B.R. Guest
Interesting story in the Post about restaurateurs at Upper East Side Jovia, who are circulating questionnaires to get diner feedback about their new Italian restaurant. Not the worst idea in the world. Much more interesting though, is that Stephen Hanson of the huge B.R. Guest restaurant conglomerate has this to say about the surveys:
Stephen Hanson, whose B.R. Guest opens at least one new place a year and has thousands of seats at the likes of Dos Caminos and Ruby Foo's, praised the Loffredos as "superior, successful operators" but questions the questionnaires' value.
"I don't know if it's a smart idea to ask the customer," the way it's being done at Jovia, Hanson says. "To me, it shows signs of weakness — what should we be?
Funny, cause I just dined at his new Barça 18 restaurant at Park Avenue and 18th Street--and guess what I got at the end of the meal? A comment card! Not quite the same as a survey, but it seems that Stephen is being a tad too critical given his own restaurant's practices.
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The comment card was a lame. You could tell the server was a little embarrassed to give it out.
Enough about Manhattan already.
OOh--a Manhattan hater! You will notice that I tied our LES experience in with a Red Hook club, The Hook, but it's true: I do sometimes write about stuff that happens to me in Manhattan. I try to keep it to a minimum. Think of this post as one more reason never to have a drink outside of Brooklyn.