Consistency, consistency, consistency

I took a friend to John Bentley's over the weekend for dinner. It's been a restaurant that I've frequented over the past few years, starting from my 24th birthday celebration.

The first JB's was right next to The Village Pub, up in woodside, but the newer one has a more central location in Redwood city. I've kept coming back, but this time that I visited, I was so much more convinced that consistency is the recipe to a restaurant's success.

It was unfortunate that during this visit, a couple of things were just not quite what I was expecting (crab salad was a little too tart, hot foie plate was ice cold, foie and lamb was overdone, etc.), and it made me think about whether I would want to go back next time.

I might be overly critical sometimes, but to give me some credit, I do set reasonable expectations; especially, when I feel like it's something I've experienced and can count on.

For a new restaurant, you should always go in with no expectations - after all, there really isn't anything you can base your standards on, just quite yet. However, the second, or third time you visit, generally, it is very acceptable to think that you can hope to experience the same kind of standard that you did the previous times; which is why you continue going back. You re-visit simply because you know what to expect.

When a restaurant has an exceptionally great night (the cooks are all on target, the produce is extra fresh), it sometimes can have the reverse effect on the consumer. A visitor that evening will probably expect the same kind of standard the next they dine, and if the average standard was, well, average, then chances are, the returning visitor would be disappointed, often anticipating the same kind of experience the had the previous time. Disappointment is often much harder to overcome - you'd be pressed to find a customer that would give an establishment recurring business, versus one that that may have thought the food was always just acceptable.

I like to say that it doesn't matter if a restaurant is good or bad - it just always has to be good, or, always has to be bad; that way, customers will always know what they are getting.

Take McDonald's for example - there's just no arguing that the food is just plain bad. However, every time I visit, I am never disappointed. I know that I am paying $5 to get greasy, tasteless, nutrition-lacking, everything bad, food. I go anyway, and go back repeatedly.

Why? Because the food is ALWAYS bad - there's never been a time when I said to myself "Wow, this is the best McDonald's I've ever had, I have got to go back." There's no such thing - the next time I go, I've probably got the munchies and want something awful. (Ok, trivia here, MD's in Asia is definitely better than in other parts of the world, but it's still bad)

There are many factors that are involved in a restaurant's success, many have argued over this - location, food, chef, service, etc; but for me, it's definitely consistency. If a restaurant can achieve absolute consistency, it will most definitely do well in the long run.

Is this reasonable though? After all, there is so much humanity and feeling involved in food; it happens to me as well. If I'm in a good mood, or love who I'm cooking for, the food probably tends to come out better, and vice versa of course. Of course, since consistency is my philosophy is well, I've learned some ways around making sure that my emotions don't affect my food too much. One of them is just practice - the more your practice, the more skilled you will get, and the less room for error. There's no two ways about this - the better chef is almost always the one with more experience, simply because they've done it more times (all other things being equal).

Second, discipline - never serve up anything that is sub-par. I've canceled courses out from menus the day of just because I felt the dish wasn't up to the right standard. It's tempting, especially since each dish cost money; but in the long run, it's worth it.

Third - set the right expectations. I can't dwell on this enough. It's the same in every client facing business. If your consumers have the right expectations, they should never be disappointed. Train the staff well; just because there was a lot of yesterday's beef, doesn't mean that you should upsell it today. Make sure your servers have tried everything on the menu and know exactly how to recommend. As a diner, I always ask my server what they think is best - I always appreciate an honest answer like "well, the lamb is alright, but the chicken is absolutely fantastic." That kind of advice has definitely saved my perception of a restaurant on more than one occasion.

So, possible, but difficult; - I guess that's why there's only one French Laundry, but a McDonald's around every corner.

NB: To give JB's some credit, after expressing my disappointment, their server apologized that the dish didn't meet my expectations and they did something about it. (That's your responsibility as a consumer as well, to give objective feedback).

At the end of writing this, I almost forgot which expert I was writing as - was it the Client Service one, or the Chef one? I now realize that they compliment each other so well, after all, you can't be a chef without servicing your clients.