The widespread closings announced this week by family-dining chains underscore the transformation that’s underway in that venerable segment of the restaurant business.

Old-guard brands are hacking off the dead wood of their systems in hopes of clearing the way for fresh growth. They’re striving to recapture the momentum that kept them kings of the sector for decades. The greybeards are painfully aware of the challenge for market dominance that’s coming from a pack of bright, fresh upstarts that serve only breakfast, lunch and brunch.

The rise of those daytime dining concepts seems recent. But as this week’s episode of Restaurant Rewind reports, the notion of a restaurant ending its business day mid-afternoon has been with us at least since the 1970s and possibly from the '60s. The pioneer is still in operation today, with about four dozen restaurants open, yet few in the business are familiar with Le Peep or the historical role it played.  

Nor do they likely remember the character who briefly made the brand one of the industry’s hottest concepts. 

Press play to learn about Le Peep’s 14 minutes of fame and the man who turned the spotlight on it, Allen Bernstein.