If you were going to open a restaurant...

Gloomtastic!

If you were going to open a restaurant, what kind of restaurant would it be?

Me? I'd open a diner that served fantastic breakfasts, great burgers/ribs/wings/pizzas and chocolate malts to die for.

What about you?

dee_mc

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

If you were going to open a restaurant, what kind of restaurant would it be?

Me? I'd open a diner that served fantastic breakfasts, great burgers/ribs/wings/pizzas and chocolate malts to die for.

What about you?

Brilliant question!

I'd open a café with a health aspect - good home cooking, interesting ingredients and combinations, excellent coffees and cakes, plenty of options for people with different dietary needs, maybe even themed evenings...
And on my day off I'd eat at your place Gloomtastic!

Loire

As much as I'm beginning to love food and understand it a bit more, I don't think I would ever do it professionally - it would become a chore. Knowing how hard it is to feed my family day in, day out, mucho respect for feeding the masses, especially when they are paying for it.

A small little coffee shop when I'm older could be fun, but I would hate to depend on it financially.

Animord

Loire wrote: »

As much as I'm beginning to love food and understand it a bit more, I don't think I would ever do it professionally - it would become a chore. Knowing how hard it is to feed my family day in, day out, mucho respect for feeding the masses, especially when they are paying for it.

A small little coffee shop when I'm older could be fun, but I would hate to depend on it financially.

I have worked as a chef. 50 odd covers a night and I have three words for you. DON'T DO IT.

It nearly killed me.

Loire

Animord wrote: »

I have worked as a chef. 50 odd covers a night and I have three words for you. DON'T DO IT.

It nearly killed me.

Closest I came to it was working in a chipper in college. It was great fun at the time but getting home at 4am was a bit of a pain. The one upside though was the "beer-for-chips deal" we had with the pub next door!! (That's what kept us there till 4am!)

gg2

Loire wrote: »

As much as I'm beginning to love food and understand it a bit more, I don't think I would ever do it professionally - it would become a chore. Knowing how hard it is to feed my family day in, day out, mucho respect for feeding the masses, especially when they are paying for it.

A small little coffee shop when I'm older could be fun, but I would hate to depend on it financially.

My OH and my family have been trying to get me to get me to go back to college to "go pro", I can't get them to understand how much I would absolutely hate it, cooking has a calming effect on me, I love to cook for my family and friends because I love to see them enjoy something I've made, I wouldn't appreciate doing it for stangers and being paid for it, I would have no interest in it whatsoever.
However if I ever won the lotto I would open a restaurant like the Cheesecake Factory, design the menu and hand it to a team of wonderful chefs to take care of it, have lovely friendly staff and management and I could just sit outside (but obviously inside the actual restaurant stuffing my face).

I've also always wanted to run a coffee shop/second hand bookshop but to be honest it's just something thats in my head... I think if I had the money it's still something I wouldn't go through with, it's just something I romanticize in my head

Merkin

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

If you were going to open a restaurant, what kind of restaurant would it be?

Me? I'd open a diner that served fantastic breakfasts, great burgers/ribs/wings/pizzas and chocolate malts to die for.

What about you?

I'd open a really fabulous tapas place! I love nibbling on lots of different delights and I like the sharing, inclusive aspect to it as well. I love the Port House so something along those lines, nyumsome!

Mrs Fox

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

If you were going to open a restaurant, what kind of restaurant would it be?

Me? I'd open a diner that served fantastic breakfasts, great burgers/ribs/wings/pizzas and chocolate malts to die for.

What about you?

Wings. ONLY wings.
Well, and sides to go with.
(By then) I'd have a perfect rub that would be the base of the wings, and you can choose the sort of sauce to coat/dip the wings.

Lovely Bloke

My best mate is a chef, co-head chef in a pretty decent Dublin restaurant. I'd never in a million years do it. Late night hours, thankless overtime.

