Enough already. Front page, above-the-fold, “restaurants going the way of the bowling alley” stories, the rumored death of the dining scene. Slow and slowing, yes; dead, no. The Boston restaurant scene isn’t collapsing, and neither are you. Decidedly, we are more watchful than we were a year ago, parsing values and prices carefully. And this winter’s snowstorms seem overly fond of weekends. As a result some restaurants may not make it till the spring thaw. But most will, and many of us still crave the camaraderie of a good dinner out. As the exasperated president of the National Restaurant Association said to me recently in California, “If there’s nine percent unemployment, there are still 91 percent of the people working their tails off.”
I sat down with some core members of what I call the Boston Brat Pack, a loose group of talented male chefs in their 30s who enjoy one another’s company and like to rove around town: Marc Orfaly of Pigalle and Marco; Tony Susi of Sage; Dante deMagistris of Dante; and Rodney Murrillo of Avila. We came together to talk about an event they’re doing, “The New Regime of the Cooking Scene,” a five-course dinner at Avila on February 24th that will highlight a new wave of prominent Boston chefs.
But what they really wanted to talk about was the media and the economy. We had an honest and revealing gripe session about how the media (i.e., me and everyone else who writes about food) is turning the recession into an apocalyptic scene out of Mad Max. It’s making these guys mad. Although it’s true that home cooking is back in vogue, the chefs are unhappy with a media portrayal of everyone staying home, eating pasta and meatloaf. Here’s the reality, they say: things are quieter, but people are still going out to eat and drink in Boston. In fact, at most restaurants, bar business is holding up, and dining rooms are comfortably full; and deals offered on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights at virtually every restaurant mean the best food in the city is still within reach of many recession-wary budgets.
They get it. The chefs know they have to give the customer value as never before. “We’re all desperately fighting for ... the educated diner — the diner who understands how much skill, time, and expense we put into our cooking; the diner who knows the difference between using frozen lamb from New Zealand and sustainable lamb from Niman Ranch,” says Marc Orfaly. Tony Susi explained, “Look, we’ve got to have people walk out of here happy. In a down economy, service and hospitality are paramount.” Says Rodney Murrillo, “We get it. Right now, people don’t walk out of your restaurant saying, ‘Wow, that was the best ravioli with foie gras I’ve ever had!’ They walk out thinking they had a good time and a good meal at a good price.”
Chefs are responsive to the scaled-back sensibilities of the day. There isn’t a good bistro in the city now that doesn’t have a prix fixe menu paired with reasonable wines. There is renewed emphasis on hospitality — making sure guests understand that their restaurant choice is appreciated. Sure, it’s a tad easier to get a reservation for 7:30 on a Saturday than it was last year, but the dining rooms are still bubbling with happy, chatty people. Chefs become chefs because they like to cook for people. My message: get out, dine around, eat food you love, and remember that dining out is one part nourishment and nine parts enjoyment.
