The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
Old Friends Newly Met

The Route I am always surprised (and flattered) by the number of people around the world who subscribe to my weekly e-letter. It is even more of a surprise when I actually get to meet one of them. Last spring, subscriber Uluc Bayramoglu became our most excellent guide to the marvels of Istanbul. Today in Kinsale, it was subscriber Cassandra Burke O'Driscoll, Marketing Director for the Blue Haven Collection, a group of five hotels and restaurants, who gave us an inside look at the various ventures her company has going in town. I was even more surprised when she said it was the local Chamber of Commerce that suggested she sign up for a subscription!

Part of the surprise is that for those who sign up for the free version of my e-letter, the only information I have on them is an email address. That doesn't tell me anything about where they're located, so I can't contact them ahead of time to arrange a meeting when my travels bring me to their part of the world, whether that is in the US or elsewhere on the planet. Pity. For me, the real pleasure of travel is more about meeting the people than seeing the sights. I'd hate to think I was in your town and we never had a chance to chat over a glass of wine.

This is the reason I share my travel plans in the e-letter. If you see that I am headed your way, by all means drop a line and let me know you're around. If I am working with a client, my schedule may not allow for much free time, but if I can break loose, I'd love to meet you, even if only for a few minutes. At the least we can exchange a few personal emails and I'll learn a little more about you and your current concerns.

When I took a look at today's photos, I was reminded that restaurant lighting is probably the most difficult part of the design process to get right. Twenty years ago, the food tended to be reasonably dull. We lived in a era with food that was either brown or white, and there weren't a lot of variations. Today, food is extraordinarily dynamic. Food has become a lot more colorful because our chefs are roaming around looking for new ingredients. Food styling on the plate has become as important as the taste of the food. And food no longer sits flat on the plate as it once did: it stands up.

Food has become architecture. Consequently, there is a need for getting dramatic light onto the table that didn't exist before. The old cliche of a candle in a Chianti bottle for an Italian restaurant wouldn't work today because the candle doesn't throw enough light to create the drama that food now requires. At the same time, we feel it's necessary to be very considerate about the way people look in a restaurant. Downlighting, which creates drama on the tabletop, creates unflattering shadows under the eyes of diners as it did in my photo of Cassandra. Worse than that, it accentuates wrinkles in the skin ... or would have if she had any!

It's the time and the investment to have light come from a variety of sources. You need light from the side and you need light from somewhere two feet above your head. You need light that bounces. You need light that creates highlights. You need a general glow. Most people can't afford it; most people don't recognize it; most people don't deal with it ... and therein lies a competitive advantage if you are willing to Do the Work!

In an earlier post, I commented that the decor in the Bistro Bar was quite pleasant, but it has a common shortcoming when it comes to lighting because all the light comes from ceiling spots. As Cassandra's photo reveals, overhead lighting can cast harsh shadows on people's faces, much in the way you could make yourself look scary as a child by holding a flashlight under your chin. I did my best with the photo editing software, but you can still tell the light is less than flattering -- a terrible thing to do to an attractive woman.

One of Cassandra's marketing ideas is her display titled "Unique to Kinsale" which highlights local characters, attractions and events. It is a great way to expand the restaurant's story and foster word-of-mouth. [Positive] word-of-mouth may be the best advertising, but there's no word-of-mouth without something to talk about.

Given our one big meal a day routine, I went for the lamb shank and Margene decided on the half lobster. Essentially the half shell was just a container for the pieces of prepared lobster so it was a very user-friendly presentation. I admit that pairing french fries ("chips" over here) with lobster seemed an odd choice, but it seemed to work. I really liked the idea of a mini fry basket for a portion-controlled presentation on the fries. I've never seen that in the US.

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The weather was overcast and cool but the rain held off today. Were we into shopping, it would have been a good day to wander downtown Kinsale and check out the shops, but with time expiring on our pre-paid parking, we called it good enough, put some diesel in the car and headed back to our little house by the river to commune with nature. is that cheating?


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