New York Restaurant Insider Magazine

$5.00 .00 - September/October 2008- Vol 4 Issue 7 www.restaurantinsidermag.com ww www.res taurantinsidermag.com

Danny Meyer The expansion of Enlightened Hospitality

Restaurant Preview The West Branch Event Coverage Bocuse d’Or USA

Letter from the Editor Out of a l l t he extraord ina r y cuisine we photographed for this month’s extended feature on Danny Meyer and his restaurants, the one which was singled out for our centerfold was not a dish prepared by one of his many three-star chefs, but a burger grilled in a shack. There is evidence that Mr. Meyer may be proudest of this culinary achievement above many of his other formidable ones, and after reading our article you may concur. The Shake Shack’s juicy slab of lean beef on a roll could also be appropriate symbolism for the current economic climate, where fine-dining customers - and not just in the Wall Street/Tribeca area - will no doubt continue scaling back their personal restaurant expenditures as the trickle-down effect of the banking crisis continues. Is a hamburger the new steak? Will Shake Shack lines become longer than unemployment lines? We might also look to Chef Tom Valenti as a visionary for including his burger vision, shown in all its glory on page 26, on his menu along with the lower price-point at his newly opened The West Branch. But the chances that Mr. Valenti foresaw the Wall Street meltdown and created a menu to suit the new economic realities are perhaps as unlikely as Congress seeing the mortgage meltdown coming. It does bring up an important reality, however; to survive over the long haul, restaurants need to offer either something extraordinary and unique, or something comfortable and affordable. Offering all of the above would be even better, seeing that the economy has already begun to send many regular restaurant customers into hibernation.

Mr. Meyer’s primary method of surviving for 23 years in this industry has been to offer extraordinary and unique service, and it’s worked well for him. But he has also grown his Union Square Hospitality Group slowly over the years, keeping his business interests close enough to home to remain intimately involved in all of them. He’s never had to close a restaurant, but in spite of our present slowdown and a vague political climate, I’d be willing to bet that he’ll keep that impressive record intact. Yet just as economic expansions are not limitless, financial downturns are not bottomless pits. Until things do get better, making slight adjustments to your business during periods of environmental change can’t hurt. This is something that Meyer has perfected over the years, and if you’re looking for ideas to improve your business, you may want to give Meyer’s excellent book, “Setting the Table,” a read.

Shining evidence of a bright future in culinary arts could be found late last month in, of all places, Epcot in Orlando Florida at the Bocuse D’or USA cooking competition. Eight amazing young chefs created fanciful works of art under immense pressure, in front of a panel of accomplished and internationally known chefs. Their ultimate goal, of course, was to win, and to represent America in the Bocuse D’Or World competition in Lyon France in late January 2009. I hope you enjoy the images we’ve brought you from Orlando, as well as our interview with Chef Tom Valenti. Valenti’s The West Branch restaurant, which will open this October, somehow already feels like an integral fi xture in its Upper West Side neighborhood.

Next month, we’ll be bringing you an in-depth feature story on another great chef who has chosen to bless New York with his talents, Canadian Susur Lee. Matt DeLucia

Volume IV Number 7 September/October 2008 Editor Matt DeLucia Art Director Mary Hester Photography Diana DeLucia Assistant Editors Ann Ryan Joseph DeLucia Advertising Sales Diana DeLucia 22-93-8538 ext 6 diana@RestaurantInsiderMag.com Restaurant Insider Magazine is published 0 times a year by Restaurant Insider LLC P.O. Box 466, Farmington CT 06034.

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September/October 2008

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Danny Meyer | The expansion of Enlightened Hospitality

Danny Meyer will be setting the tables outside of Manhattan for the first time in his career with upcoming projects in Queens at the new Mets Stadium, and in Greenwich Connecticut with a new Blue Smoke.

By Matt DeLucia | Photos by Diana DeLucia

23

Restaurant Preview | The West Branch

A behind the scenes tour of Chef Tom Valenti’s new Upper West Side restaurant, where his knack for comfort food will be introduced into a larger, more casual venue.

By Matt DeLucia | Photos by Diana DeLucia

30

Event Coverage | Bocuse d’Or USA

For the first time the Bocuse d’Or USA was held in a venue worthy of its growing status, thanks to the support of some of the heaviest hitters in the culinary world, including Mr. Bocuse himself.

