How Being Named the 'Best New Restaurant in America' Hurt My Business • Hacker News Board

Re: How Being Named the 'Best New Restaurant in America' Hurt My Business

#101

Post by vacri » Mon, Dec 21, 2015, 3:45 AM UTC

ufmace wrote: post #90

foobarian wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All this complaining about wine from this place or that not pairing with the food to me just proves the point that the expectations of the restaurant are too high because of the press. It was not supposed to be a world class restaurant, it was supposed to be a Denny's. You don't expect a similar experience in a Denny's or Olive Garden.

I'm sympathetic to the idea of them being a Denny's instead of a Michelin 5-star place, but then, you don't typically have wine tasting menus pairing dishes with selected wines at Denny's. If anything, it's more of a make up your mind about what kind of place you are thing. It's fine to be a Denny's, but you're going to have trouble if you try to court foodie attention and don't live up to the standards that that cro…

Michelin only goes up to 3 stars, but still, it's rampant polarisation to suggest that there are basically only the two options to eating out. There's absolutely nothing wrong with having a tasting menu and at the same time not trying for Michelin stars and having cloth on the tables.

Re: How Being Named the 'Best New Restaurant in America' Hurt My Business

#102

Post by eridius » Mon, Dec 21, 2015, 3:48 AM UTC

jonnathanson wrote: post #75

eridius wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you call ahead? It's a reservation! By definition, you have already called ahead! I have never in my life heard of anyone calling ahead to check on their reservation.

Depends on how far in advance the customer made the reservation. I sometimes call places to double-check, particularly if I placed the reservation weeks in advance. Also worth noting is that I live in LA, where Alma is (was). LA is basically a "nothing is set until you call to confirm it" kind of town. It's the entertainment industry culture, and its effect on places like hotels and restaurants. There is always a dan…

My wife grew up in LA and she had the same reaction I did.

Re: How Being Named the 'Best New Restaurant in America' Hurt My Business

#103

Post by ghshephard » Mon, Dec 21, 2015, 4:00 AM UTC

downandout wrote: post #66

gyardley wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, it's possible that the commenter had an unusual palate and he got some perfectly fine pairings that didn't work for him and him alone. Or it's possible that the pairings were selected lackadaisically or to reduce some inventory, and he really did get ripped off - which does happen. It's impossible for either of us to tell. I am curious, though, why you seem so insistent that it's the commenter at fault, to the po…

>Do you really think there's no way for a restaurant to screw up a wine pairing? I guess I don't think it's that important of an issue regardless of whether it was screwed up or not - certainly not enough to publicly cheer the demise of someone's business. There are reasons that some restaurants should be closed. Food handling practices that endanger public health is one example. Serving wine from the wrong part of E…

If you were served some fresh lake trout, and the restaurant paired it with a rich malbec - you honestly don't think that sort of behavior isn't the sort of thing that you should warn other people to stay away from?

Re: How Being Named the 'Best New Restaurant in America' Hurt My Business

#104

Post by Mikeb85 » Mon, Dec 21, 2015, 4:03 AM UTC

ufmace wrote: post #89

downandout wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bad Yelp ratings routinely destroy businesses (which usually function as the livelihood of the owner(s)). When OP said "good riddance," he was saying that he was happy to see the demise of this restaurant because he disliked the part of Europe his wine was from. IMO, that is the kind of "extreme overreaction" you are referring to.

I'm gonna go with stormbrew on this one. You say "destroy business" and destroy livelihood as if this guy is going to be kicked out on the streets because his business didn't work out. Give me a break - yeah, it's sad for him that his business failed, but I'm sure he'll find another upper-middle class job soon. Being a special snowflake founder doesn't excuse him from being criticized about running a fine-dining esta…

Please, restaurant jobs are blue collar, working class jobs. Even operating a restaurant is long, hard labour. Most restaurant owner/operators I know work 12 hour days, 6-7 days per week, and if they were to go bankrupt, certainly wouldn't be able to just jump to the next project...

Capital doesn't simply line up for restaurateurs because there is no big exit. The most you can hope for is to make a profit by the time your lease runs out, and maybe pay yourself a salary.

Re: How Being Named the 'Best New Restaurant in America' Hurt My Business

#105

Post by vacri » Mon, Dec 21, 2015, 4:07 AM UTC

zappo2938 wrote: post #46

striking wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also a historic piece of cinematography with a world that feels vast and immersive to its fans. (I'm not one, but I am empathetic enough to imagine how they feel.) Objectively it's not perfect, but every movie means something different to everyone and registers on a different level with each person. So you're free to criticize it and rate it based on how well or poorly it portrays the things you think it stands…

Star Wars is for children and always have been. If a bunch of adults complain that the films don't speak to them, there is something very wrong with their state of maturity. I wasn't passing judgement on the films whether they were good or bad. I was pointing out like the chef, after Lucas gained popularity, people started to attack him and his films with harsh criticism. Maybe the criticism of the chef is legitimate…

> Star Wars is for children and always have been.

Ah, so the cowardly Japanese business guy stereotype complete with stupid accent, that's okay, because the film 'is for children'?

