你是個(gè)國際巨星。有“點(diǎn)石成金”之能：代言某款鞋，該鞋就能瘋賣；推出一款香水，少男少女就爭(zhēng)相“以身試水”。下一步嘛，自然就是開餐館——餐館很酷，同時(shí)也有了一個(gè)遠(yuǎn)離狗仔隊(duì)(Paparazzi )騷擾、與自己明星朋友隨心所欲瀟灑的理想場(chǎng)所，何樂而不為？此外，經(jīng)營(yíng)餐館易如反掌——開張當(dāng)晚請(qǐng)上些明星人物，隨便上些菜，就能坐等滾滾財(cái)源來，和品牌代言異曲同工，對(duì)吧？
大錯(cuò)特錯(cuò)。作為首批涉水餐飲業(yè)的明星，邁克爾•凱恩(Michael Caine，早在1976年他就與蘭甘(Peter Langan)在倫敦開餐館)的經(jīng)歷就可以證明餐飲業(yè)的變幻無常和極具挑戰(zhàn)性并非徒有虛名。倒閉關(guān)門和讓人氣急敗壞也是家常便飯：在歐美，餐館經(jīng)營(yíng)第一年就關(guān)門的比例大約是四分之一，經(jīng)營(yíng)到第三年，關(guān)門的比例上升至三分之一。
餐館老板和訓(xùn)練有素的廚師費(fèi)了九牛二虎之力才能完全整明白如何經(jīng)營(yíng)才能確保生存下去。因此發(fā)生下述結(jié)果也就不足為奇了：布蘭妮•斯皮爾斯(Britney Spears)2002年在紐約開了一家叫Nyla的凱真餐館(Cajun，移居美國路易斯安納州的法人后裔)，不到6個(gè)月，她就撤銷了協(xié)議，幾周后餐館也隨之關(guān)門。詹尼弗•洛佩茲(Jennifer Lopez)經(jīng)營(yíng)一家叫Madre’s的古巴餐館達(dá)6年，但2008年還是關(guān)門了事，誰都知道她以經(jīng)商精明著稱。更有甚者，1994年就已經(jīng)成功參與Nobu在全球范圍擴(kuò)張的羅伯特•德尼羅(Robert De Niro)在 2009年與他在紐約剛開了一年的意大利餐館Ago徹底拜拜了。
1988年，在創(chuàng)始合伙人彼得•蘭甘過世后，凱恩賣掉了自己在蘭甘餐館中的股份；1992年，他與馬克•皮埃爾•懷特(Marco Pierre White)一起，開了The Canteen餐館，2000年該餐館倒閉。2004年，又開了家名叫Deya的意大利餐館，到2007年又關(guān)門了事。今年他說，“我是徹底不干這行了。廚師們太喜怒無常了?！?BR> 大家都說，許多明星開餐館并不會(huì)損害個(gè)人名譽(yù)?！霸S多名人只是象征性參與——花錢請(qǐng)他們來只是讓餐館更具人氣。羅伯特•德尼羅和《名利場(chǎng)》(Vanity Fair)主編格萊登•卡特(Graydon Carter)倒是全身心地投入餐館經(jīng)營(yíng)，但你若不是大腕的財(cái)會(huì)人員，就不可能知曉他們是否是名義上參與，”《查氏國際餐館指南》(international Zagat guides)的出版商蒂姆•查加(Tim Zagat)如是說?！叭绻宛^開砸了，壓根就不會(huì)對(duì)他們的名聲造成丁點(diǎn)影響，因?yàn)樗麄兊拿暡⒉豢坎惋嬀S系?！?BR> 毋庸置疑，有些大腕開的(或者代言的)餐館生存了下來，而且經(jīng)營(yíng)得還不錯(cuò)，而最棒的那些餐館似乎是那些既有廚師掌勺烹制佳肴，又體現(xiàn)大腕本人的烙印(如果服務(wù)差強(qiáng)人意，飯菜又慘無人睹，那么腕再大也會(huì)難以為繼)。因此，賈斯丁•蒂布萊克(Justin Timberlake) 開在紐約的燒烤酒吧(barbecue joint)，羅伯特•雷德福(Robert Redford)開在圣丹斯(Sundance)的高端餐館Tree Room，比比金(BB King)的藍(lán)調(diào)酒巴與餐館連鎖店，Jay-Z開在紐約的高檔體育酒巴，以及丹尼•迪維圖(Danny DeVito)開在邁阿密的意大利餐館都經(jīng)營(yíng)得有板有眼。
德尼羅在精挑細(xì)選了安德魯•卡梅里尼(Andrew Carmellini)當(dāng)主廚后，再次開了一家意大利餐館，并把館名由Ago改成了Locanda Verde。卡梅里尼說：“德尼羅了不起的地方是他開餐館是為了能一直開下去。他的恒心把餐館變成了恒業(yè)，而非曇花一現(xiàn)(flash in the pan)。我當(dāng)時(shí)就知道他這個(gè)人我能與之長(zhǎng)久合作共事，這一點(diǎn)毫無疑問。”
You’re a global superstar. Everything you touch turns to gold: endorse a shoe and they sell like crazy; bring out a perfume and teens want to bathe in it. The next logical step is to open a restaurant – restaurants are cool and you’d like a place to hang out with your celebrity friends beyond the reach of the paparazzi. Plus they’re easy – get some other stars in for opening night, serve some food and watch the money roll in, just like any endorsement, right?
