Elmquist leaves hall of fame for Chardonnay

Kirk Elmquist left his position as associate executive director of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame to become the general manager at the Chardonnay restaurant, 1620 E. Republic Road.

The restaurant is the major tenant in the 40,000 square-foot French Quarter Plaza and is now owned solely by Bill Jester. He bought out his previous partner, Don Grimes, on May 16. Chardonnay opened for business Oct. 1, 2001.

Elmquist, who left the hall of fame May 17, brings a resume of restaurant work, marketing and public relations experience to his new role. The Ohio native is a 1990 marketing graduate of Liberty University in Lynch-burg, Va.; he began his new job May 20.

"My duties will include overall responsibility for the financial operations of the restaurant," Elmquist said. "It will also include the managing of the staff of the kitchen and the front end," he added.

He will oversee about 80 employees who operate the 8,000 square foot facility, which is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. The general contractor for Chardonnay was Jester's firm, Great Wall Construction, and architect Ben J. Goforth designed it, Jester said. Final construction costs to complete the restaurant were $1.5 million.

Elmquist-Jester relationship

At the hall of fame, Elmquist oversaw the staging of the Buy.com Tour, which has since become the Price Cutter Charity Championship. Jester's firm, Resource Development Inc., has been a sponsor at the hall of fame and of Price Cutter's golf tournament for about a year, Elmquist said. Through these contacts, ties between Elmquist and Jester were forged.

Ultimately, Elmquist was approached by Jester "to spearhead the reinventing of the Chardonnay," Elmquist added.

"Kirk has the type of personality and persona that we were looking for from the very beginning," Jester said. Impressed by Elmquist's organizational and public relations skills, he "felt like it was the right combination for our restaurant," he added.

"They flattered me" with the offer, Elmquist said. "It's hard to turn somebody down like that, I tell you." His decision to change employers is part of a grand design, however.

"There's potential ownership down the road for me and we have future plans to expand this to Kansas City. We've already had some groups talk to us about bringing it up there," he added.

Chardonnay changes

Elmquist said his biggest challenge will be "getting the menu and the service to match the beautiful decor of the restaurant." To do this, he wants strong kitchen staff input on the new menu, which is scheduled for release June 15. Selections such as swordfish, duck salad and tuna plates will be increased, while still including his personal favorite million dollar shrimp. Dinners range from $10 to $28 with $7 to $8 lunch specials.

The Chardonnay is "certified to seat 660 people," Jester said. Spread among its two floors are smoking and non-smoking areas, three private dining sections for 15, 40 and 65 people respectively, an outside balcony and a separate bar holding another 45. Live music is featured on Friday and Saturday nights.

Pausing to consider the bar's liquor cabinet and its soon-to-be-increased inventory of wines, Elmquist added, "Our strength is our martinis."

Jester sees the restaurant's meeting spaces as integral to its long-term viability. "On the south side of Springfield, there just aren't very many private meeting rooms," he said. Another boost the restaurant receives is from its catering business. While allowing for seasonal fluctuations, he anticipated catering revenues would eventually rise to about $10,000 a month.

Holidays have been good to the restaurant so far, Jester said. New Year's Eve's business was strong and "we fed almost 600 people on Mother's Day," he added. The three-day revenue for that weekend "exceeded $30,000 of income." He said since the restaurant opened, it's averaged about $150,000 in revenues per month.

Increasing this momentum is Elmquist's assignment. His plan is "to generate a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for a wonderful dining experience by bringing people in there," he said.

Professional references

While Elmquist's resignation was sudden, his exit is going smoothly, said Jerald Andrews, president and executive director of the hall of fame. There is no rush to fill his vacancy, he added. "We've got a great staff. We had a good staff with Kirk, and we've got a good staff without Kirk."

He said there have already been several inquiries into the position.

Elmquist credits Andrews with the opportunity to develop professionally over the four-plus years he worked for him. His last hall of fame event was the Major League Baseball Forecast Luncheon held at Remington's May 16 for more than 500 people.

Elmquist's new role should be a good match for his talents according to Andrews. The "irony in this whole thing is that I used to work for Bill" Jester in admissions at Southwest Baptist University, Andrews said.