King Dough to open by-the-slice eatery in closed Kan-Kan Restaurant space
Two days after the Kan-Kan Cinema and Restaurant announced its Japanese-inspired kitchen would close, co-founder and co-owner Ed Battista told IndyStar on June 18 that Central Indiana pizza mini-chain King Dough would take over the restaurant space with a quick-service counter operation. Battista said the pivot from sit-down fare to by-the-slice pizza is intended to offer a more approachable, affordable dining option for moviegoers and create a more sustainable business model for the Windsor Park neighborhood's hybrid arthouse theater-restaurant.
"We just can't get the volume of people that we need to choose to dine with us," Battista said of the recently closed eatery. "We need to serve the filmgoing community in a way that is the most inclusive to everybody.'
During the renovations, which Battista said should last three to four weeks, the Kan-Kan concession area will remain open, though the restaurant's bar will close (the Kan-Kan Restaurant's social media posts announcing the kitchen overhaul originally said the bar would remain open).
Once the renovations are complete, King Dough will serve pizza slices and salads made in house from a walk-up counter. All three existing King Dough locations, including the nearby full-service restaurant at 452 N. Highland Ave. in the Holy Cross neighborhood, will remain open.
Battista said Kan-Kan Restaurant staffers will receive two weeks' pay in addition to their final paycheck. He hopes to relocate some kitchen and wait staff to Bluebeard and Amelia's, which he co-owns with his father, Tom. Some staffers have been put in contact with King Dough management, though it is unknown how many, if any, will work in the reimagined restaurant space.
Kan-Kan Cinema and Restaurant opened in August 2021 after a more than year-long delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Multi-time James Beard Award nominee and then-Bluebeard executive chef Abbi Merriss filled the same role in Kan-Kan's kitchen, which operates independently from the cinema with which it shares its home at 1258 Windsor Street.
In late 2022 Merriss stepped down to focus on Bluebeard, with chef Michael Conley (previously a cook at the since-closed Rook in Fletcher Place and chef de partie at Kan-Kan) taking her place. Last year, the Kan-Kan Restaurant promoted longtime chef Travis Hitch to lead the kitchen, replacing Conley.
While the ever-changing high-end restaurant found a place in the hearts of many Indy diners and film buffs, the Kan-Kan Restaurant ultimately didn't prove a reliable source of revenue.
"It is definitely heartbreaking because we had a vision for what this could be for our city, and it didn't hit the way we wanted it to," Battista said of the now-closed restaurant. 'I'm still proud of it. I think we did something very special."
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