Broussard's, Impastato Cellars, And A Private Chef.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014. Interesting trio of Round Table radio guests today. Chris Ycaza's resume shows stints managing Galatoire's, Maximo's, the extinct Cuvee and a few other major restaurants. He's now general manager at Broussard's. He was here to tell how that rebirth is going (pretty well, big holiday season). He also wanted all and sundry to know what's up at the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience, five months from now. He president of that annual event this year, and had a great deal to talk about--in both senses of the word. NOW&FE is selling tickets to its three biggest programs at a third off the price--if you buy them now. I don't think NOW&FE is short of cash flow--it donates its surplus every year to a variety of educational non-profits. But there's no reason to look a gift horse in the mouth. Also here was Mike Capritto. He's Joe Impastato's son-in-law, and with his wife Mica manages the new Impastato Cellars restaurant and wine shop in Madisonville. It was one of those conversations in which his every answer to questions about the place was about what I would have said if a caller had asked me. With one exception. A caller complained about an evening on which she was asked to leave Impastato Cellars. She had remained at the table well after her table's dinner was done. Many people were waiting, and the manager asked them to move on. I can imagine how frustrating this must be for restaurateurs, whose instincts are to serve everybody as well as they can. From that perspective, a customer who won't leave is unfairly preventing other customers from being served. But I think Ruth Fertel's thoughts about this were right. "When you come to my restaurant, you own the table until you leave, however long that is. Period." Ruth is best remembered for the excellence of her steaks, but I think her major insight concerned how to make customers feel so good that they pay any price and keep coming back. In the white-tablecloth segment of the restaurant business (including the part of it that has abandoned tablecloths of any color), I don't think any customer should ever be told that his time is up on his table. The breaking of that sacred trust these days is what restaurant customers get for insisting on less formality in all restaurants, including the best. If we all were expected to dress up for dinner, no restaurateur would dare suggest that we leave before we want to. Our third guest was Walker Geoffray, a newly-minted chef of a small business that comes to your house and cooks a restaurant-style meal. They do this whether it's just a family being fed, or a party of dozens of people. That's a growing business, now that a lot of folks feel more at home dining in restaurants than they do at home. Hah! Try to tell those customers to get a move on!