washington square in philly

[zeitoun]

Yesterday i was watching Opening Soon on Fine living channel. Washington Square in philadelphia was the restaurant featured. I am from NY and was surprised to find out that Marcus Samuelsson was on this project. Is he the executive chef at that place or only consulting? It puzzled me because his only business collaborations (that i know of) so far were with Hakan Swahn at Aquavit and Riingo. Since when has he begun working with Stephen Starr? What puzzled me even more is the fact that (it seems at least) most items featured on the menu are taken from the Aquavit menu (ex: foie gras ganache). Can someone enlighten me?

[mrbigjas]

wait didn't i read that they've parted ways?

[zeitoun]

wait didn't i read that they've parted ways?

←

who? marcus and swahn or marcus and starr?

[Capaneus]

wait didn't i read that they've parted ways?

←

You did read that Starr and Samuelsson parted ways, as of last week. If you check Michael Klein's columns in the Inky for that period he goes into the Official Reasons, which I don't recall.

And to answer the OP's question: MS was nominally the Executive Chef. In practice, I think one of the problems was precisely the fact that he never invested the time and attention the restaurant required, and was, in effect, just a consultant. My experiences there were not very good, and that is in line with most of what I hear.

And why so surprised? Starr seems to be moving in a food-and-celebrity (rather than concept-) oriented direction with most of his new projects: Portale at the reopened Striped Bass, Morimoto at Morimoto...

[mrbigjas]

samuelsson and starr. check it out: http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/10426583.htm

[KatieLoeb]

Samuelsson and Starr have parted ways as reported in Michael Klein's column last week.

Read All About It

Mr. Starr's latest trick seems to be getting New York "celebrity" chefs to take Amtrak down to Philly one or two days per week as "Consulting Chefs" for whatever the new project du jour is. They're there for the photo ops and to write the menu, but not around for the day to day operations as they're usually expected back at their restaurants in New York for service. Usually there's a Chef de Cuisine who's doing the heavy lifting and getting yelled at about the exhorbitant food costs in their stead.

The Philly press wasn't too kind to the menu at Washington Square (Craig LaBan called the Starr-Samuelsson collaboration "disappointing"), so I suspect it'll be changing once the dust settles.

[philadining]

I was only there once, but I found Washington Square to be the least focused of any of the Starr places, I couldn't figure out what it was trying to be. The food I had was OK, but not thrilling, and none of it seemed to fit the "global street food" tag that was often used as the quick synopsis of the concept. I don't think it's important to have a simplistic theme, but I had a hard time describing the place to people.

I suppose that's the genious of a $100 cheesesteak, or a sushi conveyor belt, or guacamole bikes: they communicate a durable image. In the end, nobody ate the sushi from Pod's conveyor belt, and it's too crowded to move the guacamole bikes at El Vez, and I'm sure only a small percentage of people order a cheesteak at Barclay Prime, but they were all good publicity hooks, and each efficiently conveyed something about the food, and mood, of their respective restaurants.

They never found that symbolic totem at Washington Square, although I guess they tried with the Lobster Corn Dog. But it's a nice location, so moving Todd Mark Miller over from Barclay Prime to do a Brasserie might be just the thing. I would have liked to have Marcus Samuelsson's food here in Philly, but my one experience implied that it didn't travel well...

[zeitoun]

wait didn't i read that they've parted ways?

←

And why so surprised? Starr seems to be moving in a food-and-celebrity (rather than concept-) oriented direction with most of his new projects: Portale at the reopened Striped Bass, Morimoto at Morimoto...

←

Well, Starr is not the surprise, it is rather the choice that MS made to go along with this project which was.

For one, Hakan Swahn is the person behind MS's success, he gave him an incredible chance at 27 years old (i think) to take the helm of Aquavit after the sudden passing of their previous chef. Their collaboration has been more than stellar for many years now, so going into a venture without Swahn seemed a rather awkward move for him at this point.

Second, what could he have actually gained from it as a chef? Riingo was a novelty as far as the concept goes (more Japanese, less Swedish) and an interesting culinary venture, but the idea of replicating Aquavit's food in another restaurant, in another city, under a different umbrella bothers me. There is nothing he could have gained from this experience except an additional source of income. Coming from a chef like Marcus, which I admire a lot and who his so passionate about his craft, it is a bit disappointing.

I personally have an aversion to the idea of the talented chef who builds a strong reputation around one single establishment, and moves on years later to open five or ten other restaurants. Take Alain Ducasse for instance who recently opened a Spoon in Tunisia!?!?! The idea alone does take something away from the magic one should experience eating at his Monaco or Paris three star restaurants. How about Thomas Keller opening a Bouchon in Vegas!!!

Restaurateurs are in the business of opening as many restaurants as possible, there is no question about it, it is what they are there for. When chefs begin thinking like businessmen instead of craftsmen (a la Jean Georges other perfect case in point), there is something about the chef and his craft that is lost in the process.

I think something should be learned from chefs like Gagnaire, Passard, Veyra, Adria or Blumenthal to name a few across the Atlantic, who have not fallen into that movement.

Maybe i'm taking this a little too far, but as I said, I have a profound respect for what Marcus Samuelson does as a chef and it does bother me.

