Let’s Kill The Underground Restaurant
(( added June 1st, 2007:
Dear Michael Hebberoy,
I’m sorry this post comes up first in Google for “kill the restaurant.”
Dear readers,
Check out Michael’s site for the book he’s writing, Kill The Restaurant, from which a jacked the title for this post. PS: onepot is cool and not the subject of this post.
-XOX, Maggie ))
My recent inquiry into a local, underground supper club led me to bawk at their reply. They wanted me to “describe myself as a foodie.” They also in their email wanted to know “who was I” etc and so on. I bawked because this was basically an email bouncer. “Are you on the list?” or “Tell us why you should be on the list.”
Uh, OK. Because you’re in Seattle, it’s not Saturday at MisShapes, and that shit doesn’t fly here?
Firstly, there’s that old chestnut about not joining a club that would have me as a member, blah, blah, blah… B) I don’t wait in line, ever. Not for breakfast, not for the Guggenheim, and not for your party. There are so many places to debauch in the city that need no application. III) The use of the word “foodie” downgrades my interest in this little contra-soiree immediately to…right around catching the new episode of Two and a Half Men. FOUR) Who am I? Who the fuck are you? See first comment above. No one’s that important.
Is this what “killing the restaurant” has come to mean? Is the supper club the new nightclub? Are we to serve family style so snottily? My friend runs an underground supper club, and his only requirement is that you must come with someone who has been. This seems to take care of any and all concerns of the fuzz or anyone untoward without being so confrontational.
If Seattle wants to be taken as seriously as Portland food-wise, may I suggest a crucial step? Lose the fucking attitude. For even with the critically acclaimed Ripe empire, the ‘tude only went so far. And now it’s dead.
September 21st, 2006 at 11:02 am
Oh Snap! Damn! Shit! No U Di-int! I visited Portland and went to Gotham Building Tavern when it was open (for like 4 months). I was so annoyed I could barely eat.
September 21st, 2006 at 11:46 am
She’s baaaaaaaaack! Look out! God I missed these. We all talk like this in the service industry, but you write it down for posterity. YOu got balls sister! Or should I say Thatchers?
September 21st, 2006 at 12:53 pm
2 months ago you let me into a party you were hosting. The tickets included food and booze, and a book. You said there were no books left, but plenty of food, and made me promise to make it up to you by tipping your bartender huge. I did, and I had an amazing time. I’m telling everyone. You were smart enough and kind enough to read the situation, and it will pay off. These people are obviously idiots. And I think I know who you are talking about. A shame they didn’t know who you were. It’s going to cost them. (PS, If it’s who I think it is, I’ve been and I wasn’t impressed. And I won’t be back. And I’ll tell my friends the same).
September 21st, 2006 at 2:05 pm
I agree with you 100%. If you’re trying to do something different, you’re never going to kill the restaurant if your service sucks.
September 21st, 2006 at 2:47 pm
Dee Dee, don’t tell! That’s why this site and waiter rant are so popular. You say what would cost us our jobs.
I have the dishonor of having worked for the Ripe empire. That business was like cotton candy, very fluffy and pretty, but no substance. clarklewis is still cool though.
September 21st, 2006 at 3:24 pm
BZC - I agree some of their tactics were beyond precious, but Tommy’s menu at GBT was great. And I like Michael, he’s a very cool guy, just maybe not as approachable when he’s in full marketing mode. I even had my birthday at RIpe.
the other bill - Wow, you said it.
shugee - clarklewis was always the anchor, was always the favorite son.
Anyhoo… I was just pointing out that style can only get you so far without substance and a business plan. And exclusionary tactics never help. Very few can pull it off. And those few live in L.A. and NYC. Certainly not Seattle. Even that Demme witch ruined her uber-popular club in the Roosevelt with her own “master class” elitism. That was my point. You might as well come down to earth, because if you don’t, you’ll crash and burn eventually.
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:03 am
No, I think you got it right the first time. What’s the point in an alternative restaurant if you’re going to be bitchier and ten times more exclusive than anything in the PNW?????
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:06 am
When I moved here from Portland I had the same experience with this “supper club”.Needless to say, I never went. It totally pissed me off too. This is the exception , not the rule in Seattle for this type of restaurant- thankfully. There’s a great version on Vashon doing farmhouse dinners and a wonderful local chef doing dinners at his home. They get it.
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:31 am
Interesting. That “supper club” reminds me of a restaurant in Reading, PA owned and run by the Victor Emmanuel II Society - you have to know someone, and FORGET IT if you are black!
