Q&A with RVA Food Culture Panel

The #steakchatRVA we’ve all been waiting for his finally here. Tonight, Tuesday, Oct. 19 at 6:30 p.m., a panel of some of the hippest names in Richmond restaurants and food writing will be dining and chatting about Richmond Food Culture.

There’s been a lot of interest in this Evening at Morton’s: An Online Community Conversation, so just to clarify, the actual dinner in the restaurant is closed to the public. It’s just a handful of people sitting around a table and eating in a room, so it’s not that exciting. The conversation, however, is wide open to anyone who wants to log-on here and follow the live blog or catch the tweets under the hashtag #steakchatRVA.

John Sarvay (@sarvay), founder of Floricane, will moderate the discussion and The Hodges Partnership’s Tony Scida (@tonyskyday) will be live blogging/

To get the panelists in the mindset for tonight’s conversation we did a quick Q&A with them on the dining scene. Read their answers, and don’t forget to ask some questions of your own for tonight’s discussion. You can do so during the live conversation via blog or Twitter, or submit them in advance in the comments section of this article or via email at content@richmond.com.

Brandon Fox (@bpfox), Richmond Magazine Dining Columnist & RHome Managing Editor

What’s great about the Richmond dining scene?

We're lucky to have such a diverse choice in this town. We have more than our fair share, for a city of this size, of dedicated chefs who truly believe in serving the best food they can. 

What do you wish would change?

The concept behind some new restaurants when they open isn't that well thought-out. It's a tough business, and I think people need to ask themselves what it is that they bring to the restaurant scene that's new and different. Copycat restaurants and generic fare don't do well in Richmond anymore. Customers want more. 

How do you think the internet (blogs, online review sites, social media) has affected restaurants, if at all?

Everyone pays attention to the blogs — owners and potential customers alike. I think bloggers don't understand the power that they have. The experience that you have in a restaurant that's only been open for a week isn't necessarily going to be the same as your experience three months later. If bloggers are too quick to criticize a place just as it opens, there's the very real possibility that they could shut it down. You've just eliminated someone's livelihood (not to mention their credit rating) before they ever had a chance. That being said, blogs have also brought good writers with different experiences and different perspectives to the fore. Does that mitigate the irresponsible writers? I hope so.

What kills a restaurant?  

Bad food. Plain and simple. If the other guy down the street can serve up something amazing for the same price, why can't you?

Andy Howell, Cafe Rustica owner and chef

What’s great about the Richmond dining scene?

For the size of the city, the dining choices are immense. Try to find anything more diverse than red sauce Italian, free chip Mexican or #24 Chinese in similar sized towns and you're stuck with chains.

What do you wish would change?

City of Richmond prepared meals tax.

How do you think the internet (blogs, online review sites, social media) has affected restaurants, if at all?

People are more aware of different dining options and food sources ... not that they're going to leave the comfort of Short Pump to actually try them.

What kills a restaurant?  

Cynicism (that's a joke). Apathy (that's for real).

Nathan Hughes (@rvabusiness) Bandazian & Holden VP & Sales Manager

What’s great about the Richmond dining scene?  

In Richmond, we have a great enthusiasm for restaurants, both new and old. I love to see the new ideas spring up, but I also applaud the restaurants that are able to boast 20+ years in business. We love our food!

What do you wish would change?

I wish that everyone wouldn’t jump on the same fad at the same time (i.e., remember when Carytown had a ton of Thai restaurants open all at the same time?). Ideas always take a while to catch on in Richmond compared to the rest of the country, but that means there are a lot of great ideas out there that are well tested but not adapted to our market.

How do you think the internet (blogs, online review sites, social media) has affected restaurants, if at all?

The same principles apply now as they did before, only more so now that we all have the potential and access to be content publishers -- word-of-mouth is king. Advertising is still important to a certain extent, but more important is how everyone relies on their friends and relatives to filter all of the noise. Some people want to be where their friends are, and some people want to be the one that brings the hot new spot to their friends’ attention.

What kills a restaurant?

Not paying attention kills a restaurant faster than anything else. It could be the restaurant owner that thinks they can be an absentee-owner without the proper staff and systems in place, or the restaurant that loses their core focus and becomes just another place to get food. It’s not paying attention to the core focus of the business that is the problem – customer service, an efficient operation, and something that makes that restaurant different from the competition.

Randy O'Dell (@Bellytimber), co-owner Bellytimber & Mezzanine

What’s great about the Richmond dining scene?

The great variety. Going to a new Balkan restaurant tonight in the West End. Cool!

What do you wish would change?

The 11 percent meals tax!

How do you think the internet (blogs, online review sites, social media) has affected restaurants, if at all?

Making owners paranoid ... and probably more accountable. 

What kills a restaurant?  

Inconsistency.

Karri Peifer (@KarriPeifer), Richmond.com food writer & editor

What’s great about the Richmond dining scene?

Everyone says the variety, but I’m going to go with diner enthusiasm. Richmonders love a restaurant. They like to read about them, complain about them, compare them, and, of course, dine in them.

What do you wish would change?

Service. What always comes to mind is what I think of the ubiquitous Fan waitress (though it’s not necessarily a Fan restaurant or a waitress), but it's that server who seems to be visibly annoyed that he/she has diners to wait on and/or that I might want to do something inconvenient, like finish my meal before the check is dropped. Of course, applied to the dining scene as a whole, customers deserve their share of the blame, and I wish they would elect to change it up a bit and maybe not dine at the mall one night. Finally, diversity in restaurant locations. We’ve got these great dining pockets in the Shockoes, the Fan and Carytown, but there’s a whole city out there (specifically my ‘hood in South Richmond), and we’d love some new options.