The concept that the Star Wars films are just for children is just nonsense that is meant to deflect criticism. They're clearly meant to appeal to all ages. Hell, the new star wars film is rated PG-13 (as was the previous one); children aren't supposed to be able to watch it.

Re: How Being Named the 'Best New Restaurant in America' Hurt My Business

#106

Post by nchelluri » Mon, Dec 21, 2015, 4:12 AM UTC

rbritton wrote: post #96

moron4hire wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've generally been growing to the idea that I want to hear all criticism towards my projects, whether it's good or bad, whether it's constructive or not. People suck at communicating, but when they leave criticism, there is always a reason somewhere at the core. It's the old saying that it is apathy, not hate, that is the opposite of love. So when people are heaping hate on one of my projects, I am now starting to t…

I tend to be in the same boat, but I feel there's an important caveat: the person providing the criticism needs to be reachable if the criticism itself lacks substance. A complaint just for the sake of venting does no good. Take, for example, a recent review on my iPad app: As a creative professional I can tell you that this is junk. Today I had an important meeting and this app acted up to the point the client laugh…

Jeez, that sounds like a very modern and frustrating problem.

Re: How Being Named the 'Best New Restaurant in America' Hurt My Business

#107

Post by somberi » Mon, Dec 21, 2015, 4:29 AM UTC

From a recent article in Vanity Fair about how some chefs are surrendering their Michelin stars, as they pigeonhole the chefs.

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/09/top-chefs-michelin...

I do feel bad that they had to shutdown, but I suspect the same thing that hurt them (the accolades) also helped them to land a gig in The Standard. I consider this a success for a young chef, even if it arrived via a perceived failure.

Re: How Being Named the 'Best New Restaurant in America' Hurt My Business

#108

Post by Vexs » Mon, Dec 21, 2015, 4:42 AM UTC

rbritton wrote: post #96

moron4hire wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've generally been growing to the idea that I want to hear all criticism towards my projects, whether it's good or bad, whether it's constructive or not. People suck at communicating, but when they leave criticism, there is always a reason somewhere at the core. It's the old saying that it is apathy, not hate, that is the opposite of love. So when people are heaping hate on one of my projects, I am now starting to t…

I tend to be in the same boat, but I feel there's an important caveat: the person providing the criticism needs to be reachable if the criticism itself lacks substance. A complaint just for the sake of venting does no good. Take, for example, a recent review on my iPad app: As a creative professional I can tell you that this is junk. Today I had an important meeting and this app acted up to the point the client laugh…

That's one of the best parts of the google play store; the developer can directly respond to a review. It's pretty handy, and to me, as a user, it says the app is actively being worked on.

Re: How Being Named the 'Best New Restaurant in America' Hurt My Business

#109

Post by ajmurmann » Mon, Dec 21, 2015, 5:10 AM UTC

logn wrote: post #92

People go to restaurants for lots of different reasons. That's what a 5-star rating system doesn't capture. I think simply rating "I am/not likely to eat there again" would be more appropriate. A site could aggregate enough of that data to find users with similar tastes to you. I.e., Yelp should be more like Pandora and less like Rolling Stone. I don't know anything about this particular restaurant but it seems like…

This actually is a huge pet peeve of mine. It's most obvious with extendingl extremely specific needs like vegetarians for example. It drives me nuts when I read yelp reviews that rate a restaurant low because they don't offer good vegetarian alternatives. It is obviously an issue, but it should be trivial for yelp to exclude that recite from the rating that they show to non-vegetarians. Less obvious examples that are a related but different issues are reviews by people who clearly don't know what they are talking about. Looking at reviews of high end Spanish restaurants in the Basque country, I really don't care about reviews that start out with "This was my first visit to a restaurant with a Michelin star...". I'm not trying to be snobby, but I'd much rather have the review by someone who had been to a ton of then in the same area weighed much higher.

Edit: I wonder if there is a great opportunity for some disruption here. Well be tough do to overcome yelps moat. I would love to work on this!

Re: How Being Named the 'Best New Restaurant in America' Hurt My Business

#110

Post by cwyers » Mon, Dec 21, 2015, 5:49 AM UTC

downandout wrote: post #66

gyardley wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, it's possible that the commenter had an unusual palate and he got some perfectly fine pairings that didn't work for him and him alone. Or it's possible that the pairings were selected lackadaisically or to reduce some inventory, and he really did get ripped off - which does happen. It's impossible for either of us to tell. I am curious, though, why you seem so insistent that it's the commenter at fault, to the po…

>Do you really think there's no way for a restaurant to screw up a wine pairing? I guess I don't think it's that important of an issue regardless of whether it was screwed up or not - certainly not enough to publicly cheer the demise of someone's business. There are reasons that some restaurants should be closed. Food handling practices that endanger public health is one example. Serving wine from the wrong part of E…

It's a tasting menu. The point of it is to taste good. You don't get to pick and choose, the restaurant picks everything. If they don't do a good job of pairing wine with the food on a tasting menu, customers won't be satisfied. If the restaraunteur responds to customers not liking the wine pairings by blaming them for posting bad Yelp reviews rather than changing the wine pairings, well, there's some natural consequences to that.