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On February 22, 20 career
students from Peter Kump's had the chance to spend an evening
with a group of culinary stars when they
attended a panel discussion at the 92nd Street Y entitled "Managing
a Restaurant."
On February 22, 20 career students from Peter Kump's had the
chance to spend an evening with a group of culinary stars when
they attended a panel discussion at the 92nd Street Y entitled
"Managing a Restaurant." The four members of the panel
were Chef David Bouley of Bouley Bakery and Danube; Danny Meyer,
owner of Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, 21 Madison and
Tabla, which employ a total of 450 people; Chef André
Soltner, who headed up the French stalwart Lutèce from
1971 through 1994; and Karen Waltuck, who has run Chanterelle
with her husband, David Waltuck, for 21 years. Leonard Lopate
of WNYC's "New York and Company" acted as moderator.
Discussion focused mainly on the front of the house and the
intangibles at work there. Meyer, for example, credited Union
Square Café's meteoric rise from number seven to number
three in the 1993 New York Zagat Survey to hospitality, which
he defined as "Not service, but an emotional thing: whether
people feel like you're on their side." He also revealed
that after 90 days of employment, his new hirees are given a
voucher for a meal at any of his four restaurants, and afterwards
they are required to file a report on the event, an experience
that teaches employees to see hospitality from the customer's
viewpoint.
Bouley opined that personnel in the front of a restaurant must
have a special quality, which he described as "a deep level
of sincerity." He went on to say, "As with any business,
an operator who knows his clientele can cultivate a richer relationship.
If you're comfortable with details, this is the right business
to choose."
All four acknowledged that reservations policy is a difficult
factor in the hospitality equation. Soltner represented the
old guard, reminiscing that before the invention of new technologies,
he would simply take the phone off the hook once Lutèce
was fully booked. Waltuck pointed out that a good restaurant
works at staggering arrivals. "If everyone could get a
reservation at eight o'clock," she said, "they'd all
just wait a long time for their food." Meyer said that
his restaurants can seat about 20 people every 15 minutes and
still function at a high level. All bemoaned the continuing
problem of no-shows, Bouley noting, "With a little bit
of knowledge on both sides, the situation would be much better."
Participants also discussed the evolution of a distinctly American
style over the years. When Chanterelle first opened, it followed
a strict French standard and was highly formal, but these days,
Waltuck said, "We have very little hierarchy. No busboys.
Captains and waiters are indistinguishable. It's an American
take on formal French service."
In response to a question from Lopate about their reactions
to a customer who requests something simple that is not on the
menu, such as a steak, Meyer said, "It's a compliment.
If this person wants a steak, they could go to a lot of places,
but they've chosen yours." The panelists agreed that in
that case, the chef's job is to produce the best, most tender,
most flavorful steak possible. And all panelists nodded in agreement
when Soltner stated, "We are here to please the people."
The four maintained that simplicity has been and will continue
to be key to pleasing people. Bouley noted that food has grown
simpler and simpler over the years, prompting Meyer to add,
"There's an ingredient called soul. You can tell when the
chef is cooking food that the chef enjoys eating him or herself."
On the same topic, Meyer went on to say, "There's going
to be a backlash against décor. Think of the great trattorias
of Rome. The distinction is in the warmth of the welcome and
the execution of the dish. In New York the production values
of restaurants have gone so high. It's like Broadway versus
Off-Broadway. On Off-Broadway they can still take risks."
Pricing methods have already had to change, however. Soltner
recalled, "Thirty years ago the most expensive wine was
$5, and we sold it for $15. Wines went up, and we were still
tripling the price. But those times are over. Restaurants had
to adjust."
A spirited discussion of each participant's biggest disaster
provoked plenty of laughs from the audience. Waltuck recalled
a 90th birthday party at which a cake—complete with 91
candles—slid onto the floor. "Nothing caught fire,"
she hastened to add. Soltner once served a beef Wellington that
had been mistakenly frozen and only realized what had happened
when the customer continued to saw at the pastry shell but was
unable to cut through it. Meyer watched in horror as a track
lighting fixture fell "like a guillotine" and punched
a five-inch hole into a wall at Union Square Café, narrowly
missing a customer's head. And Bouley shamefacedly recounted
the evening when he was to assist a customer in proposing by
placing an engagement ring on a stalk of asparagus, but then
lost the ring. All's well that ends well, however: Bouley finally
found the ring in the watch pocket of his pants, and the couple
in question now has three children.
When interviewed afterwards, the Peter Kump's students who attended
pointed to these stories of disaster survived or averted as
one of the evening's highlights. They also declared themselves
impressed by the amount of culinary knowledge gathered on the
stage at the Y that evening, although some longed for more discussion
of the kitchen and less of the dining room.
Neal Ferris, a career student in the Culinary Arts program,
was surprised to learn that hiring waitstaff was such a major
concern for these high-end restaurateurs. "They made it
clear that while cooking schools train kitchen staff, there
is no training ground for the front of the house," he noted.
Juan Carlos Jimenez, another career student, found the attitudes
of all four inspiring. "A simple approach works,"
he said. "What I learned was this: give the customer what
he wants." |
