Latest / The Restaurant Guys / A Fire, a Do-Over & The Bear | Brian Lockwood

Transcript

A Fire, a Do-Over & The Bear | Brian Lockwood · The Restaurant Guys

• 0:42
  MIC2: Hello everybody, and welcome.
• 0:43
  MIC2: You are listening to The Restaurant Guys.
• 0:46
  MIC2: I'm Mark Pascal, and I'm here with Francis Schott.
• 0:47
  MIC2: Together we own Stage Left and Catherine Lombardi Restaurants in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
• 0:51
  MIC2: We're here to bring you the inside track on food, wine, and the finer things in life
• 0:55
  MIC1: And today we will be bringing you that inside track from the Windy City, Chicago, Illinois, where we're gonna interview Chef Brian Lockwood.
• 1:03
  MIC1: His restaurant is Gingy.
• 1:05
  MIC1: has to be one of the most beautiful restaurants in all of Chicago.
• 1:08
  MIC2: room
• 1:09
  MIC1: They opened up, they were open for a few days, they got shut down by a fire- So hard which had them shut down for several months, and then they reopened again.
• 1:16
  MIC1: Rising like a phoenix from the ashes, he's a new kind of Chicago hero chef.
• 1:20
  MIC1: He's, uh, impeccably dressed.
• 1:21
  MIC1: You can tell that his food is careful just by the way he's dressed.
• 1:23
  MIC1: But we'll be talking with him in just a moment.
• 1:25
  MIC1: But for now...
• 1:26
  MIC1: We made a mistake in the pizza.
• 1:28
  MIC1: Yeah.
• 1:28
  MIC1: I'm not a huge fan of deep dish pizza, but I, I had, I had two pizza experiences while I was there, and this is by no means well-researched restaurant guys- Mm pizza exploring.
• 1:38
  MIC1: This is,"Hey, where are we gonna go to dinner tonight?"'Cause we wanna leave ourselves open.
• 1:42
  MIC1: Yep.
• 1:42
  MIC1: And then the other pizza I had was in the airport, and I'm gonna ask the listeners to take a moment and guess where I got the better- deep dish pizza in Chicago.
• 1:53
  MIC2: in Chicago.
• 1:53
  MIC2: That's sad to hear, but I know because I had one of the pizzas in the restaurant and, and it was not great, unfortunately.
• 2:00
  MIC2: We had a lot of great food while we were in Chicago.
• 2:03
  MIC2: Chicago is a great food city, and I even like Chicago pizza.
• 2:08
  MIC1: Yeah.
• 2:08
  MIC1: I, I think it's okay.
• 2:09
  MIC2: I enjoy Chicago pizza.
• 2:11
  MIC2: I get it, it...
• 2:11
  MIC2: You can't think of it as pizza like we know pizza.
• 2:14
  MIC2: Right.
• 2:14
  MIC2: Right.
• 2:14
  MIC2: it's a different thing.
• 2:16
  MIC1: to say, though- But
• 2:17
  MIC2: different thing from the place we went to was a different thing of the
• 2:20
  MIC1: different thing.
• 2:21
  MIC1: Well, you g- uh, you can do anything wrong, Mark.
• 2:23
  MIC1: You can do anything, you can do anything wrong.
• 2:25
  MIC1: And you can certainly do deep dish pizza
• 2:27
  MIC2: know how you make a copy of a copy and then sometimes the second copy didn't come out so good?
• 2:31
  MIC2: Well- That's kinda what I felt
• 2:32
  MIC1: I don't know how it's spreading in the rest of the country.
• 2:34
  MIC1: I think it is, but the first Detroit-style pizza I had was here in New Jersey, um, from a place called Lo-Fi in Jersey City.
• 2:42
  MIC1: uh, we're friends with the owner, and he's like,"I'm bringing Detroit pizza to New
• 2:45
  MIC2: actually a great little place that opened in Cranford.
• 2:48
  MIC2: Oh.
• 2:49
  MIC2: Uh, a Detroit-style pizza place.
• 2:50
  MIC2: It's in a pl- little tiny spot that has gone out of business, like, 10 times in 10 years.
• 2:56
  MIC1: you're saying go there quick?
• 2:57
  MIC1: I'm
• 2:57
  MIC2: same building?
• 2:57
  MIC2: I'm saying that if it's really good, I'm really pulling for
• 3:01
  MIC1: Yeah, not gonna happen.
• 3:02
  MIC1: It's not gonna j- uh, I hope so.
• 3:04
  MIC1: In
• 3:04
  MIC2: a delivery world, I think maybe that
• 3:06
  MIC1: could, they could- Well, I- make it in that spot I'm rooting for them, too.
• 3:09
  MIC1: But I...
• 3:10
  MIC1: So I had never heard of Detroit-style pizza.
• 3:11
  MIC1: Mm-hmm.
• 3:12
  MIC1: And so, uh, when my friend, said he was gonna bring in Detroit-style pizza to Lo-Fi, I'm like,"What the hell is that?" And it's great, but I'm seeing it everywhere now.
• 3:19
  MIC1: Mm-hmm.
• 3:20
  MIC1: And it's kinda related to Chicago
• 3:22
  MIC2: Ah, it's so much lighter and fluffier.
• 3:24
  MIC2: If it's done right,
• 3:25
  MIC1: The Detroit-style pizza has that crusty cheese on the side.
• 3:28
  MIC1: That's- Mm to me, that's Detroit-style pizza.
• 3:31
  MIC1: Anyway, I liked it.
• 3:32
  MIC1: I went to the airport, I had a little time to kill.
• 3:35
  MIC1: Mm.
• 3:35
  MIC1: And there was this pizza chain in the airport, and they had the pizzas kinda made and in the warming oven.
• 3:39
  MIC1: I was like It looks pretty good.
• 3:40
  MIC1: It was a B+, but I need- It
• 3:42
  MIC2: a B+,
• 3:43
  MIC1: not a B+.
• 3:43
  MIC1: No, no, the one in the airport, I swear to you, it was a B+.
• 3:45
  MIC1: It was a B+.
• 3:46
  MIC1: Yeah.
• 3:46
  MIC1: And I needed to get the F out of my head- so I wouldn't leave with a bitter view of Chicago.
• 3:53
  MIC1: Yeah.
• 3:53
  MIC1: And I had a really nice pizza in the airport.
• 3:55
  MIC1: The
• 3:55
  MIC2: we went to just, they did so much wrong.
• 3:57
  MIC2: Like, from the moment we walked in to the moment we
• 4:00
  MIC1: The lighting was
• 4:01
  MIC2: the service was terrible.
• 4:03
  MIC2: The, the lighting was wrong
• 4:05
  MIC1: the, the waiter...
• 4:06
  MIC1: Jennifer reminded me before we got on the air, the waiter, the waiter was waiting on a table next to us and had their rag.
• 4:12
  MIC1: the
• 4:12
  MIC2: they wiped the table with
• 4:14
  MIC1: they accidentally dropped it on the neighbor's pizza.
• 4:17
  MIC1: And, uh...
• 4:18
  MIC1: Was that our pizza?
• 4:18
  MIC1: Dropped it on...
• 4:19
  MIC1: I've just been told it was our pizza.
