2.2023 Edition

Editor: Justin Khanna​

Hey Reader,

The hospitality world quaked this week.

Or at least that’s how my feeds felt, after the news broke on Monday that Rene Redzepi plans to close noma in 2025.

This comes right after this very newsletter published news on their reported financial loss (if you’re new, you can always check out previous editions at the bottom of this newsletter), and our excitement that they were switching to a paid internship program instead of leveraging unpaid stagiaires.

There was no shortage of “hot takes” on the news, and I joined in on the fun by pairing up with my friend Ray to record a podcast on the topic (linked below in the ICYMI section).

In the lead up to us recording, I got to thinking about: how did we get here? What motivates the behavior that caused this?

And spoiler alert: it’s not just one thing. I believe anyone who says otherwise has gotten a bit too reductionistic on this entire situation.

As I was writing about this, I landed on an interesting angle that I hadn’t quite expanded on before, so I chose to share it in the episode, and I want to advantage of the visual nature of this newsletter to present my scrappy version 1 of: Signaling Dials in Hospitality 👇

Think about each “category” or “header” as something that hospitality professionals/owners say they care about.

Depending on how you choose to signal that “object of value” is what direction you turn the dial. Each quote in this visual shows real versions of signaling I’ve heard over the years (or even used myself).

Here’s the fascinating paradox I see when I look at this graphic: two different people can have a desire to “signal” to the world in seemingly different ways, but they’re really just signaling the other side of the coin of the same value. Neither one is “superior” to the other.

I believe Rene Redzepi, much like all of us, desires to signal things to the world. And when you feel like you can’t signal something (ie: the years that he held 2 Michelin stars, lacking that elusive 3rd star) you behave in ways that will make it more likely that you’ll achieve the means to be able to signal that achievement…often times, at the expense or neglect of other values.

I found writing about Signaling Dials to be an empathy-increasing way to acknowledge the fact that we’re all striving (or maintaining) something. The means to those ends absolutely matter, and I expand more on this in the podcast episode.

Said differently: it didn’t surprise me when I heard this news. I only spent a week at noma in 2011 as a stagiaire, and they still continue to be the longest hours I’ve ever worked in professional kitchens (start prep at 8am, finish at 1am).

My main “thesis” that I arrived at when I started writing about this topic reads:

“I think this is a story of someone (Rene) who has an (arguably unhealthy) love of food and cuisine, who experienced runaway success with a project at the right place, at the right time, and doesn’t have the skills or character traits to ask for help.”

Did I miss a “Signaling Dial” that you care about? Shoot me a reply to this email, I read every one. Once I get your input, I’ll look forward to developing this idea into a more permanent blog post.

Speaking of the Redzepi news: I’ve opened up a conversation with other hospitality professionals inside The Repertoire Pro Community if you’d like to join in on the conversation - get your first month for $1 with code FD101 at sign-up! (members, head to the 🎙️Podcast space!)

Top Hits 💥

​How to Stand Out (without getting shot down)​

What to expect in this video from legendary investor, Garry Tan

• The importance of shaking off the notion that life is simply something to be lived and embracing the idea that we have the ability to change and improve it.
• The idea that standing out and making a difference requires breaking with tradition and being different, even if it goes against what others may say.
• The role of hip-hop in American culture and how it evolved from a raw, club sound to what we know it as today.
• The value of being authentic and staying true to oneself in order to stand out and make a mark.

Our Take: With new year kicking off, and everybody trying to stick to a new habit or goal, it is important to look at the bigger picture too! Asking yourself what your “why” is, what is the thing that is driving you, what is the bigger picture?

While speaking with author Andrew Friedman in an interview for the podcast, we touched on the same point of mavericks taking a leap of faith to change the course of normality. He mentioned the iconic David Chang and Sunny Lee on their bold moves to breakthrough in the F&B industry.

​Why This Restaurant in the 'Middle of Nowhere' Is a Must-Visit ​

When Brendan Ullman and Tyler O'Toole met in 2017 as young chefs at Jean-Georges, the two-Michelin-star namesake restaurant of Jean-George Vongerichten, they soon fell into a post-work ritual. After an intense shift that ended at 3 a.m., says Ullman, "we didn't have anywhere local to get drinks, because the bar across the street had closed down." The best they could do was a 24-hour drugstore that sold beer.