It gets to him sometimes, he has a pretty curtailed social life as he works til about midnight Friday and Saturdays, every second Sunday too, and he then has 2 days off midweek. Those of us with 9-5 jobs and/or families can't go out with him for a weekend style night during the week.

He's not had any kind of relationship either, and I know that really gets to him.

Gloomtastic!

Late nights? Sod that, I'd do the breakfast shift and leave the nights to others.

MissFlitworth

Donuts. I'd make & sell all sorts of donuts. Occasionally I daydream about it and look up recipes for yeast donuts and track down impressively sprinkley sprinkles but there's just no way. I have a habit of totting up costs when I visit cafes and I have no idea how anyone makes any money selling food (insurance, equipment, rent, rates, stock, wages. Would have to be churning out some amount of donuts to cover that). Also I've worked in kitchens before, albeit cr*ppy pub/fast food ones, and I have had my fill of burns & other wounds.

If I had loads of money and making a living wasn't a consideration I probably would though.

dee_mc

MissFlitworth wrote: »

If I had loads of money and making a living wasn't a consideration I probably would though.

That's the key, isn't it! If it was risk free and I could employ someone to look after the horrible number-ey bits, I'd be right in there!

Mr Simpson

I've worked in the food business from when I was 15 until this year, spent 6 years in total in Cathal Brugha Street. 2013 everything changed and I now work in an office. I'd never work for anyone else in the food business, If I was to do anything I'd like to own a gourmet takeaway or craft beer gastropub

Dizzyblonde

I couldn't imagine anything worse than being under pressure to provide food in large quantities for people I don't know. It wouldn't appeal to me at all.

Mr Simpson

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

I couldn't imagine anything worse than being under pressure to provide food in large quantities for people I don't know. It wouldn't appeal to me at all.

It has its moments

Markcheese

There's a reason why the country is full of ex-chefs... also very hard for chefs/cooks bakers to run kitchen and front of house,as well as the finances ...

IvyTheTerrible

I'd never do it (even if I was good enough).
My sister qualified as a chef, she worked at it for a few years and I saw how she had no life, poor pay, stress, etc etc.
She now works 9-5 and is much happier.

Malari

I'd love to do the small cafe/bakery with book shop idea. But again, not to make a living, just to potter. The thought of HAVING to bake the same things every day is just awful to think about, as much as I adore it when the mood takes me.

the beer revolu

This should really have had its own thread!

I did work in a professional (fairly swanky at the time) kitchen for about 6 months in the early 80s. While I learned a lot, I don't remember enjoying a moment of it.

Some years ago for some stupid reason, I did consider doing a kind of casual eating stew cafe/restaurant. The idea was that it would be cheap, well cooked, simple but interesting food - think of a menu with maybe 3 rotating stews, decent bread, plain salads and inexpensive wine and beer with bench tables.
I got sense and scrapped the idea.

I could imaging doing homestyle ready meals but whenever any company does this, they grow to a certain stage and then always outsource the cooking of the meals.

The only way I would consider a more fine dining type restaurant would be one with one evening sitting and a fixed menu - probably a pretty hard sell and would need to be very expensive to work.

But overall, like a lot of other posters, I love cooking for my family and friends and have no real wish to turn that into a commercial thing.

Animord

There used to be a restaurant in Ballyconneely that had one sitting. It was a woman who owned/ran it, I can't remember her name. She cooked what her brother brought in on his fishing boat. It was really good. But no choice - you got what she gave you.

Sally Clarke does that in London too, and is famous for it. No choice - people love it.

EDIT: Well apparently people didn't love it that much because I see she now offers choice...

http://www.sallyclarke.com/restaurant.php

Malari

That's the way Napoli Italian deli in Cork operates too - they do a 3 or 4 course set menu and you eat what you are given. I love it. I so often have to resort to kicking myself for making the wrong choice in other restaurants

iwantmydinner

Malari wrote: »

That's the way Napoli Italian deli in Cork operates too - they do a 3 or 4 course set menu and you eat what you are given. I love it. I so often have to resort to kicking myself for making the wrong choice in other restaurants

Food envy is the WORST.

