Opening Soon

It's no longer just about food and service. A new
restaurant's success often depends on the buzz it creates before the doors have even opened.

By Jamie Maw

TEN YEARS AGO a would-be restaurateur might find a piece of real estate, decorate it, hire a name chef and open the doors. If there was any money left in the kitty, he might even hire a PR person to throw an opening party (although it was Hy Aisenstat who once said, “It don’t take much jiz to give away free drinks”), and then the next night (and, he hoped, for nights ever after) serve us dinner.

If the mentality of the day was “build it and they might or might not come,” then success was measured over the long term, based on word-of-mouth reputation. Take a charismatic host—say, Umberto Menghi—add fawning media and a few awards strewn in his wake and you had a fighting chance. The key to building business was staying front-of-mind for potential customers.

Then upstart Rob Feenie shook the old school, hard. Only a decade has passed since Feenie opened his iconic Lumière opposite a Kentucky Fried Chicken. He served a quality product to be sure, but also marketed himself and his restaurant relentlessly, along the way publishing cookbooks and starring in a popular television show that drew new customers from across the country. To cover himself downstream after the opening of his prêt-a-manger brand called Feenie’s, he even did ads for White Spot and appeared on the backs of buses.

Two years ago, another upstart adopted a new business model, as much by fluke as by plan. Chambar, owned by a skilled chef, Nico Schuermans, and his gifted wife, Karri, opened on a forlorn stretch of Beatty Street in an area that condo marketing gurus were hopefully branding “Crosstown.” Decorating their heritage space attractively, but on a shoestring, the pair set out a business plan designed to gain attention by conventional means—cool rooms, great bar action, terrific food cheerily served and, hopefully, some media awards. But months before they opened, all hell broke loose. In May of 2004, I published Chambar’s trial menu on a culinary website called eGullet. The resulting thread of Internet conversation fuelled a frenzy so rabid (and speculative) that shortly after the restaurant’s post-Labour Day opening, the tsunami of diners threatened service standards and, at least temporarily, overwhelmed the kitchen’s delivery of signature moules frites and lamb tagine. Success was quickly written; about 18 months after opening, the Schuermans were in a position to buy out their investors.

If Chambar was perhaps the most anticipated restaurant ever to open in Vancouver, it would also become an unwitting model for “Opening Soon” blogs. Contrived by restaurateurs as diverse as Sean Heather (The Irish Heather, Salty Tongue, Shebeen et al), Brian Fowke (Rare One), and Tom Doughty of the soon-to-open Fuel, these blogs were added to restaurant websites, or started in culinary websites such as eGullet, WaiterForum and Urbandiner.

These blogs take the food-obsessed through the travails of real estate deals, renovation and licensing hazards, physical exhaustion and emotional upheaval. More importantly, they take foodies inside, so that they feel let in on trade secrets. They feel empowered, and ultimately gain a sense of ownership in the project. Importantly for the restaurateur, the blogs provide a platform of eager customers on opening night. Forget old school marketing and expensive public relations tactics, and even artfully created websites: blogs are essentially free and easy.

For Tom Doughty and his partner Robert Belcham (both formerly of C and Nu restaurants), the building of their new West Fourth casual spot, Fuel, has gone relatively smoothly. But Doughty began a discussion on the industry-heavy website Waiterforum requesting assistance on a list of items from coffee suppliers to point-of-sale manufacturers, linens and flatware, even accountants and lawyers. (The largest response was about the style of music they should play and the uniforms servers should wear.) Some 3,000 people have read the discussion thread thus far, with about 90 percent of respondents posting suggestions. Expect many more when the restaurant opens and brings critiques online. Doughty said in the forum, “Thank you so much for all your insight already. The support has been overwhelming. If you are in the neighbourhood, come by for a virtual tour. I say virtual because you have to use a lot of imagination right now!” This was six weeks prior to opening.

“It was very helpful in terms of getting our name out there—as much for marketing as for seeking information,” Doughty says now, implying that he and Belcham probably already knew where to buy their coffee. This directed form of promotion, which talks to a knowledgeable focus group of opinion-makers, will ultimately deliver bums in seats. Old-school “branding” is out; for restaurants these days it’s all about “community building.”

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