Steven Rivelis found himself in an odd position the other day. He was sitting outside The Elephant, the restaurant he co-owns at 924 N. Charles St., having a drink when a woman approached him to offer her condolences for their closure.
When he informed her The Elephant is actually still very much open, pointing to an “OPEN” sign on the door nearby and diners inside, she said he was wrong. She had read the coverage of the Mount Vernon eatery’s impending demise and was certain they had shut down, despite what he was telling her. (“There are people eating dinner in the window, you can see that,” he says he protested.)
It’s somewhat understandable why she was confused. The Elephant has been fighting to stay alive, at least publicly, since January, when its operator announced the building—not the restaurant, which would remain open—was for sale.
Things soured in March. Rivelis and co-owners Linda Brown Rivelis (his wife) and Mallory Staley delivered the news that they’d have to shut down after failing to secure a loan to pay back investors, one of whom sued them in federal court seeking repayment. That individual, James Hickman of Fairfax County, Virginia, was seeking $900,000, which he said was his original investment.
Days later, they said they were raising money to fight back and try to pay up, and would resume service four days a week at the behest of customers. And in a celebrated turn of events, on May 1, the same day their property was due to be auctioned off, they revealed the auction was cancelled and they’d keep running their restaurant after all, after declaring bankruptcy. (A judge stayed any future court proceedings pending the outcome of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed by Rivelis’ firm VSOP LLC, which owns the property, federal court records show.)
Asked today about any lingering risk for closure or losing their property, Rivelis said, “From everything our legal team is telling us, that will be halted permanently.”
But despite that, he fears only the bad news from the spring has stuck with locals. “People spread the word that we closed significantly more than the word that we are now open again.”
Since announcing that latter fact, the Rivelises and Staley have kept things buzzing in their eatery, housed in a historic mid-19th century rowhouse they spent millions restoring.
The Elephant is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, with service starting at 5 p.m. and the last seating at 10 p.m. each night. It has specials and events each day, with tacos and tequila on Tuesdays, beer and burgers on Wednesdays, free live jazz on Thursdays, table-side magicians on Fridays and DJ sets on Saturdays.
The operators are exploring the potential for other special events this month, including bringing guest chefs to do pop-up service in their restaurant.
At this point, Rivelis says, “just getting that word back out and having people pay attention to us again is part of our greatest challenge.”
He maintained that with an ongoing bankruptcy case and limited cash, they can’t fund a big ad campaign to let the world know. So, they’re trying to fight word-of-mouth about the closure with word-of-mouth that they’re very much alive.
“We’re just hoping that folks will hear this.”
An earlier version of this story said VSOP LLC filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy when it was actually Chapter 11 bankruptcy. We regret the error.