Malari

iwantmydinner wrote: »

Food envy is the WORST.

I know! Especially when you don't want to order the same thing and you do the "no, YOU order it, I'll get the <insert second option>" dance! :rolleyes:

Pigwidgeon

I'm currently working as a pastry chef in a large hotel. I absolutely love it, yes it has its ups and downs and can get very stressful but I think it's worth it. I get such a rush from doing a dinner service of 120 people, once you're Prepared and have everything ready service is amazing it's trying to do prep and service that's a nightmare. I can't believe how much I've learned in just 7 months in this current time job, I can now make chocolates, macarons, serve plated banquets and so much more, before here I was just in a small gastropub so it was completely different. Thats what I love every day and every kitchen is different you'll never be finished learning. While I know the hours are awful and it sucks missing virtually every holiday I wouldn't do anything else. I'd rather this life where I love what I do than work 9-5 and live only for the weekends.

On the original question, someday I'd love to own my own place, in my head now it'd be a patisserie serving great coffees, desserts and sweets. Maybe in the future, I'm still only starting out after all!

iwantmydinner

Malari wrote: »

I know! Especially when you don't want to order the same thing and you do the "no, YOU order it, I'll get the <insert second option>" dance! :rolleyes:

Now I just go right ahead and order the first option, every time. I don't care if every other person at the table is also having it, it's MINE.

MissFlitworth

iwantmydinner wrote: »

Now I just go right ahead and order the first option, every time. I don't care if every other person at the table is also having it, it's MINE.

I've never, ever understood the 'We can't all order the same thing' thing. Some of my friends do it and initially I used to change my order if they really wanted something and were all sad-faced about not getting it & being brave about ordering something less appealling sounding but now that I've decided it's a mad way to behave when you eat out I sort of just behave very selfishly. Sorry, friends. I think the idea is that we all get to taste something different off each others plate but I <hyperbole> hate </hyperbole> that.

Malari

MissFlitworth wrote: »

I've never, ever understood the 'We can't all order the same thing' thing. Some of my friends do it and initially I used to change my order if they really wanted something and were all sad-faced about not getting it & being brave about ordering something less appealling sounding but now that I've decided it's a mad way to behave when you eat out I sort of just behave very selfishly. Sorry, friends. I think the idea is that we all get to taste something different off each others plate but I <hyperbole> hate </hyperbole> that.

I think part of it is just that I can't decide and I'd love to try more than one dish, so if the other person doesn't order it then I foolishly order it and end up regretting

My boyfriend is convinced this a woman thing, and the reason why "trios" of deserts are popular is that women always want a small bit of everything.

Animord

I read a funny article about it once. they said that people all order different things because they don't want to look like sheep all eating the same. So one person gets what they want and the other three (say) end up eating something they didn't really want in the first place

What a waste! If I am paying someone else to cook for me then I am d*mn well having EXACTLY what I want!

hardCopy

The heat would kill me in a pro kitchen.

When I worked as a lounge boy I'd be asked to go into the kitchen and slice lemons for mixers. I used to grab a knife and board from the kitchen and take them down to the keg room to do the slicing, I couldn't hang around for more than a few minutes.

The worst thing I ever saw was when I worked as a bus-boy in Chicago and the a/c blew in the middle of a heat wave. Staff were passing out in the restaurant and taking turns cooling off in the walk-in freezer, yet the Mexican lads in the back were happy to work away with one fan in a massive busy kitchen. I could barely walk through the kitchen that day.

The Hill Billy

the beer revolu wrote: »

This should really have had its own thread!

Good idea. Done.

tHB

Minder

I'd open some sort of pan Asian resso. The sort of place that serves Japanese, Thai, Korean and Vietnamese food with the odd curry thrown in. Big central bar in the middle of the floor with a large robata grill. Lots of polished wood and leather stools. I would manage the whole operation but leave the cooking to the experts. I'd also employ lots of bright, shiny, happy people to do front of house.

