Sassafras closing Tuesday; fundraiser planned

Sassafras, which calls itself an eclectic food joint, is moving toward hiatus status with the owner striving to keep such down time brief.

Scott Doerr said he’s “looking at anything and everything” and there are lots of properties that might be able to house his restaurant, perhaps even his associated Plan:b microlounge, but they aren’t available until after he must move from his current spot downtown.

He first operated B’Sghetti’s in the building at 318 N. Carson St., which also has an opening on Curry Street. He converted it to Sassafras when an Italian chain restaurant located in Carson City. Plan:b helped keep it an active night spot. But transition looms again, this time to another location.

“We have some good offers on the table,” said Doerr. “We just need a little fine-tuning.”

He said the hiatus after closure at the end of this month is because many of the properties he can consider aren’t available for at least three and, in some cases, six or nine months.

Sassafras and Plan:b must leave the current location at month’s end because the building’s owners, the three principals of Double Eagle Cubed LLC, have leased it to an unidentified restaurant operator. Though reports circulate the new restaurant may open as one offering Basque food, which Doerr has heard, he exhibited little interest in that.

“Nothing’s been confirmed with me, but that’s what I’ve heard, too,” he said. “It’s not important to me to know; I just want an opportunity to compete.”

Doerr said the final day for eclectic food fare at Sassafras is Tuesday and the final performance in the Plan:b microlounge is set Wednesday because he is to be out on Thursday. But that won’t shut things down if you count the SOS fundraising festival planned next month at the Brewery Arts Center. SOS stands for “Save Our Sass.”

Doerr said the Aug. 9 festival, which runs from noon to midnight that second Saturday in August, is being put on by supporters in the community who want to help with transition costs, along with many of the groups that have played Plan:b in the past.

It will be right after the Saturday Farmers Market, he said, and some vendors will transplant to the BAC grounds for the event. He said there would be two stages, the Performance Hall stage and another outdoors, and various attractions for every member of a family.

“It really is a product of hundreds of volunteers who just want to help us,” he said.

As for the eventual move, Doerr said, the goal is to find space as close to the downtown as possible. He said whether there’s a reincarnation of Plan:b along with Sassafras depends on the size and nature of the space for which a deal comes together, but there are at least one or two properties that could handle both.

“We want to be able to succeed,” he said, which he previously said was what was going on at the location he must leave. “I think that this Sassafras/Plan:b concept is a product of listening to what the community wants.”