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To restaurateur David Machado, there’s nothing new about business owners aligning revenue with expenses.

Naturally, they’d rather do it by raising the former rather than lowering the latter.

“In this particular time period, raising revenue is not really possible, so we go to Plan 2 and we lower expenses,” said Machado, a 28-year industry veteran who operates two upper-end restaurants in Southeast Portland and a third at Hotel Modera in downtown Portland.

There’s no disputing that the recession has taken an outsized toll on the dining industry, and the fine- dining end in particular because it depends on business travelers, tourists and special-occasion diners, three customer segments badly hit by the economy. Some local operators are falling by the wayside, but others have found ways to survive, and even to open new restaurants.

Indications of the industry’s difficulties include a National Restaurant Association index measuring restaurant activity that fell below 100 in November 2007, signalling a decline in activity. It has stayed there ever since. Despite modest improvement in December, the measure remains stalled at 2003 levels. Nearly half of all restaurant operators cite the economy as their top concern.

In its annual report on the fine-dining market, Mintel International said “desperate times call for creative measures.”

To win customers, it said operators should use promotions to lure guests, deploy prix-fixe menus and remember that more than 90 percent of fine-dining customers say food quality is the most important factor of the experience.

Not surprising, high-income households are the most likely to frequent fine dining establishments, with 35 percent of households earning $100,000 or more saying they eat out at least once a month.

More surprising is an uptick in demand from households with $50,000 to $75,000 in income, which Mintel said could be due to moderate earners splurging on dinners out in lieu of vacations.

There is, however, little question that times are tough for restaurants and evidence is abundant in the local market.

Every week brings news of a closing. In January, McGrath’s Public Fish House Inc., a 20-unit chain based in Salem, filed for bankruptcy.

McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants Inc., Oregon’s largest publicly traded restaurant chain, is apparently on a modest rebound after losing nearly $70 million in 2008.

The company hasn’t released full-year earnings for 2009, but appeared to be on track for a modest profit based on year-to-date earnings of $1.35 million reported in September.

Machado said he had to cut expenses to keep open his three eateries — Nel Centro, Lauro Kitchen and Vindalho. He couldn’t use lesser ingredients without altering his business model. Negotiating new leases for his three locations was out too.

That left “a double-edged sword called ‘happy hour,’” and staff cuts.

“A host who used to be just a host is now a busser and a host. A manager who was just a manger is now a manager and a host and a busser,” he said.

He also trimmed hours slightly, closing Nel Centro at 10 p.m. on Sundays instead of the former 11 p.m.

While Machado’s restaurants haven’t seen the double-digit declines seen elsewhere in the industry, business is down. Revenue for Lauro Kitchen, 3377 S.E. Division St., was down 4.5 percent in 2009. Vindalho, 2038 S.E. Clinton St., dropped about 7 percent. Nel Centrol, located in downtown’s Hotel Modera, is less than a year old.

Nel Centro isn’t the only eatery to open in a down economy.

On Dec. 1, David Anderson and partners reopened Genoa, 2832 S.E. Belmont St. Genoa, a mainstay of the Portland restaurant scene for nearly four decades, closed in late 2008.