It's been just over three
weeks since we officially opened the doors at Restaurant R'evolution, but it's been years since this journey between myself
and Chef John Folse actually began. Here at the three week mark, I'd like to
share a bit about the months leading up to this exciting time, as well as where
we're going in the coming months.
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Our
Grand Opening “ribbon”
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Going into the
grand opening, we didn't want “day one” of service to feel like it to the
customer. We wanted guests to feel like we'd been open for weeks; they deserve
this! And in making this happen, what it all comes down to is training and
preparation. At any restaurant that I’ve opened – and I’ve opened 10 – I
learned, largely from my experience at Lettuce Entertain You, that the art of
training and preparation before an opening is everything. There's really never
too much when it comes to training, and it's always ongoing.
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Perfecting
our Gumbo set-up in training
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Before we
introduced Restaurant R'evolution to the public, John and I were working for
over a year on development, cooking, tasting, and researching. Staff hiring and
training were a big part of this preparation period as well. Timing was key,
and we had 60 days to make sure that everyone we brought on board had tasted
all the food and wines by the glass; knew all of the steps of service; mastered
mock services; and graduated from both classroom and practical training
sessions before opening night.
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It's
all about the prep!
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In the process of
preparation, there's always little stuff that we're constantly tweaking for
perfection. In opening a restaurant, you learn that you must be flexible.
Originally, we had planned to open R'evolution with a spring menu. So, with our
actual early June opening on the cusp of summer, we're already in the process
of transitioning the seasonal dinner menu into a full blown
summer menu. There is so much coming out seasonally in New Orleans right now –
stone fruits, soft shell crab, summer vegetables, to name a few – that we're
changing about three dishes a week. It’s exciting but also challenging for the staff;
it keeps everyone on their toes!
In addition to the
seasonal menu evolution, we're planning the introduction of a number of
additional offerings: lunch, brunch, and multi-course tasting menus for the
Wine Room and Chef's Table. Every two weeks, something new will be rolled out.
Once we do lunch in the next few weeks, we'll get a feel for it and go from
there. There's also the hiring and training processes that go into introducing
these new offerings. We're hosting job fairs for lunch staff this week, and
this will be another huge influx of hiring for both front and back-of-house
positions. We'll do closed lunch trainings to ramp up, and then re-start this
process for brunch a bit after that.
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Myself
and Chef Chris Lusk during a mock service
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The lunch menu will
be all about a “summer lunch” experience, with a variety of sandwiches, pastas,
salads, and lots of great seasonal products. Lunch will be light and quick, and
very high energy. We're in the French Quarter, so it's all about the business
lunch. Come Thursday and Friday, locals are enjoying longer, more relaxing
meals with a beverage or two. That's big in New Orleans.
Brunch is also huge
here. Right now, the Royal Sonesta has one of the busiest Sunday
brunches in the whole city. Our brunch will be an a la carte service with the
spirit of R'evolution, and we're excited to give a city that loves brunch a new
option. Our Irvin Mayfield Jazz Playhouse menu
roll-out with coincide with the brunch debut as well.
We're also looking
forward to our private dining offerings. We'll be introducing multi-course
tasting menus for our Wine Room and the “Chef's Office” space. This room is
beautiful and overlooks the kitchen. These will be eight to ten course prix
fixe menus, with wine pairing options. They will be very customizable, like the
menus I used to do at Tru in Chicago. Eventually we'll introduce a chef's
tasting menu in the dining room as well.
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The Chef’s Table
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In addition to all
of the action at Restaurant R'evolution in the coming months, John and I are
excited about some other culinary ventures. Jointly, we're taking R'evolution to New York
for a dinner at the James Beard House on August 2, and we’re also doing New
Orleans Dining by Design, John's event in Baton Rouge, in August.
Then we're headed to Blackberry Farm in November. It will be both John’s and my third time there, but our first time there together as a team, which is pretty incredible. Separately, I'm heading to Los Angeles for LA Food & Wine in August, and John is heading to London to cook at the Olympic Village; we're truly representing Restaurant R'evolution at all corners of the world.
It's been a great
three weeks, and we'll continue to roll things out progressively and
methodically, see what works, keep training, and keep learning. This is just
the beginning at Restaurant R'evolution.
-Rick