Wrong. As Michael Caine, having been one of the first stars get involved in restaurants – with Langan’s in London back in 1976 – would attest the restaurant industry is famously fickle and challenging. It is rife with bankruptcy and filthy tempers, too: in Europe and the US the closure rate in first year of trading is roughly one in four, rising to one in three within the first three years。
Restaurateurs and highly trained chefs struggle to put their finger on what will guarantee survival. So it’s no surprise that when Britney Spears opened Nyla, a Cajun restaurant, in New York in 2002, she’d pulled out off the deal within six months, with the restaurant closing only weeks later. Jennifer Lopez, otherwise renowned for her business acumen, had a Cuban restaurant, Madre’s, for six years, but it closed in 2008. And in 2009, even Robert De Niro, who has been successfully involved in Nobu worldwide since 1994, drew a line under Ago, his New York Italian before it had been open a year。
Caine sold his share in Langan’s after the death of its co-founder Peter Langan in 1988; in 1992, with Marco Pierre White, he helped open The Canteen which closed 2000. Deya, an Indian restaurant, opened in 2004 and closed in 2007. He said this year, “I left that business. Chefs are too temperamental?！?BR> That said, a lot of stars don’t take a personal risk. “Many celebrities are only marginally involved – they get paid to make the restaurant more exciting. Robert De Niro and [Vanity Fair editor] Graydon Carter are very involved in theirs but, unless you’re a celebrity’s accountant, you can’t be privy to whether it’s nominal or not,” says Tim Zagat, publisher of the international Zagat guides. “And if it fails, it’s not even a risk to their reputation since their reputation isn’t based on food?！?BR> There are celebrity-owned (or endorsed) restaurants that survive and do well, and the best seem to be those that reflect the star’s own brand as well as serving good meals cooked by talented chefs (even the starriest find it hard to survive poor service or dreadful food). Hence Justin Timberlake’s barbecue joint in New York, Robert Redford’s high-end Tree Room at Sundance, BB King’s chain of blues bars and restaurants, Jay-Z’s “upscale” New York sports bar and Danny DeVito’s Italian in Miami all do well。
De Niro re-opened Ago as Locanda Verde having carefully hand-picked chef Andrew Carmellini, who says: “The great thing about De Niro is he builds restaurants for longevity. They become institutions, not a flash in the pan. I knew he was a guy I wanted to team up with, no question。”
