Sunset Grill closes after 24-year run in Nashville

"Out with the old" rings bittersweet today for Randy Rayburn.

After 24 years and a final New Year's Eve throwdown, the dean of Nashville restaurateurs is turning the final key and closing Sunset Grill.

After revenue peaked in 2007, the landmark restaurant never fully regained the swagger that made it a landmark of Hillsboro Village and an iconic see-and-be-seen destination in the 1990s and 2000s.

Rayburn will now focus on his other two properties, Cabana, also in Hillsboro Village, and Midtown Cafe in the wedge between Broadway and West End.

"Both Cabana and Midtown are doing well," Rayburn says, adding that Midtown, which he purchased in 1997 from John Petrocelli, posted a 9 percent increase in revenue this year.

Closing Sunset offers a particularly deep and burning sting for Rayburn, though, and his voice struggled to hold back the emotion when talking about it.

Some of his 30-plus employees have been with him almost the entire run; and today, working to help them find new positions is his primary concern.

New dining chapter

Opening on Nov. 20, 1990, Sunset Grill heralded a new era in eclectic dining, carrying that torch forward from neighbor Jody Faison and his self-titled restaurant, Faison's. Sunset was different though, looking to the West Coast for a cuisine that touted fresh local ingredients in an unfussy, American bistro style.

The interior, too, reflected that sense of newness and optimism, with simple muted tones punctuated by the bold color and staccato lines of paintings by renowned local artist Paul Harmon.

The outdoor patio, which was later enclosed, became the place to wile away warm spring and fall days. In close proximity to Music Row, it pulled in earnest wannabes listening to tired but thirsty songsmiths while slick, top-button power players cut lopsided deals.

It was the power of Rayburn's personality that brought people in. His keen sense of talent attracted a tremendous list of chefs, including James Beard nominees Will Greenwood and Michael Tuohy. They were followed by Chris Cunningham, who cut his teeth in the fire of local kitchen doyenne Deb Paquette, of Cakewalk, Zola and Etch fame. Brian Uhl, chef de cuisine at the legendary Wild Boar — Nashville's last gasp at five-star continental dining — cooked at Sunset from 2000 until Cabana opened in fall 2005, where he remains today. Uhl was also the first local chef to cook at the James Beard House.

By Rayburn's own admission, though, the Sunset Grill concept had seen its day, and declining revenues spelled the end two years ago. Still he held on, and making it until the end of this year was his final goal, despite revenue that was less than half of what is was in 2007.



The only other option was a complete re-tooling of the space and joining the current trend of attracting a new high-profile chef, something Rayburn was not willing to fund. Sunset Grill is also not the only place to close in Hillsboro Village, which may have lost some of its luster to other nearby clusters like 12South and the Gulch. It joins Boscos and now Boca Loca Cantina, which made a brief run in the old Faison's space.

"I was thinking about the closing of F. Scott's and looking at all the new places and I think it is a changing of the guard," says Rayburn. "It's great for the new chefs, like Margot (McCormack), Tandy (Wilson) and Hal (Holden-Bache), but it's tough on the others, like Deb, Willy (Thomas) and me, who are not the focal point of the PR machines."

Rayburn, pauses and then remembers something, hinting at the larger issue of whether we have the critical mass of diners to support the waxing bubble of fine dining in Nashville.

"You know Mario (Ferrari) said something a while ago that stuck with me. 'The pie doesn't get larger very fast. It only gets sliced thinner.'"

For lease or sales information regarding the property, contact Robbins Properties at (615) 301-6571.

Reach Jim Myers at 615-259-8367 and on Twitter @ReadJimMyers.