Some Scattered Thoughts While Staring Down Retirement from the Restaurant Business Again

La Cucina, 1990

Despite the evolving definition of professionalism in the restaurant industry, poor customer service and unfriendly reservation policies can be disappointing. On the other hand, good service can foster loyalty, leading to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth. Whenever I visit certain restaurants, I am reminded of how much I dislike uninterested service and how this must make other customers feel, even if the food is excellent. Once you have worked in both a chef's and a food writer's capacity, you always remember the importance of viewing things from both perspectives. I have spent most of the last two decades of my career in both aspects of this field. No one misses those ambitious, impervious, self-absorbed, and over-priced restaurants with their complacent amateurism and culture of oblivious mediocrity.

At the risk of repeating myself, the food media are necessary members of the culinary community. Like any thoughtful patron, I want to bring appreciation and sensibility to the table. But the food media's mission goes beyond that. We must pass our unbiased impressions on to the readers while alerting the dining public to the diversity of choice on the culinary scene.

As food writers, we must represent our community's diversity and showcase often overlooked cuisines. It's our responsibility to broaden our readers' culinary horizons and bring attention to restaurants on the fringe. We should also include marginalized cuisines in our conversations and give them the recognition they deserve. Doing so contributes to a more inclusive and divergent food culture. I think about this a lot.

Retirement

Despite developing what I thought would be a graceful exit strategy, I have yet to retire from the restaurant business. It will be a few more months before I can move forward. Operating a restaurant requires a lot of physical stamina, dedication, passion, and reserves of undeserved patience.

Many of you know I retired from the restaurant business for fifteen years. I made my living by writing about restaurants' food culture and as a food editor with years of experience in the restaurant and hospitality industry, as a chef, restaurateur and business consultant. I helped shaped Eat Drink Magazine and the Local Flavour both under my byline and behind the scenes. I understand the complexities of the restaurant business and small business start-ups.

But my most ardent love, besides my homelife, is writing essays and short fiction, especially memoirs. I have not had the same writing time in the last six months, which has been frustrating but necessary as I have been navigating the bureaucracy of the death of my Aunt and a good friend. The arduous tasks of both deaths and the red tape could not be more disparate, leaving little time for grief, introspection or a proper night's sleep.

Wholeheartedly, I vowed I would never return to the insanity of the restaurant business with its brutal hours and excessive pressures. What I learned is never to say never. As I get older, I become malcontent when I have to deal with the public's lack of discernment and respect for the restaurant business and its workers.

When my friend and colleague Manuela had the opportunity to purchase Blackfriars from my original business partner, Betty, I thought it would be a temporary commitment to help her get things on track. I naively anticipated my involvement would be no longer than six months. However, the business grew and expanded, and COVID-19 made us pivot, giving me a new platform for all my culinary endeavors and the opportunity to amalgamate several business ventures and charitable initiatives despite all the restaurant industry's challenges. I found a source of energy that I believed no longer existed. But, of course, the energy needed to accomplish everything is unsustainable. Fortunately, I have a partner, family, and steadfast friends who support me in almost everything I do.

In 1909, Harry Gordon Selfridge, an American business magnate who earned his fortune with a retail store in London, England, coined the phrase "The customer is always right." The quote is, "Right or wrong, the customer is always right." This phrase quickly became the mantra of business and the hallmark of stellar customer service. I believed it for many years; in many ways, it was a guiding principle of customer service for those in the restaurant business. Since the onset of COVID-19, the adage that the customer is always right has become positively prehistoric.

Customer's entitlement mentality has been at an all-time high. I have even resorted to barring badly behaved patrons from the restaurant.

Incidentally, Valentine's Day was the 28th anniversary of Blackfriars Bistro, and despite our vigilance, there were reservation no-shows without explanations and last-minute cancellations. And please don't suggest that we take a deposit to secure reservations; it simply does not work. (If I had a dollar every time, this was offered as a solution.)

I also had a side hustle developing and facilitating food and drink experiences and culinary start-ups until COVID-19 put the kibosh on that. The year before COVID-19, my nephew and I won a prestigious Culinary Tourism Experience award against some heavy hitters in the industry. This past year, I co-developed a Scratch Bakery and Patisserie Trail for Downtown London alongside my longtime friend and colleague Kathy McLaughlin. It is an experience that I am proud of and hope to expand on this spring. When I say I am retiring, I mean from the restaurant business; my nature is too entrepreneurial and restless to sit at home when I am not writing or doing something I consider inherently productive. BL