Richard Harden, editor of UK-based Harden’s Restaurant Guide, says choosing a celebrity-owned establishment to eat in can be a good move: “Unlike celebrity chefs, say, celebrities are less likely to be driven by their ego, as they don’t have anything to prove?！?BR> Restaurants that don’t scream “vanity project” are more enticing to customers – who don’t like to feel fooled by a brand. Cameron Diaz doesn’t shout about her well-reviewed Miami restaurant and nor does Morgan Freeman about his in Mississippi. In the UK, artist Damien Hirst has learnt from the wild over-hyping of Pharmacy in Notting Hill and is lower-key about his newer venture, The Quay in Ilfracombe, Devon. Ultimately, it has to be about the food – no amount of star quality can save a restaurant churning out consistently poor experiences。
Someone should have told Hulk Hogan that – before he opened his Pastamania restaurant in the mid-1990s, serving such delights as Hulk-U-s and Hulk-A-Roos. It closed in less than a year。
大錯(cuò)特錯(cuò)。作為首批涉水餐飲業(yè)的明星，邁克爾•凱恩(Michael Caine，早在1976年他就與蘭甘(Peter Langan)在倫敦開餐館)的經(jīng)歷就可以證明餐飲業(yè)的變幻無常和極具挑戰(zhàn)性并非徒有虛名。倒閉關(guān)門和讓人氣急敗壞也是家常便飯：在歐美，餐館經(jīng)營(yíng)第一年就關(guān)門的比例大約是四分之一，經(jīng)營(yíng)到第三年，關(guān)門的比例上升至三分之一。
餐館老板和訓(xùn)練有素的廚師費(fèi)了九牛二虎之力才能完全整明白如何經(jīng)營(yíng)才能確保生存下去。因此發(fā)生下述結(jié)果也就不足為奇了：布蘭妮•斯皮爾斯(Britney Spears)2002年在紐約開了一家叫Nyla的凱真餐館(Cajun，移居美國路易斯安納州的法人后裔)，不到6個(gè)月，她就撤銷了協(xié)議，幾周后餐館也隨之關(guān)門。詹尼弗•洛佩茲(Jennifer Lopez)經(jīng)營(yíng)一家叫Madre’s的古巴餐館達(dá)6年，但2008年還是關(guān)門了事，誰都知道她以經(jīng)商精明著稱。更有甚者，1994年就已經(jīng)成功參與Nobu在全球范圍擴(kuò)張的羅伯特•德尼羅(Robert De Niro)在 2009年與他在紐約剛開了一年的意大利餐館Ago徹底拜拜了。
1988年，在創(chuàng)始合伙人彼得•蘭甘過世后，凱恩賣掉了自己在蘭甘餐館中的股份；1992年，他與馬克•皮埃爾•懷特(Marco Pierre White)一起，開了The Canteen餐館，2000年該餐館倒閉。2004年，又開了家名叫Deya的意大利餐館，到2007年又關(guān)門了事。今年他說，“我是徹底不干這行了。廚師們太喜怒無常了?！?BR> 大家都說，許多明星開餐館并不會(huì)損害個(gè)人名譽(yù)?！霸S多名人只是象征性參與——花錢請(qǐng)他們來只是讓餐館更具人氣。羅伯特•德尼羅和《名利場(chǎng)》(Vanity Fair)主編格萊登•卡特(Graydon Carter)倒是全身心地投入餐館經(jīng)營(yíng)，但你若不是大腕的財(cái)會(huì)人員，就不可能知曉他們是否是名義上參與，”《查氏國際餐館指南》(international Zagat guides)的出版商蒂姆•查加(Tim Zagat)如是說?！叭绻宛^開砸了，壓根就不會(huì)對(duì)他們的名聲造成丁點(diǎn)影響，因?yàn)樗麄兊拿暡⒉豢坎惋嬀S系?！?BR> 毋庸置疑，有些大腕開的(或者代言的)餐館生存了下來，而且經(jīng)營(yíng)得還不錯(cuò)，而最棒的那些餐館似乎是那些既有廚師掌勺烹制佳肴，又體現(xiàn)大腕本人的烙印(如果服務(wù)差強(qiáng)人意，飯菜又慘無人睹，那么腕再大也會(huì)難以為繼)。因此，賈斯丁•蒂布萊克(Justin Timberlake) 開在紐約的燒烤酒吧(barbecue joint)，羅伯特•雷德福(Robert Redford)開在圣丹斯(Sundance)的高端餐館Tree Room，比比金(BB King)的藍(lán)調(diào)酒巴與餐館連鎖店，Jay-Z開在紐約的高檔體育酒巴，以及丹尼•迪維圖(Danny DeVito)開在邁阿密的意大利餐館都經(jīng)營(yíng)得有板有眼。
德尼羅在精挑細(xì)選了安德魯•卡梅里尼(Andrew Carmellini)當(dāng)主廚后，再次開了一家意大利餐館，并把館名由Ago改成了Locanda Verde。卡梅里尼說：“德尼羅了不起的地方是他開餐館是為了能一直開下去。他的恒心把餐館變成了恒業(yè)，而非曇花一現(xiàn)(flash in the pan)。我當(dāng)時(shí)就知道他這個(gè)人我能與之長(zhǎng)久合作共事，這一點(diǎn)毫無疑問。”
You’re a global superstar. Everything you touch turns to gold: endorse a shoe and they sell like crazy; bring out a perfume and teens want to bathe in it. The next logical step is to open a restaurant – restaurants are cool and you’d like a place to hang out with your celebrity friends beyond the reach of the paparazzi. Plus they’re easy – get some other stars in for opening night, serve some food and watch the money roll in, just like any endorsement, right?