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Well, this would be the time for any other “underground” restaurants to drum up participation and tout their welcoming nature, wouldn’t it…. That might put this Ive league sort of behavior in its place.
September 22nd, 2006 at 4:07 pm
Naomi - yeah, there are some cool supper parties, more are like the one I mention second–the “bring a friend” kind–than first. But unfortunately, guess which clubs get more of a buzz? Mmm hmmmm…
Milly - Abso-freakin-lutely it is. I’d be emailing everyone on my list asking them to tell two friends right now, trying to get some new faces in the door. Open the list up and expand just a little. You are right on.
September 22nd, 2006 at 5:33 pm
OK, what is the whole kill the restaurant thing? I think I get it, but you’re obviously referencing something I now jack about.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:25 pm
feemo - that’s a stupid Ripe tagline of some book or movement they supposedly started with their supperclub. As if noone had ever done it before them. But instead of writing the book they just decided to act it out…and killed their restaurant.
September 23rd, 2006 at 5:22 pm
I’ve had the ‘exclusive’ email for a supper club for about three years now, and I just can’t bring myself to actually use it. The whole thing just smacks of elitism to me, and god I just can’t stand that sort of crap. I don’t understand people that pay to get treated like something scraped off a Famous Chef’s shoe and then proudly brag about it by passing the number on to a friend. In addition to the stupid LA nightclub “prove you are cool enough” vibe, I’ve heard time and again that the food is not up to the high price that is charged. And I don’t know what is more heinous- snobbery or apathy.
September 25th, 2006 at 8:29 pm
The thing that baffles me about the whole ‘who are you?’ thing is: what if I’m more “important” than you - or have more credentials? Do I get a better seat at the table? Perhaps an extra cordial in some cutting-edge artisanal glassware, hand-blown on site?
September 26th, 2006 at 10:58 pm
Double snap. And I second your emotion with a hearty fuck yeah. Thanks to the Weekly, we all know who you’re talking about now.
September 28th, 2006 at 1:27 am
Chambolle — hell yeah… do you guys have Open Table? I’ve tried to explain to our winemaker that the reason he gets VIP treatment at clark while my friend’s parents are literally left in the dark has everything to do with his name popping up as “someone important.” S’poze it works from a marketing standpoint, though — we entertain our own little VIPs enough that the kiss-ass service sees us whenever there’s a late flight.
October 3rd, 2006 at 7:42 pm
Most of the exclusive stuff is b.s. even in LA. If you have the scratch to stay at the Modrian, you can get into the Sky Bar. And being an old fart, I think the “style” (minimialist) at the Mondrian is so lacking and so pretensiously stupid that I cannot imagine who would want to stay there unless it was business related. And the wait staff at Asia de Cuba need a severe case of slap therapy. Impertinent, rude little things with dreams of connecting with someone who could make them someone. I hope that no one gets hurt by the latest Ripe hype.
October 4th, 2006 at 6:06 pm
hey michael, when you gonna settle your bill with castagna?
October 5th, 2006 at 7:31 am
I used to work for Michael in Portland. This is his classic pretentious bullshit. Oh please someone let me know how I can get a hold of one of these “applicantions,” they sound hilarious. Is there a web site?
October 5th, 2006 at 10:59 am
Well, oh my. This thread has certainly taken a rant and run with it.
Allow me to add to my thoughts. We live in the PNW with wicked farmers’ markets. What can you do for me that I can’t do for myself, Smarty who threw a party?
r.u.s. I remember you. And that’s just how I roll.
Chambolle - AH! I hate that, too. Sooo…regular glassware for your regular customers… so your regular customers aren’t good enough? Your regular customers pay your FUCKING RENT.
CC - great point. Use Open table to your advantage kiddies. Make up your own fabulousness and watch the perks.
October 11th, 2006 at 2:49 am
any word on san francisco’s ghetto gourmet?
www.theghet.com
October 12th, 2006 at 10:19 am
(sent to sfweekly)
Genius or grifter? I think [Michael Hebberoy] is simply a grifter [”Illegal Food” by Ella Lawrence, Oct. 4]. When his little empire in Portland crashed (largely due to his ineptitude and arrogance), he fled the country, leaving employees, investors, and vendors in the lurch. Now he is starting a new kill-the-restaurant venture in Seattle. Silly, really, when you consider that the only restaurants to die by his hand were his own.