By Matt DeLucia | Photos by Diana DeLucia

Cover Photo: Danny Meyer Cover Photography: Diana DeLucia

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of

DannyMeyer The expansion

Enlightened Hospitality

Chef Daniel Humm, Eleven Madison Big Eye Tuna marinated with Heirloom tomatoes, Olio Verde and Basil

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by Matt DeLucia photos by Diana DeLucia

I’ve always been intrigued by the diversity of personalities in this industry, and after interviewing scores of successful chefs and restaurateurs I’ve noticed distinctions and similarities between the two. If you’ll pardon a little stereotyping, chefs do tend to be more reflective, thoughtful, and creative, with a tenacious, borderlineADD capacity to concentrate on singular tasks for hours at a time. Successful restaurateurs tend to be more people oriented, with many of them bringing a solid sales pedigree before entering the hospitality business, but the most important skill a restaurateur must possess is a nearly uncontrollable desire to make others feel comfortable and to derive pleasure from the experience of treating people well. While performing

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Chef Daniel Humm, Eleven Madison Foie Gras Terrine with Cherries, Lemon Balm and Sicilian Pistachios

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this function from time to time is certainly within the abilities of most people, the ability to reaffirm this duty from all day long, year in and year out, requires much more than a commitment or the acquisition of skills or the purchase of an expensive 30-year lease - something I realized after spending an afternoon with Danny Meyer. Mr. Meyer, who went from being a theft-prevention device salesman into one of America’s most successful restaurateurs, shared his opinions and insights into the origins of his profitable and growing restaurant empire. Much like reading between the lines of a thoughtful letter, interspersed between my questions and his answers I think that you’ll find subtle insights that shed light on his success.

We sat near the front of Union Square Café, a location I was not quite comfortable with. For my interviews, I tend to prefer a private spot with fewer distractions, but our location turned into an education, of sorts. A few minutes into our discussion he looked up and with his boyish smile and bright blue eyes, said “Thank you” to a customer who was on his way out of the restaurant.

A few minutes later while we were discussing his book, “Setting the Table,” he politely stopped midsentence for another customer farewell. Most people would not bother to stop talking to an interviewer to thank someone walking by for their patronage, but to Mr. Meyer it seemed natural and involuntary, like taking a step or drawing a breath, and just as critical. On the third “thank you”, I turned around expecting to see another well-heeled businessman leaving after a satisfying lunch, but saw instead a middle aged woman.

“She’s been working here for 20 years as a prep cook,” he said with pride. Suddenly I was reminded of the primary philosophy he detailed in his book, a concept called “Enlightened Hospitality,” which prioritizes the five groups of people whom a business owner needs to please. The list is actually a continuous cycle that begins with employees, followed by guests, community, suppliers and finally investors. The employees-first idea is an important distinction that runs counter to the traditional idea of “the customer always comes first,” because Meyer believes that if a business’s employees are their primary priority, the customer will consistently be treated better. It is one thing to dedicate yourself

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Chef Daniel Humm, Eleven Madison Chilean Turbot Slow cooked with Fleur de Courgette, Saffron-Fumet and Tarragon

to a philosophy, but quite another to see an elegant example of that philosophy as Meyer graciously thanked a prep cook – one of over a thousand of his employees - for her day’s efforts, as well as one customer after another, regardless of their VIP ranking.

Although the front and back of the a restaurant’s house tend to live in two different worlds, Meyer finds plenty of symmetry between what a chef does and what service people bring to the table.

“If it’s August and we’ve got the best tomatoes in the world, and you give those tomatoes to two chefs,” he explains, “the one whose sauce is going to taste the best is the guy who handles the tomatoes the best once he got them in the house. They did not throw them in the walk in and refrigerate them and bruise them. No matter how good the food is, it’s never going to be more than 49% of our recipe, because 5% of it is how we make people feel. The people we hire will never work any better than the respect and care with which they are treated, just like the tomatoes. Intuitively, I had been doing with people what chefs have known forever about ingredients. We are the ingredients of hospitality.”

Meyer had been doing many things intuitively over the

past twenty years as he became one of New York’s most successful restaurant entrepreneurs. As his customer base grew and time went on, the editors, agents, and publishers who were a significant portion of Meyer’s customers at Union Square Café slowly convinced him that his next book should contain not food recipes, but rather an accumulation of his formulas for planning, opening, and running successful restaurants. He finally acquiesced, logging over 50 hours of interviews with a former People magazine interviewer. The interviews themselves did not result in the book, but they made him think more of the “Why,” and pushed him into looking deeper.

“I knew the process of writing a book would force me to analyze and create language for what was actually happening. I had the same kind of resistance that I think a lot of chefs have in writing recipes, which is forcing a chef to create a regimented approach to the things that are intuitive.

If you ask a typical chef, ‘How do you know when the duck is done,’ he’ll say ‘because I know.’ Or ‘How do you know when you’ve put enough salt on it?’ He’ll say ‘when it’s seasoned properly.’ But as soon as it becomes a cookbook, they have to measure and stop and think.”

In addition to the business philosophies he discussed within the reams of interview transcriptions that he wound up with, there were also many personal stories that Meyer initially didn’t want to delve into. However, the publisher insisted that his business book should begin with his

personal story in order to provide a relevance and background to how he would eventually mold his business philosophies.

“They said the only way that this book is going to have any credibility is if you begin by providing a memoir of who you are and where you came from.

