What Does it Take to Make a (Great) Chicago Restaurant?

After a year of living here, I'm still trying to figure out what makes for a successful Chicago restaurant. This city has long held a reputation for being a great culinary destination, a place to uncover inspired dishes, some of which even New York or Paris have yet to rival. And with recent attention brought on by Top Chef and Food & Wine (Koren Grieveson at Avec and Giuseppe Tentori at BOKA are both Best New Chef winners for 2008), there's no doubt that the Windy City is a serious contender in the foodie world.

But it's not always the food that makes the restaurant. Take for instance, Powerhouse in the West Loop. My husband and I dined there last week and after almost ten months of being in business, they're failing to fill the dining room on a Friday night. Yet we enjoyed dish after dish that were consistently fantastic. Beginning with incredibly tender braised pork cheeks over polenta and a Hawaiian ono tartare with homemade anise seed crackers, and then moving on to my rack of wild boar served with artisanal rice grits, a poached egg and an ancho chile sauce and Greg's grilled swordfish over lobster ravioli, we couldn't help but compliment each plate that appeared before us.

But as we sat there, in the nearly empty dining room, housed in the stately and fabulously interesting old North Western Railway power plant, I couldn't help but wonder, what is it that makes one restaurant succeed and another fail?

After almost two decades spent working in the restaurant industry, I have a profound appreciation for all the components required to bring a dining establishment to life. I started early, waiting and bussing tables in my mother's restaurant when I was 13. From there it was only natural that I would pursue more jobs in the food industry. In high school, I worked at Ben & Jerry's and Waffle House and for various catering companies. In New York, in my late teens and early twenties, I worked in probably a dozen different restaurants; gathering tips in everything from late night diners to fine dining establishments in NoHo. I've assumed almost every possible role, from expediting to washing dishes, from the hostess stand to waiting on endless tables and bartending. I've even overseen the floor as a manager. And after all this, after knowing all that I know about the ins and outs of restaurants, I'm still baffled sometimes by why one succeeds when another does not.

Most of the time, I suppose, it has to do with so many variables that it becomes impossible to place the blame on just one. There are crazy and impulsive restaurant owners who take out their stress on their staff. There are surly waiters who are pinching from the till and there are lazy chefs, too depressed to fuel their dishes with any more inspiration than absolutely necessary. There are terrible choices in location and there is unforeseen competition. When you put all of these together, you usually end up with a place that sinks within weeks. Yet, when there are only one or two of these issues present, the restaurant simply wobbles like an unbalanced table, giving its patrons an uneasy feeling that they can hardly place.

Dining at Powerhouse last week brought to mind memories of my mother's restaurant. She was one of those vibrant women who always threw the best dinner parties in her circle of friends, who pored over every issue of Gourmet, and who had that special touch in the kitchen you just couldn't rival no matter how hard you tried. She was also one of those women who was so good at cooking that everyone constantly told her she should open her own restaurant, but when she finally did, it became immediately clear that while my mother knew a lot about food, she knew nothing about running a business. It was painful to stand by her side in the kitchen, night after night, as hardly a customer graced the front door. And before we knew it, her restaurant had taken on that air of doom, the kind that makes you give the place a wide berth just walking by outside.

I know enough to know that once that happens to a place, it's over.

I don't think it's over just yet for Powerhouse, but the place is wobbling. And it's a shame. But perhaps it's Darwin's survival of the fittest. In a food city as great as Chicago, they can't all be winners. Or can they?

Follow Claire Bidwell Smith on Twitter: www.twitter.com/clairebidwell

Comments

[sbm606]

Thanks Claire, for sharing a "side" of the business that usually is overlooked in the everyday on-line chatter about food and the food business...As someone "in the business" it is increasingly concerning to me that so many folks seek a single source for their information and then miss out on incredible dining experiences because the "trust" what is posted anonymously on sites like YELP. For those readers who are able to remember that just because "I saw it on YELP" doesn't mean that you are getting an accurate portrayal of the establishment...I have found that many posters would rather write a blistering review, rather than ask the server to send something back to the kitchen that is oversalted or has missed the mark on "medium rare"...Every independent restaurateur that I know would appreciate the opportunity to correct a problem, rather than have someone walk out the door, saying that "everything was fine" and then hear about it 3 weeks later by getting a verbal slap on YELP...There is no way to make that right...