• 4:20
  MIC1: I'd...
• 4:20
  MIC1: Oh, oh, did I have any after that, Jen?
• 4:22
  MIC1: No.
• 4:23
  MIC1: And the, and the-
• 4:23
  MIC2: were done
• 4:24
  MIC1: and the waitress dropped it on our pizza, which was as yet unserved to us.
• 4:27
  MIC1: It was on a tray jack next to the table, and she looked at us like,"Oops, sorry," and then walked away.
• 4:33
  MIC1: Now, what do you think happens in the kitchen of that restaurant out of sight?
• 4:37
  MIC1: I don't wanna know.
• 4:38
  MIC2: It,
• 4:38
  MIC1: It, so- Yeah.
• 4:38
  MIC2: it, it was a less than
• 4:40
  MIC1: sorry than monumental experience.
• 4:42
  MIC1: Yeah.
• 4:42
  MIC1: But you know what?
• 4:42
  MIC1: You gotta have those so it keeps the others in the frame of reference.
• 4:45
  MIC1: That's completely true.
• 4:46
  MIC1: 100% correct.
• 4:47
  MIC1: 100% correct.
• 4:47
  MIC1: Listen, we're gonna go to Chicago.
• 4:49
  MIC1: We're gonna go to a great restaurant and a great chef, Bryan Lockwood's Gingy, in just a moment, so stick with us.
• 4:54
  MIC1: We're going there right now.
• 4:56
  Francis: Hey there, everybody.
• 4:57
  Francis: Welcome back.
• 4:58
  Francis: We are, uh, recording today inside Gingy Restaurant in Chicago.
• 5:02
  Francis: We're with Chef Brian Lockwood.
• 5:04
  Francis: He's chef partner with, uh, Boka Restaurant Group.
• 5:06
  Francis: They do a number of things, but the flagship right now is Gingy, where we had dinner last night, and it was phenomenal.
• 5:13
  Francis: We're here before service today, talking with Chef Brian Lockwood about one of the cornerstones of dining, the brand new though it is in Chicago, and we couldn't be more thrilled to be in your restaurant and you be on our show.
• 5:25
  Mark: Brian, welcome to the show.
• 5:26
  Mark: Thank you.
• 5:26
  Mark: It's a really special
• 5:27
  MIC1: place you have
• 5:28
  MIC2: to be here, guys.
• 5:29
  MIC2: Happy to have you.
• 5:30
  Francis: Well, we're happy to be had.
• 5:31
  Francis: Um, I think we should start with the rather dramatic story of Gingy and its eventful opening, and we wanna find out all about you and, and your life and what we're doing here, but tell us about the drama around the beginning of Gingy.
• 5:46
  MIC2: Yeah.
• 5:46
  MIC2: So, uh, w- we had a, we had a kitchen fire.
• 5:49
  MIC2: We had a grease
• 5:50
  MIC1: little
• 5:50
  Brian: fire.
• 5:50
  Brian: You got a little
• 5:50
  Francis: sad on your face
• 5:51
  Brian: right then- I know when you said that, just
• 5:52
  Francis: so you know.
• 5:52
  Brian: Well, let's, let's
• 5:53
  MIC2: reframe that.
• 5:54
  MIC2: I'm so happy to be here, and so grateful for the opportunity to reopen.
• 5:58
  MIC2: Um, but yeah, we did have a, we had a grease fire, you know, in, in the hoods, um, three days after we opened.
• 6:04
  Francis: Oh, my
• 6:05
  MIC2: scariest moment I've had in a
• 6:07
  Francis: kitchen.
• 6:07
  Francis: All right.
• 6:07
  Francis: So talk to us, because we have had a couple of small fires in our restaurant, including, you know...
• 6:14
  Francis: But nothing that shut us down for more than a day or two, right?
• 6:17
  Francis: So we never had anything that got out of hand.
• 6:19
  Francis: But one of the things that happens, we've had our Ansul system go off'cause somebody was being an idiot, and, you know, that shuts you down for a day because it ruins all food.
• 6:27
  Francis: It ruins everything.
• 6:27
  Francis: And you gotta reload the Ansul system.
• 6:28
  Francis: And you gotta...
• 6:28
  Francis: Right.
• 6:28
  Mark: You
• 6:29
  Francis: So how did you discover there was a fire?
• 6:31
  Francis: Take us through that.
• 6:32
  Francis: That's...
• 6:32
  Francis: strikes fear into my heart to
• 6:33
  MIC2: Yeah.
• 6:34
  MIC2: So we had a, we had a live fire hearth, and, you know, we have a term for running out of mise en place that I've carried along with me from many places I've worked called a broken arrow.
• 6:43
  MIC2: And that's like, you know, usually used if we're running out of chickens or we're, you know, whatever the-
• 6:48
  Francis: So use that in a sentence so
• 6:49
  MIC2: so people- So, so like, yeah, like we,"Hey chef, I have a broken arrow.""What's bro- you know, what is it?""Oh, we, we don't have chickens marinated." You know, great.
• 6:56
  MIC2: So that's what I expected the broken arrow call to be.
• 6:59
  MIC2: Mm.
• 6:59
  MIC2: Except they said,"We have a really big broken arrow." And it was...
• 7:02
  MIC2: I, I said,"What, what is it?" And he said,"There's a, there's a fire in the hoods." So we had a live fire hearth, and one little spark got into the hoods, and you could see the glowing red up in the- Yeah up in the hoods.
• 7:13
  MIC2: So, my first reaction was just like, we're, we're in a building with multiple tenants above us, and it was just kinda like, okay, this can get out of control really quick.
• 7:22
  MIC2: So we all had to think very fast figure out what to do.
• 7:26
  MIC2: And yeah, you know, you grab the fire extinguisher, you pull the Ansel, you call the fire department, and you evacuate the restaurant, and that's what we did.
• 7:32
  MIC2: And I have no sense in terms of time how long that took, if it was 60 seconds or if it was five minutes or if it was an hour.
• 7:40
  MIC2: You just lose track of time completely.
• 7:42
  MIC2: But, we did it efficiently and, And so what happened?
• 7:44
  MIC2: Everyone was,
• 7:45
  Brian: Yeah.
• 7:45
  Brian: Everyone was safe.
• 7:46
  Brian: I mean, first and foremost, everyone was safe.
• 7:47
  Brian: Absolutely.
• 7:47
  Brian: The most important thing.
• 7:48
  Brian: And that's all that mattered to me was,
• 7:50
  MIC2: I said, I, I live in, you know, a bigger building, and I do think about being up 10 floors and, you know, just wondering like, okay, I hope nothing happens on the ground floor.
• 7:58
  MIC2: So that was, you know, first and foremost, like I said, that's all that was the safety of the tenants, the safety of our neighbors,
• 8:06
  Brian: and the safety- Yeah
• 8:06
  MIC2: the people
• 8:07
  Francis: So what did the fire department have to do to put it out?
• 8:09
  Francis: Did they ruin
• 8:10
  MIC2: They
• 8:10
  Brian: sure did.
• 8:11
  Brian: Yeah.
• 8:11
  Brian: So it was a fire, as stated, in the hoods.
