Harvest America CUES BLOG

PART TWO:

The Era of the Chef:

Ah, now things really changed. The once restaurateur-centric restaurant was about to become chef-centric. Seemingly happening overnight – the chef went from a behind the scenes after-thought to a celebrity. Beginning with a few flamboyant artisans like Jeremiah Tower, Paul Prudhomme, Wolfgang Puck, and Alice Waters – the chef came out from behind the curtain as the star of the show, the person responsible for over-the-top food that wowed and inspired people of all socio-economic backgrounds. Suddenly patrons were standing in long lines not just for the food and ambience, but to catch a glimpse of the chef in his (or noticed better late than never) or her starched chef whites wearing a smile and walking through the dining room like a member of royalty. It was interesting, somewhat absurd, but life changing for those in the profession and for the way people viewed the restaurant experience.

Food was only surpassed by the breadth of wine lists and depth of distilled beverages, high priced art on the walls, enormously expensive glassware, Italian bone china plates, and custom sterling flatware. The entire experience was elevated and so were prices.

Chef/restaurateurs like Charlie Trotter and later – Thomas Keller, Grant Achatz, Dominique Crenn, Daniel Boulud, and Gary Danko began offering seven or more course “tasting menus” – a new phenomenon in America. Paired with wines these menus sold for hundreds of dollars taking three or more hours to consume. People traveled cross country to experience these chef extravaganzas. Suddenly the chef-owned restaurant not only made sense – it was the approach with the greatest traction.

Culinary School Bonanza – Becoming a Chef is Cool:

Not too long ago – cooks learned their trade and aspired to become a chef through in-house apprenticeship and the school of hard knocks. Responding to a need in restaurants and the growing influence of the Food Network and a plethora of high-quality cookbooks, colleges began offering degrees in cooking. From a few schools in the late 1970’s the number grew to well over 1,000 programs by the turn of the century. Becoming a chef was a sought-after career, influenced by the sizzle of media and not always based on reality. Soon, a culinary degree seemed to be the price of admission into a high caliber restaurant.

Dining Out Culture:

From the early 1950’s when dining out was a luxury, something reserved for special occasions, but easily pushed aside if money was tight to becoming an integral part of American life by the 1980’s. Two income earners in most families left little time for cooking at home and restaurants offered a service as well as a reward for a hard-days work. Restaurants were full and hundreds of new ones opened every day.

Economic Blips:

The economy is somewhat cyclical. There are, and always will be, ebbs and wanes – sometimes predictable, sometimes they catch us by surprise. Restaurants are immediate targets when the economy dips – “cut out the frills”. But this became more difficult when restaurants serve a larger role in American life. As a result, pricing became the key to survival in economic downturns, but when things changed, so did pricing again. Restaurants, to be successful, had to be flexible with what, how, and when they served and respond with appropriate pricing. Managing the restaurant became so much more difficult than it was a generation before. Many chefs who now owned and operated restaurants from the back of the house found they were somewhat out of their element. They needed solid financial managers to balance out their skill at making great food experiences. Some partnered to this end, while others struggled or closed.

The Pandemic That Changed Everything:

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Yeah, sounds like a great battle cry, doesn’t it? Well, what if the “tough” involves a once in 100 years pandemic that shut down the country, literally, and most of the rest of the civilized world? What if, it was no longer a case of what people could afford, or whether the style of food and service was in tune with the marketplace – what if, restaurants were not allowed to serve indoors? What if people were required to wear masks and later show proof of vaccination to enter? What if the world-wide supply chain was so impacted that basic products were almost impossible to come by and what if those that were available doubled in price? What if people were too scared to come to work or patronize a business where people outside of their family bubble were sitting six feet away? What if the invisible virus was killing hundreds of thousands of people every month? How do the tough get going in this environment?

The federal government made a noble effort at trying to stop the bleeding by supplementing employee pay and subsidizing businesses if they kept people employed (it worked – sort of). State governments loosened some regulations allowing alcohol to be sold as a take-out beverage and local communities gave restaurants a chance to build temporary outdoor dining – sometimes blocking off parts of town roads to accommodate (it worked – sort of). But, in the end, restaurants were stuck with an impossible situation of greatly diminished customer counts, limited menus to reflect the inability to buy raw materials, employees who were afraid to come to work and were now subsidized by the government if they chose not to work. Everything that was part of the experience built since the 1950’s was no longer critical. The dining experience was relegated to food in a to-go bag with little interest in presentation, quality assurance, or service. Some restaurants even dedicated part of their dining rooms to selling retail groceries just to stay afloat and help people cope.

Cope they did, at least some of them. Many established restaurants just couldn’t make it through and far too many closed their doors for good. It was just too much, too hard, too crazy, and too unpredictable in the future. Others found ways to keep the ship afloat, but the question that loomed was: “Now what?”

Demand Without Workers:

No good deed goes unpunished. The government’s stop gap – supplementing income, changing loan payment structure, working with landlords on deferred rent, etc. gave millions of American workers a chance to breathe and think. Many hospitality workers took a hard look at the life of work in kitchens, dining rooms, and hotels and thought that there must be another way to make a living. So, as the pandemic came under control thanks to a universally available vaccine and immunity through exposure, and life began to move back to some sense of normalcy, restaurant workers said: “No thanks”.

As has been the case throughout history, after a major catastrophe such as war, natural disaster, or a major economic downturn, restaurants tend to recover quickly. People want to get back out with their friends, break bread, and raise a glass of their favorite drink as a sign of relief. Restaurant demand quickly rose to pre-pandemic levels. This was great, except – restaurants could not, and still can’t find people to work. Dining rooms are partially closed because they can’t staff a full room even though there are guests waiting to spend money, menus are limited because there are not enough hands in the kitchen to cook, and although the supply chain has recovered, the price of goods remains unreasonably high.

Quite possibly, the most serious challenge is that working in restaurants has lost its sizzle. Culinary schools are finding it very difficult to attract new students and many have since closed their doors and the press around a difficult, inflexible work environment has kept school of hard knocks employees from tying on a kitchen apron again. It will take time and loads of structural change for the industry to lure people back into the restaurant environment and more than likely, this employee intensive industry will need to find ways to adjust to a smaller workforce through automation and streamlining the experience.

Tough times continue for the restaurant business.

What’s Next:

Any predictions are purely speculative at this point. No one knows how the industry will claw its way out of these challenging times or what it might look like in five or ten years. History would tell us that the business will survive and thrive again, but we have never faced such unprecedented problems before. What we do know is that people are social by nature. We like to be around others and share stories, seek advice and counsel, and laugh with reckless abandon.  Restaurants have always provided this environment, an environment of experiences that go way beyond the provision of food. In some form, this will return.

We know that as many scars as the industry bares, there are wonderful aspects to cooking and serving – traditions, cultural sharing, sensual experiences, and a common ground for people to set aside their differences and learn to listen and share without judgement. This will, in some form, return. Until then, it may be one step at a time, or maybe we need to be more aggressive in solving our issues now before the next catastrophe occurs.

PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER

Harvest America Ventures, LLC

Restaurant Consulting

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