gfron1

It's no secret among my eG friends that I'm preparing to close my existing restaurant in Silver City and open a new on in St. Louis. In my new place I'm honing in on a tasting menu, fixed seating times for 16 per seating. This is a streamlining of what I currently do and have had some success with. I want to visit other restaurants that do comparable things. The two that first come to mind are Blanca and Take Root in NYC. But to be clear, the question is not tasting menus - there are a myriad of those. Its more the chef table style that I'm interested in, and even moreso the chef table that's more than a 4-top. This latter comment knocks out Empellon which seats 4 or 6. I'm also wondering about chef table places that don't have a larger a la carte restaurant associated. What restaurants do you all know about that might fit this bill? Could be anywhere in the world, but I'd prefer North America just to control travel costs for visits. (Note to mods: I couldn't figure out in which forum this was best placed so please move if there is a better one.)

I do appreciate that, and the original question was not about me, but about ticketing systems in general. I've been fortunate to be in the black from my first year forward. There are many types of restaurants - some that are all about maximizing profits, and some that are about creating profitable artistry. I lean toward the latter.

I'm not so sure that I'll be using Sysco, but clearly I don't have the experience and expertise as you in this area, so thank you for the feedback.

I've crunched the numbers from many angles. I'm born and raised there, and family is why I'm returning, so I think I have a good sense of the town. Most importantly to what you're talking about is that when I look at StL I'm looking at the metro area, not the city proper. The metro area is just under 3M pop so its a good size, and I've looked at existing nicer restaurants, price point, travel distance from around the metro, etc. I'll be in the ball park on all of those factors. While it isn't set in stone that I'll do this system, since I need to get my feet on the ground and talk to the food writers and other folks, the key factor in my specific case is that I'm only looking to fill 16 seats per night, 5 nights a week. I certainly can't compare what's happened to me in Silver City to what might happen in StL, but its giving me some encouragement that I can pull it off, although possibly with a scary beginning until reviews start coming in. In my mind, I'm connecting your comments @Deryn with the occasional food writer who claims fine dining is dead, in that, I've always believed that the best restaurants aren't focused on pleasing the entirety, but rather their demographic. Based on the success of the various James Beard nominees in town, I just have to believe beyond the beer and chips diners, there are enough diners who want something more. And if there are, the question to me is, would they mind a ticketing system. Using my ugly math, that's just over 4,000 diners a year that I would have to convince...less than a fraction of a percent.

I do appreciate all that AlaMoi, but its such an alien concept to any similar restaurant that I've ever known. We really are talking apples and oranges here.

The "fibbed about" comment is odd to me. Like my menu, most restaurants who do this are tasting menus. So I'm curious what do you think is being fibbed about? BTW, my plan has always been 48 hours. Don't know if that matters, but my rationale for 48 is that I know I can refill seats with 48. 24 isn't enough because, as a special occasion restaurant, few people say, "Hey honey, we should go out for your birthday tomorrow."

Very good tip @huiray, something I hadn't considered. I'll have to look again at Alinea's system. I didn't think it was quite like this one meaning half down, half at cancellation deadline. I thought they were 100% up front. This is a big feature that I like about this system.

Thats a great idea @hathor to encourage use of the system with a discount. The goal that I, and assume most, have is to minimize cancellations and to know how many people are going to fill the seats.

That is the million dollar question in my mind. However...no answer.

HERE is an article in the Washington Post about Pineapple and Pearls. Specifically I want to highlight this section: I"m bringing it up because in planning my new place I was intending to do something very similar. I know its not for everyone, so the "I would never go to a place like this" isn't of concern to me. Its the question of how do folks feel about pre-paying in general. In my case, using preliminary numbers, I'm looking at much much less (maybe $75 for the meal, $40 for booze so a total around $115 plus tax & tip), with wine being optional, but still with a half down, half at cancellation cutoff. I'm also mulling over the folks who say that they should determine the tip...but generally at places like this that aren't packing the house, you're all but guaranteed appropriate service, and if its all lumped into one number then its a mystery amount. ETA: To my way of thinking this is specific to special occasion restaurants, not your every day place, not even the fine casual. I'll shut up and listen/read because I know many of you are passionate on both sides of this discussion. All for the greater good amigos!

Still waiting for feedback from the editor. I know she's knee deep in my manuscript. Eagerly awaiting. In other news, I've been very active on Twitter, less so on Instagram and my usual on Facebook. Gotta keep building up those audiences. Yesterday I identified a number of food blogs that had similar quality/style/interests to me, and began reading and commenting. I know from my blog (which is mostly dormant) that its obvious when people didn't really read my post before they commented, so I made a rule for myself that I'll only comment if I've read the entire post. In a few cases I'm making their recipes. The hope is that come September I can send them a book and they'll talk about it. That will also give me time to make sure they are a good investment of my book as far as their reach and fit with my style.

Lisa, I can't see how the immersion blender would work. The base blade doesn't create the surface area to finely aerate the ice. I know aerate isn't the right word, but its closest I can get. Going that route reminds me of a Pacojet with that ultrafine shave, but there's a tight fit between the PJ blade and the ice itself. So I think odds are against it working. When I've done it tableside (years ago), I've just used my largest/strongest balloon whisk.

well this was a hugely unexpected find this morning! Near a warm spring and the first time I've ever seen a lions mane (Hericium Erinaceus) in my area.

If we're going to be precise Auboine teaches 30-32º so maybe that range is 30-34º

Ruth convinced me long ago. I heat my CB, shake it good and spray. I never check temp. Once I got my chocolate tempering down, I haven't had any issues. I do my best to keep my room and molds at 20º I use Kerry's trick of immediately after pouring, placing molds in fridge for 30 (at least that's what I think Kerry recommends)

One of the perks for me of foraging in the Gila Wilderness is that I sometimes run into surprises. This morning I was way off trail and stumbled into an old cliff dwelling with a bunch of grinding holes.

i really do hope we get a report back. I know HST is probably a bit perturbed at some of us, but our comments were all with good intention. Now I really want to know how it all went down.

My debate was an acorn soak liquor v. distilling something from acorns. IDK which way to go with it.

Well, I decided a few posts back that there must be a reason why this instructor is teaching and I'm not.

Thank you for all those leads. Since there are good and bad acorns, my hope is that since the acorns in my area are delicious and edible right off the ground, that maybe I can create a tasty acorn liquor.

For years I've tried to find one of two Korean acorn liquors in the US with no luck. One is called Yangdoksul and the other Totorisul. No luck googling for an online purchase so I'm guessing they just don't get imported. The reason I'm interested is that if I can find them I might be able to replicate, that, and I love cool obscure liquors. Anyone heard of either of these?

Thanks! All of those cities are tentative. My rule of thumb is 1) needs to be on the way to or from somewhere; 2) need to fill 20 seats at $100 (which would be dinner and the book); 3) needs to have the support of the publisher to link me with a book store or media program. I'm hoping to spend a full month doing these.

Bwah! Ooops.

I can't figure out how to see the stats on readership of this topic to know how many eyes have read it, but don't make the assumption its only the culinary elite. A small handful of experienced people are commenting here, but many, many more have read it. To all of those anonymous eyes I would ask - would you use this service as defined and more importantly, would you use it a second time once the novelty has worn off. 59% of all restaurants fail in their first year. Good thing this is theoretical and not real money.

okay, one last thing and I'm walking away so you can actually write the paper. When I went through the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) process, they bragged that their role was to help entrepreneurs know when to NOT do a project- that was more important than knowing when TO do a project. After 12 years with my business and seeing all those who didn't make it - they are right. Its a fun idea to play with. Now you have to do the hard work.