• 8:14
  MIC2: know, which the black iron, the old black iron that was here was snaked up multiple levels and
• 8:19
  Brian: did a 90-degree
• 8:20
  MIC2: turn and then went out.
• 8:21
  MIC2: So,
• 8:22
  MIC1: Those 90-degree turns are very
• 8:24
  MIC2: very
• 8:25
  MIC1: tough.
• 8:25
  MIC1: Hoods don't like
• 8:25
  Mark: that.
• 8:26
  Mark: Hoods do not like 90-degree
• 8:27
  Brian: turns.
• 8:27
  Brian: They're not even legal in some places.
• 8:27
  Brian: No.
• 8:28
  Brian: No.
• 8:28
  Brian: Yeah.
• 8:28
  Brian: So this was,
• 8:29
  MIC2: Yeah, we had, you know, it was a...
• 8:30
  MIC2: We had grandfathered into that program.
• 8:33
  MIC2: So, so yeah, they just...
• 8:34
  MIC2: They had to find where it was inside the black iron, where the fire actually was.
• 8:39
  MIC2: And, in order to do that, they
• 8:41
  Brian: had to tear out- You, you do some tearing out, yeah multiple walls.
• 8:43
  Brian: They
• 8:43
  MIC2: actually ended up, you know, it got so hot that the, the fireproof insulation actually ended up melting and k- and kinda catching on fire.
• 8:50
  MIC2: So they ended up splitting into the black iron that's how they
• 8:54
  Francis: and, so you had to re-line the whole hood from here
• 8:56
  MIC2: How did you guys recover?
• 8:56
  MIC2: Oh, we had to strip it all out and redo it and...
• 8:58
  MIC2: I mean, the minute, you know, it happened, a- any one of my friends and families and loved ones, you know, that I spoke to, I just said,"Look, we have a second chance."
• 9:06
  Brian: Yeah.
• 9:06
  Brian: Yeah.
• 9:06
  Brian: "This
• 9:06
  MIC2: an opportunity.
• 9:07
  MIC2: We're gonna rethink how we do it.
• 9:09
  MIC2: We're gonna try to do it better
• 9:11
  Brian: Well- So how
• 9:11
  Francis: long were you closed?
• 9:12
  Brian: We
• 9:12
  MIC2: closed?
• 9:13
  MIC2: We were closed for five months.
• 9:13
  Francis: So were open three days, closed for five months.
• 9:15
  Francis: Yep.
• 9:16
  Francis: Open back up again.
• 9:17
  Francis: up again.
• 9:17
  Francis: Well, can I tell, I tell, I'll tell you one silver lining that I think of as the owner, right?
• 9:21
  Francis: If you get a hood fire, if I have an operator that gets a hood fire, I think you did something wrong.
• 9:26
  Francis: Mm-hmm.
• 9:27
  Francis: You weren't maintaining your hoods.
• 9:28
  Francis: You didn't get, make sure they were clean right.
• 9:29
  Francis: But you were open three days, you couldn't have done to cause that.
• 9:31
  Francis: And, right, and you're
• 9:32
  Mark: coming into somebody else's-
• 9:33
  Francis: Yeah hazard.
• 9:33
  Brian: Yeah.
• 9:34
  Brian: I
• 9:34
  MIC2: we ha- yeah, we did, we went through all the
• 9:35
  Brian: things
• 9:36
  MIC2: you need to do, had all the inspections, and everything was there.
• 9:38
  MIC2: I think it was just,
• 9:39
  Brian: there's things
• 9:40
  MIC2: just happen unexplained, and I think you just have to find the silver lining in situations, and like I said, we, we had It
• 9:46
  Francis: I just have to say that I see that, first of all, the place is beautiful.
• 9:49
  Francis: It's really exactly the kind of elegant...
• 9:52
  Francis: I used the word understated before, and Jennifer corrected me.
• 9:54
  Francis: She's like,"No, it's not understated," but it's not flashy.
• 9:57
  Francis: It's just, like, comfortable.
• 9:58
  Francis: It feels like- It's not flamboyant.
• 9:59
  Francis: It feels it's been here for 100 years.
• 10:01
  Francis: Yeah.
• 10:01
  Francis: Yet it's very contemporary.
• 10:03
  Francis: But, I do know, notice one thing on your line.
• 10:06
  Francis: No more, no more open flame hearth.
• 10:09
  Brian: No
• 10:09
  MIC2: more, no more Open Fire.
• 10:11
  MIC2: Um, yeah, that would've been, that would've been a lot longer.
• 10:13
  MIC2: I think it was a non-starter
• 10:14
  Brian: really- Yeah...to get
• 10:15
  MIC2: open
• 10:15
  Brian: and do it again, you know?
• 10:16
  Francis: think it would've been traumatic to look at it every
• 10:18
  Mark: day.
• 10:18
  MIC2: Yeah.
• 10:18
  MIC1: I
• 10:18
  Mark: want to share a story.
• 10:19
  Mark: In my restaurant,
• 10:21
  MIC1: something similar without the dramatic effect.
• 10:23
  MIC1: Yeah.
• 10:24
  MIC1: I'm sitting at a table just like
• 10:25
  Mark: this with
• 10:25
  MIC1: some, some friends, some, some regulars of the restaurant, a waiter comes uh, I'll, I'll be right back.
• 10:36
  MIC1: And I go into the and, minutes later, and know, what, what did that person tell you?" And I said,
• 10:44
  Mark: "Um,
• 10:44
  MIC1: he said the kitchen's on fire."
• 10:46
  Mark: Oh, God.
• 10:48
  MIC1: And luckily, by the time I got to the kitchen,
• 10:50
  Mark: the
• 10:50
  MIC1: was out, and it was not a...
• 10:52
  MIC1: You know, the Ansul system didn't go off,
• 10:53
  Mark: we
• 10:54
  MIC1: fine.
• 10:54
  MIC1: But it was, it was one of those moments of like,"Nobody's gonna panic." Yeah.
• 10:58
  Mark: Yeah.
• 10:58
  Mark: We're just gonna
• 10:59
  MIC1: see what's wrong
• 11:00
  Mark: one of my questions is, so
• 11:01
  MIC1: besides obviously taking out the, the
• 11:03
  Mark: hearth- else did you take the opportunity to change in that five months?
• 11:07
  Mark: Because now you got three days under your belt, right?
• 11:09
  Mark: Yep.
• 11:10
  Mark: So you know what, gonna get in what else do you change in that
• 11:13
  MIC1: time period?
• 11:14
  MIC2: I mean, honestly, we just refocused on training
• 11:17
  Brian: and-
• 11:17
  MIC2: just building the team and, you know, all the things that, you go through, but it's just such a whirlwind.
• 11:21
  MIC2: It happened so quick.
• 11:23
  MIC2: we did change, you know, a little bit of the format of the line as, as we walked through today.
• 11:27
  MIC2: You know, r-replacing the hearth with some ovens and then getting an extra piece of stove, so just a stronger, you know, kitchen battery, if you will, um, for both prep and then service.
• 11:37
  MIC2: But, but a big part of this restaurant, I mean, you guys walked the kitchen with me, it is, it is small, and I know you guys have had smaller kitchens, and there are plenty of smaller kitchens, but it is a very small kitchen for the food
• 11:48
  Brian: we're
• 11:48
  Mark: doing.
