Every week, a new restaurant opens up in New York, well, that and a new loft. As if this city isn't crowded enough, there are people out there who feel that we New Yorkers don't get enough to eat as well. Only 50% of restaurants survive their first year, causing massive nervous breakdowns and leaving room for yet another lame establishment to open.
I recently got a job working for one of these places. Part restaurant, part boulangerie, the place was first started by a famous chef who worked for a well known restaurant in the city. The theme: American-Continental. The problem: bad food+lame decor+egotistical/self-conscious chef=bad reviews. So, after a few months, the guy's heckled out by the landlords, who subsequently take over and push themselves into further ruin and embarrassment. I consider myself to be a foodie. Since I was a kid, food and writing were my passions. As an adult, I am open to all kinds of foods, having occasionally taken weird culinary routes (chocolate covered crickets, baked mealworms, fried Spam) and expect quality. It seems like a lot of these chefs have forgotten what it means to enjoy a meal. In New York, a chef is or can be as famous as a celebutante, often seen in Page Six hobnobbing with Diddy and Paris Hilton. These people open these retaurants, getting tons of buzz because of name and association, and under all of the pressure, forget that it's about the food and not the fame. Chefs end up focusing more on presentation that taste, and subsequently crumble under their own egos, their hard work buried in the Cemetery of Bad Restaurants. What happens is, instead of revamping the menus or changing the type of food they serves, many restaurants hike up the prices and hire Mexican cooks to prepare the food.
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