Savoy

[Adrian]

 

 

Now it is, now that restaurants have become nightlife and now that Young People have become the main target audience for even most of the more expensive restaurants. (This is NOT a good development, IMO.)

But how can most "young people," especially those who aren't living on their parent's dime, continue to afford places like Le Coucou, which is not a moderately priced restaurant, in my opinion?

 

I can see that crowd going once or twice, to get their photos in, and to say they've been, but then re-decamping to the places like Wildair.

Bc a 26 year old 1st year associate at an amlaw 200 firm is making $160-180 base (w another $30k in bonus), living with roommates and will not have kids until early 30s. And she is mad that her friends in finance and tech make more.

[joethefoodie]

 

Bc a 26 year old 1st year associate at an amlaw 200 firm is making $160-180 base (w another $30k in bonus), living with roommates and will not have kids until early 30s. And she is mad that her friends in finance and tech make more.

 

 

I think that demographic is few and far between, certainly not large enough to keep all the hot restaurants going. And they basically have Saturday night and Sunday to go out, after they put in their 100-hour weeks. I'm sure they keep Seamless in business though.

[Wilfrid]

I was really surprised when Back Forty closed. It seemed completely out of the blue.

 

Lease problems, I think.

[oakapple]

Peter has never had to be cool. He's always had integrity. (And the smarts to not hire me after I massacred a bunch of rouget when I tried out at Savoy.)

 

Is coolness really a factor in long-term success in NYC restaurants? If so, it's up to customers to decide what's cool (Tao?!?!?) and what has lost its coolth.

 

Restaurants have to be cool for the audience they're meant to serve — even if it's an audience for whom "cool" isn't in their vocabulary. Peter was cool for SoHo in 1990, and his audience grew along with him. As I said, 21 years is a remarkable run.

 

When you open a new place, the credibility of the old place doesn't automatically come along for the ride; it has to be recreated, and sometimes that's harder than it looks. This applies whether you're Charles Masson, going from La Grenouille to Chevalier; David Chang going from Momofuku to Ma Peche; or Peter Hoffman going from Savoy to Back Forty.

[oakapple]

 

Bc a 26 year old 1st year associate at an amlaw 200 firm is making $160-180 base (w another $30k in bonus), living with roommates and will not have kids until early 30s. And she is mad that her friends in finance and tech make more.

I think that demographic is few and far between, certainly not large enough to keep all the hot restaurants going.

 

 

Which is precisely why the vast majority of "cool" restaurants don't stay cool for very long.

[Sneakeater]

 

 

Bc a 26 year old 1st year associate at an amlaw 200 firm is making $160-180 base (w another $30k in bonus), living with roommates and will not have kids until early 30s. And she is mad that her friends in finance and tech make more.

 

 

I think that demographic is few and far between, certainly not large enough to keep all the hot restaurants going. And they basically have Saturday night and Sunday to go out, after they put in their 100-hour weeks. I'm sure they keep Seamless in business though.

 

 

Counting finance, I think that demographic is pretty big. And on any given weeknight, some of them aren't working.

 

There's also a lot of Euro and Asian money funding Young People.

 

And Tech people don't work all the time.

 

(And, as oakapple says, that's why the "cool" places keep changing.)

[Adrian]

 

 

Bc a 26 year old 1st year associate at an amlaw 200 firm is making $160-180 base (w another $30k in bonus), living with roommates and will not have kids until early 30s. And she is mad that her friends in finance and tech make more.

 

I think that demographic is few and far between, certainly not large enough to keep all the hot restaurants going. And they basically have Saturday night and Sunday to go out, after they put in their 100-hour weeks. I'm sure they keep Seamless in business though.

Do the math and sum the associates in amlaw. And this is but a fraction of the professional services industry. In nyc, this group is significant. And it's not just a Friday-Saturday crowd.

[AaronS]

I think almost everywhere just went to 180, at least in ny.

[Sneakeater]

That's correct.

[Suzanne F]

 

 

Bc a 26 year old 1st year associate at an amlaw 200 firm is making $160-180 base (w another $30k in bonus), living with roommates and will not have kids until early 30s. And she is mad that her friends in finance and tech make more.

I think that demographic is few and far between, certainly not large enough to keep all the hot restaurants going.

 

 

Which is precisely why the vast majority of "cool" restaurants don't stay cool for very long.

 

Which is what I was saying, thank you.

[sweatshorts]

 

 

Now it is, now that restaurants have become nightlife and now that Young People have become the main target audience for even most of the more expensive restaurants. (This is NOT a good development, IMO.)

But how can most "young people," especially those who aren't living on their parent's dime, continue to afford places like Le Coucou, which is not a moderately priced restaurant, in my opinion?

 

I can see that crowd going once or twice, to get their photos in, and to say they've been, but then re-decamping to the places like Wildair.

Bc a 26 year old 1st year associate at an amlaw 200 firm is making $160-180 base (w another $30k in bonus), living with roommates and will not have kids until early 30s. And she is mad that her friends in finance and tech make more.

 

 

I find that the financial situation of young biglaw associates varies wildly. I knew one whose parents paid her $3500/month rent through at least her first two years of employment, and one who was living essentially paycheck to paycheck due to her $2500/month loan bill in addition to her lifestyle expenses. I also know a guy who is a 4th year (so approx $275k/year in income), still has high five figures of loan debt and also has about $40k in credit card debt. But he keeps a convertible in the city for weekend trips to the Hamptons.

 

So it isn't quite as cut-and-dry as young people having a lot of money to throw around.

[Sneakeater]

But the people you're talking about clearly are throwing money around.

[sweatshorts]

But the people you're talking about clearly are throwing money around.

 

But all of them could, and probably would, maintain the same going-out lifestyle on a lower income, either through parental help or credit card debt. I know plenty of people who work in PR/Marketing whose parents pay their rent, and they get to spend their entire income eating better than I do (because I'm cheap). So yeah, there are a couple thousand 26 year olds making 200k as first years at law firms or as banking associates, but that's not why Pasquale Jones is packed every night with people who can spend $18 on sugar snap peas.

[Sneakeater]

Oh, OK. We're not disagreeing on the ultimate fact, I see.

[sweatshorts]

Oh, OK. We're not disagreeing on the ultimate fact, I see.

 

Nope. I also think that it is "cooler" now for young people to spend their money eating at the "hippest" places than it is to spend it on, say, bottle service at a club. So I think there has also been a shift in priorities among people in their late 20s. Maybe now instead of a junior associate or i-banker spending $2k/month on bottle service, they're spending $500/week on eating out. I, of course, have nothing other than my own experiences and anecdotal evidence to bear this out.

 

I'm sure that Sutton would blame it on the Great Recession.

 

ETA: Or, more likely, credit the Great Recession for the positive change.