Then you talk about the problems and how you solved them, because by the time you get there they are going to know who the person is and why they made these choices.”

“Setting the Table” includes stories about Meyer’s family and how his entrepreneur father had started some wonderful businesses, some of which went bankrupt. This is presented as a major reason why he has tended to grow his Union Square Hospitality Group so slowly and carefully over the years. One of the most intriguing jobs he had early on was in politics, an area he was interested in just after graduating from Trinity College in Hartford. He landed a $26 a week job as the Cook County campaign coordinator for Independent candidate John A nderson. For those who don’t recall, Anderson ran for President in 980 against Ronald Reagan and incumbent President Jimmy Carter. Meyer’s job was to

Chef Floyd Cardoz, Tabla Heirloom Tomatoes Bush Basil, Spiced Grana Padano Tuile, Aged Balsamic Vinegar

create a major national organization for Anderson in one of the most critical voting counties in Illinois, and to get people to work for free, with nothing to offer them but a common cause.

“I realized that if I can get 20 people on the John Anderson campaign to come to work every day when I asked them to, and to go out and sell bumper stickers or knock on doors purely based on a common vision, imagine what I could do if in addition to a common group of ideals to believe in, I could also offer a paycheck.”

MANY PEOPLE who open restaurants assume that their establishments are indeed unlike any other business, and immune to some of the basic rules of business, and to some degree there is truth to that belief. But one of the most common misconceptions when starting any new business is the overlooking or underutilizing the sales aspect. Many restaurant operators believe that if you hire a competent chef and keep making terrific food, people will show up and they will keep coming. Other entrepreneurs think that with the right location, as long as the

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concept hit some regional hot buttons, any restaurant will become enormously profitable. If you look at some of the most successful restaurant operators of our generation - even if you just look at fine-dining - you’ll usually see not chefs, but salespeople. Terrific salespeople. And after his political experience, Meyer began his corporate life as just that, moving to New York from the Midwest and selling anti-theft devices to retail stores for a company called Checkpoint.

“It was my ticket to unlocking my competitive drive which I had been holding back for a lot of years. When you are a salesman, it’s all about measuring performance and getting paid for it. I loved ratcheting up the bar all the time and I learned that I love making money too. I also got a lot of self confidence that I had not had because I had never been in a position where I had to make cold calls and put myself out there, and see how my Midwestern self would play against the big leagues in New York.”

Even though he saw himself as a shy kid from the Midwest willing to do what it took to succeed in the Big Apple, he found that at his new job he had some underlying biases about his new

“I think that there are probably more well trained and well-traveled young cooks in this country now than there have ever been.”

Chef Floyd Cardoz, Tabla Rawa Crusted Soft Shell Crabs King Oyster Mushrooms, Fingerling Potatoes and Coconut Korma

profe s sion.

During his training, he said somet h ing t hat made it clear to his boss that he was embarrassed to be thought of as a salesman. “If you’ve ever seen the movie Paper Moon or The Music Man, I thought that salesmen were all cut out of that cloth, trying to put one over on somebody.

My boss said to me, ‘if you are going to work here and you’re ever going to succeed at this, you need to embrace the fact that what a great salesman does is to help someone be in touch with something they need. If you believe this is a good product, you’re doing something great for them.’”

It turned out to be good advice, as Meyer went on to be a top salesman for the company for three years. He eventually earned enough at Checkpoint to eventually open his first restaurant, Union Square Café, in 985. That restaurant cost $740K to open. Meyer had saved two thirds of that amount from his three years at Checkpoint, and the final third came from members of his family.

Although he loved to cook, he made a decision at the time, “The best decision I had ever made, ever, ever,” he says now, to concentrate his efforts on running the restaurant and being up front, rather than being the restaurant’s chef.

“I don’t know if I would have the attention

span to do that properly, and I think it would have prevented me from doing a lot of the other things that I loved about the business,” he says. For that important job, he initially entrusted Ali Barker, who had never run a kitchen before. Before he opened his first restaurant he spent time in London and France and a year and a half in Italy studying the best restaurants there in a studious quest to discover what made them so successful so he could bring that knowledge home. This quest for authenticity, along with his tendency toward being selective and cautious, became defining traits each and every time he would create a new restaurant enterprise.

Meyer believes this research and authenticity is also a major reason that his customers enjoy their experience, even if they don’t know it themselves.

“Authenticity is palpable in food, and I think that authenticity comes from an understanding of the culture in which a food idea came about - and travel is hugely important if you want to be authentic with anything. You can be an amazing cook and read a great recipe and reproduce it, but I think if I don’t know how the originators used that dish and how they spent their day and what were they doing beforehand, it won’t be authentic.

