Bon Vivant, seen Friday morning at the corner of Ash and Lisbon streets in downtown Lewiston, has closed. The number of patrons, a downturn in the hospitality industry and the mass shooting in Lewiston in 2023 were cited as factors in the decision. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — Just 17 months after opening its doors to much fanfare and hope, bon Vivant — Lewiston’s latest attempt at upscale dining — has suddenly closed. It was last open on New Year’s Eve.

A short post appeared on the restaurant’s website late Thursday announcing the closure.

“Bon Vivant is permanently closed. Thank you for your support and patronage.” The message directs visitors to Sonder & Dram, a neighborhood bar underneath bon Vivant that is owned by the same people.

Peter Flanders is one of the principals of bon Vivant and Sonder & Dram. He said Friday that he and his partners — Rick Roy, Jon Mercier and executive chef Michael Gosselin — made the very difficult decision to close because the volume of patrons coming through the door just was not there.

Flanders said it was a combination of factors leading them to make their decision to close, starting with a prolonged downturn in the hospitality industry, but the biggest factor affecting the restaurant’s performance was the Oct. 25, 2023, shootings in Lewiston.

“The reality is, our timing was … like we opened and then there was a mass shooting.”

Shanna Cox, president and CEO of the Lewiston-Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, said the impact of the shootings on area hospitality was dramatic.

“We saw businesses in hospitality down 60% year-over-year six months out from Oct. 25,” she said. Even now, they are still down 10% from where they were before the shootings and after surviving the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.

Flanders pointed to Portland’s loss of about a dozen restaurants in 2024 as an example of how difficult the restaurant business is today.

About 10 employees lost their jobs at bon Vivant with the closing.

Opening at 133 Lisbon St., bon Vivant was planned before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, but Flanders previously said those plans were put on hold until they felt Sonder & Dram was stable, after surviving the pandemic.

Flanders and Gosselin described the restaurant as New American cuisine, focused on a New England style, using Maine grown and raised products.

Gosselin is the former chef at what was one of downtown Lewiston’s most successful fine dining establishments, Fuel, at 49 Lisbon St. from 2007-18. It was hoped they could duplicate the restaurant’s popularity, but times have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic for the entire hospitality industry.

For now, Flanders said they will reassess in the coming months what to do moving forward, but Sonder & Dram’s business has picked up in the wake of the shootings to the point of being overfilled at times. He said they will see whether they can repurpose the space, bar and kitchen in bon Vivant to possibly augment Sonder & Dram, but emphasized no decisions have been made.

“We took a chance on what we did and that didn’t work,” Flanders said. “But you know, even we thought what we were doing was crazy. It was crazy. And maybe if the market was different, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Side By Each Brewing in Auburn closed its doors New Year’s Eve as well.

Bon Vivant, seen Friday morning at the corner of Ash and Lisbon streets in downtown Lewiston, announced Thursday that the restaurant has closed. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal