As always these days, Anchower. The Cod got to swim up to NYC and visit Diner w/ Cookie, Pasquale Jones w/ Addison, not to mention assorted other foolishness. But, on the way out, also swung by the Carroll Gardens Milk Bar. Might have been a question of being on the way to the airport, but it did make me realize I like the idea of the Milk Bar better than the reality -- more specifically, what I've had of theirs on the savory side, I would be happy to have offered to me on an airplane, but it's not as good as the standard issue BEC you can get at almost any bodega.
Extrapolating from that realization to a series of speculations that are basically guesswork:
1) Good restaurant help is hard to find.
2) For a business, either your footprint is expanding or contracting.
3) You can grow to a certain scale based on charisma/cult of personality, but only so far.
4) If you want your chef/owner brand to grow past that scale, it pays to figure out a way to keep your brand, but deskill the way you cook your food.
This seems to be something that Meyer has nailed w/ Shake Shack, but that Chang/Tosi struggle with with Milk Bar.
Or am I on glue?
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