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Chef Floyd Cardoz, Tabla Roasted Four Story Hill Farm Young Chicken Shallot Braised Fingerling Potatoes, Haricots Verts, Kokum Jus

For instance, why do Italians drink espresso? What role does espresso play in their lives? If I don’t get that, I’m never going to make a great espresso. The way I learn about people is through the food they eat, and while it may appear that I am trying to learn about the food, I am really trying to learn about people.”

Even with all the research and planning, Meyer’s first year at Union Square was a difficult one. In addition to the normal growing pains of a restaurant that became successful fairly quickly, shortly after his grand opening Meyer had to deal with a months-long case of Bell’s Palsy, a condition that paralyzed half his face and tongue for several months. Mistakes were made, but Meyer found that these missteps could be turned into advantages if they were dealt with smartly, and quickly. He referred to this as “writing a great last chapter,” a policy that was so rarely seen at the time that many customers who encountered problems were often pleasantly shocked in situations where they may have gone away unhappy. “While we can’t erase what happened, we do have the power to write one last episode so at least the story ends the way we want,” he says. It became a governing philosophy among Meyer’s employees to ensure that any customer who has a bad experience, whether it is the restaurant’s fault or not, would leave Union Square Café satisfied.

“The biggest mistake I made back then, and I was probably making that mistake for several years after opening this place, was overemphasizing the desire to be liked by the people working for me, as opposed to being respected. Just because you are respected does not mean you need to be disliked, but just because you are liked does not mean you should be respected. I think that is a very natural mistake for a young first time manager to make.”

Barker ran the kitchen for three years before he was replaced by a French-trained Italian chef from La Caravelle named Michael Romano in 988. Romano, who twenty years later is still a Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG) partner and corporate chef, brought the food to a level that Meyer had always dreamed it would reach. As most people in the restaurant industry know, now Union Square Cafe became the city’s most popular restaurant for many years to come, and after 23 years it is still consistently at the top of any “best restaurants” list. Although Meyer had practically lived in the restaurant for the initial years of operation – “if I wanted a vacation, I closed the restaurant for two weeks,” he wasn’t quite done yet.

“The point of view back then was, if you wanted to be taken seriously as a fine dining restaurant you did one restaurant, and if you really wanted to be taken seriously you lived upstairs like Andre Soltner did. If the first restaurant is working, of

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Chef Gabriel Kruether, The Modern Almond Panna Cotta with Yellowstone River Caviar, Cockle Clams and Orange Emulsion

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Chef Gabriel Kruether, The Modern Lemon Napolean, Exotique Fruit Brunoise and” Fromage Blanc” Sorbet

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course I may do a second, wou ldn’t you? That is what any entrepreneur does.”

MEYER’S EXPERIENCE in hiring a great chef such as Romano led him to seek out another similarly talented chef to open his next restaurant, Grammercy Tavern, in 990. He eventually found his chef and new partner Tom Colicchio.

The flair for finding and partnering with one incredibly talented chef after another, such as Daniel Humm, Gabriel Kreuther and Kerry Heffernan, would become one of Meyer’s most important business skills. Today, Meyers says, it may be a little easier to find top talent than it was 5 years ago.

“I think that there are probably more well trained and well-traveled young cooks in this country now than there have ever been. And I think that the people who have become chefs in our organization have led very successful careers. We have never closed a restaurant, so I think it’s like a rolling stone that is collecting a lot of great moss. Anyone who is a chef at one of our places knows they are going to get attention, they are going to get a large stage, they are going to get a great audience, and they’re going to have access to a great front of the house.”

Although Meyer has opened ne w restaura nt s thoughtfully and deliberately over the years, he has an impressive record of never having closed one in his 23 years of being a New York restaurateur. But just being careful wouldn’t be enough to preserve his spotless record. As most business owners will tell you, it’s the team you put together – or rather, the multitude of teams – which inevitably turns a good restaurant into a great one, or conversely can turn a moderately successful one into a shuttered one. To Meyer, this begins with articulating what the team will be responsible for, so they understand what the goals are and know how to react when Meyer isn’t there.

“It’s kind of like when you’re a kid and you want to be the captain of the neighborhood baseball pick-up game. People who are the captains have three things they get to do: they get to pick their team and they get to argue with the other captain over what the rules are going to be, and they get to call the plays. So, I think I do a really good job of picking a team and setting the rules on how we are going to play, and then calling the plays.”

Much like a batter’s choosing which bad pitches not to swing at, batting one thousand in his project selections can be attributed as much to the offers he has turned down as the ones he has agreed to take on. Two new projects he

we know live in that area, love their wine.”

Meyer will approach that opening as he has all his others, with the exception that he won’t be able to jog between all of his restaurants anymore. In Greenwich he’ll be putting his head to the ground, listening to feedback, and making adjustments. He’ll no doubt be passing out copies of his book to Mets staffers and Greenwich servers alike, encouraging them all to help write a great last chapter.

