‘Top Chef’ alum Katsuji Tanabe closes Raleigh restaurant High Horse after just months
High Horse, the Raleigh restaurant from celebrity chef and “Top Chef” contestant Katsuji Tanabe, has permanently closed.
Tanabe said in a phone interview with The News & Observer on Wednesday that his business partner pulled the plug on the restaurant after months without revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“High Horse was a profitable restaurant,” Tanabe said. “But sometimes it’s not about cooking or being a good service to the community, you have bosses and partners. My partner didn’t feel like trying to reopen and do it all over again.”
The permanent closing of High Horse was first reported by the Triangle Business Journal.
Three seasons on ‘Top Chef’
High Horse opened in November 2019 in Raleigh’s City Market as one of the Triangle’s highest profile new restaurants last year. Tanabe, a popular and memorable contestant on three seasons of “Top Chef,” moved to Raleigh from Los Angeles last year to open the restaurant.
He said he plans to stay in the area for now, but doesn’t have a specific next project in mind. Tanabe declined to name his business partner, but said they’re from outside the Triangle.
“It was amazing,” Tanabe said of the High Horse opening. “I’ve never felt so welcomed anywhere else I’ve been. ... I expect Raleigh will bounce back better than many other cities. It’s one of the most exciting places to be right now.”
Since the middle of March, restaurants in North Carolina and across the nation have been largely closed in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Many restaurants have tried to pivot to takeout operations, while some have reopened at half-capacity in North Carolina’s Phase Two.
Tanabe said High Horse tried takeout for a couple of weeks, but that ultimately, that’s not what people are looking for from the restaurant. From the beginning, Tanabe said High Horse was there to put on a show, with an open, elevated kitchen looking out on the dining room and cooking with the flames of a live fire.
“We’re selling a social adventure,” Tanabe said. “At High Horse, 40 percent is the food, 60 percent is the experience, the music, the location. We’re a place for fun that gets to serve food.”
Tanabe said High Horse did not apply for Paycheck Protection Program funding or any other aid some small businesses have used to stay afloat.
Restaurant industry changes encouraged
On the other side of the pandemic, Tanabe said he hopes the restaurant industry will emerge as a healthier business for workers. With thousands of restaurant workers laid off as businesses shut down, Tanabe said the industry’s failings were glaring.
“I have employees who were one missed paycheck away from being homeless,” Tanabe said. “That’s scary. It’s our obligation to make sure employees recover financially, physically and most of all mentally. We can’t have people stressing out over where their next meal is coming from.”
Tanabe said restaurants should offer retirement packages, higher wages and health insurance. The balance to that, he said, is customers accepting higher prices on the menu and possibly eating out less.
“Once we’re back to normal, a lot of restaurants will disappear,” Tanabe said. “The few that remain, there can’t be fighting with each other. ... Restaurants need to charge more and return to the special occasion experiences. Maybe people don’t need to go out to eat every day of the week.”
This story was originally published July 8, 2020 at 7:29 PM.
