Jean-Robert to New York?

Jean-Robert

From the New York Times,

More favorable lease rates and a large pool of talent available for hire add up to “great opportunities to expand right now,” said Danny Meyer, the C.E.O. of the Union Square Hospitality Group...

Mr. Roseman noted that many well-known chefs still did not have a presence in New York. “You can have the best restaurant in Cincinnati, but you’re not that big until you’re in New York City,” he said. Some starry-eyed chefs and restaurateurs are sniffing around, he said, adding, “There’s action.”


Of all the cities in the country he could have named, he dropped Cincinnati.
Hmmmmmm...........
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7 comments

7 comments:

  1. Well Cincinnati does have a long history of top culinary talent...especially for its size.

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  2. I talked to JR just last night. He's already worked in NY, runing the Plaza Athenee and then with his own restaurant. He doesn't want to go back there. He wants to stay here. Annette I got the feeling that Annette would like to leave though.

    Also, there has been an interesting development at one of the Wade's restaurants. The Edgecliff Room has stopped serving their menu. They now are only serving pizza & burgers. The business there had been pretty weak, and once the stories about Wade/JR hit people just stopped coming in. I think that someone should start a Relish Group Deathwatch Blog, and Edgecliff will definitely be the first entry. It's going to close within a matter of weeks. Chalk will be next. Once JR takes his name off of the Bistro and strips it of all of the decor (which is his personal property), and the restaurant gets "The Wade Treatment" it will probably go by the wayside too.

    Now that the people have learned of Wade's shabby treatment of JR, and that JR has nothing to do with any of the restaurants, people will stay away from his restaurants en mass.

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  3. I wish we could get the complete story. The idea of opening four or five new quasi-upscale restaurants to be run by one chef was destined to failure.
    I had heard that the idea was financed by someone with more money than sense and it was an ego trip. In any case, one restaurant will tax any restaurateur.
    There is a somewhat similar situation at the Tapas bar at Woodburn and Madison. Look for it to go belly up in the near future as did its predecessor. It is even tougher in Cincinnati.

    The Edgecliff has a history of failures and part of the reason is that it is hidden and it has had an unusual arrangement with the building owners. Now that it is being converted to condos they are going to have a greater dilemma. They don't want any heavy noise and they are wary of the neighborhood and at the same time they need to make their presence
    known.
    And now there is the economy.
    And there are the government regulations that take any fun out of having a restaurant.

    Dieter Schmied
    dieter@one.net

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  4. Dieter, Seny closed back in December. The Jean Robert Group was financed largely by the Wades; it has now been renamed the Relish Group.

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  5. Great, Bob, you're creating MORE drama. :)

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  6. Julie,
    Whats the point of a blog without a little drama? LOL, just wait till I get a picture of that ring next time you absentmindedly put it on your left hand ;-D

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  7. Who leases the property formerly known as Seny Tapas Bar?

    Ling

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