Markcheese

Minder wrote: »

I'd open some sort of pan Asian resso. The sort of place that serves Japanese, Thai, Korean and Vietnamese food with the odd curry thrown in. Big central bar in the middle of the floor with a large robata grill. Lots of polished wood and leather stools. I would manage the whole operation but leave the cooking to the experts. I'd also employ lots of bright, shiny, happy people to do front of
house.

Not quite your ideal but an interesting Korean/Japanese /local boozer near parnell square in dublin, (don't know the actual street). It's called Kim chi .. Ate there before Christmas, not flash and polished but seriously cool ..

MissFlitworth

Minder wrote: »

I'd open some sort of pan Asian resso. The sort of place that serves Japanese, Thai, Korean and Vietnamese food with the odd curry thrown in. Big central bar in the middle of the floor with a large robata grill. Lots of polished wood and leather stools. I would manage the whole operation but leave the cooking to the experts. I'd also employ lots of bright, shiny, happy people to do front of house.

Speaking of pan Asian (the rubbish ones, yours would be amazing) restaurants though, this made me snort unattractively on The Oatmeal this week

Alun

There's a place like that here in Bray called the Sanam "Multi-Cuisine" ... Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Burgers, Southern Fried Chicken. :eek:

Tiddlypeeps

I'd probably hate to work in a professional kitchen but if I were to do something like that it would probably be a proper BBQ place, sort of like the food from the Bison bar in Dublin but in a much nicer setting, loads of different slow roasted meats served in giant portions of deliciousness.

That or a Denny's style restaurant. There are pretty much no decent breakfast places in Dublin. When I lived in Carlow the Eddie Rockets did a great breakfast menu, french toast, home fries, pancakes and typical fry type stuff. But none of the Eddie Rockets I've been too in Dublin seem to do that and I don't think there are any/many other places like it.

MissFlitworth

Thinking of it, if money wasn't a problem and I wasn't required to work in the kitchen except when I wanted to and the Grease Trap, gunk in the plug hole, dealing with anything on my 'gross list' etc. was someone elses problem what I would like is to discover a corner of the country where it is always a gorgeous, warm Spring day. I'd like a beautiful building right on the coast, with a terrace overlooking the sea, like so



and we would serve a menu of Tacos, margaritas and nice beers. Followed by donuts.

Minder

Alun wrote: »

There's a place like that here in Bray called the Sanam "Multi-Cuisine" ... Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Burgers, Southern Fried Chicken. :eek:

I was think more Roka than Jasmine House meets KFC

Loire

MissFlitworth wrote: »

Thinking of it, if money wasn't a problem and I wasn't required to work in the kitchen except when I wanted to and the Grease Trap, gunk in the plug hole, dealing with anything on my 'gross list' etc. was someone elses problem what I would like is to discover a corner of the country where it is always a gorgeous, warm Spring day. I'd like a beautiful building right on the coast, with a terrace overlooking the sea, like so



and we would serve a menu of Tacos, margaritas and nice beers. Followed by donuts.

I would get SO hammered at that bar

genuine leather

A cool beer and mexican taco please Miss F...... im there ...mmmm

MissFlitworth

Loire wrote: »

I would get SO hammered at that bar

Be careful around those railings you...

I'd be a mess too, probably another reason why I shouldn't own a restaurant, I'd drink the stock.

genuine leather wrote: »

A cool beer and mexican taco please Miss F...... im there ...mmmm

On it!

Loire

It's aimed at men, but some classy places here also: http://gallivant.com/scarf

Loire

MissFlitworth wrote: »

Be careful around those railings you...

It's a real "James Bond" bar. A tux, an Omega, a pair of ladies and a vodka martini. Hey Ho

The Hill Billy

If I were to cook for a living I'd like to be dishing out a refined version of good ol' peasant food. Seasonal to the max & making the best use of the less common cuts of meat, offal, game &, as far as possible, locally sourced veg.

