The restaurant that introduced Richmond to fine French dining, La Petite France, has shut its doors.

"We operated for little more than a year and it never turned a profit," said owner Karol Gajda.

Gajda and his wife, Tamara, bought the iconic eatery at 2108 Maywill St. from Lily Nguyen a year ago. Nguyen, who had formerly owned Indochine, bought the restaurant from its founders, Paul and Marie-Antoinette Elbling a year before that.

The Elblings opened La Petite France in 1971 in what was essentially the parking lot of the flagship Circuit City store -- though at the time, the electronics company was known as Wards. Despite the almost industrial location, the restaurant was a hit.

But in recent years, the restaurant has been a victim of a national trend away from special-occasion restaurants, Gajda said. Gajda, who worked for 12 years as a general manager of several Morton's steakhouses around the country, said Americans are looking now for restaurants that are faster and more casual.

Gajda said he will miss La Petite France.

"It's a wonderful restaurant and it had a great core group of regular customers," he said. -- Daniel Neman