
David Chang: The Restaurant Business Is About to Implode - mrfusion
http://www.gq.com/story/david-chang-resturant-business-challenges
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fred_is_fred
Not a single example given of how the whole business is going to implode.
Restaurants always close and new ones always open. This is a poorly written
"woe is me the restaurant owner" article that somehow conflates into this
ridiculous headline.

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jhbadger
Also he is talking about a particular type of restaurant -- the "trendy" type
where people _want_ to pay high prices in order to be viewed as successful and
maybe to see a celebrity or two at a nearby table. No, a bowl of ramen
shouldn't cost $28 (or even "just" $17). The ramen places I go to, run by (and
largely for) immigrants, sell excellent bowls of ramen for well under $10.
Such restaurants are in no danger of going away.

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cylinder
Oh wow, we have to get rid of tipping. What a revolutionary concept! Except
that the rest of the world has never had it and their restaurants are fine.

There is still to this day a big line outside of Momofuku for his overrated
ramen, everyday. So why is his ramen $19* and not $28? Because he knows he
gets $9 of advertising from each customer because of the hype they create
looking busy and popular, plus word of mouth and more yelp reviews.
Traditional advertising is a huge no-no for a trendy restaurant, so they have
to spend their marketing budget this way.

* he conveniently left off the tip even though he said the price includes everything

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perilunar
Yep, another example of people in the US saying “X would never work”, when X
is already is already working perfectly well in other parts of the world.

Other examples of X: decriminalising prostitution, decriminalising drugs,
converting to the metric system, banning assault rifles, getting rid of copper
coins (pennies), universal health care

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cylinder
Parental leave, mandatory vacation days, unions, etc etc

I believe if you go back in my comment history I have said basically exactly
what you stated. Agree fully.