How do you think the internet (blogs, online review sites, social media) has affected restaurants, if at all?

All press is good press, right? I suppose not actually, but there are a lot of (free) ways for restaurants to get their name out there, especially using social media. On blogs, since I had the benefit of reading all the panel answers (unlike everyone else), I'm going to agree with Brandon and Deveron. To Deveron's point, I think she's right that many restaurant owners think bloggers have more power than they actually do. To Brandon's, there are some great blogs out there that have brought fresh perspectives and voices to local food writing. But those writers (bloggers or not) have a responsibility to consider the impact of what they write on local business owners. Not that they shouldn't write honestly ... and not that they have to fully behave like traditional journalists, but if you're going to blast a restaurant two weeks in, mention that it's two weeks in. And go back and re-review it. Maybe the effect they have is nominal, maybe it's huge, but the responsibility remains the same.

What kills a restaurant?  

Bad service and inconsistent food quality. I actually think service over food quality, ironically, but just barely. I get emails from readers all the time that blast a local restaurant and it’s always the same general narrative: I went to X restaurant that EVERYONE is raving about and it was awful: the hostess was rude, the server took forever, the food was OK and it was way over-priced. I will never go there again.

The narrative is always the same: decent food (or was it mediocre?) + terrible service = the worst restaurant ever. Good service can mask a lot of mistakes; bad service highlights them and leaves the diner actually searching for more. Not that mediocre food is forgivable, but it might earn a restaurant a second visit, whereas bad service is more likely to give you a one-and-then-done.

Heather Sullivan, NBC 12 co-anchor NBC12 News Today & "Restaurant Report"

What’s great about the Richmond dining scene?

Lots of variety, lots of entrepreneurs still investing and bringing new flavors to the city. We’ve seen some restaurants go under, but just as many new ones to replace them.

How do you think the internet (blogs, online review sites, social media) has affected restaurants, if at all?

They create a lot of buzz; get people talking about good places to go. Restaurants are very word of mouth.

What kills a restaurant?  

Bad health inspections!

Deveron Timberlake, Style Weekly food and drink editor

What’s great about the Richmond dining scene?

Wide range of dining options for a city this size, motivated chefs, strong relationships with local artisans and farmers, a growing base of food-oriented people; good range of price points, courage and desire on the part of owners and chefs. Interesting locations throughout the city and an increasingly design-conscious dining public.

What do you wish would change?

Service lags way behind where it should be. Public support for the independent restaurants needs to improve so that chains won't dominate the local scene. Overpriced cocktails. We need more late-night menus with something different to offer. More food trucks. Different menu ideas are needed, especially in the appetizer and dessert categories. Mostly, better training of wait staff and better oversight of the floor by managers would make a big difference in the local dining experience.

How do you think the internet (blogs, online review sites, social media) has affected restaurants, if at all?

Owners are paying attention to online "reviews" and to social media, which is good, but perhaps they think there's more power among the food bloggers than actually exists. Owners can and do drive business through social media and that's likely to continue, but for now traditional media reach more people and affect more decisions than other sources.   

What kills a restaurant?  

Lack of consistency in what's being delivered to the table. Lackluster service. High prices. Boring or predictable menus or atmosphere. Food that's not prepared to expectation and does not deliver value. Location and parking problems. Complacency. Sometimes even a good restaurant just runs out of gas and needs to close because of chef-owner burnout. A bad review can kill a business that's already hurting or never caught on with the dining public. Lack of passion and desire to please.   

Michelle Williams, deLux, Europa, The Hard Shell, Water Grill, The Hill Cafe chef / owner

What’s great about the Richmond dining scene?

All of the independent restaurants!

What do you wish would change?

The infiltration of the chain restaurants to the suburbs and the public’s perception of their value.

How do you think the internet (blogs, online review sites, social media) has affected restaurants, if at all?

It has a huge effect.

What kills a restaurant?  

See above! Negative word of mouth seems to have a much greater impact than anything. Interestingly enough, bad reviews don’t necessarily create bad sales.

Jason Hodnett, Morton's, The Steakhouse Richmond General Manager

What's great about the Richmond dining scene?

The high quality of food and number of talented chefs in and around the city. The increasing diversity of style and ethnicity of cuisine represented throughout the area.

What do you wish you could change?

The level of service represented at restaurants in town. Restaurateur's need to understand that you can serve the best product in the world but if your guest’s service is slow, rude or just lacking hospitality people will dine somewhere else. You want to be greeted with a smile when you walk into a restaurant, not a scowl. There are just too many options in town to have servers or bartenders that don't care.

How do you think internet has affected restaurants?

I think that the internet has revolutionized dining in America. With the on-line review sites you can now read other diners opinions before taking a chance on a new restaurant, where in the past you could only rely of newspapers, magazines or acquaintances for their opinions. I believe that bloggers don't understand how much they can affect a restaurant.

What kills a restaurant?

Rude employees and inconsistent food.

Evening at Morton’s: An Online Community Conversation is hosted by Morton’s the Steakhouse in partnership with Hodges Partnership and Richmond.com. The Richmond Food Culture discussion starts at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 19. Click here to find the live blog and to sign up for an email reminder about the discussion.