Fine Mess: Five Feet Too Going Six Feet Under : Restaurants: The tony eatery becomes the third to succumb to a recession-driven move to the mainstream by Fashion Island mall. Its doors close for good Saturday night.
Five Feet Too, one of Orange County’s most highly acclaimed restaurants, is closing this weekend after four years at Fashion Island Newport Beach.
It follows into oblivion other tony restaurants, including the Rex and Zeppa, that have shut down at the center since the onset of the recession.
“Five Feet Too just didn’t fit in the image of this mall anymore,” said chef Michael Kang, the restaurant’s owner. “Obviously, there are certain conceptual changes in the management of this mall. They have gone to the extreme.”
When Five Feet Too arrived, it was nestled in a shopping center bent on competing with nearby South Coast Plaza by offering an array of designer shops, jewelry stores and restaurants that served nouveau cuisine to the nouveau riche.
As the economic slump lingered, however, Fashion Island decided to go mainstream. A Circuit City discount TV and appliance store took over half the space vacated when a Buffums department store was shuttered. And the mall started bringing in moderately priced restaurants like Cheesecake Factory and California Pizza Kitchen.
Instead of finding itself in what was supposed to be the fine-dining center of Orange County, Five Feet Too was part of a “whole different mall,” Kang said. Hence, the restaurant has been struggling to find diners who would pay a premium for cuisine that Kang described as “Pacific Rim with Western flair.” The most popular dish, he said, has been catfish with braised citrus sauce.
With an average tab of $34 per diner, the restaurant had become less popular with the younger crowd that is now frequenting Fashion Island. Five Feet Too had generally been breaking even, Kang said, but he did not foresee an upturn and decided to seek an early termination of the lease.
Most of the 40 employees have found other jobs, he said, or will be transferred, either to his catering operation or to Five Feet, his original restaurant in Laguna Beach.
Janice Fuchs, Fashion Island’s general manager, issued a written statement Thursday that read: “While unfortunate for Five Feet Too, the closure does provide Fashion Island an opportunity to expand on its successful restaurant mix.” Fuchs said in her statement that “numerous restaurateurs” are interested in opening at the mall because of the recent addition of Hard Rock Cafe and the Cheesecake Factory.
Kang said he harbors no bitterness toward the mall’s management for making the changes it has found necessary. He said he is negotiating for another site at the center at which he would open a new restaurant more in tune with ‘90s frugality.
Most of Five Feet Too’s regulars are showing up for the final dinner Saturday, Kang said, and it should be quite a night:
“After 10 p.m., we’ll have $1 drinks till we run out or my liability insurance expires, whichever comes first,” he promised.