“We will take our opening shot but we will be really good listeners, and we’ll end up with a restaurant that in the end was not exactly what we thought it was going to be, because that’s the only way to make it ‘their’ restaurant. What we have learned is there is no shortcut to breaking in a baseball glove. You have to play catch.”

Not long ago, the organizational structure at Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group would have made it difficult to bid on a project such as the Mets’ Citi Field, or to open his Hudson Yards catering business, or even to expand outside of New York City.

“Every time there was any opportunity or a problem or a crisis,” Meyer explains, “everybody would run to it like an ant to a piece of chocolate. I am wearing my people hat, how can I help? Every t i me t he y r a n to that one thing no one was minding any of the other  areas.” Paul BollesBeaven, who until

Chef Gabriel Kruether, The Modern Black Angus Beef Tenderloin Poached in Spiced Cabernet, Grilled Abalone Mushrooms and “Sauce Hachee”

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has taken a swing at recently, which will certainly become the biggest challenges he has faced since the three restaurants he opened in the Museum of Modern Art, will come next year. His company will control the high-end food service at Citi Field, the brand new Mets baseball stadium which opens in the spring of 2009. While the Met’s improved food may not make up for that team’s habitual endof-season collapses, it is nevertheless an exciting prospect for Mets fans. Meyer’s involvement there will be substantial, and will include a Blue Smoke, a Shake Shack, and fine dining for “Sterling Club” seats behind home plate.

While these operations would technically be Meyer’s first outside of Manhattan, his first restaurant outside of New York will offer a different set of challenges.

The Chop House in Greenwich, Connecticut will be based on his successful Blue Smoke barbeque restaurant he opened in New York in 2002. But the Greenwich version, which will also open in the spring of 2009, will have some major differences.

“I’ve done 2 completely different restaurants, and I’ve never replicated any of them, so it will not be exactly Blue Smoke, it’ll be Blue Smoke Chop House.

We are going to be toning down the barbecue and turning up the Chop House aspect. We’ll be using wood for all of our cooking, but only some of it will be smoked. Much of it will be wood grilling and much of it will be wood roasting. We think that that’s going to provide a more enduring menu mix, with food that is more wine-friendly and the guests who

Shake Shack Burger Union Square Hospitality Group Restaurant Insider Magazine • September/October 2008 Photography by Diana DeLucia ©2008

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recently was the “Chief People Officer,” now runs USG’s core restaurants - not just the people in the restaurants, but every aspect of them. David Swinghamer is now the president of USHG’s growth businesses, the businesses that they intend to expand such as Blue Smoke, Shake Shack, and Hudson Yards. Chief Operating Officer Richard Coraine, whom according to Meyer “I would always send in two months after something opens to go fix all the problems,” will now become the company’s incubator czar. Whenever Meyer comes up with a new idea, Coraine will be in charge of that new idea until it becomes a reality and it grows roots. Michael Romano will continue to be Partner and Corporate Chef (aka the food czar). Meyer says the new system is working pretty well. “I have never been busier and they have never been happier because now they are accountable,” he says. The new structure will allow USHG to be quicker on its feet and will provide his employees with greater upward mobility, while still allowing him to keep his eyes on his most prized possessions. “The conflict I feel is I do not want to hold back my colleagues from the kind of professional growth and financial growth that they may want, but I do not want ever get myself too far away from why I got into this business in the first place - which is remaining close to people and food.”

Danny Meyer’s new approach to expansion may surprise some, who have grown fond of his dedication to remaining in Manhattan and his guarded yet prodigious upward climb. “Today, it’s more of a surprise when someone does not expand, or when they do not expand quickly.

For me, that’s not a bad thing. It’s just another way of describing how our industry has changed dramatically, because the restaurant

business has in fact become a credible and legitimate entrepreneurial pursuit. Whereas when I first got into the business it was something that many of us were ashamed or afraid to tell our parents we were doing. ‘This is not what we sent you to get a Liberal Arts degree on the East Coast to do.’ It was not a business for educated people, it just was not thought of that way.”

Meyer was certainly one of a handful of people who have helped turn restaurant ownership in this country into something that well-educated people increasingly aspire to, and are comfortable with. He’s done it with a simple recipe whose primary ingredients are respect and recognition.

“We all live life and we’re dealt some Aces and some Jokers. I think there are people who can learn to lose less with the Jokers than everyone else is losing, and who make sure to win every time they get an Ace. But I think that if you boil my job down into two things, it is picking the best people and making sure that they treat each other and they are treated with the most possible care and respect. I guarantee you that whatever you taste on the plate is always going to be a direct result of those two things.”