[Name withheld]
Portland, OR
October 31st, 2006 at 10:25 am
You guys are taking this WAAAYYY too seriously. Pretty much anyone who puts anything on the app gets on the mailing list. It’s not elitist, it’s more like a joke. And generally the food is fabulous. However I am very concerned about Hebberoy’s new involvement with this, I’m afraid he’ll kill the fun not the restaurant.
November 18th, 2006 at 6:53 pm
It’s too bad we aren’t naming names because there is a lot of confusion of who’s involved with what.
The one with the application? Hebberoy has NO involvement with that whatsoever and it’s not elitist at all. IMHO, the food can be over-the-top good. I did the summer feast there and at the Herbfarm and I can tell you the underground won hands down.
Of the other 2 that Hebberoy has been linked to (neither have applications and the Weekly mixed all 3 of them up pretty badly in their last blurb), he’s involved with only ONE of them.
Maggie - I can respect the fact that you were put off by what you saw as an elitist attitude. I hope you can make it one time (or if you’ve been, give it one more chance)- maybe that will tell you if they really have attitude or not. Also, have you seen your mention in the WSJ? It’s a bit ironic they reference this post in an article that is basically saying that underground restaurants aren’t exclusive enough.
November 20th, 2006 at 1:07 pm
HOLY SHIT! Wow, I’m sitting here writing a rebuttal to the Wall Street Journal’s story on how underground restaurants are supposed to be elitist and how elitist is cool. Our whole business is started on how elitism is bullshit and how food is for everyone. Then I came across this blog only to find out that you all think I am a pretensious asshole. Shit!
The application is a total joke. We have never turned down anyone. We would love every single person in seattle to be on the list, but we are afraid of the health department. I talked to them about it and they told me that in order to be taken seriously as a “private club” that we had to discriminate somehow. So they suggested an application. We also have to charge a membership fee. So I only charge $10/year so that everyone can come. If you are referred by a guest, you are automatically in. No appication.
I totally hate the part of foodie culture that worships “celebrity chefs”. It is crap. Our job is to nourish the body and the soul, not to be famous and movie starish.
I will change the application immediately to take out any possible confusion. It is soooo not pretentious. We encourage people to wear jeans (no matter what the fucking WSJ makes up about having to dress up bullshit)
As for Michael: he has no interest what so ever in my underground restaurant (the one with the application). I met him at one of our dinners and he was very charming. We agreed to start a separate venture (Vagabond/Onepot). The weekly completely messed up and said there was an application and it was exclusive and something about not wanting “food tourists”. NO NO NO. That is not the case. This is totally open to everyone and family style. there is NO attitude whatsoever, if nothing else it is uber casual.
I can see however that I should have done my homework about overall public opinion on Michael. He isn’t as popular as I had thought. I like him, but I will be a little more careful with him.
Give us a chance, you will dig it.
November 20th, 2006 at 2:22 pm
Michael is a douchebag.
November 28th, 2006 at 6:02 pm
word
December 13th, 2006 at 5:56 pm
For fuck sake… I happened upon your blog and was beginning to be wooed. I am not one to bitch, HOWEVER, a ’supper club’?! I for one will never associate with anyone who asks me to a supper club. Again, for fuck sake, the notion is such an overly pretentious joke… I swear on my $10 Crianza if I ever have someone ask me to go I am hitting them with the empty bottle. …’being put on the list’… this is Seattle for fuck sake. Makes me wanna puke.
March 26th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Oh jeeeez….. “bawk” and “bawked” makes you sound like a chicken. I think you mean “BALK” http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/balk
Pleeeeease fix it! maybe you will be taken seriously.
[ed note: No and no. So? I like “bawk.” It’s onomatopoetic and on purpose. And this is a blog, not the New York Times. I laugh if anyone takes me seriously. On that note, you should get a fucking hobby.]
April 15th, 2007 at 10:28 am
[…] I’m not sure if it’s legal or not to operate a restaurant in this way, but Maggie said that lots of people are doing similar things in Seattle now; she wrote a blog post called “Kill the Underground Restaurant” that details her own frustration with the whole phenomenon. As an outsider, I could only marvel at the ingeniousness of it all. I loved the food, I loved talking with Kim, who’s truly a visionary when it comes to getting people to read books. I like that there’s something “underground” anywhere, because I love secret anything, even secret things that aren’t really secret and are written up in Daily Candy. […]
November 24th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
gee,
everyone is so harshly opinionated up on this beeoch. if you’re ever in the chicago area and want to experience an underground restaurant with a positive energy, look up sakura private dining, they do some really amazing stuff…and seem to be open to any and all folks lookin for a good time!
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