[KatieLoeb]

There is nothing he could have gained from this experience except an additional source of income.

And his deciding to line his pockets given the opportunity surprises you because of what, exactly?? High profile restaurateur from a nearby commutable distanced city approaches you and offers you a six figure deal to be a "Consulting Chef" (whatever the hell that actually means) at his latest project, you can put in minimal face time and get all the credit for the hard work that others are doing in your absence and get all the glorious press that comes along with that and further your reputation in yet another urban center. You'd turn down an opportunity like that? I dunno. I think the bags of cash with minimal expectations attached to it sounds like a pretty sweet deal that most folks could only dream of.

I'd be happy to commute to New York once a week and play "Consulting Beverage Director" for six figures if anyone's interested.

[rlibkind]

Although there a couple of items from Aquavit at Washington Square (notably the foie gras ganache), the menus weren't all that similar.

As for food like Samuelsson serves at Aquavit in Philadelphia, I'd love to see that! All we have right now that passes for Scandinavian, traditional or new, are Ikea's meatballs.

Note that even working together Swahn and Samuelsson have had difficulty the one time they tried to take their show on the road. Aquavit Minneapolis, set in a region populated by residents of Scandinavia heritage, was forced to close due to lack of decent business. Without doubt, 9/11 and expense account clampdowns had something to do with its failure, but the idea itself may not be all that exportable. Think abut it: even n all of NYC there are only two true Scandinavian outposts: Aquavit (inlcuding its lunch cafeteria at Scandia House) and Ulrika's.

[zeitoun]

There is nothing he could have gained from this experience except an additional source of income.

And his deciding to line his pockets given the opportunity surprises you because of what, exactly?? High profile restaurateur from a nearby commutable distanced city approaches you and offers you a six figure deal to be a "Consulting Chef" (whatever the hell that actually means) at his latest project, you can put in minimal face time and get all the credit for the hard work that others are doing in your absence and get all the glorious press that comes along with that and further your reputation in yet another urban center. You'd turn down an opportunity like that? I dunno. I think the bags of cash with minimal expectations attached to it sounds like a pretty sweet deal that most folks could only dream of.

I'd be happy to commute to New York once a week and play "Consulting Beverage Director" for six figures if anyone's interested.

←

What you are saying is absolutely true, and it is precisely what irritates me. Samuelsson is basically attaching his name and reputation to something that is so remote to him. There was nothing new in concept here. I might accept that he was in the picture because it was an easy and lucrative opportunity, nothing wrong with that if that is why you entered the culinary world, but if you truly care about the food you make, about your profession as a chef, was it really necessary? If you care about your craft, I think there is more to lose here than to gain.

[herbacidal]

Zeitoun, I would respectfully disagree about there being more for him to lose than gain.

I'd say there is little doubt Marcus cares about his food more than many a chef.

As I see it,

1) he pockets a decent chunk of change over a 6-month period.

2) He gets to test out one of his top proteges for a future restaurant opening.

3) This brief interlude occurs during the summer, a slow time for restaurants, and one busy fall season.

4) He is able to open that future restaurant with less dependence on outside backing because of the monies he has available, which were hopefully invested in the interim. And he also knows whethere or not Eric Simeon can take the helm of the new place and how well the other staff he sent down (he did send others down, correct?) can operate with less oversight from him.

5) Any negative PR, of which I'd say there's been a minimum thus far, will be soon forgotten, since the majority of people in general, let alone the transient New York crowd, have short memories.

6) He gets to do reconnaisance on a market for expansion outside NYC, geographically the most feasible one for a New York restauranteur, if he /s she chooses that route.

Yes, these are mostly business reasons, but I think everyone has to balance everything they want to do with how easily they are able to do it. I think Marcus Samuelsson made a good decision by doing what he did.

Edited December 24, 2004 by herbacidal (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Having spoken to someone that actually works in the kitchen at Washington Square, the inside scoop is that both Marcus Samuelsson AND his Chef de Cuisine were FIRED (in actuality the rest of their one year contracts were bought out) by Stephen Starr, who was very unhappy with the lousy press they were getting.

I find it intersesting and quite curious that Mr. Starr is worried by the bad press about the menu when he has a internationally reknowned chef at the helm (at least on paper), yet will hire a bunch of models with absolutely NO serving experience whatsoever to be the FOH staff at his restaurant and dress them in "uniforms" that are so short they can't bend over to pick up a piece of dropped cutlery without mooning the entire dining room. To add insult to injury, the experienced male waitstaff that was hired to "compliment" the crew of models have been relegated to positions as busboys. Gee - that won't lead to lousy service and a resentful staff, will it?

Style over substance yet again. When will it finally implode?

[mrbigjas]

a bunch of models with absolutely NO serving experience whatsoever to be the FOH staff at his restaurant and dress them in "uniforms" that are so short they can't bend over to pick up a piece of dropped cutlery without mooning the entire dining room. 

wait i don't see the problem. hominahominahominahomina

hahahahaha

kidding

[herbacidal]

hominahominahominahomina

What does that mean and where is it from?

[mrbigjas]

honeymooners; jackie gleason. it's an all-purpose stammer, good for leering at ladies, getting caught reading egullet at work, etc.