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nyone who has wet a line in the Delaware River will no doubt understand chef Tom Valenti’s use of that river’s west branch - known for its beauty and abundance of trout - for the name of his new eatery, soon to open on the Upper West side. Non-fi shing folks will likely see the name as a reference to Valenti’s flagship restaurant “Ouest”, which is only seven blocks north on Broadway. But either connection will suit Mr. Valenti, whose goal for his long awaited restaurant is to create a local hangout that fits like a warm glove and that delivers tastedriven superior-ingredient cuisine to more casual customers at a lower price point. Now that f ishing season is over, Mr. Valenti is putting the fi nishing touches on his latest venture, which will no doubt bring comfort to hungry Upper West Siders and traveling foodies alike.

The space itself is not fishinginspired as the watery name may suggest, but rather looks and feels like a more open, neighborhood bar version of Ouest. The West Branch has hardwood floors, decorative brass applications and antique lighting and mirrors. The bar is clearly the focal point of the room, and is significantly larger than Ouest’s - coming in for a burger and a beer at the bar was not possible at Ouest, but it will be at The West Branch.

There is clearly a commitment to fine dining in the design, yet at the

same time its size signals an effort to keep the price point down.

Our interview with Chef Valenti took place a few weeks before The West Branch’s scheduled opening.

R I : I k n o w y o u ’r e a n a v i d fisherman so I can probably guess, but fill me in on the origin of the restaurant’s name.

Tom Valenti: When we first started throwing some names around, we were trying to have it evoke something that was clear and playful with a kind of a pubby groove, but not wanting to go “English pub” like last year’s gastro pub sensation. We started talking about fine fishing patterns, things like Royal Wolf and the Green Drake, and this small group of people I knew said, “Yeah but that’s not really working,

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The West Branch Tom Valenti 2178 Broadway New York, NY

what else in that idiom can you toss out at us?” There are a number of beautiful rivers across this continent with fabulous names like Snake River or Henry’s Fork, and they said ‘well what’s up by you?’ So I said, ‘Well, there’s the Willowemoc Creek.’ Nah! ‘There’s the Beaver Kill.’ No! ‘There’s

the Delaware and there is the East Branch of the Delaware and there’s The West Branch.’ And they were like, boom, that’s it! Obviously it ties into where we are geographically; it is sort of a branch of our original Ouest, so it stuck.

RI: What are you hoping for as far as the customer base for The West Branch, are you hoping that people from Ouest will become customers, or that it will bring in a brand new kind of clientele?

Tom Valenti: Well, I think that both are going to happen. Despite its close proximity to Ouest, the neighborhood is a little different. Once you cross South or North to 79th Street, it changes, and when you get above 86th and then again above 96th it changes again. It’s very interesting to see who is a regular traveler on the sidewalk. It’s a lower price point, and there are certainly some nicely composed dishes, but we also will have a burger and some great sandwiches, so it will be different.

RI: How did you discover this space? I know there were many rumors over the past year

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regarding various partnerships, would you like to clear that up?

CHG

Tom Valenti: We were actively looking for space on the Upper West Side. We had looked at a couple of spaces, but it was like ‘this bed is too hard, this bed is too soft,’ and then this one came along and ‘this bed is just right.’ The space that we currently are in was actually three storefronts, and there was a fourth storefront that was a restaurant, the Zen Palate. Jeffrey Chodorow had the lease on all four spaces. He called me and said, “Hey, would you like to do a restaurant on the corner of Broadway and 77th Street?” And I explained to him that I would love to but it could be a conflict of interest with my investment team to do another restaurant a mere seven blocks away from Ouest. He was gracious enough to say, “Well, why don’t we just bring them along?” But 003:CHG 7/24/08 AM Page 1and it became very, 11:44 very complicated,

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Linguini with House Cured Tuna, Peperoncini and Olives Snails and Mushroom with Puff Pastry

one day Jeffrey called me and said, “Why don’t you just take the lease on the three spaces?” And I said, “Well, that is very gracious of you, but what would you like in return?” And what I love about Jeffrey Chodorow is he turned around and said, “Nothing!” He said, “I want to be your neighbor, I have always loved what you do. Would you consider letting me invest in your restaurant?” And so I said, ‘okay, so let me get this straight. You are going to give me the lease, and you’re also giving me some money. How can I say no?’ Next door he’s doing a Fatty Crab with Zac Pelaccio, which I am personally very excited about.

RI: When you saw the space did you have to change the concept that you had developed with your partners, or did the space already kind of “fit”?

To m Va l e n t i : I r e a l l y h a d a predetermination of what I wanted to do up here and the driving force for me was that I wanted a place that I personally would want to go to and eat in. There are certainly selections up here, but I didn’t think there were enough. We’re talking three years ago from the time we began our search to the time we concluded on

West Branch Burger Lobster Salad with Toasted Brioche Coconut Blanc Manger

the lease, and once I saw the size of the space, I was pretty much like, “Yes, this is it!” Because with the current rents in New York City, and especially along the upper Broadway corridor, you cannot afford to do business with a low price point unless you have the volume potential to compensate for it.

RI: Did you bring employees over from Ouest who had expressed an interest in doing something

different or did you hire completely new people for The West Branch?

