I thought they were being overly ambitious opening several high profile places with such high expectations in a such a short time but that wasn’t even half the problem.
Lambsy, I think you’ve eaten at a couple of these places?
BTW, the article on Thrillist linked to in the last paragraph is a good read, as are all three articles in that Thrillist series.
I really wanted to like them, especially Hunky Dory which I saw as a place where everyone would know my name. But in practice, the prices were too out of line with Houston in general I think and I was not comfortable dropping potentially hundreds on lunch. If they are blaming the economy, I suggest they get back to basics and try for increased sales with a downhome menu that is affordable to most. How much should a piece of toast with a small whitefish cost? I don’t know but my favorite exmoore toast was only offered in the bar anyway.
Amazing. I don’t think I can read that many words on Treadsack, but this is appropriate:
“Cusack’s concepts weren’t driven just by celebrity chefs, but by his own self-promotion and mythmaking, lapped up by friendly food critics who never looked behind his company’s curtain or talked to the lowly waitstaff.”
For instance:
’ Rufca wrote, “When it comes to the pantheon of adorable, Down House is just above a butterfly landing on your finger and slightly below a panda falling down.”’
As I already knew. I went to several of Treadsack’s inspirations, but only one time each.
There’s a post on HAIF with excerpts from the HBJ report with a great line from the owner of Hughies - ‘We don’t have chefs, we have aunts and uncles. They have great recipes that they’ve brought from Viet Nam. We picked the best.’
There’s a link to the HBJ article but you have to be a subscriber.