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A Tale of Two Restaurants

I don't know if it's the economy, but in the last couple of months I have seen more restaurant "open houses" and winery "hospitality nights" than ever before. And it's a bit of a double edged sword - you are trying to get more business, but at the same time, these things cost money, and without a highly "trackable" payoff. What's a business to do?

I won't presume to tell you what you should do - after all each business is unique. I can however tell you a "Tale of Two Restaurants" and the different impression each made on me with their recent open houses.

Each started off the same - I received an invitation (through email) to attend their open house: food, drink, music, in other words, a good time was promised by both. That was the end of the similarities...

Let just walk you through my experience of each.

Restaurant #1: I arrived about one hour after the official start, and was greeted at the door, asked to sign in and handed a glass. Upon entering, the place looked good, there was some live music, it was nicely attended, but no crushing crowd. Making our way to one of the tables set up for wine pouring, we tasted a couple of lovely wines from local wineries. We began to make our way through the room, stopping at the next wine pouring station - again lovely wines. However I noticed a big bowl of dip on the table and reached for napkin - just as I realized the big bowl of dip was completely empty. I never did see it refilled...

I headed out to check out their garden - which I must say is very lovely, I had not seen it before. One of the restaurant's liquor distributors was making fresh cocktails out on the patio so we stopped by briefly - and my, they were delicious! Wine, wine, cocktails... what is needed here now is a little food! Heading back inside I spy a server with a tray - I head in her direction quickly. I am able to grab myself... one fried green bean. Hmmm. Now we are actively looking around for sustenance...

We notice a group hanging by the kitchen door - waiting to pounce on any server headed out with a tray. Apparently we are not alone in our quest. A few minutes go by and we manage to score one more tidbit on a toothpick. A friend gives up and tries to place an order at the bar, but she's told that the kitchen is closed for the special event. (What could they possibly de doing back there? We aren't seeing the evidence out here.)

We head out to another patio and find trays of edibles! Unfortunately, I am not fond of cupcakes and wine on 90+ degree days... A discouraged group of us give up - and head out to a local joint where we chow down on plates of Chipotle Chicken - we are all starved! Are we tempted to go back? Unfortunately no. I had heard the chef was good, I just wasn't able to see the evidence.

Restaurant #2: Once again, I arrive about an hour after the festivities begun. A crowd has gathered in front. It looks like this is going to be crowded and difficult, but quickly things fall into place, I have signed the guest book and a glass of sparkling wine is in my hand. I wander into the restaurant and stop to chat with a few folks by the first wine station. A few minutes later, as I head out to the patio I see a large and beautiful tray laden with what appear to be roasted veggies and dip! There are people gathered around making appreciate noises as they nosh.

I head to the back and see what appears to be a line. What are they lined up for? A huge spread of raw oysters, smoked mussels, house made lox and fixings. This is sitting across from a table that must holds 5 or 6 huge wheels of cheese, each looking better than the last. And, as trays deplete, more heaping trays appear. And there's more, including some delicious stuffed marinated peppers. It's just that no one is starving anymore, because there is food everywhere. And not just food, but good food, maybe even some great food. Is was a beautiful event, and everyone I spoke with left happy - and impressed. My guess is, they'll all be back, wallets in hand.

What did I take away from each? Completely different impressions. Both had wineries pouring, both had live music, the atmosphere at each was lovely, the people were nice. The difference - and it was huge - was the food. People go to restaurants for all those things, but the number 1 reason is the food. Without the food, you don't have a restaurant. And I am not unsympathetic to the challenges of this - restaurant #2 spent a pretty fair amount of money on their party, I might event say they really went all out, and that can be a hard pill to swallow, especially in these times. But when doing any event, the bottom line is this: you must wow your customers. If you can't afford to really wow the guests (or simply don't want to spend what it takes), don't do it at all. The mind set of cutting back because you are giving it away has the unfortunate side effect of backfiring.

Just to top off my impression of restaurant #1, I got an email from someone saying "Thanks for coming!" I wrote back and thanked them for the invite, and suggested that ask the guests what their impression was. Their response? "Hope you enjoyed it!" Is hoping your guests enjoyed something enough, or should you actually (gasp!) ask them?

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