Tom Valenti: I was fortunate enough to bring Todd McMullen back, who was my opening manager both at Ouest and at ‘Cesca. With the kitchen staff, I’ll have my two top guys Lev and Jacque from Ouest who have both been with me for some years now. Lev Gewirtzman has been with me for ten years. I have a lot of staff who have been at Ouest since the day it opened and they deserved a new opportunity. I would rather keep them happily busy in a new place than lose them to some other opportunity.

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RI: Are all of your dishes at The West Branch brand new, and how do you prevent people from comparing some of them to Ouest?

Tom Valenti: It’s all new, and it has to be noticeably different from Ouest or else why should you come to this one, you might as well just stay at this other restaurant. But I think that they are going to recognize that there is an inherent style - obviously coming from the source - but it is a different type of thing. If you want to have a quickly grilled steak and french fries

for twenty-eight bucks, this is the place. If you want pay $48.00 for a steak, you will come to Ouest.

We’ve got pastas and we have very simply composed dishes. A very, very simple approach to the plate versus the slightly more complex stuff that we do uptown.

RI: Do you and your partners see The West Branch as a r e s t au r a nt t h at c o u l d b e branded in the future, more so than Ouest for example?

Tom Valenti: No, but I think that if somebody from Vegas pops through the door and they think they may like to have The West Branch in a hotel there, I would certainly listen, but we did not design it based on that. It is a great way to go, but just for the time being I am happy staying in my own neighborhood.

There is plenty of business here.

RI: What is the one thing you learned on this project that was different from your other openings?

Tom Valenti: What is there to learn?

That they are always over budget and always over schedule. Opening a restaurant today is dramatically different than what it used to be.

It used to be that you get a space, you get the tables and chairs, and you put a sign over your door. It has become very complicated and it’s very hard to pinpoint an opening date because there are inspections and permitting and all that stuff that has to happen. I think that to Mike Bloomberg’s credit, the city has become more and more stringent on issues relating to construction, and this has been

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Grape Marscapone Cake

on the heels of a crane collapse and a number of scaffolding collapses that has slowed the process of opening this particular business, and a number of others. I am not at all against or opposed to how he handles the physical health of the city because I think he does a remarkable job, they are making sure that everything is properly built. I think everybody is new to the condition that he runs New York as a business, as well it should be.

We had four-stories of scaffolding built prior to June 30 and then after June 30, the regulations changed. They sent an inspector out to make sure that it was secure. I mean, I love that! I do not want some calamity on my hands!

RI: How much feedback are you getting from the new dishes from

people outside your circle?

Tom Valenti: There is no reaction to my dishes outside my circle. I think that when we approach a menu, we tr y to design something wherein every menu item is a winner. It does not always happen that way, but it is really hard to know. When I started making lamb shanks at Allison on Dominick in 1989, I didn’t come out of the gate saying ‘this is going to be the big dish.’ I was hoping I sold half a dozen a night. But I am working on a dish now which is basically braised duck gizzards, red wine with tomato and garlic and onion and we are going to serve it simply over polenta. I am loving this dish. I probably will not sell any, but you never know.

This is the Show where the industry becomes a real community, sharing knowledge, forging partnerships, and getting down to business.

Join this premier gathering of industry leaders, decision makers, and influencers to discover new products and services, and experience exciting events.

Register to attend at www.ihmrs.com.

Where foodservice gets down to business.

November 8–11, 2008 Nov. 8: Hospitality Leadership Forum Nov. 9–11: Exhibits Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, NYC

ihmrs.com

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Bocuse d’Or USA The most exciting part aspect of the culinary cook-off the weekend of September 26-27th was not that it was being held at Walt Disney World Resort’s World Showplace during the opening weekend of the 3th annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. Or even the exciting young American chefs who cooked their hearts out for a chance to represent America in the Bocuse d’Or World Cuisine Contest in Lyon, France in January 2009. Most people who attended the event would agree that the most excitement was because the “Lion of Lyon” himself, Paul Bocuse, was in attendance and was intimately involved in the competition.

Each of eight different teams from across the country were chosen from applications that came from about 200 of the country’s finest restaurants. Each chef was given five hours to prepare cod and beef dishes for evaluation by an all-star cast of judges that included Daniel Humm, David Myers, Andre Soltner, Alain Sailhac , JeanGeorges Vongerichten, and Laurent Tourondel.

The eight competing chefs were Timothy Hollingsworth from The French Laundry, Hung Huynh from Solo, Rogers Powell from the French Culinary Institute, John Rellah, Jr. from Hamilton Farm, Richard Rosendale from Rosendales, Michael Rotondo from Restaurant Charlie, Kevin Sbraga from Garces Restaurants, and Percy Whatley from Delaware North Parks. The chefs were evaluated for excellence in taste, presentation, technical skill and overall kitchen organization.