• 11:49
  Brian: So-
• 11:49
  Mark: Well, it, especially when you start talking about right?
• 11:52
  Mark: You need a lot of people.
• 11:53
  Brian: Yeah.
• 11:54
  Mark: So the, the smallness
• 11:55
  MIC1: isn't
• 11:56
  Mark: problem.
• 11:56
  Brian: Yeah.
• 11:56
  Mark: The problem is how many people you put in the smallness.
• 11:59
  Brian: Right.
• 11:59
  Brian: Right.
• 11:59
  Brian: Well,
• 11:59
  MIC2: and a lot of it's just the prior preparation.
• 12:01
  MIC2: a lot of it's just the prep, and so we really re-engineered the kitchen in a way where it was a bit stronger for prep, functionality.
• 12:08
  MIC2: We're dinner only right now.
• 12:09
  MIC2: Yeah.
• 12:10
  MIC2: I think those were the, the two, you know, real things, and then it was just the cohesiveness of the team, like I said.
• 12:15
  MIC2: I mean, we did retain all of our leadership,
• 12:17
  Brian: you know- That's amazing.
• 12:18
  Brian: Yeah throughout that
• 12:18
  MIC2: time, and a good portion of our team.
• 12:20
  MIC2: You know, some of our team were
• 12:22
  Brian: in other Boca
• 12:23
  MIC2: restaurants
• 12:24
  Brian: decided-
• 12:24
  MIC2: that they were happy there and were able to stay, which was great, but we were able to retain a lot of people,
• 12:28
  Brian: we focused on that.
• 12:28
  Brian: So how do you do
• 12:29
  Mark: that?
• 12:29
  Mark: How do you, how do you keep months?
• 12:31
  Brian: Well,
• 12:32
  MIC2: we, manage another property, here in Chicago, and so we did open up another restaurant with one of the other chef partners, Chris Pandell.
• 12:39
  MIC2: So we were able to actually go, and that team was able to open a second restaurant.
• 12:42
  MIC2: So within six months, they opened three restaurants.
• 12:45
  Francis: There have been a number of restaurants who've kind of started off, as a, you know, a phoenix rising from the ashes.
• 12:50
  Francis: I mean, The Dead Rabbit was opened in a hurricane, right?
• 12:53
  Francis: And they had a flood and then a fire, and they went on to do great things.
• 12:56
  Francis: And Chicago's really celebrating you.
• 12:58
  Francis: I mean, you know, you're...
• 12:59
  Francis: Everybody's rooting
• 13:00
  Mark: you, right?
• 13:00
  Mark: Yeah, yeah.
• 13:00
  Francis: It's
• 13:00
  Mark: true.
• 13:00
  Mark: There, wasn't there,
• 13:01
  Brian: there's-
• 13:01
  MIC2: very true.
• 13:01
  MIC2: It feels great.
• 13:02
  Mark: there's big mural of a phoenix up in that s-
• 13:04
  Brian: There is, yeah.
• 13:04
  Mark: pretty amazing that, they've already already incorporated
• 13:06
  MIC1: your story into the Chicago, you know-
• 13:09
  Mark: Ethos.
• 13:09
  Mark: Yeah.
• 13:09
  Mark: Yeah.
• 13:10
  Francis: So tell us about w- um, we, we love Dinner.
• 13:12
  Francis: We love the dining room, we love the place, and it was so nice to have...
• 13:15
  Francis: that you came over to our table last night, which was great.
• 13:17
  Francis: why this place?
• 13:19
  Francis: what are you communicating?
• 13:20
  Francis: What do people need to know if they're coming to Chicago.
• 13:21
  MIC2: Look, it's a beautiful neighborhood, River North, you know.
• 13:24
  MIC2: I mean, I'm, I'm pretty new to Chicago.
• 13:25
  MIC2: I've been here two years.
• 13:26
  MIC2: But River North was, you know, a, a really huge neighborhood prior to COVID, I think.
• 13:32
  MIC2: You know, then it kind of changed a little bit during COVID.
• 13:34
  MIC2: So I think River North
• 13:36
  Brian: is, in
• 13:36
  MIC2: particular, just a really exciting neighborhood, a lot coming back right now.
• 13:39
  MIC2: It's having a little bit of a resurgence.
• 13:41
  MIC2: A lot of great neighboring restaurants here.
• 13:43
  MIC2: Asador Bastian's down the street.
• 13:46
  MIC2: Um, we got Petite Adieth nearby, which is one of Jenner's restaurants, and The Austin, you know, close by.
• 13:51
  MIC2: So just a lot of great...
• 13:52
  Brian: you
• 13:52
  MIC2: Indian right here too, another Michelin-starred restaurant.
• 13:55
  MIC2: So like, just a
• 13:56
  Brian: good
• 13:57
  MIC2: community of chefs in the neighborhood.
• 13:59
  Francis: what do you want people to experience when they walk in the door here and eat
• 14:01
  MIC2: I just want people to have fun.
• 14:02
  MIC2: I want people to have fun.
• 14:04
  MIC2: I want people to at first say,"This is delicious."
• 14:06
  Brian: Oh.
• 14:06
  Brian: You know?
• 14:06
  Brian: Yeah.
• 14:06
  Brian: Like, I do think, some
• 14:09
  MIC2: technicality to the food and, you know, ingredients are fun and, seasonality to it, but like first and foremost, it has to
• 14:15
  Brian: be
• 14:15
  Francis: Yeah.
• 14:16
  Brian: and and
• 14:16
  MIC2: and first and foremost on top of that is like It's
• 14:18
  Francis: know-
• 14:19
  Brian: It's gotta be fun
• 14:19
  Francis: just wanna make a small point, what you said about the food first and foremost, it has to be delicious, we find that even in super high-end restaurants, f-the first and foremost has switched to it's gotta be beautiful Instagrammable.
• 14:30
  Francis: Right.
• 14:30
  Francis: Yeah, I,
• 14:30
  MIC1: you know, the old
• 14:31
  Mark: expression eyes first.
• 14:32
  Brian: Yeah, yeah.
• 14:33
  Mark: But you don't eat with your eyes
• 14:35
  MIC1: only.
• 14:35
  Francis: Yeah and Very true.
• 14:37
  Francis: And, or you don't eat with your iPhone
• 14:39
  MIC1: first.
• 14:39
  MIC2: That's
• 14:40
  Francis: true.
• 14:40
  Francis: That's problem.
• 14:41
  Francis: We've had a lot of really expensive, beautiful food that was meh.
• 14:45
  Francis: Yeah.
• 14:45
  Francis: You know?
• 14:45
  MIC2: But it's also like, that's what's so hard, guys.
• 14:47
  MIC2: Food's subjective, right?
• 14:48
  MIC2: Yeah.
• 14:48
  MIC2: Like, what's delicious?
• 14:49
  MIC2: Your delicious is different than my delicious
• 14:51
  Brian: Yeah is different than your delicious.
• 14:52
  Brian: So like-
• 14:52
  Francis: what?
