Thursday, September 27, 2007
Restaurants Depend on Interet?
I was reading through a New York Times piece on restaurant front-of-the-house operations and how important they are. Paul Grieco, partner in a 23-table Manhattan restaurant called Insieme, made an interesting comment:
“I cannot afford to lose a single customer,” said Mr. Grieco, who opened Insieme more than five months ago and, with Mr. Canora, has owned Hearth in the East Village for nearly four years.It says a lot about changing dynamics in the industry. Web sites and blogs apparently have more actual influence than traditional reviewers. People who know about food, even if they do something else for a living, can develop audiences, and the Internet allows a single slip-up to become common knowledge in a matter of hours. Lose a customer, and that person could be a culinary Walter Winchell, broadcasting to Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea.
“It used to be that if something went wrong, you might lose a circle of family or friends. Now, half our reservations come from the Internet, and a negative experience on a blog can affect thousands of potential customers.”
Where first impressions mean much and can be spread instantly, there is a thriving market for hosts adept at managing image as well as business.
Labels: front-of-house, hosts, Internet, restaurants, reviewers
