NYC Visit, Part IV
Lessons Learned- Slow is fast, fast is slow. This is the mantra of the Navy SEALS. What it means is that when the shit hits the fan, don't panic, don't try to do things too quickly ... when you do, you'll end up in a situation where you're likely to make more mistakes. Instead take a deep breath and just go at a slower pace. It doesn't mean that you shouldn't work without a sense of urgency ... you should, but don't let speed become the number one issue. Do the job right first.
- The industry is still about the industry. At the trade show, I saw way too many things involving prepackaged, convenience goods or the latest machine or the latest in food science. Very little of the show was actually devoted to seasonal, locally sourced sustainable foods. It was kind of sad.
- You need to staff at adequate levels. I can be perfectly happy at a restaurant just sitting at the bar, watching the employees do their work. You learn a lot. For example, at Lucille's, I saw a bar that was poorly laid out and the bartender had no barback -- on a Friday night. He was slammed the entire night, doing his best to get drinks out, but he was working fast, not working slow, and in the end it showed. He broke a glass, he didn't wipe down the bar, etc. I felt bad for him because he needed help and I wanted to jump back there and help him, but I couldn't. The worst thing is that the manager would come by to talk to him while he was slammed and didn't even bother to help out. In this business you either need to staff at adequate levels or, if there's a job to do, just fucking do it, no questions asked.
- Traveling as an industry insider. I love it. We take care of our own. Whether it's great deal on the bottle of wine, free drinks, free apps, free dessert, it's nice to be comped and to feel special. Of course, pay on credit, tip in cash, and leave everyone feeling happy. I love our little community.
- Whipped creme fraiche beats the pants off of whipped cream any day of the week.
- Excellence vs Hospitality. You need both to be successful. Excellence is being met at the door as soon as you enter, having your coat taken, being taken to your table immediately, etc. Hospitality is being greeted enthusiastically, having your real wants and needs taken care of. However, you can have one with out the other (waiting 3 minutes to be greeted at the door, but having a warm greeting when it finally happens is hospitality without excellence, for example) but you need both to be successful. You need to have absolute standards, written down, so that each day when you start the day everyone knows what their responsibilities are, they are documented, and they are signed off by the manager so you have an audit trail. It's simply a matter of setting your standards of excellence and hospitality and then making sure your employees are meeting those standards.
- Read the room. When I walk into a place now, I'm always checking out how it's designed. Does it feel right, is it adequately lit, how is the color scheme, how is the lighting, are the fixtures and art appropriate, does the furniture and tablewear work, are the linens good, are the dishes cracked, etc. I'm also looking at the layout, seeing where the traffic flow is congested and thinking about how to redesign the space to make it more manageable and how I would work around the limits of the space. It's good practice.
- Bartenders. A bartender is the heart and soul of the social life of a restaurant. Seated customers interact with servers a bit, but mostly with each other. Bartenders can create awesome drinks, create a following ... get a great bartender that is excited about making cocktails the right way and your restaurant can only prosper.
On a more personal note
What does all of this mean to me? I learned a lot from my visit to NYC. One of the things that I realized was that the only places I felt comfortable at while I was in NYC was in restaurants. I really didn't like the idea of living in the city. I love Seattle because it's different ... it's got little neighborhoods, each with their own appeal and they feel like small neighborhoods with green spaces, wide streets ... NYC is the epitome of urbanization in the USA and I feel like I'd like to be able to fool myself into thinking that I live in a small town at times. I can do that in Seattle.
Honestly, you can get good food anywhere and your mouth is just as happy with a $10 pizza as a $150 meal. Good food is good food and I see a lot of potential in Seattle, especially with the region's lead in getting people to buy local, buy sustainable. There is a real chance in this region to be the model for sustainable agriculture, where it's not just the restaurants that lead the way, but the community as a whole.
Of course, all of this means that there are very few places now that I would want to work at here in Seattle. In fact, I think there's only one - Tom Douglas' restaurants. He has a proven track record of delivering hospitality and investing in his community. I really love that and of all of the people who embody being good business people and being good restauranteurs in this town, Tom Douglas is that man. The next stop is probably a front of the house job at one of his properties. Next goal? GM of one of his properties.
