West Vancouver has pulled the plug on regular restaurant service at the Gleneagles Golf Club.
The AppleBack Grill, which had been run by Peake of Catering at the district-owned clubhouse since May 2015, will cease operations on Sept. 30, citing “a challenging business environment and lack of patronage.”
“It’s just not a workable business model,” said Rachael Des Lauriers, Peake of Catering’s manager of business development. “The local community is really keen to have a full-service restaurant there. I would just say that the traffic isn’t enough to sustain a full-service restaurant having a chef and a prep person and dishwasher and a server and a bartender and a manager, and then the building fees on top of that are pretty substantial.”
The facility will remain available for rentals and golfers will still be able to buy simple snacks from the pro shop.
The grill started running seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Those hours were reduced over time in an effort to find financial sustainability but even during the “busy” summer months, Des Lauriers said the restaurant only managed to break even twice – “if that.”
Prior to the AppleBack Grill, the facility was home to Larson Station, which was evicted by the district in November 2014 when the owner and district staff, facing the same problems, couldn’t agree on reduced hours. That led to a lawsuit from the former owners, which has not yet gone before a judge.
“We’re still in the process of trying to resolve it, which I think is in the interest of all parties to do so, but if we don’t resolve it, I expect it to go before the courts,” said John Whyte, lawyer for Enzo Taffara and Sea View Restaurants.
District of West Vancouver spokesman Jeff McDonald would not comment on why one relationship would end so amicably while another would end in legal proceedings, as the matter was still before the courts. What he did say was that Sea View Restaurants and Peake of Catering had different operating agreements they’d signed on to.
“We aren’t able to comment on the business success of a private operator. That’s not something we can do. I think it’s fair to say a number of operators have tried to make a go of that space by providing a full-service restaurant and they haven’t been successful for a variety of factors that are probably more to do than anything with the location,” he said. “That’s not something we can change.”
Des Lauriers said that on paper it looked as though her company could make a go of it. “From what information we had, it made sense. I do feel like we did do due diligence and created positive partnerships. I don’t know what could have been done differently.”
AppleBack did have some treasured regulars who had unpretentious tastes, Des Lauriers added.
“I’ve got to say the West Van crowd is a no-smoke, no-phone crowd. They like themselves a burger and a cobb salad,” she said.“It felt like I was in an episode of The Beachcombers sometimes ... .I love them all and it’s heartbreaking that we’re not going to be there anymore.”
As for what will happen with the space, the district will soon be consulting residents on what a more feasible use may be. “Staff are meeting next week to talk about what that might look like,” McDonald said.