Daniel Boulud, Chairman of the non-profit Bocuse d’OR USA organization, Thomas Keller, and many other top U.S. chefs have put forth a tremendous effort to improve the competitiveness of our country in this competition. They created an advisory board earlier this year and offered the winning team of chefs a paid three-month training sabbatical at Bocuse d’Or USA Culinary Training Center, a specially constructed training center located beside The French Laundry in Yountville, California. The team will also have access to the French Laundry and its farm, a $5,000 bonus, and coaching from renowned chef Roland Henin.

Competing Chefs were each required to present one fish dish and one beef dish in both elaborate platters and individually plated portions. The winning chef, as it turns out, won’t have to travel far to get to his new training grounds in Yountville. Timothy Hollingsworth from The French Laundry (pictured below with Mickey) came away with the gold medal, presenting Atlantic Cod with Hawaiian Blue Prawns and Sea Scallops, then his beef dish, which was Brandt Beef Tenderloin Roasted in Bacon with Beef Cheeks and Oxtail.

The Silver Medal and a $0,000 cash award was given to Chef Richard Rosendale of Rosendales in Columbus, Ohio; and the Bronze Medal with a $5,000 cash award went to Michael Rotondo of Restaurant Charlie at the Palazzo in Las Vegas, NV. Best Fish Award was given to Hung Huynh, Executive Chef, Solo in New York City, and Best Meat Award was given to Kevin Sbraga, Culinary Director, Garces Restaurant Group in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Huynh won a set of cookware

by All Clad and Krups, and Sbraga will receive a three-day tour of Brandt Beef Ranch in Southern, California where a dinner will be held in his honor.

Bocuse d’Or USA winning chef Timothy Hollingsworth and host Mickey Mouse

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1. The Bocuse D’Or USA 2. Daniel Boulud, Paul Bocuse,Thomas Keller and Jerome Bocuse 3. Sampling of food 4. Paul Bocuse and Daniel Boulud.

5. Sampling of food 6. Richard Rosendale 7. Eric Brandt, Philippe Rispoli and his wife.

8. David Myers and Laurent Tourondel 9. The Panel of Culinary Elite Judges

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10. Thomas Keller and Kevin Sbraga 11. Paul Bocuse’s “Un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France” award 12. Sampling of food 13. Thomas Keller observing prep 14. Paul Bocuse 15. Paul Bocuse 16. Sampling of food 17. Things heat up in the kitchens of Bocuse D’Or 18. Sampling of food 19. Chefs pose for the cameras after a long day 20. Jean Georges Vongerichten photographs the first platter for reference during judging 21. Traci des Jardin and Marie-Odile Fondeur

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International Hotel/Motel & Restaur ant Show November 8-, 2008 The latest foodservice equipment, demonstrations by top chefs, seminars focused on cost savings and a new tabletop award winner display will come together under one roof, November 8-, 2008, at the 93rd annual International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show ® (IH/M&RS).

Taking place at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, the hospitality industry’s leading marketplace for discovery and informed decision-making will attract some 35,000 hospitality industry professionals and ,250 exhibitors.

“The 2008 IH/M&RS is truly a must-attend event for leaders within the foodservice industry, considering the innovative new product launches and trend-focused education presented by industry experts,” said Lynn White, show manager. “In a single location, attendees will discover everything they need to stay

ahead of the competition and position themselves for a successful year ahead.”

Cutting-Edge New Products Of the ,250 total exhibitors, nearly half will feature the latest foodservice equipment for the industry, including d i splay c a se s, food prepa r at ion equipment, flatware, furnishings, linens, menus, tableware, uniforms, vending systems and more. Representing more than 00 of these exhibitors – within a dedication pavilion – is the New Jersey Restaurant Association (NJRA), which returns to feature locally and regionallybased foodservice vendors.

Culinary Education Leading foodservice publications will offer attendees a broad seminar lineup, addressing topics such as growing your bottom line and the next generation of restaurateurs. Seminars taking place

on Sunday, November 9, include “Food Arts Annual Insiders’ Trends Survey,” presented by Food Arts magazine; and “Building Bottom Line through Sustainability and Utility Efficiency,” presented by Foodservice Equipment Reports magazine. This seminar will address how sustainability and utility-efficient products can add heft to your bottom line.

On Monday, November 0, Food A rts magazine will present “Top Restaurateurs’ Tastes of Tomorrow: What the New Generation Wants.” In addition, Foodservice Equipment & Supplies will present “Lean is Green,” an exploration of the notion that lean is really green by looking at ways to make sure foodservice operators leverage their equipment and supplies investment to maximize employee productivity and minimize waste.

Brandt Beef would like to congratulate all the 2008 Bocuse d’Or USA chef contestants and wish Chef Timothy Hollingsworth the best of luck this January at the Bocuse d’Or World Cuisine Contest in Lyon France.

www.brandtbeef.com 866-389-9261

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