Our Take: What stood out the most for us on this story is the menu at The Circle. It looks like a “greatest hits” selection of that 2015-2019 era of NYC dining, in a great way. These are two chefs who know exactly what they want and they built it - kudos 👏

​Dare to Dream: 53 Restaurant Ideas for 2023​

White linen table cloths, Turbo Turns, and gourmet nachos, s'il vous plaît.

Whether or not this decade will pan out to be the Roaring Twenties 2.0 is still up for debate. That said, if 2022 proved anything for hospitality it was that people are champing at the bit to cut loose. All manners of Martinis and Negronis were sipped. Whole fish finally became a trend here in America. We TikTok’d our pasta chips and Birria tacos. Restaurants were packed. Reservation systems slammed. It was, given our perpetually tempered expectations in this post (post-post?) pandemic world, a very good year for diners and operators alike.

Our Take: Different folks read these articles in different ways. One camp is “this is exactly what we AREN’T gonna do” and the other might be “this is what’s ready to be capitalized on…”

We’re reminded of fun & surprising re-mixing that happens all over the place by using the template: [food] in the style of [style].

​State Bird Provisions in San Francisco saw runaway success when they launched [California-sourced, seasonal small plates] in the style of [Dim Sum] - how can you use something from this list to launch something new or breathe fresh life into an area of your business?

Regardless of your opinion, keeping an eye on trends can be a valuable way to anticipate guest expectations, branch out creatively, and observe your competition.

ICYMI 🙌

​Clips from Podcast Episodes! - If you would like to brush-up on some of the best bits from our guests on the recent episodes of the podcast, makes sure you follow us on Instagram and YouTube.

​Corey Chow and Eneko Axpe had some insightful take on where the industry stands and where it is going…

Speaking of podcast... Episode 160 is LIVE! 🎧

​Noma's News, The Menu, and AI Eating Food with Ray Delucci - Listen to a special episode of our podcast as we delve into the recent news of Noma's shutdown and the online food fight that ensued. I interview Ray Delucci, host of Line Cook Thoughts, for his perspective and we breakdown the state of the fine dining industry.

We also discuss the new Disney+ movie The Menu, and AI Eating food. The infamous Chat GPT was the centre of discussion and the infamous discussion on “future of fine dining in a post-apocalyptic COVID world”

​joinrepertoire.com got a facelift! We want the best user-experience for all our current and potential students, that is the reason for the revamp! Behind the scenes this week, we launched a brand new work sheet as part of the workbook of templates in Total Station Domination - you can also now get you hands on some free downloads, we would love if you could browse around and check out the facelift 👷🏽

This Week, We Learned… 🧠

​Why I Eat Doritos For Breakfast - Come for the chips, stay for the deep dive on Dashi, MSG, Consumer-Packaged-Goods, and seasoning - Without spoiling the video too much, Johnny talks about a very important topic of why people crave a certain food group. I recently listened to a podcast episode on this very topic from Stuff You Should Know, and it builds on the same concept that Johnny talks about.

​The Average Contestant on British Baking Shows vs. the Average Contestant on American Cooking Shows | The New Yorker - The contrasting dichotomy of British v/s American culture in - F&B industry and media

​How Curiosity Will Save Us | Mónica Guzmán | TEDxSeattle - Mónica shares examples of curiosity-driven conversations that make it possible for even the most opposed liberals and conservatives to see and hear one another, despite the misperceptions from their news feeds. With simple, powerful questions she herself has used in countless treks across the divide, Mónica shows us how having critical conversations with people—instead of about them—changes everything.

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Comment from you folks:

To Peep 👀

Cambro Manufacturing: 🚨NEW CAMSQUARE ALERT🚨 Introducing CamSquares FreshPro, a new and improved food storage system that takes freshness, food safety and efficiency to the next level. Looking to buy? Check them out here!

Who’s Hiring? - January is a good time to apply for jobs! Businesses have taken care of their financials and realized a scope for better human resource. Kickoff your new year by crossing off this career-related goal!

Quote I'm Pondering 💭

Thanks for reading, as always,

👊Justin​

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