CHICKEN DANCE
The Dish
You gotta hand it to guys like Daniel Boulud and our own Eliot Wexler, the owner of Noca restaurant. Or do you?
Boulud has been wowing diners with his world-class cooking for years and is definitively one of the most accomplished chefs in the world. Therefore, it probably doesn’t rub you the wrong way when he creates a burger that rings in at $150. After all, he is Daniel Boulud. It is assumed that the ingredients and preparation of said burger are going to be orgasmic. So you don’t feel bad that those that can afford such an indulgence, do. And you also don’t feel bad that Boulud is trying to playfully and artfully cater to the people who just as easily can spend that on a Cote De Boeuf.
While Boulud attempts to create the gourmet out of the mundane, Wexler unintentionally shoots for the exact opposite with Noca’s “Sunday Simple Supper” series–usually three-course meals served at about $35 a pop.
On a regular visit, diners leave Noca with a check average of $40+ and that is by no means a lavish meal, but definitely worth the money spent. Noca generally has good service, top notch comfort food in a fine dining environment, and of course the affable Wexler keenly and shrewdly working the floor. Wexler has made an art out of giving just the right amount of attention to the right people, ensuring their loyalty.
This formula and core audience has been responsible for the success of the restaurant and the fuel for their Sunday Simple Suppers. Especially ones like last night, featuring fried chicken as the star of the 3-courser. We went and will admit that there was nothing remarkable, decadent, or orgasmic about it. It was just two small/medium-sized pieces of fried chicken on a bed of potato salad—ZZZ… And therein lies the rub (or not enough in their case). No biscuit and honey (as advertised). No special somethin’-somethin’ goin’ on with the chicken. No item on the plate that seemed to justify a (we’re figuring) $18 or $19 entree price.
Boulud, worth it or not, creates an experience in your mouth in a dish that is not likely easily found elsewhere. Noca’s could easily have been found at KFC for about 80% less cost. (No offense to Chef Curtiss, it’s just that when you say “simple” the price, too, should be “simple.”) In fact, it seemed odd that after actually spending double than the advertised $35 menu price (we had two drinks, plus tip and tax) that we should still be hungry–a common complaint we later heard from other diners that night.
Now, we know the argument: Noca provides quality ingredients, a great venue, and great service – all factors that go into the “value of the price” – and if people are willing to pay it, then kudos to Wexler for providing it. In that respect, there is no difference between him and Boulud’s burger. But our point is, the food matters. It should always matter. Most.
What should feel like an opportunity to eat something special, comes off as a cheap marketing idea to get more butts in those seats. Nobody can fault an owner for trying to generate business, but it seems less special when you offer common food at uncommon prices. Especially when you’re a fine dining restaurant. Most diners thankfully don’t try to calculate the monetary value of each of their meals. Those that do, compare the cost of eating out versus cooking at home, but often neglect to factor in all the costs of running a restaurant–payroll, rent, insurance, infrastructure, sleeping pills (kidding), cleaning crew… It would be impossible for a restaurant to charge a diner the same price for a meal they could cook at home.
So if you’re going to overcharge, and season the experience with a marketing hook, then maybe take Boulud’s advice and offer something over-the-top. Something that won’t have guests wondering why they didn’t just make their own fried chicken at home. Or go to KFC.
2 Responses to “CHICKEN DANCE”
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I couldn’t agree more. When presented with a $35 price tag for fried chicken, a salad, and a dessert, you’re going to start doing the math. The chicken portions were small-ish (free-range, perhaps? does it matter if it’s deep-fried to oblivion?) and the lack of biscuit and honey really bothered me, as small a detail as it might seem. The potato salad was fine, but the portion was *tiny* and so assuming $8 for salad and $8 for dessert, you have a $19 very small plate of perfectly decent fried chicken.
Caffe Boa’s Chef Curry does a fried chicken dish for $14 (last I checked) that includes two enormous pieces served next to some huge salad. In my case, it was a cold broccoli salad that I wasn’t crazy about, but there was a ton of it.
The rationalization should be simple with a meal like this: “oh, but it was the best I’ve ever had and a good-sized portion!” “the biscuits were to die for” some other hook that’s memorable and sets it apart from a $14 meal at Lolo’s. (Who Noca “beat” in their cook-off a while back, if memory serves.) Instead, I left a bit disappointed and really missing those damn biscuits.
[...] Famous for its fresh, subject-to-change-based-on-Mother-Nature menu (and pasta made from superfine Italian artisan flour), noca has received the best of restaurant accolades since its opening. On Sunday evenings, noca serves the “Simple Supper,” a three course set menu with choice of entrée for $35 per guest. This coming Sunday, July 25 is the last of the July’s Simple Suppers and bound to please - Fried Chicken Night. (Unless that is, your name is Rick or David) [...]