Conspiracy Theory

According to a WCCO piece I caught online by John Lauritsen, it is a weak economy to blame for Temple having to close its doors, rising food costs, a sluggish economy (let me tell you, this is a full-blown recession and could approach depression standards very shortly). I logged on to several local blogs and news sites and checked out the temper of the commentary, and several posters got it right. As they see it, and as I wrote four months ago, there will be a lot more closings across the region as the discretionary budgets of Minnesotans shrinks.

Temple was not a victim of the economy as much as it was a casualty of its own miscalculations of the marketplace. Restaurants close because customers don’t go. And Temple failed to create a compelling reason for being there. The food was poorly conceived and executed from the get-go, the chef was gone within the first year, and naked sushi is a more desperate attempt at wooing customers than half-price wine nights could ever be.  It’s an important distinction to make because restaurants still work, in good economies or bad, so long as they are resonant with customers and create a business model within their own four walls that allows them to quickly adjust their costs to stay in line with their weekly haul and customer counts. In rugged times, simply thinking (as I believe Pham did) that if you build it they will come is a mistake of the highest magnitude.

The reason I launched my BODY COUNTS in these pages last year was to illustrate the point that the amount of people in your restaurant on a given night is the single greatest indicator of long- and short-term success. We had to suspend our counts because travel schedules and the like in our office, but I would encourage readers to take some body counts as they make their way around town. You might see some interesting trends.

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Heidi’s restaurant, Heidi and Stewart Woodman’s restaurant, appears in this months Condé Nast Traveler’s annual “Hot List” guide to the “world’s most exciting new establishments.” Check out the May issue of Condé Nast Traveler or visit the website.

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IACP Awards were handed out not long ago and Lee Klein's November 22 article in the Miami New Times, "Eat Shit and Die,” won an award. Klein’s piece detailed the dirty little secret that food animals are fed feces in the American Ag system. Other secrets that I have heard and read about recently include, but are not limited to, male chicks thrown into trash cans as soon as they hatch in egg farms; male calves torn from their mothers at birth and slaughtered before they are one-day-old; pig farms slice off the toes, ears, and tails of live piglets using knives and no painkillers; meatpacking plants (slaughterhouses) keep it a secret that up to four out of ten animals are not properly stunned, and the list goes on.

For real conspiracy theory freaks, here are a few pieces of food for thought: Some think the USDA isn’t really interested in mad cow disease because finding it would be bad for business. The American Medical Association keeps it a secret that there is overwhelming evidence linking dairy products to cancer. The American Veterinary Medicine Association keeps it a secret that food animals are pumped with hormones and antibiotics, which are directly responsible for many antibiotic-resistant strains of disease. Anyone else care to chime in? In the light of the fact that industry spokespeople are now saying that the powers that be are willing to concede that downer cattle have no place in the food system, it might be time to start stirring the pot.

Comments

[Danny B.]

In regards to your body counts comment, I had the opportunity to dine at Jimmy's Food and Cocktails in Minnetonka last night. I arrived around 7pm and the entire restaurant was already full, including the bar and a few seats outside. I couldn't guess the number of seats, but my Mom expressed surprise at it being that busy on a Wednesday night. There were also several large parties celebrating birthdays or other get-togthers. I'd guess at least 150 total by my best estimate.

I don't usually get the chance to get out to the western suburbs much as I have enough options in the cities and a drive from St. Paul at $3.36 a gallon gives me reason for pause. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Jimmy's isn't taking a ton of risks with their menu, but they're doing simple American classics and doing them well. Something must be resonating with the citizens of the western suburbs to have a full house on a Wednesday night or the slumping economy isn't having the effect on some household incomes that it is having on others.

I'd recommend Jimmy's if you're ever out that way. It's a nice alternative to the never ending collection of giant chains that seem to dominate that scene.

[Jim Flynn]

This seems like the dreaded double whammy for the restaurant biz; increasing costs of raw materials and a declining number of diners.

The owner of Chilis just reported a loss and Cheesecake Factory report a major drop in profits with more to come.

Chef Andrew I'd love to hear how our favorite dining locations can work to survive this downturn along with some of your favorite economical eats in the Twin Cities.

[Ben]

People, these secrets, or conspiracies, or facts are not new. Michael Pollan's "Dilema" offered up volumes of information regarding these things and many more. rBGH made waves in the national media more than a decade ago. It is confusing to think that people really have little idea about what they are eating, but they don't. I don't know if we are so detached from death due to a longer life expectancy and so we take for granted our physical health. I don't know if maybe we aren't all insane, and so we wouldn't know if our mental state was healthy. I do believe that the obesity issue plaguing the world is due to a diet lacking nutrients. You can eat and eat and eat processed food and forever be malnourished. Politics, misinformation, smoke, mirrors, food, theology, education, oil, someone tell me where the conversation starts and where it ends. The mess has become so convoluted that it is difficult to decipher. I do believe that this is a problem for the people. Government has proven to be inept, if you believe the possibilities that Mr. Zimmern has proposed above, the USDA, the AMA, the AVMA, and the FDA are certainly working on some agenda that has little to do with the security and the health of their people.

[Russ]

Hey - what's all this talk about a recession/depression, restaurant closings, high oil prices, etc...? Aren't we supposed to get our stimulus package checks next week? I'm thinking by mid-June everything will be back to normal.

OK, maybe more like late-June... (?????)

Regarding economical eats, I suggest two excellent Vietnamese places - Pho Tao Bay and Que Nha. I am willing to make the drive into town(s) from the southern suburbs mostly because I enjoy the food, but I'm also more aware of price-points and the current cost of dining out. I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say restaurants like PTB and QN that provide quality, authentic food at a decent value will be OK during these difficult times.

[scott in mpls]

Well, here we are on the eve of some closings, I do beieve that Temple will not be the only causualty this summer. What I do know, is that people are paying attention to food, and what they are spending their money on in general. A restaurant owner in Minneapolis that has been around for approx 15 years, told me once that retail sales is a direct reflection of what will happen with restaurants. Restaurants need to be a quality item to be purchased. Simple as that. Commodity food prices have risen, gas prices have risen. Now more than ever we need to be supporting local small family farms. Less transportation costs, more money spent loacaly will drive jobs, more community. Simple as that. Get ready to visit a farmers market this spring and summer. Ride a bike, take a walk, get healthy. It is all connected. Think. I know all of this has been said, and I am stating the obvious, but sometimes we need to hear it more often and see it more often.

[Jeff D]

Andrew, technically a depression couldn't be right around the corner. A recession is negative GDP growth for two consecutive quarters. Given how the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Fed are constantly revising the numbers for past quarters, I'd guess we're there already.

A depression is negative GDP growth for four quarters or more. Hopefully we don't get there, but I wouldn't bet on it.

[Hannah Valentine]

Russ, I agree that Pho Tao Bay is delicious, and a good bang for your buck.

On another note, regarding the "conspiracy theories":
Speaking generally, the public has got to feel confused at times on what's good/bad for a person, with all the double-talk coming at them.
You can't blame the average person for not knowing who or what to believe until they experience it themselves.
More than anything, I hope that there continues to be more investigative reporting and then action so we can see what's happening with our food, and therefore our bodies.

[Chris]

(let me tell you, this is a full-blown recession and could approach depression standards very shortly)

Forgive me but I don't know that Chef Andrew is qualified to make this statement.

[Cristina]

Seems to me anyone who lives in this country right now and has even minimal analytical skills (or even just some basic reading skills) is qualified to make that statement, Chris.