Regarding media exposure

  Sometimes media exposure can be a double edged sword. When our local news paper did a review on the place where I work business probably doubled for the first few weeks and then tapered off to a busier than normal pace ever since. We had a line out the door every weekend and didn't take names for a wait. If we had room, we sat you. Well, needless to say that the wait times were approaching the 45 minute mark and people were beginning to leave.

  So... we decided to expand the dining area by adding another dining room and 100 more seats. This helped with the wait for seating but since we didn't expand our kitchen the wait for food after getting seated was fast approaching 45-60 minutes. Guess what? People started leaving after they had ordered and we were left holding the bag, so to speak. 

  A few weeks ago we were featured on the Today Show. Not for our food but because Sarah Palin and Family eat here quite often. Supposedly it is one of their favorite places to eat in the Valley. (I have been here for two years and have never seen her or any of her family in this restaurant.) We saw an small boost in our tourist business but mostly from people who wanted directions to Sarah's house.


  These days we have settled into a hectic and harried pace in the kitchen. There never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done but somehow manages to get done.

  So... thanks to the media I now have high blood pressure, I smoke too much, drink too much, curse too much and sleep too little.

  JMHO

David O.

OMG Sarah Palin...

This could get worse if she decides to run for President and even worse than worse if she actually shows up to eat!  You'll have news crews, protestors and everyone else with an agenda there.

Hire a part time helper for some relief!!

While we realize that being featured on one of the 'foodie' TV shows or in the news (in a positive way) can bring a big economic boost to a restaurant's business, we hate to see too much of it, as it can change the whole atmosphere of a place.
 
    That quiet dining place where we can enjoy a relaxing dinner suddenly becomes a madhouse of standing people waiting for us to clear-out. The help can change, as David commented, from a cheery welcomer to a growling pressure-filled individual. Personal friendly service becomes cookie-cutter, training manual memorized scripted-service. Success doesn't always bring the end-result that we hope for, when visiting a famous location.

boyardee65


  Sometimes media exposure can be a double edged sword. When our local news paper did a review on the place where I work business probably doubled for the first few weeks and then tapered off to a busier than normal pace ever since. We had a line out the door every weekend and didn't take names for a wait. If we had room, we sat you. Well, needless to say that the wait times were approaching the 45 minute mark and people were beginning to leave.

So... we decided to expand the dining area by adding another dining room and 100 more seats. This helped with the wait for seating but since we didn't expand our kitchen the wait for food after getting seated was fast approaching 45-60 minutes. Guess what? People started leaving after they had ordered and we were left holding the bag, so to speak. 

A few weeks ago we were featured on the Today Show. Not for our food but because Sarah Palin and Family eat here quite often. Supposedly it is one of their favorite places to eat in the Valley. (I have been here for two years and have never seen her or any of her family in this restaurant.) We saw an small boost in our tourist business but mostly from people who wanted directions to Sarah's house.


These days we have settled into a hectic and harried pace in the kitchen. There never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done but somehow manages to get done.

So... thanks to the media I now have high blood pressure, I smoke too much, drink too much, curse too much and sleep too little.

JMHO

David O.

Your last paragraph sounds like a page out of Anthony Bourdain's book!

  Funny, I have never read Kitchen Confidential. I do like his show on the Travel Channel though.

  David O.
 

mayor al


While we realize that being featured on one of the 'foodie' TV shows or in the news (in a positive way) can bring a big economic boost to a restaurant's business, we hate to see too much of it, as it can change the whole atmosphere of a place.

Indeed.  One of the local restaurants around here really dislikes any sort of media exposure, since it's a small restaurant, catering to the locals, and the owner really doesn't want to deal with everything that happens if you become more popular (lines, more demands, etc).  She also isn't open on saturdays to "cut down on the number of tourists eating here".

She was happy to let me write the place up on my blog, but only after my assurances that not too many people actually read it.  ;)

boyardee65


  Funny, I have never read Kitchen Confidential. I do like his show on the Travel Channel though.

David O.

You need to read this book, you will LYAO, and his new book "Medium Raw" is even funnier!

chewingthefat

boyardee65


  Funny, I have never read Kitchen Confidential. I do like his show on the Travel Channel though.

David O.

You need to read this book, you will LYAO, and his new book "Medium Raw" is even funnier!

   I read a book by Jason Sheean that was also a 'tell all" book about life in the biz. It was outrageous to say the least. Almost the story of my life. I will check out Tony Bordain's books as soon as I have some time off. This time of year, I work up to 60 hours per week because of the tourist trade.

  David O.

  Just a short compendium of the volume of product we put out this week because of our "fame." 

  6,000 eggs, all cracked by hand
  80 lbs. yellow cheddar cheese
  40 lbs. American cheese
  60 lbs. Swiss cheese
  150 gallons whole milk
  33 cases of hash browns
  20 cases of home fries
  190 home made Philly rolls
  Too many burgers to count etc...

  Apparently the tourist trade in Alaska has improved with the notoriety of Sarah Palin. Especially here in Wasilla.

  David O.
 
 

Thats Insane!

  That was just a short list. I could go on and on!!!

  David O.

What was your weekly volume on those items a year ago?

MiamiDon


What was your weekly volume on those items a year ago?

   About 1/3 more volume than last year as we added another dining room that seats 100 more. Our seating capacity is now 300.

  David O.