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April 18, 2015- The struggling Blue Smoke, now on its second or third senior chef, has managed to get a story in the WSJ about their New Orleans cuisine (Almost all food stories in the WSJ are infomercials). It is an attempt to de-emphasize the barbeque menu that they are phasing out.
While it is a good idea to get away from the heavy, unhealthy, environmentally unfriendly, carnivorous BBQ menu, they have replaced it with a menu that is not striking a chord with the community. The WSJ article featured cornbread and powdered pastries? Really? That is the best they have?
Meanwhile, the top owners, Danny Meyer and Mark Maynard-Parisi, are busy on other projects. They have opened a bar called Porch Light, and Danny took Shake Shack public, pocketing hundreds of millions for himself.
BatteryPark.TV continues to view the entire Union Square Hospitality Group as an organization in decline. When other restaurant groups are having success at hiring new chefs and opening new restaurants (e.g. Starr’s Upland), Danny Meyer can’t seem to do this. His second chef at North End Grill is not getting rave reviews, nor is Chef Jean-Paul Bourgeois at Blue Smoke.
