No resting for restaurateur

If conventional wisdom says recessions are the mortal enemy of restaurants, pardon Paul Sundy for not listening.

The fact that other businesses are bracing for the worst in 2009 has only emboldened the 30-year-old Springfield entrepreneur, whose restaurant know-how is the driving factor behind Big Whiskey's Bar & Grill, Parlor 88 and Fedora Social House. Sundy, who's confident his various business "modules" can withstand the economic doldrums, is setting his sights on growth in the new year.

"If you stay consistent on what you are and care about your food product, you can weather the storm," he said.

Sundy's plans for 2009 include a second Big Whiskey's on Springfield's south side and a second Parlor 88 on the city's east side, possibly in the vicinity of the Sam's Club on Sunshine Street. Sundy said he would like to open the new Big Whiskey's in April, but he and partners Michael Heslin and Randy Gildehaus are still vetting real estate.

Big Whiskey's opened in July 2006 at 311 Park Central East and has fared well, Sundy said, noting that 2008 revenue was up 25 percent compared to 2007 without disclosing specific figures.

The original Parlor 88, a stylish lounge offering appetizers and cocktails, debuted in Gallery Eleven shopping center, 1111 E. Republic Road, in August 2007. Sundy's partner in Parlor 88 is Jay Hickman, owner of downtown's Ernie Biggs Chicago Style Dueling Piano Bar.

Sundy also recently shed his ownership in his first entrepreneurial endeavor: downtown Springfield's Icon Nightclub. He and Heslin sold their combined share of Icon, 307 Park Central East, to partner Gildehaus, who is now the club's sole owner.

"When we did Icon, we put everything on the line," Sundy recalled. "We mortgaged our houses. We sold our cars. We maxed out our credit cards."

Sundy said he's moving away from the nightclub business these days, even though he was approached by Coester's owner Mark Coe about buying Jordan Creek, which shut down in November. Sundy took a pass on Coe's offer.

Sundy successfully took the Big Whiskey's brand across state lines in late 2008 with a new location in Little Rock, Ark., in the city's downtown River Market District. Sundy partnered with Daniel Bryant - who co-owns Ernie Biggs with Hickman - and Brett Smith in Little Rock to open the restaurant-bar hybrid that Sundy hopes will someday be as successful as the T.G.I. Friday's franchise.

The Arkansas Big Whiskey's features the same menu items and drinks conjured up by Sundy for his flagship Springfield location.

Bryant said Big Whiskey's in Little Rock was a perfect fit for a spot that has played host to several upscale eateries, all of which have failed. Affordable lunch offerings appeal to daytime crowds, and at night, patrons belly up to the bar, he said.

"I wasn't really trying to reinvent the wheel, and so far, so good," Bryant said. "I do feel like we've filled a niche."

Sundy, in turn, is assisting Bryant in an effort to bring a tried-and-true Little Rock franchise to Springfield. If the duo is successful, Ozarkers may soon have a new barbecue joint that's won awards at the Memphis-in-May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.

Bryant said he's been in talks with Little Rock-based Whole Hog Café for months about opening new locations in Springfield after initially looking at Tulsa, Okla. Whole Hog already has restaurants in Arkansas, Tennessee, New Mexico and Louisiana, according to www.wholehogcafe.com.

"The product sells itself," Sundy said of Whole Hog's eats. "These ribs are better than our ribs at Big Whiskey's and that's tough for me to say."

Bryant declined to reveal potential Whole Hog locations in Springfield, but he said the first restaurant - if it comes to fruition - would be part of a larger strategy to open additional locations here. Sundy, with his restaurateur background, would serve as the on-site owner for Whole Hog's operations in Springfield, Bryant said, noting that nothing has been agreed to in writing.

Sundy is itching to make the Whole Hog deal happen, and he said he has no doubt the restaurant would thrive in Springfield. Current economic conditions only up the ante.

"The restaurant business is a very risky game, and it's not for the faint of heart or stomach," said Sundy, who was runner up to Shawn Askinosie of Askinosie Chocolate for Entrepreneur of the Year in Springfield Business Journal's 2008 Economic Impact Awards. "It's about sacrifice; talk to my wife."

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