Read this book
The celebrity chef phenomenon tends to elevate cooks into gods. I don't like it because, honestly, rarely, if ever, will you eat a perfect dish (I think food is just as much about the company you keep, the conversations you're having, and how drunk you are, as much as the restaurant, the staff and the food). I think that restaurants that build communities do much better than places that are one note, that are a cult of personality. However, these gods are actually mortals, and one book, Don't Try This At Home : Culinary Catastrophes from the World's Greatest Chefs, does a good job of describing a chef's mortality. You get 40 short stories by some famous chefs talking about their greatest failures in the kitchen. Get this book. You'll enjoy it. I laughed my ass off.
PS. Stefan, I've tried getting in contact with you but none of the numbers I have work. Drop me an email at martin@lindychef.com
NYC Visit, Part III
Casa Mono
Casa Mono is Mario Batali's Spanish tapas restaurant in the Flatiron area. I remember recently seeing an article somewhere that Spanish cuisine is working its way up to be the new Italian, with Manchengo to be the new Parmesan. To be honest, I personally feel that Spanish food is kind of been played out a little too much in the hype and hasn't delivered enough in actual presence. When was the last time you walked around and saw your authentic friendly neighborhood Spanish tapas bar? Right. Having said that, the food, for the most part, was very good. They had a fantastic grilled baby octopus plate, and three other well executed plates - braised oxtails stuffed into pasella peppers, braised tripe with chickpeas and papas bravas. Unfortunately, although the dishes were pretty good, they all seemed to have very similar flavor profiles with somewhat cumin, somewhat smokey, etc. The one dish I didn't like, a clams and pasta dish was just way too harsh, with that minearly/bitter/astringent flavor that comes from too much white wine.
Stage Left and Catherine Lombardi in New Brunswick, NY
OK, so I go out to New York, the restaurant capital of the world, so why do I go to Jersey of all places for a meal? Simple answer? Mark and Francis of
restaurantguysradio.com. These two restauranteurs also have a radio show on an AM station in central Jersey that also happens to be available in a podcast. Since I found their show a few months ago I downloaded every single episode in their archives and I have just come to love their philosophy of building a community in all aspects of their restaurants. They had a fantastic bar program (big, real ice cubes, not ice slivers!) and some of the best polenta I have ever tasted. But what really set them apart was their service, which was some of the best during my NYC visit. Not only were there some nice things from a managerial standpoint (very detailed checklists for sidework, for example), but when there was a job to do, it didn't matter whose job it was, it got done. It's such a small detail, but something that many restaurants, even good ones, sometimes fall short on.
BB King's Lucille's
Okay, so I didn't actually eat here, nor would I recommend it (I got the sneaky suspicion from the menu that most of the stuff was premanufactured and of the Sysco variety). However, there are a few things that I learned from the experience: 1) If you ever need anything, always check in with the local hotel's concierge. They will always know what's going on where and, if they don't, they'll be able to direct you to someone who does and 2) It's practically the only place in NYC you'll be able to find that allows you to dance. At 2:00 AM on a Friday night with a live blues band, I couldn't think of any other place I'd rather be.
NYC Visit, Part II
Some more restaurants from the week of fun.
Bread Bar at Tabla
Tabla was one of my first fine dining experiences in NYC (that was way back in 2002) and what I remember from that original night was a few small things. Small fried fish, eaten whole, as an amuse. My first encounter with a fish knife, which I hadn't the foggiest of what it was and had to ask the server how to use it. A pistachio chocolate kulfi, which was one of the finest desserts I had ever had in memory. This time out, I have to say the food was not as memorable, but the whole process was. I've come to appreciate everything that makes up a restaurant - the bar program, the wine program, the hospitality, the food, etc. Not only does Tabla serve some great cocktails, but the extensive signature non-alcoholic cocktails are quite impressive. And the sommelier of the evening produced a fantastic wine that was even cheaper than the price range that I asked for. One thing that I do have to admit ... the saag paneer pizza that was on the Bread Bar menu was one of my favorite things that I put into my mouth in NYC (well, after those chicken liver crostinis at Gramercy Tavern).
