No one has been to a David Chang restaurant? My wife is a big fan of his cookbooks (she is a “wok master” now - for real), podcasts, etc. His Momofuku noodles and chili crisp have been great to add to our lives, so I’d be interested in hearing from folks that have been to his restaurants.
I’ve eaten at Gordon Ramsey’s burger place in Las Vegas a couple of times. The burgers were pretty good but I’ve had better.
Same here. The burgers were pretty good, and I liked the curry-infused ketchup for the fries. But at their heart, they’re just burgers and fries. At least, they were reasonably-priced (for a place on the Strip in Las Vegas).
I did appreciate and enjoy the array of draft beers though.
I’ve eaten at Restaurant Gordon Ramsey in London, his flagship Michelin star place that long predates his TV career and venture into burger chains. It was exceptional.
To be fair, I’ve eaten at many ‘celebrity’ restaurants, London is full of them. Prize for most expensive and out of this world goes to Heston Blumenthal’s 3 Michelin starred Fat Duck (in a village outside London). Dinner for four people came to £1600 ($2000). Yikes.
I went to the B Spot in Crocker Park in Westlake a few times. Actually the sign read, “BBB Spot, Burgers, Brats & Brews”. I had no idea it was a Symon restaurant at the time. Very low key. I mean, burgers and brats. One time I had their Cleveland fried baloney sandwich which, despite the glowing description, tasted like a baloney sandwich. They made their own pork rinds and served them fresh in a cup while you ordered. They were great. And I had a brat which was excellent but again, just a bratwurst.
I don’t know how famous he is, but I ate at John Besh’s Restaurant August in New Orleans a few years back. It was awesome. If Michelin was in NOLA they’d certainly have a star. Food was very refined and artfully plated, but what set them apart was the service. It felt like our sever was there just for us. He clearly wasn’t, but I never had to look around if I wanted something, somehow he just knew to be right there when I needed something.
Is that a credit to the chef, though? Not trying to be snarky; I don’t know how high-end restaurants operate. Does the chef have anything to do with training and managing the servers, or does she delegate that to the host? I imagine a celebrity chef who opens a restaurant will want to ensure the service is as good as the food, but does the ability to run a kitchen translate? Is restaurant and staff management part of culinary school curriculum? Seems like it should be, if not.
Somebody’s got to be in charge. 
I assume someone on John Besh’s level is more of a businessman and a management executive more than they are actually a chef. He’s got like 10 restaurants. Nobody thinks Gordon Ramsay is in the back of one of his restaurants cooking their food, but it’s certainly being done to his standards, and I expect the same sort of thing applies at a place like August. Guys like that don’t just leave service up to the host.
It depends. In a chef-owned place, the chef is ultimately in charge, and cares about how the house is managed. If the star chef is not the owner (if, say, there’s an investment group behind the scenes), then the chef may put half an eye on the house but will primarily focus on the kitchen. In either case, the supervision and training of front-of-house staff, servers and such, falls under the purview of the house manager.
And I absolutely agree that first-rate service can really set a restaurant apart. When I was visiting St. Martin a few weeks ago, I took the family to this place. They serve highly refined French plates, not quite “fine dining” the way I think of it, but definitely top quality (bone marrow and such) in a casual setting. The food was excellent, but what was really impressive was the level of service. I have been in a lot of restaurants, and as I watched the staff on the floor, I could see how beautifully trained they were and how well they worked together. They were always constantly alert, and whenever anyone needed something they were there instantly, but still with a casual, easy energy, not oppressive or hovering. It was an incredibly well-oiled restaurant, just magnificent to watch.
When the owner came by to check on us after the dinner, I told him basically the same thing as above, complimenting the food but effusively praising the quality of the service. He called over the house manager and asked me to repeat myself, because he was proud of her work and he really liked knowing her efforts were noticed and thought she deserved to hear the comments herself. Most diners don’t recognize it when a restaurant is functioning at such a high level — they notice service only when something goes wrong — so her work generally goes below the radar, and she seemed pleased to be appreciated.
So if you’re at a nice restaurant and the servers take especially good care of you, try to find the house manager and let them know. The staff will be grateful for your kind words.
Believe it or not I’ve eaten my way through the US and Europe etc… I love food! My roots are in the Midwest Ohio. Jeff Ruby has a restaurant called The precinct. The steak is a fair $75 but could feed a family of 4 and is definitely a higher cut of prime and aged. I prefer the flavor of a well marbled Ribeye and his cuts like a filet mignon. I literally drive 2 hours to get it and sometimes take a cooler and spend the night in Cincinnati. I’ve met the owner and am trying to talk him into sending me a few to cook at home. We do steak and lobster at Christmas for 48 people. The lobsters are flown in and I want these steaks this year! Btw, the lobsters are now killed humanly. Thirty years ago we steamed them live but now am enlightened. What a shame. Poor things. Too bad they taste so freaking great! We never knew they could feel pain. Did you? I can add that I was fortunate to travel abroad growing up. My first trip was Russia. We were the first American family to visit the USSR leisurely. We were fed their best food and although that was 40 years ago, be grateful that in the US, we have so many options. The food we had there was so terrible it’s no wonder they drink vodka at every meal. The caviar was their only redeeming ingredient. Liver and chicken were common and meat scarce. Count your blessings Americans, we have great food and choices . Aside from the food, visiting a communist country was amazing and the people were gentle , kind and welcoming. More about that on a different post. lol