• 14:52
  Francis: I think we think that chef in some- Yeah of these places knows that it's only pretty good, but it's beautiful, Yeah.
• 14:58
  Francis: Uh, I, I think- Yeah, yeah.
• 14:59
  Mark: Well, if you spend 80% on it looks like- Right and 20% on what it tastes like- True that's not the formula.
• 15:04
  Mark: Yeah.
• 15:05
  Brian: For sure.
• 15:05
  Mark: Uh, so here's a question.
• 15:06
  MIC1: I, you know, we're talking about Chicago here.
• 15:09
  Mark: You've worked in a lot of other cities in this-
• 15:11
  MIC1: in, in, in this country- Yep
• 15:12
  Mark: right at, at some really, really
• 15:14
  MIC1: terrific places.
• 15:16
  MIC1: What's different about Chicago?
• 15:18
  MIC2: mean,
• 15:18
  Brian: Chicago is- unique?
• 15:20
  Brian: it's very
• 15:21
  MIC2: community driven, right?
• 15:22
  MIC2: I think just like any of the top tier cities that are out
• 15:25
  Brian: there,
• 15:25
  MIC2: you know, New York is, is obviously one of them.
• 15:28
  MIC2: LA is a great community of, you know, dining, s- you know, San Francisco.
• 15:31
  MIC2: But I think what makes Chicago so special is, is just like, it is a very tight-knit community of people.
• 15:37
  MIC2: They support local.
• 15:38
  MIC2: They, you know, they support each other.
• 15:40
  MIC2: Look at the sports
• 15:41
  Brian: here.
• 15:41
  Brian: Oh, yeah.
• 15:42
  Brian: Oh, yeah.
• 15:42
  Brian: Oh, yeah.
• 15:42
  Brian: I mean, it's like I
• 15:42
  MIC2: feel like that's
• 15:43
  Brian: Chicago at its core-
• 15:44
  MIC2: is it's like they're...
• 15:45
  Brian: you're
• 15:46
  MIC2: a diehard one of them.
• 15:47
  MIC2: Sox, Bears, you know, Bulls, doesn't matter.
• 15:50
  MIC2: Cubs.
• 15:50
  MIC2: But like, pick your team.
• 15:51
  MIC2: But, um, you know, that's, that's kind of the, the ethos, and that's how it feels here.
• 15:56
  MIC2: Um, and then, yeah, just, I mean, you know, to have this many people support this many restaurants
• 16:01
  Brian: Yeah and to truly support
• 16:02
  MIC2: them, I mean, it's, it's extraordinary.
• 16:03
  Francis: I had a conversation this morning when, in the hotel, I was staying with a friend of ours who i- is in charge of an international restaurant group- and they have a restaurant here in Chicago, and they have restaurants in a couple European cities and New York and Boston.
• 16:15
  Francis: he said,"Well, you know, when we came to we sent in a European management to run the, the kitchen." And he's like, that didn't fly." Yeah.
• 16:25
  Francis: He said,"We had sent in a European management team to launch New York and to launch and they great."
• 16:30
  Brian: Yeah.
• 16:31
  Francis: But it did not work Chicago.
• 16:32
  Francis: We could send the New York team in to run Chicago-" Yeah but he said just there's a, different of camaraderie that be great, but play it wrong.
• 16:40
  Francis: Do you find that?
• 16:41
  MIC2: 100%.
• 16:42
  MIC2: I
• 16:42
  Brian: I've been here two
• 16:42
  MIC2: years, and I feel like it takes time,
• 16:44
  Francis: yeah.
• 16:44
  Francis: But is there a different kind of way that people are here that there's, Like, there's a New Orleans way of doing things.
• 16:49
  Francis: Yeah.
• 16:49
  Francis: Like, you cannot go to New Orleans and eat like you do in New York.
• 16:51
  Francis: Very different than the New York way of doing things.
• 16:51
  Francis: 100%.
• 16:52
  Francis: Is there a way
• 16:53
  Brian: of doing things?
• 16:53
  Brian: There
• 16:53
  MIC2: 100%.
• 16:54
  MIC2: And it takes time to learn it, and like I said, it takes time to earn it.
• 16:56
  MIC2: you know, I mean, you guys are operated and worked in restaurants your whole lives, too.
• 17:00
  MIC2: You know how it is.
• 17:01
  Brian: Like, you earn it every day.
• 17:02
  Brian: Mm-hmm.
• 17:02
  Brian: It doesn't
• 17:02
  MIC2: matter what
• 17:03
  Brian: done
• 17:03
  MIC2: before, you gotta show up every day and deliver, and that's no different in this city.
• 17:07
  MIC2: But I think it's maybe a bit more impactful here than, you know, or, or present than, than it is in but it's a great community of people.
• 17:16
  MIC2: I'm so happy to
• 17:17
  Francis: Well, one of the things that we noticed about this place...
• 17:19
  Francis: So first of all, the decor is phenomenal.
• 17:21
  Francis: Who designed this place?
• 17:22
  MIC2: Uh, Anna Filatov.
• 17:23
  Francis: Um- Yeah the design is tremendous, and, uh, the bespoke furniture that fits into the banquettes is all...
• 17:29
  Francis: Again, it feels like it built-
• 17:31
  Mark: Yeah 100 years ago.
• 17:32
  Mark: I, I love the dining room, the bar is extraordinary.
• 17:35
  Francis: Yeah.
• 17:35
  Mark: Yeah.
• 17:35
  Mark: That whole bar room is just an e- Yeah it's an extraordinary room.
• 17:37
  Francis: Let's describe it folks who can't see it right now.
• 17:40
  Francis: So you have, you have bar stools.
• 17:42
  Francis: and you have some kind of high tops, and then you have these...
• 17:45
  Francis: we noticed this, right?
• 17:46
  Francis: People may not know what's going on.
• 17:48
  Francis: You have upholstered banquettes that feel like they're dining room, but they are a little bit higher on very substantial legs- Yeah with a bar rail under them, so it's kind of like a bar stool- Yeah but also feels like you're in the dining room.
• 18:00
  Francis: Yeah.
• 18:00
  Francis: Absolutely unique.
• 18:01
  Francis: Never seen anything exactly like that before, and it's just one of those details that I think makes the bar-
• 18:06
  MIC2: Yeah.
• 18:07
  MIC2: it's beautiful I mean, hearing you guys call it timeless makes
• 18:10
  Brian: so happy.
• 18:11
  Brian: I think that's like, you
• 18:13
  MIC2: know, one of the reactions we had initially coming in and, you know, was just people saying like it, that it felt like it had been here.
• 19:45
  MIC2: Yeah.
• 19:45
  MIC2: And it felt like it belongs, and it feels like it could be here for a while.
• 19:48
  MIC2: So
• 19:48
  Brian: think- It does
• 19:49
  MIC2: Yeah...you know, that's the thing.
• 19:50
  MIC2: I mean, when you guys, and I met you last night at the table, and you guys talked about how long your restaurants have been open for, and I said,"You know, that's just
• 19:57
  Brian: And it- It, it's forever for you guys- The answer is forever it's so lucky to have that.
• 20:00
  Brian: Exactly.
• 20:00
  MIC2: that, but like longevity in this game is so So-
• 20:03
  Francis: Brian Lockwood, I really appreciate your very attitude.