Blue Smoke
When it comes right down to it, I'm a southern boy at heart. I am steeped in the culinary heritage of the south, so when someone makes a fuss over BBQ, well, I'm probably going to have a word to say. There's been quite a few not-so-nice words written about Danny Meyer's Blue Smoke and how it's not authentic BBQ. My response: bullshit. This stuff is the real deal. Just rip into the St. Louis style ribs to see for yourself ... instead of the normal small red ring around a piece of meat that shows it's been penetrated by smoke, the whole piece of meat has been penetrated by smoke. It's intense, some of the best BBQ I've had. The same critics also say that the sides are where it's at. To me, they were hit and miss. Deviled eggs, cornbread and sweet potato fries (with honey dipping sauce) were excellent. But the baked beans (a little too smokey/southwestern), cole slaw (I'm sorry I like mine sweet and creamy, not savory) and braised kale were not so memorable. I also had to laugh a little bit at the fact that there was a pastry chef listed on the dessert menu. Now, I'm not knocking her skills or anything, but in presentation and content (brownie sundae ala mode) they were pretty much diner desserts ... it matched the sophistication of the location, but honestly I don't think they needed to devote the space to developing the ego of a pastry chef there. One thing I did love was their bar setup. In true BBQ joint fashion they had a wide swath of ice where they iced down their longnecks ... very nice. And their bourbon menu? Anything that has Rebel Yell on it has got my approval.
OlivesI only stopped in to have drinks at Olives and to see what it was all about. Olives, for those not in the know, is one of Todd English's flagship restaurants. English, in foodie-land, gets more chuckles than smiles since it seems like he used his looks more than his skills to create a now-struggling restaurant empire. However, he had to have been a good chef in order to get his start (which is a fact that I think we sometimes lose sight of in celebrity chef culture ... Rocco DiSpirito might have crashed and burned at Rocco's, but someone had to believe in his food in order to fund him). Olives, in my opinion, looks cool, but misses the whole point of a good restaurant - it isn't comfortable, it isn't welcoming. It has no soul. English's empire focused on expanding too quickly and lost that ephemeral quality that gives restaurants life.
NYC Visit, Part I
Alright, so my visit to NYC covered a lot of ground, so I'll be making multiple posts about it ... first up, some of the restaurants I visited.
Gramercy TavernMy first experience was one of the best of the week. I can still remember the meal. Chicken liver crostinis with chive and bacon, with a roasted tomato relish, onion marmalade, spinach salad and 1/2 of an egg ... perfectly delicious. Tenderloin of pork with braised red cabbage, potato puree and sauteed fingerling potatoes. It's Tom Coliccio's food and the ingredients speak for themselves. With some great cocktails being doled out by Jim the bartender and a homey, warm, energetic service staff, I was quite impressed. My only complaint? The dish that my entree was plated on was cold. Small complaint, but the only one I had.
Union Square CafeI stopped in for lunch at USC the next day. I have to admit, I was prepared to hate the space ... I had seen it in a restaurant design textbook before and the space just looked very dated. Walking inside, it felt, well, right. Sure the murals were a bit dorky, but it worked in the space. I have no other way to describe it. People who have been there will have pretty strong feelings about it, I imagine ... personally, I loved it. For lunch, I had the garlic potato chips - pretty good, salty, garlicy, but I was wanting something a little more crisp and a berkshire pork sammich with mostarda. Now the sammich was great, rustic Italian but the southerner in me couldn't help but think that, well, that pork was wasted on doing some Italian version of a pulled pork sandwich. I can't think of a nobler ending for a Boston butt than barbecue ... but I digress. Desert was a lovely meyer lemon cake with whipped creme fraiche. I can honestly say that I didn't care for the garnishes or the cake after I tried the whipped creme fraiche ... it was a revelation. From now on when I want to add a bit of rich creamyness in dessert with a bit of a tang cream cheese and sour cream aren't going to be what I turn to ... creme fraiche is where it's at.
Les Halles in the Financial District
I was in love with the Les Halles on Park Ave. Great food, good service, and it's where I met Tony Bourdain. With those fond memories, I thought it would be cool to get a quick bite at the Les Halles in the Financial District. I was staying with a friend who lived a few blocks away, so this seemed to be a natural thing to do. I go in and immediately I am not greeted by the hostess at the podium. I'm not asked if I'm here for dinner, if I need my coat taken, if I have a reservation, nothing. The slack jawed blonde that comes by next is equally useless. So I just say I'll go sit at the bar and move my ass there. Halfway into my beer my bartender proceeds to spill it all over the bar. At least he refills it for free ... in any case, the cassoulet was good, not great, but good ... I would have liked the sausage to have a little more seasoning to it and the beans were, well, kind of bland, and the duck confit was downright puny ... I remember the cassoulet we made at school with a whole lot more fondness.
