Steve Thurston (2020)
Ed “Buddy” Foy, Jr., has halted all plans to expand his restaurant, Chateau on the Lake, beyond its Bolton Landing location, instead moving his operation to Anna Maria Island in Florida, near the mouth of Tampa Bay. He plans to keep the popular, upscale restaurant, on the lakeshore near the center of the village, open from Memorial Day to Columbus Day, he said.
Foy Jr. had been working with project developers on several new restaurant locations in Saratoga Springs, Clifton Park and Albany, he said in a recent interview. When Gov. Andrew Cuomo mandated that restaurants close at 10 p.m. last November, Foy Jr. halted all plans for a New York expansion.
“I’m not going to go deeper into a state that continues to impede us from operating,” he said.
Foy Jr. and his extended family--owners of the Chateau and Cate’s Italian Garden in Bolton Landing, and the Diamond Point Grille in Diamond Point--were the subject of last summer’s Food Network reality television series “Summer Rush.” Foy Jr. owns the Chateau while his parents own Cate’s, and one brother, Jesse, and sister-in-law own the Grille.
“Chateau’s shift to Florida is certainly unique,” said Melissa Fleischut, president and CEO of the New York State Restaurant Association, adding that she had not seen relocation as a common trend among restaurants in the state.
“With a physical location and regular local customers, it’s pretty hard to move an entire restaurant,” she said. “The restrictions and regulations in Florida are completely different than they are in New York. The restaurant industries are being treated completely differently between the two states.”
For years, Foy Jr. had wintered in Florida with his extended family, he said. While he and his brother, Keith, toyed with the idea of opening a restaurant there, they refrained from doing so to avoid turning their vacation spot into a workplace.
Then Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis named every business “essential.” The statement resonated with Foy Jr. When Cuomo mandated a 10 p.m. curfew, Foy Jr. called Keith.
Within 90 days, Foy, his wife and his brother looked at four locations in Sarasota and Anna Maria Island, chose a site, refurbished it and began serving customers.
The Chateau Anna Maria is located in the Waterline Marina Resort & Beach Club on Anna Maria Island, and has been sold out every night with the exception of three evenings, Foy Jr. said.
Although he said in the interview that he takes the coronavirus seriously, he felt the regulations from Gov. Cuomo’s office were too burdensome.
Discussions with economic development leaders in Florida centered around a theme, Foy Jr. said: “‘We will not shut businesses down.’ Because of that pro-business attitude, we decided Florida is where we will expand.”
Foy took most of his staff with him to Florida, leaving a skeleton crew in Bolton Landing to take care of Chateau’s at-home grocery and meal kit orders.
The plans Foy Jr. had to expand in New York have also been transplanted to Florida. He plans to open four new locations over the next 12 months.