I don’t know why I was quite so shocked to discover that Daniel Rogan was 38 and had two kids. Although I have interviewed Simon a number of times and been aware of L’Enclume since it opened in 2002, in my mind Simon is from a younger generation of chefs. I saw in a recent interview him talking about working for Jean Christophe Novelli in Southampton in the late 80s at a place called Geddes and thought, that can’t be right. But of course he would have been in his early 20s then.
Regarding the boom in restaurant openings, and the boom in restaurant closings, I’m seeing it here in NYC too. I guess it’s keeping me in business so I shouldn’t complain. But sometimes I wish restaurants had to list the “investors” bankrolling openings. They are necessary I suppose, but are also responsible for most of the damage we see in dining culture. The idle rich destroy everything that makes life joyful.
So many of my restaurant friends talk about the unreasonable expectations so many investors have. And too much meddling. It shows a fundamental misunderstanding of hospitality. So you wind up with weird pop-ops, the whole "chef in residency" thing, and worst of all viral dishes. Filling restaurants with one-time visitors who will encourage other one-time visitors, rather than cultivating a warm neighborhood space that won't ever go viral but is beloved.
And then there are the investors who are just looking for their own little clubhouse for them and their friends. Tables reserved for VIPs who may or may not expect comped meals. Obviously these are generalizations, and based the experiences of people I work with in one market (albeit the top market, as I see it).
When I was in the linen rental business, I used to hear all the time that linen rental is a "necessary evil." And I had to admit that it was true (at the time.) And I think the same is probably true of investors today. It's the new normal because economic pressures are unlike anything we've seen before. I'm not going to romanticize "the old days", but so many old NYC restaurants were created by motivated immigrants who had a plan and who were willing to work hard, just like in other kinds of businesses. Now, the model is so terminally broken that all the smarts and grit and talent in the world are not enough to get you anywhere.
It breaks my heart, and as a diner, frustrates me no end. I know there's an answer, because there is no future in which restaurants simply don't exist anymore. But with obscene wealth concentrated in the hands of so few, and the economy rigged to favor that class, I can't quite see what that answer is.
Surely everybody knows GC is toxic? But an entertaining fellow. I'm in Shkoder Albania now and just had monkfish with pasta, and squid prawn octopus. White wine and sparkling water for £23. I won't be going out much to your Brighton finds, I suspect but I'm pleased you are doing it and will start saving up.
Here in California, I became aware of just how much of a dick Giles Coren is when I chanced upon an old youtube of something called "Million dollar critic." To my astonishment, he billed himself as "the most powerful restaurant critic in Europe." His proud boast was that restaurant owners fear him because a bad review from him could cost them a million dollars, whereas a good review boosts their profits by the same amount.
Simon Rogan is the same age as me, so not THAT old!!
I don’t know why I was quite so shocked to discover that Daniel Rogan was 38 and had two kids. Although I have interviewed Simon a number of times and been aware of L’Enclume since it opened in 2002, in my mind Simon is from a younger generation of chefs. I saw in a recent interview him talking about working for Jean Christophe Novelli in Southampton in the late 80s at a place called Geddes and thought, that can’t be right. But of course he would have been in his early 20s then.
Regarding the boom in restaurant openings, and the boom in restaurant closings, I’m seeing it here in NYC too. I guess it’s keeping me in business so I shouldn’t complain. But sometimes I wish restaurants had to list the “investors” bankrolling openings. They are necessary I suppose, but are also responsible for most of the damage we see in dining culture. The idle rich destroy everything that makes life joyful.
How are investors affecting the industry?
So many of my restaurant friends talk about the unreasonable expectations so many investors have. And too much meddling. It shows a fundamental misunderstanding of hospitality. So you wind up with weird pop-ops, the whole "chef in residency" thing, and worst of all viral dishes. Filling restaurants with one-time visitors who will encourage other one-time visitors, rather than cultivating a warm neighborhood space that won't ever go viral but is beloved.
And then there are the investors who are just looking for their own little clubhouse for them and their friends. Tables reserved for VIPs who may or may not expect comped meals. Obviously these are generalizations, and based the experiences of people I work with in one market (albeit the top market, as I see it).
When I was in the linen rental business, I used to hear all the time that linen rental is a "necessary evil." And I had to admit that it was true (at the time.) And I think the same is probably true of investors today. It's the new normal because economic pressures are unlike anything we've seen before. I'm not going to romanticize "the old days", but so many old NYC restaurants were created by motivated immigrants who had a plan and who were willing to work hard, just like in other kinds of businesses. Now, the model is so terminally broken that all the smarts and grit and talent in the world are not enough to get you anywhere.
It breaks my heart, and as a diner, frustrates me no end. I know there's an answer, because there is no future in which restaurants simply don't exist anymore. But with obscene wealth concentrated in the hands of so few, and the economy rigged to favor that class, I can't quite see what that answer is.
Surely everybody knows GC is toxic? But an entertaining fellow. I'm in Shkoder Albania now and just had monkfish with pasta, and squid prawn octopus. White wine and sparkling water for £23. I won't be going out much to your Brighton finds, I suspect but I'm pleased you are doing it and will start saving up.
Here in California, I became aware of just how much of a dick Giles Coren is when I chanced upon an old youtube of something called "Million dollar critic." To my astonishment, he billed himself as "the most powerful restaurant critic in Europe." His proud boast was that restaurant owners fear him because a bad review from him could cost them a million dollars, whereas a good review boosts their profits by the same amount.
I must look that up. How ridiculous.