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After closing one Gallery Pastry restaurant concept in August, owner Alison Keefer closed a second early this week.
Gallery on 16th, the most recent closure, had served brunch on the first floor of the Three 19 condo development at the corner of 16th and New Jersey streets since 2021.
Gallery Bistro & Bar, 110 S. Pennsylvania St., operated across the street from Gainbridge Fieldhouse from 2020 until ceasing operations this summer.
Keefer said both restaurants suffered from a lack of customers on a consistent basis.
“We had a huge influx of business on the weekends,” Keefer said of Gallery on 16th. “That was all of our business, really. … The weekdays were tough.”
In August, Keefer told the IBJ that Gallery Bistro & Bar was susceptible to “constant sales swings.”
The lineup of Gallery Pastry locations is now reduced to a single restaurant, Gallery Pastry Shop at 4573 N. College Ave.
In recent weeks, the company that established its reputation on brunch crepes and mimosas has been a hot topic on the Reddit social media platform.
Keefer said she’s well aware the online discussion has not been positive toward Gallery Pastry.
Former employees have accused Gallery Pastry of not fulfilling its payroll commitments, and some Reddit posts have featured screenshots of violations listed in restaurant inspection reports (which are accessible to the public at the Marion County Public Health Department’s website).
Keefer said up-to-date paychecks have been issued to all Gallery Pastry employees, with no gaps in the company’s 8-year history. Any complaints, Keefer said, originated with employees who exited the company and were unclear on the compensation policy.
“Payroll is every two weeks on Monday,” she said. “If you quit or terminate your employment with no notification or if you are terminated and make zero arrangements with us, the automatic thing is that we mail your check. If your address is not correct on file, the check is going to be sent back to us and we put that in the safe.”
Regarding inspection reports that note a lack of hot water at Gallery Pastry Shop in October, Keefer said a “wire fried on a water heater” and required an emergency plumbing solution. Since then, Gallery Pastry Shop has received a series of $50 fines, Keefer said, for electronic sensors not working on hand-washing sinks in the kitchen.
“We had to order parts for the sensors and it just took some time,” she said.
Keefer said she’s confident the Gallery Pastry Shop, which opened in 2023 in an Art Moderne building that initially was home to a Kroger supermarket in 1932, can successfully move forward from the controversies.
“I really love my team,” said Keefer, who grew up in Fort Wayne and previously worked in admissions at the Chef’s Academy culinary school that was part of bygone Harrison College. “It’s a good mix of some new people we’ve brought in and some people who have been with me for years and years. They all seem to be getting along.”
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Hang in there Alison. Running any small business is difficult, the food service business ~ especially so.
Your concept and food are wonderful.! Hope your have a great holiday season.
Gallery has been overrated and overpriced for a long time. The controversies aren’t surprising, but it isn’t why I don’t patronize the business.
Hopefully the last location fails as well.
If you read anything the former employees are saying you can clearly see why these are rapidly closing. They can’t pay their vendors. They can’t keep food safe. They can’t maintain the buildings. Went once and the food was average at best.