Wrong. As Michael Caine, having been one of the first stars get involved in restaurants – with Langan’s in London back in 1976 – would attest the restaurant industry is famously fickle and challenging. It is rife with bankruptcy and filthy tempers, too: in Europe and the US the closure rate in first year of trading is roughly one in four, rising to one in three within the first three years。
Restaurateurs and highly trained chefs struggle to put their finger on what will guarantee survival. So it’s no surprise that when Britney Spears opened Nyla, a Cajun restaurant, in New York in 2002, she’d pulled out off the deal within six months, with the restaurant closing only weeks later. Jennifer Lopez, otherwise renowned for her business acumen, had a Cuban restaurant, Madre’s, for six years, but it closed in 2008. And in 2009, even Robert De Niro, who has been successfully involved in Nobu worldwide since 1994, drew a line under Ago, his New York Italian before it had been open a year。
Caine sold his share in Langan’s after the death of its co-founder Peter Langan in 1988; in 1992, with Marco Pierre White, he helped open The Canteen which closed 2000. Deya, an Indian restaurant, opened in 2004 and closed in 2007. He said this year, “I left that business. Chefs are too temperamental?！?BR> That said, a lot of stars don’t take a personal risk. “Many celebrities are only marginally involved – they get paid to make the restaurant more exciting. Robert De Niro and [Vanity Fair editor] Graydon Carter are very involved in theirs but, unless you’re a celebrity’s accountant, you can’t be privy to whether it’s nominal or not,” says Tim Zagat, publisher of the international Zagat guides. “And if it fails, it’s not even a risk to their reputation since their reputation isn’t based on food?！?BR> There are celebrity-owned (or endorsed) restaurants that survive and do well, and the best seem to be those that reflect the star’s own brand as well as serving good meals cooked by talented chefs (even the starriest find it hard to survive poor service or dreadful food). Hence Justin Timberlake’s barbecue joint in New York, Robert Redford’s high-end Tree Room at Sundance, BB King’s chain of blues bars and restaurants, Jay-Z’s “upscale” New York sports bar and Danny DeVito’s Italian in Miami all do well。
De Niro re-opened Ago as Locanda Verde having carefully hand-picked chef Andrew Carmellini, who says: “The great thing about De Niro is he builds restaurants for longevity. They become institutions, not a flash in the pan. I knew he was a guy I wanted to team up with, no question。”
Richard Harden, editor of UK-based Harden’s Restaurant Guide, says choosing a celebrity-owned establishment to eat in can be a good move: “Unlike celebrity chefs, say, celebrities are less likely to be driven by their ego, as they don’t have anything to prove?！?BR> Restaurants that don’t scream “vanity project” are more enticing to customers – who don’t like to feel fooled by a brand. Cameron Diaz doesn’t shout about her well-reviewed Miami restaurant and nor does Morgan Freeman about his in Mississippi. In the UK, artist Damien Hirst has learnt from the wild over-hyping of Pharmacy in Notting Hill and is lower-key about his newer venture, The Quay in Ilfracombe, Devon. Ultimately, it has to be about the food – no amount of star quality can save a restaurant churning out consistently poor experiences。
Someone should have told Hulk Hogan that – before he opened his Pastamania restaurant in the mid-1990s, serving such delights as Hulk-U-s and Hulk-A-Roos. It closed in less than a year。