Love him or loathe him, AA Gill, food critic for the Times, has been around a bit. This is the man who legend tells, was thrown out of a restaurant along with his dinner guest, Joan Collins, by Gordon Ramsay.
In an article in this weeks Sunday Times, he offers some sage advice for newbie restaurateurs. For most of this, I think he is pretty much on the money. There are some sharp observations made and, probably most important, a little insight into warning signs of the motivation behind opening a new place.
I have to admit, I loved the piece. He could possibly be accused of cynicism, but again, on the money. Some of the mistakes made will make a number of people wince, he has got your number. If you read about dinner parties and free drinks for mates, then we all someone who owned a bar in Spain and pretty much blew their pension fund on being taken advantage of in several dimensions.
A key take home lesson, restaurants are a business. If you apply business skills, service and kitchen craft, you are ahead of the game. Upto 80% of all new restaurants fail in the first 3 years and it’s probably down to one or more of; business skills, service (or enlightened hospitality if you get to witness Danny Meyer in action) and kitchen craft.
I have met many chefs who need a lot of coaching to understand margins, the effects of stock turnover days, waste and defensive documentation.
Later this week, menu pricing 101.