"Good
food, like a good marriage, is in the mind of the participant. Even the best critic’s opinion is subjective.
The public is never wrong."
Valerie
Hart
The only pastime more enjoyable than eating is talking
about it. When you have mistakenly invited people to your table who do not
share common interests and the silence is deafening, it is time to open conversation
about an experience you had at a restaurant or ask if anyone has tried the
newest just reviewed and then sit back and enjoy the group come alive.
During the years I was editor for the Zagat Restaurant
Survey, all that was needed was one sentence in the newspaper: “Would you like
to be a restaurant critic? Send a self-addressed stamped envelope to receive a
questionnaire”. Ten thousand envelopes were delivered to my address the next
week.
The restaurant business is the best and worst enterprise
one can enter into. Independently owned restaurants in Lake County have become
akin to the game of Musical Chairs played at a child’s birthday party. New
owners and chefs come and go like summer mosquitoes. The new owner generally
changes the name, which is a good thing unless the restaurant is a landmark
that has an image and following. Problems occur when new owner neglects to
change the concept or menu and the cuisine that failed the old eatery doesn’t
change. The kiss of death is a sign that reads, “Under new management”. Few
people are fooled by this attempt to draw customers.
Then there are the “landmarks” - restaurants that just
keep rolling along, not by reputation alone, but with good food properly
prepared and friendly service.
Former
Hall of Fame NY Yankees baseball star, Yogi Berra, was known for his quips. One
of the most notable was his response when asked about the popular restaurant,
Ruggeri’s, in St. Louis: "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded”.
We
automatically suppose that a crowded restaurant has good food and good service.
The more crowded it is, the more popular it becomes. When the parking area of a
breakfast place is consistently packed with trucks and pick-ups, we know the
food is abundant as well as good. A hungry truck driver is not going to eat a
frilly, flimsy breakfast. Bring on the grits and hash browns and sausage gravy!
It’s included in the price.
Everyone loves a “grand opening”. We like to
“see and be seen” at the “new kid on the block”. Everything seems bound for
success. One month later, you drive by the parking lot to see only a handful of
cars. You go inside anyway and find that the lovely selection from your last
visit is overcooked with a different sauce and flavor, and the house wine has
changed from pleasant to unpalatable. You know immediately that the featured
chef is gone and the beverage company has cut their credit. Oops! And, then,
the Dominos begin to topple. The worse it gets, the worse it gets, until you
see the windows darkened and the sign, “For Lease”. One of the worst mistakes
of a novice restaurateur is falling into the hands of a savvy PR firm that
convinces him to ‘blow the budget’ on first night ‘very important people’ and
press. He gains nothing but a very expensive lesson.
A good review of an older establishment also
brings immediate response from the public, as does my TV show, Back of the House. We go with the flow
of those in the know.
So,
why do restaurants that seem so promising fail?
There
are several reasons why independently owned (Mama-Papa) restaurants fail. Let’s
begin with number one: Consistency. Recipes must be standardized. The housewife
chef who gained applause for the cuisine she served her guests will generally
fail when people receive a bill for an entrée listed under the same heading
with a different preparation and proportion from the one served to the diner the
previous visit.
Location,
Location, Location! Restaurants seem to flourish best in clusters within
walking distance to the main streets or in shopping centers. There are, of
course, many destination places, but the restaurant has to be worthy of the
drive.
Tantamount to failure is the independent
owner who cannot cook and must rely on his chef. When the chef, servers, and
dishwashers fail to show, the owner must be able to do it all or close his
doors. An astute restaurateur never features his chef, unless it happens to be
Emeril or Bobby Flay because, when the chef leaves, the restaurant diminishes
in stature.
Number
three, in equal stature is the wait staff. A surly or non-attentive server
ruins any dining experience, no matter how good the food. The only exception
was the original Palm Restaurant, a pricey steak house in New York City where
the waiters were ruder than the customers. Lofty New Yorkers embraced their nemesis with good humor, making it their favorite restaurant for the show that went along with their over-sized prime steaks.
The
restaurant owner must be fully cognizant of food and beverage costs and profit
margin to stay ahead of his creditors. The good restaurateur, like any other
astute person with a business, understands the basics of stock market trading,
“Bears and Bulls make money; Pigs do not”. A restaurant will make money with a
food mark-up of around 35 percent. This
might seem initially high to the consumer until one remembers that food is only
a part of the expense. Rent and taxes, preparation, servers, dishwashers, water
and electric, sanitizing the kitchen and bathrooms, and a score of unforeseen
expenses all must be covered with profit in mind. Wine is the one price point known
to the consumer. When a recognizable chardonnay or merlot can be purchased for
$9.00 a bottle at a retail store and the price in the restaurant is $45.00,
there is an instant reaction of distrust for everything else on the menu. A
good restaurateur may safely double or triple the cost, but must be aware that
his customers are better informed than he might suppose.
Another
fact I learned as editor for the Zagat Florida Surveys: For every good experience a
diner has in a restaurant, the establishment gains three customers. However,
for every bad experience, the restaurant loses ten customers. The experience is
not only contingent upon the factors listed above but the mood of the customer
himself. A young couple in love will rate any restaurant much higher than a
married couple in the throes of a battle.
Brillat-Savarin,
the 15th century French gourmet, wrote, “Success as a restaurateur
comes to those who possess sincerity, order, and skill”. Perhaps Endurance and
Endless Dedication should be added to a business that is only as good as its
last meal.
Tune in Comcast channel 22 & BrightHouse 199 to watch host, Valerie Hart, interview chefs in their kitchens "The Back of the House", or watch it live on your computer at www.lakefronttv.com. Follow her food page on Wednesdays in The Daily Commercial.
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