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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?

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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.