The owners of the Parallel 42 wine bar in downtown Riverside said last week that they will not renew their lease when it expires on May 31. However, bar owner Carl Choate said he is fielding inquiries about the business, and said he may be able to cut a deal that would keep the wine bar operating under new ownership.
“Right now there are a few people interested in continuing Parallel 42 or modifying it,” said Choate, who operated Parallel 42 with his fiancee, Jennifer Beranich. “We’ll see who can take the reins over.”
Parallel 42, which opened in July 2005, closed its doors April 28. While Choate privately circulated the message on the future of the bar via e-mail to patrons, he later posted a sign on the door announcing the business would be closed for the month of May, which prompted more questions about Parallel 42’s future.
Reached last Thursday, Choate said that while the business continued to grow and was successful, the long hours and trouble retaining staff took its toll on he and Beranich.
“The start of this year was the toughest,” Choate said. “We were trying to expand and grow, and business picked up more and more. It got to be too much.”
While Choate operated the wine bar full time, Beranich worked a full-time day job at a research company and at the wine bar on weekends. What made it harder was an inability to keep staff very long.
“That was the biggest challenge,” Choate said.
Parallel 42 did a brisk business, particularly on weekends, when it was often difficult to find a table in the small storefront space in the Tower Apartment Building at 34 East Ave. in the shadow of Riverside’s Centennial Park.
Choate said that he and Beranich are planning on marrying later this summer and will continue to live in Riverside. Choate said he plans on taking a break this summer and do some restaurant consulting work on the side. Before opening Parallel 42, Choate was a restaurant manager for the Lettuce Entertain You chain.
“It was great,” Choate said of the experience of owning his own business. “We met so many good people in Riverside, and it was so hard to leave because we knew so many people would be heartbroken. But we had to take care of ourselves right now. I hope we can take the experience and hopefully use it down the road in Riverside.”
Blue Parrot eyes summer reopening
While the future of Parallel 42 is up in the air, the owner of the Blue Parrot Tearoom and Cafe, which is also located in the Tower building at 31 Forest Ave. said the restaurant could reopen by June.
The Blue Parrot closed for remodeling in March. At the time, owner Joyce Mongello said that she wasn’t ready to announce what would be happening to the restaurant, which is a popular morning coffee/lunch spot in downtown Riverside.
Last week, she said that she is still finalizing plans, but said those plans could be finalized by this week and that the restaurant might be open for business as early as next month.
When it does reopen, the Blue Parrot will serve dinner in addition to breakfast and lunch, Mongello said. The company’s catering business has continued to operate since the cafe closed.
The changes are being made to make the business more commercially viable, according to Mongello.
“We’re adding things to generate more sales,” Mongello said. “We wanted [the business] to grow up a bit, offer more services and take it to the next level.”
The restaurant space, which featured a funky array of furniture and artwork, has been cleared out. No structural changes are being contemplated.
“Nothing major, but definitely different” is how Mongello described the changes to come.
Mongello and her husband, Mario, purchased the Blue Parrot in October 2005. From 1995-2005 it was owned by Paul and Rose Dabrowski.