview.
City staff claim that even after the closure Carpaccio would be able to get a special event permit to close the street for events or parties. Vice Mayor Betsy Nash, who represents most of downtown, doubts Carpaccio’s claim that the outdoor space is used.
“I regularly travel around Carpaccio and try to make it a point to see how well Carpaccio is using that space: it’s incredibly infrequent. I regularly see bikes stored there. I think I have seen someone there once. They just have not utilized the area when other outdoor dining is used,” she said at the April 29 meeting where the city council decided to reopen the street.
Councilmember Jeff Schmidt agreed.
“This feels very different from the ‘French corridor’ of Santa Cruz (referring to where Santa Cruz Avenue has been closed near several French restaurants) which is always busy at various times,” Schmidt said.
Ferer said leaving the Santa Cruz outdoor dining creates a double standard.
“They took our outdoor dining away for absolutely no reason. Why? Everybody else had it, every other restaurant, we didn’t. For all the restaurants on Santa Cruz Avenue, the city made modifications. Their outdoor dining is all staying so we lose twice that way,” Ferer said.
Nash also said one of the businesses located near Carpaccio claimed the lane closure has caused issues with deliveries and caused a traffic hazard.
Sixteen businesses or vacant spaces border Ryan’s Lane or the perpendicular alley, Escondido Lane. City staff say they conducted an informal survey of nearby businesses: five businesses advocated for the alley reopening while the Discovery Shop, Clark’s and Carpaccio supported the closure. City staff claim the American Cancer Society Discovery Shop prefers the closure because it prevents illegal dumping.
“The outdoor dining space on Ryan’s Lane is not only critical to the success of Carpaccio – it also contributes to the pedestrian-friendly environment we all want for downtown Menlo Park… As Menlo Park faces increasing pressure on parking and vehicle congestion downtown, prioritizing spaces that support foot and bike traffic is a practical and forward-thinking solution. Maintaining this closure reflects a commitment to long-term safety, sustainability, and overall quality of life,” Clark’s management said in an email to the council.
“Carpaccio is a Menlo Park institution and I am really saddened to see that they have closed,” Mayor Drew Combs said in response to the closure and Ferer’s claims. “I am disappointed to hear that they feel the city could have been a better partner. But I would push back on the assertion that a business needs to be granted exclusive use of public right of way for the foreseeable future as the key component to the success or failure of their business.”
Combs, who was absent for the city council’s vote on reopening Ryan’s Lane, supported reopening Santa Cruz Avenue.
“I have been of the opinion that we need to look across downtown to reopen … to the extent it makes sense. In the case of Ryan’s Lane, it is an access point, and a public right of way, so we weren’t talking about a scenario where some portion of it could be utilized for outdoor dining, but whether all of it would be,” Combs said.
Economy also proved difficult
Ferer also cited other economic conditions that led to the restaurant struggling.
For example, he said, a crate of chicken went from costing between $60 and $70 to as high as $240.
“We were facing inflation, loss of sales and everything else and many other choices people could go to. Our customers were loyal as they possibly could be but the dynamics changed,” he said.
“We can’t make up the (loss in sales.) Restaurants that have multiple locations can spread their cost. We can’t do that,” Ferer said.
Ferer said the city council made Menlo Park a difficult business environment to operate.
“They are impossible to deal with. They know what they’ve done. Find out from them, how many of them on the city council actually own and operate a small business? They do not care,” he said.
He did, however, appreciate city staff members including Fran Dehn, the former head of the Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce and interim economic development manager, for working with businesses. Menlo Park launched its effort to find a permanent development manager on July 8 after the city council made downtown a city priority.
This story was updated to clarify the timeline of the city’s effort to find a development manager.
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