• 20:06
  Francis: And we are talking to you the heart of Chicago.
• 20:08
  Francis: We'll be back in just a minute.
• 20:09
  Francis: You are listening to The Restaurant Guys, and you can always find out more about us at restaurantguyspodcast.com.
• 20:14
  Francis: So here we are back again, you said that we were easy, and you're easy too.
• 20:18
  Francis: I mean, this conversation is, this conversation is exactly what we said earlier it's gonna be.
• 20:23
  Francis: The Restaurant Guys is, the conversation we would have with other industry professionals or authors, whoever, when we close bar,
• 20:28
  Mark: you
• 20:28
  Francis: know, lock the door.
• 20:28
  Francis: If there, if there
• 20:29
  Mark: wa- if there were no mics.
• 20:30
  Francis: Yeah, if there were no mics.
• 20:31
  Francis: Um, but that brought to mind, sometimes you go into a restaurant, and people say this about our restaurants, it stinks of Mark and Francis in our restaurant.
• 20:41
  Francis: Like, our personality is expressed in everything.
• 20:43
  Francis: It's where we're comfortable.
• 20:44
  Francis: it's our vision and- place is so in keeping with your personality the way that you talk about things.
• 20:51
  MIC1: It's elegant and it's
• 20:52
  Francis: Yeah
• 20:53
  Mark: Right?
• 20:54
  Brian: Yeah.
• 20:54
  Brian: Yeah.
• 20:54
  Mark: that's the vibe you give off-
• 20:56
  Brian: Yeah
• 20:56
  Mark: and that's the vibe that the restaurant gives
• 20:58
  Brian: Well, yeah.
• 20:58
  Brian: And then, then we got, you I got partners that are great too and have great taste, and collaborative thing amongst all of us, so.
• 21:04
  Brian: Are they
• 21:04
  Francis: elegant and,
• 21:05
  Brian: sure comfortable?
• 21:06
  Francis: Well, one of the things I want to say about this first of all, the bar is phenomenal.
• 21:09
  Francis: And some things that are really interesting,'cause we have a lot of r- restaurant professionals who listen- Yeah and, who like are The other thing about your bar that I think fantastic, your bar is against the wall and corner, a But back bar or your behind the goes into your line.
• 21:28
  Francis: So your, your line cooks are all in the same little pathway.
• 21:33
  Francis: line cooks and bartenders often are tried to be kept separate, like two animals that will eat each other in a, in a zoo.
• 21:39
  Francis: Um, that-- I was very impressed by that.
• 21:41
  Francis: Yeah.
• 21:41
  Francis: It flows beautifully.
• 21:42
  Brian: Yeah.
• 21:42
  Francis: I mean- You can't put the leopards and the tigers together.
• 21:44
  Brian: That's not gonna work.
• 21:44
  Brian: They're, they're in the same cage here.
• 21:46
  Brian: I mean, um, no, Look, guys, we have one team, Uh-huh.
• 21:50
  Brian: You know, I, I will say my Daniel and Will and not calling things the front of the house and the back of the house- Mm-hmm and having the kitchen and the dining room, even here, the way that it's all just one
• 22:03
  Francis: Yeah the Yeah.
• 22:05
  Francis: Yeah.
• 22:05
  Brian: It
• 22:05
  MIC2: is just one big space, and we do try to really keep that mentality of like,"Hey, how can we do this better?" And, you know, we touched on it
• 22:12
  Brian: we started
• 22:13
  MIC2: this,
• 22:13
  Brian: conversation what were one of the things we could do better take two, and
• 22:17
  MIC2: this was one of those
• 22:19
  Brian: when we first got in here, it was kind
• 22:21
  MIC2: like everyone was so busy,
• 22:22
  Brian: we were all fighting for space.
• 22:24
  Brian: It's tiny and- Mm-hmm.
• 22:25
  Brian: So that gave us time to rethink
• 22:27
  MIC2: during the time and just be like,"Guys, it's one team." Like, we're gonna put our heads together and figure out like, you need this space, like
• 22:32
  Brian: that refrigerator, see that millwork right there?
• 22:35
  MIC2: So that
• 22:35
  Brian: used to be all firewood and part of the hearth,
• 22:38
  MIC2: and the first thing, was give it to
• 22:40
  Brian: bar.
• 22:40
  Brian: It's-
• 22:40
  Mark: Bartenders
• 22:41
  Brian: need it.
• 22:41
  Brian: There you go.
• 22:41
  Brian: Yeah.
• 22:41
  Brian: Like, here's your space.
• 22:42
  Brian: for whatever that they need.
• 22:43
  Mark: You, you know, it's been wonderful, to see the change
• 22:47
  MIC1: that the front of house and back
• 22:49
  Mark: house are on the same team, right?
• 22:50
  Mark: Oh, yeah.
• 22:51
  Mark: It's been wonderful to move towards I can't do this without you, and you can't do what you wanna do without me.
• 22:57
  MIC1: Yeah.
• 22:57
  MIC1: And,
• 22:58
  Mark: ship goes better if everybody's trying to make the ship go forward, right?
• 23:02
  Mark: Yeah.
• 23:02
  Mark: Did you
• 23:02
  Francis: ever work in a, kitchen with a pot-throwing chef we did- I mean- when we came up through the ranks?
• 23:06
  Francis: Yeah, definitely.
• 23:07
  Francis: Yeah.
• 23:08
  Francis: What did you...
• 23:08
  Francis: 'Cause I thought-
• 23:09
  Mark: Cause we did too.
• 23:10
  Francis: I mean, it, it's- And we thought when we opened a restaurant we're like,"That's not happening here." Yeah.
• 23:13
  Francis: Yeah.
• 23:13
  Francis: That's not happening here.
• 23:14
  Francis: 100%.
• 23:14
  Brian: obviously you get the opportunity to
• 23:16
  MIC2: yourself, how can you do it better?
• 23:17
  MIC2: I'm far from perfect, how do we do it better, you know?
• 23:20
  MIC2: I do
• 23:20
  Brian: go
• 23:21
  MIC2: home every day and hold a mirror to myself and say, how can I be better?
• 23:25
  MIC2: What can I do I do try to walk in other people's shoes.
• 23:29
  Brian: think and I'm still, you myself over things I, that I could've done better yesterday.
• 23:33
  Brian: Well,
• 23:33
  Francis: if you're not getting better, you're getting worse.
• 23:35
  Francis: It doesn't, it doesn't stay the same.
• 23:36
  Francis: Can we- Well, so can we turn the conversation to the inevitable?
• 23:39
  Francis: Because you also did a pretty cool consulting
• 23:42
  Brian: Yeah.
• 23:43
  Francis: You, uh, you worked on The Bear.
• 23:45
  Brian: I sure did.
• 23:45
  Francis: And The Bear was a very important show.
• 23:48
  Francis: Yeah.
• 23:48
  Francis: So what did
• 23:49
  Mark: do on The Bear?
• 23:49
  Mark: And I'm sorry, I didn't realize that's what brought you to Chicago.
• 23:51
  Brian: It was, yeah.
• 23:52
  Brian: So, uh, well,
• 23:52
  MIC2: I was, I was one of the consultants.
