REX CHANDLER Playing the Long Game By April Neale
Rex Chandler has always valued a slower, strategic approach. Chandler, whose award-winning restaurant bears his name in Boise, Idaho, has a nearly 50-year run as an elite restaurateur. Among many accolades is the Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator, fifteen years running. The key? According to Chandler, it isn’t complicated. "We have a philosophy at Chandlers and our Ling & Louis affiliates (Chandler has two franchises in Idaho). It's a triangle. We take care of our employees by training them with tools and direction. They take care of our customers, in turn, and our customers take care of the restaurant," he said. His straightforward commitment to service relies on classic techniques and training, and you probably won’t be seeing molecular gastronomy deconstructed food or ultra-exotic ingredients anytime soon. Chandler goes to great lengths to ignore the restaurant industry trends that predict a soulless, cold future filled with fewer servers and more tech gadgets for ordering food. “I think restaurants that appeal to people going out include personal service, excellent food, and an escape from harsh reality. Remember that gracious hospitality is the key to fine dining," Chandler said, noting that his employees were his greatest asset, many staying on for years. Though Chandler considers himself old school and in the business of fine dining, he knows that gracious hospitality and fine food are getting rarer. “We spend a great deal of money, effort, and time to train staff on gracious hospitality and how 48
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PHOTO COURTESY OF CHANDLERS
to serve customers correctly. And it's not being passed on to others,” he said. Chandler believes that the experience of dining out is made less through ploys like eye candy and distractions and works to provide guests with something better, even if it takes more time. But the wait is worth it. Most recently, Chandler’s patience paid off as he acquired the old, run-down Joe's Crab Shack on prime Boise River real estate. The spot, now reborn into a jaw-dropping Ling & Louie's on the water, has been beautifully restored with its classic architectural lines. Chandler had his eye on the property and made his move last June. "It's a classic site and building. I knew it as the Chart House, and almost everybody hated it when it became Joe's Crab Shack. My Ling & Louie’s franchise partner for that location was David Johnson, who bought the Riverside Hotel ten years ago,” Chandler said. The building opened in 1973 with a 50-year lease, which expired last June. Chandler and Johnson happily stepped in. “I worked to keep the intent of the architect's original design. I removed all the 'shack' and stripped it to almost bare bones. We had to dig up the floors to redo the sewer and water systems,” Chandler said, praising Johnson Hospitality for their long-term strategy. “As an independent restaurant, you couldn't afford to do what we did. The return on investment would be far too long. We exceeded the budget twice. So, it was a labor of love and a commitment to keeping the building.”
