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March 14, 2015- We are hearing that a new “corporate chef” is hovering over Blue Smoke introducing himself as the chef.
February 26, 2015- With Blue Smoke receiving one star from the New York Times Pete Wells, one might ask, “Why is the great Danny Meyer allowing this?”. The answer is that the two owners of Blue Smoke are now getting into the nightclub business and have been distracted by that (as well as by Shake Shack IPO’s).
“Hospitality” and large bars, hmm, those seem to be mutually exclusive.
The WSJ infomercial department posted, “Danny Meyer made a name for himself with burger, barbecue and fine-dining restaurants. Now, he is turning his attention to cocktails.
Porchlight, the first stand-alone craft-cocktail bar from Mr. Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group, opens in Chelsea on Monday. The bar, on the corner of West 28th Street and 11th Avenue, joins the Hotel Americano and the McKittrick Hotel in colonizing the far corners of Chelsea with dining and night life destinations.
“It feels very natural, having had a lot of restaurants that also have great bars, to try to create a great bar that also has some small bites of really great food,” Mr. Meyer said. “We’re just letting the food be the supporting actress.”
There is no full-time chef, for example, or a maitre d’. The menu isn’t separated into appetizers and entrees.
“We’re hoping to create that feeling of hospitality while not having all that structure of a formal restaurant,” said Blue Smoke managing partner Mark Maynard-Parisi.”
Another reason they are in decline is they changed the successful menu from BBQ themed to Creole-themed. Though some dishes are very good (I am not knocking Chef Bourgeois), it just doesn’t fit into what Blue Smoke was actually successful for. Classic move some restaurants make of fixing things that are not broken. There are ways to change the menu and be creative without completely changing your cuisine.
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