• 23:54
  MIC2: So it
• 23:54
  Brian: started with Will Guidara
• 23:55
  MIC2: helped co-write some
• 23:56
  Brian: of the act-
• 23:57
  MIC2: you know, episodes for season three, four, and maybe part of five.
• 24:01
  MIC2: So I spent, you know, nine years working with Will, and
• 24:04
  Brian: he called me up out of the blue"Hey, how would you want train White on
• 24:09
  MIC2: his cooking So
• 24:11
  Brian: I was,
• 24:11
  MIC2: Of course.
• 24:12
  Brian: So I went out to LA and got to spend a week and just cooking with him and
• 24:15
  MIC2: teaching him how to baste and roast a piece
• 24:18
  Brian: of meat and
• 24:18
  MIC2: cook a piece of
• 24:20
  Brian: And, then it was just, there was a great synergy Bear and
• 24:23
  MIC2: TV in general, I think are very similar to restaurants, where it's
• 24:27
  Brian: a do whatever it takes culture.
• 24:28
  Brian: Yeah, go time.
• 24:29
  Brian: Right?
• 24:29
  Brian: Like- Go time it's just like, okay, here's your marching orders.
• 24:31
  Brian: Figure it out.
• 24:32
  Brian: Right.
• 24:32
  Brian: Find a way, do it.
• 24:34
  Brian: so that resonated how I, I, you know, was able to come
• 24:37
  MIC2: out and help out on and four out here in Chicago,
• 24:40
  Brian: And that's
• 24:40
  Francis: so were you me out here.
• 24:41
  Francis: And so
• 24:41
  Brian: were you
• 24:41
  Francis: mostly teaching technique or mannerisms or like, yeah, that'll never happen
• 24:44
  Brian: in a kitchen.
• 24:44
  Brian: Well, I mean, really, so it started with more mannerisms and techniques, and then on the show I would continue to help with that.
• 24:49
  MIC2: But I also
• 24:50
  Brian: was part of the creative team
• 24:51
  MIC2: who would help develop the
• 24:53
  Brian: dishes- Uh-huh
• 24:54
  MIC2: um, with, you know, three or four other individuals and,
• 24:56
  Brian: you know, Well, that seems like fun the culinary that's one of the aspects of
• 25:00
  MIC2: the cooking part that I really like is the creative
• 25:02
  Brian: Oh, yeah.
• 25:03
  Brian: but I did contribute a ton, and it was very collaborative, much like any great kitchen truly about all the other people
• 25:09
  MIC2: around you and trying to
• 25:10
  Brian: get all of their ideas into one
• 25:13
  MIC2: thing that feels
• 25:14
  Brian: I, um, I mean, transparently, before I helped out on the show, I didn't
• 25:17
  MIC2: watch it.
• 25:17
  MIC2: I tried, and I was
• 25:19
  Brian: can't."
• 25:19
  Francis: don't-" Oh my
• 25:20
  Mark: I
• 25:20
  Brian: can't do this.
• 25:20
  Mark: That's a week.
• 25:20
  Mark: You know?
• 25:21
  Mark: So the experience
• 25:21
  MIC1: I have with
• 25:22
  Mark: restaurant people on that show is That show gives me anxiety Yeah.
• 25:27
  Mark: And I, and I can't imagine- it not giving me anxiety.
• 25:30
  Brian: Yeah.
• 25:30
  Mark: And, and so- Well, that's a
• 25:31
  Brian: well-made show.
• 25:32
  Mark: Yeah.
• 25:32
  Mark: Yeah.
• 25:32
  Mark: I mean, it just
• 25:32
  Brian: goes to show that, there's a lot of parallels- It- and realism in the show Oh, it's real and it's, it's, you know, that's why you can't- It's, it's too real in some, in
• 25:38
  Mark: some bits
• 25:38
  Brian: Exactly.
• 25:39
  Francis: it, it has, and I'll pay it a compliment.
• 25:40
  Francis: Like, and I, like said, I, I couldn't watch...
• 25:42
  Francis: I, I didn't watch a lot of it.
• 25:44
  Francis: I can't watch it in
• 25:44
  Mark: December.
• 25:44
  Mark: Yeah.
• 25:44
  Mark: Okay?
• 25:45
  Mark: I'll tell you that right now.
• 25:45
  Mark: Uh-huh.
• 25:46
  MIC1: I cannot watch
• 25:46
  Mark: it in
• 25:48
  Francis: I've watched the whole first season, and then I've watched snippets of the others, but- Yeah.
• 25:51
  Francis: Yeah it was emotional work to get through that first season.
• 25:53
  Francis: It really was.
• 25:53
  Francis: And I will say, not since Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain's came out- Right has there been something that can, that everybody in the restaurant business like,"Oh, yeah." Yeah.
• 26:03
  Francis: "That's, that's it, right?" I mean- Yeah.
• 26:05
  Brian: No, good point.
• 26:05
  Brian: It's...
• 26:06
  Brian: You're 100%
• 26:06
  MIC2: right.
• 26:07
  MIC2: That was the same moment for
• 26:08
  Brian: Confidential.
• 26:09
  Brian: It
• 26:09
  Francis: was like,
• 26:09
  Mark: Oh." It, it...
• 26:09
  Mark: I will tell you,
• 26:11
  MIC1: one
• 26:12
  Mark: the most, and this is before you were there,
• 26:14
  MIC1: but
• 26:15
  Mark: most important episodes, episode called
• 26:18
  MIC1: Forks-
• 26:19
  Mark: Richie goes and gets the whole fine dining thing- realizes
• 26:25
  MIC1: that
• 26:25
  Mark: it is special, it's not just about the forks being polished- Yeah it's about the message- Yep the way you treat people and- and that we're all working towards every- That there's people in the kitchen with, you know, a, a set of tweezers and somebody picked the shiso so that on every piece of shrimp, the shiso would be- Yeah perfectly placed.
• 26:42
  Brian: Yeah.
• 26:43
  Mark: Uh, I'm talking about
• 26:44
  MIC1: a dish that we had last
• 26:45
  Mark: so-
• 26:45
  Brian: Yeah.
• 26:45
  Brian: No, it's, I mean- But, uh, yeah it comes down to discipline, right?
• 26:47
  Brian: There's a lot
• 26:47
  MIC2: of
• 26:48
  Brian: discipline and,
• 26:48
  MIC2: like, the process
• 26:50
  Brian: learning,
• 26:51
  Mark: mentored a lot of people.
• 26:51
  Mark: You've been
• 26:52
  MIC1: mentored by a lot
• 26:53
  Mark: important
• 26:54
  MIC1: what's
• 26:54
  Mark: different about mentoring an actor
• 26:56
  MIC1: to cook than a
• 26:59
  MIC2: fortunately for me,
• 27:00
  Brian: Jeremy
• 27:01
  MIC2: Allen White was so incredibly talented.
• 27:03
  MIC2: Yeah.
• 27:03
  MIC2: I mean,
• 27:03
  Brian: He really was.
• 27:04
  Brian: So- Not your normal actor
• 27:05
  Francis: so if the acting doesn't work out, you'll, you'll hire for a hundred
• 27:08
  Brian: percent.
