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A choice of meat markets, risking their life's blood
A choice of meat markets, risking their life's blood
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Six months ago, Chima Brazilian Steakhouse opened on JFK Blvd. Chris Scarduzio and Georges Perrier opened the Comcastic Table 31 in July. Stephen Starr debuted Butcher & Singer in the grand former Striped Bass space in October, with Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House hot on their heels, opening for dinner this Fri., Nov. 28. Union Trust, yet another fancypants meat market, anticipates an early February opening. Meanwhile, most people have modified their dining out from filet mignon and magnums of cab to mac and cheese and cans of Pabst. What the hell are these steakhouse owners thinking?
Every one of these spaces was negotiated, leased and in construction long before the world economy was revealed to be a house of cards, built on the shifting sands of high-risk debt and unregulated securities. They had to go forward, like it or not. And they are not going to like it, not one bit. The corporate expense accounts that allowed executives to wine and dine clients with prestige vintages and $65 steaks are as dead as the bull market. Citigroup, America's largest bank, is laying off 50,000 employees and has received a multi-billion dollar federal bailout package, but might not even remain solvent through the fiscal year. Wall Street refugees are sending résumés to the restaurants where they once martini-lunched.
With the economy in free fall, economists agree on one thing: They don't know where the bottom is, but this ain't it. Things are going to get much worse before they get better. Opening a 600-seat posh steakhouse in the midst of this panic is sheer folly, but Del Frisco's forges ahead, saddled with a cumbersome flotilla of staff and the crushing overhead of their gigantic space on Chestnut Street. The upcoming boutique steakhouse Union Trust just bought a 1.75-liter (approx. 59-ounce) $33,000 bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII Black Pearl 2 cognac at the recent Philadelphia Whiskey Festival. That means the restaurant's cost for a paltry one-ounce pour of the stuff is $559. If they plan to make any money, they will have to charge at least $650 for a glass. Even if you have the scratch and can't die until you've had Louis Tres from the only magnum in PA, doesn't it seem just a shade ostentatious these days?
Vacationing Europeans might soften the sting for the steakhouses for a minute, but Europe has just as much consumer debt as the the USA, and their party is at last call, as well — the E.U. just passed a gargantuan $200 billion stimulus package. People revert to comforting, familiar food in times of trial, and steak and creamed spinach will always be popular. But good food and service, even combined with a killer wine list in a beautiful setting, are not enough to make a high-end restaurant a success. Hopefully the minds behind this glut of steakhouses will put their heads together to beat prolonged contracted consumer spending; otherwise, they might bleed their last in this bloody market.
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