Loire

The Hill Billy wrote: »

If I were to cook for a living I'd like to be dishing out a refined version of good ol' peasant food. Seasonal to the max & making the best use of the less common cuts of meat, offal, game &, as far as possible, locally sourced veg.

Kinda like Bistro cooking in France?

Bassfish

My food business fantasy is to open a stall/van specialising in soups. I've been to loads of farmers markets and have rarely seen anything like what I've had in mind. I would have a choice of three soups like a French onion soup, Thai chicken noodle soup or chestnut and mushroom all served with a choice of crusty parisienne bread or brown soda bread.
That's my little fantasy but alas the need for a steady income to pay the bills will see it unrealised.

hardCopy

MissFlitworth wrote: »

I'd be a mess too, probably another reason why I shouldn't own a restaurant, I'd drink the stock.

Chicken stock or beef stock?

The Hill Billy

Loire wrote: »

Kinda like Bistro cooking in France?

Possibly. It has been quite a few years since I've been to France. I only remember eating in rip-off joints in Paris the few times I was there. And was too inebriated on fines wine & cognac when I travelled around Bordeaux to remember much at all.

MissFlitworth

hardCopy wrote: »

Chicken stock or beef stock?

I do like to be classy, nothing but the finest veal stock for me

Muahahaha

I worked front of house in bars and restaurants for years in my 20s but like many got tired of the unsocial hours, nowadays I work from home and choose my own hours which gives me ample time to fantasise about one day opening up my own restaurant.
For me, a passionate carnivore, the only restaurant I'd be interesting in opening is an Argentinian one. I spent six weeks in Patagonia a few years back and during that time me and three foodie friends had what we all call some of the best meals of our lives. If you're a fan of red meat there is no better place in the world to eat out than Argentinia.

There was one particular restaurant we visited that I would love to emulate. When you arrived at this restaurant the entire shop front on the street was a floor to ceiling cube shaped glass BBQ room, approx 16sqm in size. In the middle of the glass room was a massive BBQ pit on the ground packed full of burning embers. Over the pit strapped to metal racks were the entire carcasses of several Patagonian lambs, sides of beef and a couple of suckling pigs all which were slow cooking over hours above the pit. The four of us stood out in the street for several minutes literally salivating over the lamb cooking in the window, with the juices and fat of the meats dripping off and spitting into the fire below. We hadn't even entered the restaurant and already we knew it was going to be a great meal. We then walked inside with the cubed glass BBQ room to our right, as we did so a chef entered the room and just touched his knife to some lamb to get it to fall off the bone and into a bowl below. The excitement was reaching fever pitch, four carnivores were going for a feast ! Through the door to the right was the biggest BBQ grill I've ever seen, it was about 15m in length and had 8 chefs working at it, constantly turning a huge range of steaks of all cuts. The aroma in the room was just to die for, plumes of charcoal and hard wood smoke rose up into the canopy above. There was a real sense of urgency among the chefs and it was a very busy operation.

I won't bore ye with the details of the meal except to say it was divine. But on top of the meal what has always been memorable for me was the way in which the design of the restaurant impacted so heavily on the experience. Before we even entered our taste buds were stimulated by our eyes by gazing into the BBQ pit room, upon entry there was an explosion of sensory perception with the smells and sounds of the huge BBQ grill. We were totally stimulated by the time we had sat down at the table, at that stage they could have brought out fried mice tails and we would have devoured them !

I'd love to recreate something similar here, with the entire front of the restaurant being a glass BBQ room with meats cooking on it facing out into the street. I've no doubt that such a spectacle would make passers by stop and gaze at what could be their dinner 5 minutes later, step right in ladies and gentlemen !

funkey_monkey

I'd open a restaurant that served something other than pasta or risotto for the non meat eaters

Pang

I think my restaurant/cafe would be themed around eggs. I absolutely adore poached eggs. I would eat them every day if I could!

If that didn't work out, I would love to open a French styled patisserie that specialises in different types and flavours of eclairs.