• 27:08
  Brian: Oh, 100%.
• 27:08
  Brian: He's hired.
• 27:09
  Brian: He can come run the kitchen for me right now.
• 27:10
  Brian: Like, uh, yeah, he is, he is incredible.
• 27:13
  Brian: But that's also, like, any tier, you know, any industry- I mean, that's part
• 27:18
  MIC2: of being the
• 27:19
  Brian: of the best is that- Um he studies it.
• 27:21
  Brian: He studied on watched people's
• 27:23
  MIC2: mannerism.
• 27:24
  Brian: He'd watch us do
• 27:25
  MIC2: he picked up And he also just had, like, an innate skill set for it
• 27:30
  Francis: he had the mannerisms of the thing that happens in the kitchen, which was amazing to watch.
• 27:34
  Francis: So listen, what you've done for the TV world is tremendous, uh, and thank you for that.
• 27:39
  MIC1: Before we
• 27:39
  Mark: wrap up, I just some of the little nuance-
• 27:43
  MIC1: Yep that we okay?
• 27:45
  MIC1: So I
• 27:46
  Mark: love that the waiters wear.
• 27:49
  Mark: the red jacket, black smart, very And the
• 27:53
  Francis: bus
• 27:53
  Mark: coordinated.
• 27:54
  Mark: And the bus is coordinated.
• 27:55
  Mark: With the, not
• 27:55
  Francis: the jacket, but the apron.
• 27:56
  Mark: Yeah.
• 27:56
  Mark: And, but the, detail that I noticed last night-
• 27:59
  MIC1: Mm-hmm that I,
• 27:59
  Mark: Sorry, copying this.
• 28:01
  Francis: Yes.
• 28:01
  Mark: Okay.
• 28:02
  MIC1: The
• 28:03
  Mark: little red books that all the waiters write the orders in-
• 28:07
  Francis: Yeah
• 28:07
  Mark: that
• 28:07
  MIC1: match their jackets.
• 28:10
  Francis: And everyone has the little book instead of little- That perfect little- crappy sheet of paper that everyone has
• 28:15
  Mark: Yeah.
• 28:16
  MIC1: perfect little
• 28:17
  Mark: detail- it communicated so much without
• 28:21
  MIC1: saying anything,
• 28:22
  Brian: Well, that's the importance of teams, guys.
• 28:23
  Brian: Mm-hmm.
• 28:23
  Brian: I mean, that's Sarah Crayton, one of our incredible, director
• 28:26
  MIC2: of operations who just, you know-
• 28:28
  Brian: Incredible.
• 28:29
  Brian: But between that and Rob and Kevin
• 28:30
  MIC2: you know, they're all, all in it and that is the importance of having other people who see these
• 28:35
  Brian: things.
• 28:35
  MIC2: Oh, yeah.
• 28:35
  Brian: 'Cause that is not when you're opening a restaurant- Oh, yeah the chef's like, looking at
• 28:40
  MIC2: that shiso on
• 28:41
  Brian: shrimp-" and that is my focus." So like, having all these other see these other
• 28:45
  MIC2: details,'cause it's...
• 28:46
  MIC2: You're, you're so
• 28:47
  Brian: It's an all-encompassing
• 28:49
  Mark: And it is a really- Yeah,
• 28:51
  MIC1: You have to have good people on the team, and
• 28:53
  Mark: no single or battery of people-
• 28:57
  Brian: Yeah
• 28:58
  Mark: is gonna do it all.
• 28:59
  Francis: Well, and one of the things we talk about, and I know that you believe as well, is when we talk to young waiters, and we talk about great service, and we have all these different things that we want you to do- Mm-hmm um, and we say,"Listen, all of these are arrows in the quiver," right?
• 29:11
  Francis: Right.
• 29:11
  Francis: "And you don't need to shoot every arrow at every time." Right.
• 29:13
  Francis: "We, we, we give you those arrows so you can meet every customer where they are." And, and great service invisible.
• 29:20
  Francis: Like, we're nuts, right?
• 29:21
  Francis: But most walk out, what I need them to say is, I don't need them to say,"Oh, the wine was refilled, and the glasses were beautiful, and the, did you see that they hid the POS system?"
• 29:29
  Mark: Right.
• 29:30
  Francis: I need them to walk out and say,"That was great," And they don't even know why.
• 29:33
  Francis: Right.
• 29:33
  Francis: But the little books are something that most people wouldn't notice.
• 29:36
  Francis: I, I notice how you have very discreetly hidden your POS system And I, and I just wanna point out that having your waiters write in a little book is exactly the opposite, and maybe a little less efficient, than having a handheld where they're typing the order directly the kitchen- Yeah which would save steps.
• 29:53
  Francis: I don't wanna talk to somebody who's typing it into computer.
• 29:55
  Francis: Yeah.
• 29:55
  Mark: I also
• 29:56
  Francis: w- They're writing into a book
• 29:57
  Mark: another
• 29:57
  MIC1: tiny little detail.
• 29:58
  MIC1: Yeah.
• 29:59
  Mark: The screens are flattened.
• 30:01
  Francis: Yeah.
• 30:02
  Mark: It's not completely flat, so the waiter can still use them.
• 30:04
  Mark: Yeah.
• 30:05
  Mark: But the light of the screen doesn't enter the
• 30:07
  MIC1: dining room.
• 30:07
  MIC1: Yeah.
• 30:07
  MIC1: The, the
• 30:08
  Mark: never sees the
• 30:09
  Francis: light of the screen.
• 30:09
  Francis: Neither am I looking at the ass end of a monitor while I'm sitting in table, which-
• 30:12
  Brian: Great team, guys.
• 30:13
  Mark: they're just beautiful little details Buck and I enjoy each other and, and Francis, I noticed tied in the broken arrow and the arrows and the quiver thing.
• 30:21
  Mark: Yeah.
• 30:21
  Mark: 'Cause- We
• 30:22
  Francis: got a lot, got a lot- a lot, a lot of synergy going on here.
• 30:24
  Francis: Yeah.
• 30:25
  Francis: we only met last night, but I feel like I've made a new friend, mad respect for what you've done here.
• 30:29
  Francis: It's tremendous.
• 30:30
  Francis: Well, thank you.
• 30:30
  Francis: Yeah.
• 30:32
  Francis: Excellent.
• 30:34
  Mark: very much, friend.
• 30:35
  Francis (2): Yeah.
• 30:35
  Francis (2): Well, I hope you guys have enjoyed this.
• 30:37
  Francis (2): We learned a lot from him, and, uh, come to Stage Left and Catherine Lombardi, where we will show you the cool notebooks we got There's a shameless plug for the restaurants, huh?
• 30:45
  Francis: You gotta come to Gingy when you come to Chicago.
• 30:47
  Francis: We'll put up all the information on the notes for the show.
• 30:50
  Francis (2): Anyway, hope you enjoyed the hour with us.
• 30:51
  Francis (2): I'm Francis
• 30:52
  Mark OUTRO: And I'm Mark Pascal
• 30:53
  Francis OUTRO: are the Restaurant Guys.
• 30:54
  Francis OUTRO: You can always find out more about us at restaurantguyspodcast.com.