Why New York restaurateur George Mendes closed his 10-year-old Portuguese restaurant Aldea
I called Mendes last week to learn about what this closure means for him and what it could say about the restaurant scene at large for an operator of a one-off, high-end spot. A condensed version of our convo follows — or scroll down for the usual links roundup.George Mendes:
But the landscape has changed; consumers have changed. Apps have had an impact on how people are dining now. And I want to go through a phase of reinventing myself. I love other cuisines. I loved the menus I’ve done at Aldea with the cuisines of former Portuguese colonies like Brazil and South Africa and Macau. It’s time to hit the reset button.The past year and half I hit a wall creatively. Being the chef-owner of a restaurant, that model of having to do everything begins to take its toll.
In 2013 and 2014 I started to see some pushback when I made it a prix fixe restaurant. When we went tasting menu-only, there was a lot of protest. People wanted an a la carte menu. They want to choose. They don’t want to commit to three hours at the table. I struggled with it. I wanted to cook what I wanted to cook. But when I didn’t give the consumers a choice, business declined. And I learned. I went right back to a la carte and tasting menus.
in the wrong place. But whether it’s called Lupulo or another name, I want to do that [kind of restaurant] again. I think there’s room for that down-home rustic Iberian cooking.I think there’s always a place for a tasting menu. My desire is in a smaller operation. I love the Japanese concept of a 14- to 16-seat restaurant or counter or a couple of tables. It’s manageable. That’s what inspired Aldea at first. It was the chef’s counter and two tables.
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