As well, folks in San Francisco are well versed in a story about a "rogue salesperson" from YELP, soliciting advertising from various restaurants promising to include a deal where only positive YELP postings appear first, all the less than perfect comments are pushed down the page....check it out at SF EATER and decide for yourself...would you like a grain of salt to go with your YELP? I would...

[Claire Bidwell Smith - Huffpost Blogger]

Ha...nice ending to your comment.

You know, I think it's becoming increasingly challenging to find non-biased views about anything anymore. There is simply too much information available out there. A person could literally spend an hour reading dozens of different reviews about a restaurant before visiting it.

The bottom line is that I think if a person is curious enough about a restaurant (or anything for that matter) they should seek to experience it for themselves, rather than wading through the mass amounts of opinions floating around out there.

[dasein47]

Excellent dining review. Making food sound interesting isn't easy and you make it look so.

Glad to see you on board the HuffPost.

Kip

[ZoraTravels]

Mmmm....those descriptions of Powerhouse entrees make my mouth water. I will have to check it out when I'm in town. It's a shame that some places ooze talent but just lack the buzz to bring people in. There is this tiny noodle house down the street from me and although it's good, I can't figure out why it is always packed with people. Standing room only - while other places- far better are empty. Your mother sounds like a chef that so many people must have missed out on eating with...while those that did...probably never forgot it. Thanks for sharing this perspective.

[rdvposts]

Claire, your writing is so descriptive, informative and complete, I clearly visualize whatever it is that you're writing about. I feel as if I'm sitting, talking with a friend. I'd go to Powerhouse just because you wrote about them (and have the lobster ravioli). If you ever figure out what makes one restaurant succeed and one fail, you would be golden!

[ChicagoCubsGuy]

I was searching for a restaurant for a night out with a bunch of friends and did some research on Powerhouse because I thought it would be a good place to try. But several reviews I read by people who have dined there were very harsh on the place, especially the service and management., so we booked somewhere else. Claire obviously had a different experience, but apparently not everybody feels the same way about this place.

[Claire Bidwell Smith - Huffpost Blogger]

Definitely another reason that a restaurant begins to wobble, I think. Word spreads fast when something isn't quite right.

From what I understand, Powerhouse has definitely had few rocky transitions, including having the original chef (John Peters formerly of Naha and Alinea) leave a few months ago. I have to say though, that Chef Jeff Mauro (La Pomme Rouge, North Pond, Charlie Trotter's) seems to have no problem fine-tuning the menu in his wake. I personally believe that his cooking is strong enough to steer the comeback that Powerhouse is aiming for.

[cadangerous]

I'm ready to hop on a plane and head to Powerhouse just to check out the menu - sound divine! But having a varied restaurant experience like you Claire, I've found that to have an even semi-successful restaurant, you have to live it 110% of the time. And that's a commitment most are not willing or able to make. And keep in mind the economy and recent downturn can't be helping the expensive spots - I certainly have cut back, on fine dining in particular. It is too bad talented chefs are going to feel the brunt of that. Let's hope things change for the better come November and after!!! (we all know what that means I think...)

[lienaita]

Oh, God. Your dinner at Powerhouse sounded like HEAVEN. Rack of boar?? In LA, what seems to make a restaurant successful is if it's received "buzz" in DailyCandy, EaterLA, and if once it's opened, if Yelp users are responding positively. I'm somewhat of a believer that the life of a restaurant likes in the hands of Yelp. Perhaps Powerhouse isn't getting proper attention in this sort of advertising? What does Chicago offer?

[LanieBeck]

Love your writing! Keep these coming -- it's nice to have an intelligent Chicago writer out there -- with Greg, that makes two now!!

[jebell81]

Restaurant success takes energy, and some of that energy has to come from the customers. As to how a restaurant gets them there, I don't know. I think it's a combination of location, marketing, good food, good service, and maybe just plain luck...