There’s a reason restaurants everywhere are failing: Red Hen Syndrome

The Spectator ^ | 07/22/2018 | Rod Liddle

[MaxistheBest]

It may be that we’ve had all we can take, especially when these outlets are suffused with such self-importance. --------------------------------------------------------

The Red Hen is where the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, took her family for a bite to eat, and from which she was evicted when the homosexual staff recognised who she was. Her rude defenestration was supported by the restaurant’s owner, citing Donald Trump’s reluctance to allow transgender people to serve in the US military. It is, clearly, a liberals-only restaurant. They should write that on the front door, so that everything is clear, but as a sop maybe have a water fountain out front labelled ‘for conservatives’.

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But support for the horrible Red Hen was outweighed by about five to one by enraged conservatives, one of whom advised immigrants that the restaurant was offering free meals to illegal aliens and all they had to do was ring the number, which they quoted in full. My favourite, though, came from a local bloke who said that people in the area were disgusted with the Red Hen and that the owner was ‘a New York transplant’ and related to Meryl Streep. Enough said!

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Cooking is not terribly difficult. Nor is it an art. It is at best what Orwell referred to as a ‘half art’, like photography. We have undoubtedly benefited from the increased prestige conferred upon people who can put stuff in a frying pan and stir it quite adeptly, these past 40 years. But latterly it has also bred within the restaurateurs a distance from and even a contempt towards the people they are serving. So that they are now agreed that the feedback they receive from their customers is utterly worthless: they know what they are doing and nobody can tell them otherwise.

[MaxistheBest]

I'm a full blood Italian who moved from Boston to Florida to find my wife, who was born and raised in central Florida (Lake Wales); as southern as anywhere in Alabama or Mississippi or Georgia.

I have a love for good homemade Italian and Southern cooking, both of which my wife does as good as any eatery. Neither of us care for the fancy "New Wave" shops out there....we prefer a place that can make good gnocchis or country fried steaks (or anything in a cast iron skillet)

That is good eating and usually much less expensive!

[2banana]

Never a good business decision to alienate 50% of your potential customers...

[lee martell]

The author gets 45 free points for using “Defenestration” in a sentence. It means to throw someone out through a window.
Who knew we needed a word just for that?

[VTenigma]

Cooking is not terribly difficult.

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No, but the cleaning and sanitation part seems to elude more and more restaurant operators. I patronize very few dining establishments, less and less lately. That and the Hep-A problem puts me off.

[Lisbon1940]

But she wasn’t defenestrated.

[yarddog]

I used to deal with a lot of businesses. A few of them were restaurants.

Most were fairly clean but a few were dirty enough that I wondered how they had passed inspection.

I recall a Mexican restaurant in Dodge City, KS. It was run by a classy looking Hispanic lady. It may have been even cleaner in back than in front. Basically spotless.

Another one in Western Kansas that I would never have eaten there after being in back. It looked nice enough in the front dining area.

For the last 30 years, I have just about quit eating out because of my experiences.

[BBell]

There’s a reason restaurants everywhere are failing: Red Hen Syndrome

4 chan?

[moovova]

The best part...

“Anxious to find out what food they served at the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, I clicked on the relevant site and was transported immediately to a discount motorcycle website entirely in Korean, or Japanese, or maybe Chinese.”

[RightGeek]

My favorite restaurant review story https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/434gqw/i-made-my-shed-the-top-rated-restaurant-on-tripadvisor

[max americana]

I’m a Yelper and I do my best to damage liberal places. Of course, Yelp is run by libtards so I always make sure to “mix” up my good reviews with the bad so they wont kill my account..

[SamAdams76]

There is nothing like a good breakfast place. Cooking bacon and eggs is very simple - I do it at home all the time - but some do it better than others. I was up in the Boston area this weekend and went to the Blue Moon Grill in Wakefield.

They had the best swiss cheese, mushroom and bacon omelette I have ever had. And I've had a lot of omelettes over the years.

[firebrand]

You must be young. In the Cold War years it was a time-honored method of the Soviets.

[M1903A1]

In a past life, I had to inventory radio equipment atop one of the major skyscrapers in downtown Chicago...and to access the radio room, my crew and I had to go through the kitchen and back area of a top-floor exclusive club. Looked spectacular in the front...in the back, OMG!!!

I’ve never looked at restaurants the same way since....

[entropy12]

Cooking is not terribly difficult.

Correct, however cleaning the range, cooking pots and pans, dinner plates and silverware, and the dining table is what we do not care for. Not to mention forays to the grocery store to buy food items. All that is avoided by going to a restaurant. That is why we eat out several times every week.

[livius]

The “new wave” places are fine and have good food, but they’re generally small and the other problem is that they’ve gone to the new non-service model, which in my opinion makes them uncomfortable and overpriced. I would suspect that a lot of them will change back, since people honestly don’t want to line up and order at a counter in a decent restaurant. But fundamentally, this situation is all because different states and cities now require such an insane wage for tipped service personnel that no restaurant can afford them. Thank you Obama.

That said, the problem they’re talking about in this article is that some older restaurants are going down. But there are reasons for that, normally that the owners are older and the children don’t want to take it on, and the important fact that the streets or even the entire town has changed in the space of half a century. That’s to be expected.

But we’ve got to look at the insane regulatory mania for imposing totally ridiculous demands on small businesses, to the extent that they can’t even stay in business.

[MV=PY]

If you’re in the area, try Lorenzo’s in ft Pierce. Tiny place, good prices, great italian, true ny style pizza.

[yarddog]

I was in the hospital in Geneva, Alabama having a skin cancer removed from the back of my neck. This was as an outpatient.

They ordered me a breakfast but I was released before I had time to eat it. I asked if I could take it home as it was in a container. They said yes so I did.

I think it was one of the best breakfasts I have ever had. This from a hospital

[firebrand]

Some restaurants now have visible kitchens. Of course that’s not an option for all.

[entropy12]

Try cooking bacon in the oven. It avoids super-heating the bacon in spots in a pan which is what produces carcinogens in treated meats which is what bacon is.

[Fungi]

The author can write. Citing Orwell as saying cooking is a “half art” is true, only chefs would vehemently object to that belittlement. You beat me to “defenestration,” but notice “peregrinations”-- akin to “peripatetic,” and “Belarusian sushi”—I am sure there is no such thing. A fine article, worthy of reading and posting. Subtle but firm and true politically, and a good vocabulary make for interesting reading.