April 11, 2025 • 48 mins
Chef Alvin Williams shares his journey from classically-trained chef in England to celebrating 25 years at Cobalt Grille in Virginia Beach. We explore the evolution of restaurants, kitchen culture, and the fundamental differences between European and American culinary traditions.
• Training under elite French, Danish, German, and Belgian chefs in London where 18-hour workdays were standard
• Working in kitchens with fully-equipped showers because chefs lived so far from the restaurants
• Transitioning from formal French cooking to a more accessible menu that Virginia Beach diners embraced
• Creating menu staples like scallops Rockefeller and beef Wellington that have survived 25 years
• Dealing with skyrocketing ingredient costs – scallops have more than doubled in price
• Handling no-shows and last-minute cancellations that devastate restaurant economics
• Addressing both constructive criticism and unfair reviews without losing focus on loyal customers
• Adapting without compromising quality or culinary integrity
Join us at Cobalt Grille for Burger Night on Tuesdays or visit CobaltGrille.com to see what Chef Alvin has been perfecting for the past 25 years.
Welcome to the show! Burnt Hands Perspective
VIRTUAL TIP JAR: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2388325/support
CONTACT US:
www.burnthandsperspective.com
info@reframeyourbrand.com
IG @Theburnthandsperspective
Thank you to our location sponsor, Luce Secondo, located in Summit Pointe in Chesapeake, VA www.lucesecondo.com
For sponsorship opportunities, don't hesitate to get in touch with us directly.
*The views and opinions on this show are meant for entertainment purposes only. They do not reflect the views of our sponsors. We are not here to babysit your feelings, if you are a true industry pro, you will know that what we say is meant to make you laugh and have a great time. If you don't get that, this is not the podcast for you. You've been warned. Enjoy the ride!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
All right, here we are with a great chef today.
I'm excited about this.
We've been trying to lock thisdude down.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Local legend infamous .
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Local legend Chef Alvin from Cobalt.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Cobalt Grill Virginia Beach, Virginia, Somewhere I've
been going for 20 years.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
I was going to say I think that she might be there
more than you, bro.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Well introduce yourself.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Well, I'm Alvin Williams Chef.
Alvin Williams Cobalt Grill isthe name of my restaurant.
We're in Virginia Beach.
We've been there.
This is year 25.
We opened in October 11, 2000.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Wow, you're saying it so smoothly, like that's not 25
years ago, it's 25 years.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
It's the last time I slept yeah bro.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Let me tell you something, man 25 years in this
industry.
Everybody who's watching thispretty much knows and
understands our industry andthat's why you're fucking
watching it.
But it is not an easy industryto live in, it's not an easy
industry to succeed in and it'sdefinitely not an easy industry
to stay in for 25 years,especially in one spot, one
location.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
And one you've never changed locations.
Same restaurant, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
So I remember 25 years ago when they opened and
it still is, but I remember thehype of it.
Just a word I'm like cobalt,what is cold.
I was so young then I didn'tknow it was a fucking blue.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Well, this is yeah and there was a lot of confusion
as to where the name came fromand really we just like the
color and that color was kind ofoh, really hip at the time yeah
, it was right, right, cobaltblue we also wanted to do many
other different restaurants andthat was one of those things we
were going to do.
Cobalt and copper and all theseearth things.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yeah, it was.
Yeah, you're right.
Yeah, there was kind of a trendof that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
And then what happened, though?
So you were going to domultiple restaurants and your
scheme of things.
Everything seemed perfect,right, yeah, you should Shit hit
the fan.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
When, when, you first stopped working in a restaurant
.
I mean literally, I knew it wasgoing to be hard work.
I knew that and I was used tohard work and that's never been
a problem.
And when I built the place Iput a shower in there, so I
pretty much never left.
I had a shower, a locker roomand I was there 20 hours a day.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Now what you're talking about, what he's talking
about right now.
For all those who don't know, Ijust had a quick conversation
with them before this and I havethis almost like an inquisitive
love for UK Europe and theirway of doing things there and
the whole system of stuff thatshower in the kitchen is not far
from reality from where it isyou come from here.
It's a little drastic.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Not to me.
It's not actually in thekitchen.
No, no, no, no.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Which would make it really interesting.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Regardless.
So I thought when I built thisplace, I honestly thought about
putting a shower with a bedroomand a thing like that, so I can
stay here.
So this is not out of thenormal for people like us and
definitely people with you.
You're coming from the UK.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, so my background I was born in England
.
My parents are jamaican.
Uh, I went to culinary schoolin england right out of high
school and I did real well withit and ended up working in in
london and um a lot of thoserestaurants that you work in
there, you are there 18 hours aday so it's pretty common to
(03:19):
have showers and locker roomsthere because you don't even
have time to go home, becauseyou can't live in central london
because it's too expensive.
So you got to live out in thesuburbs.
It's like new york manhattanyou go out to queens of brooklyn
.
So here I was living inhammersmith and fulham and I
lived in layton stone, and allon the outskirts.
So by the time you leave workat midnight and, luckily, to
either get a bus or the tubehome, you're back on the tube
(03:42):
again at 6 am to get back intowork by by 7.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Then yeah, you had no other choice.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
And it's almost contracted there, isn't it?
Yeah, so over in europe anditaly, when I go there and work
with the chefs there, I I jokewith the kids saying, hey, you
need to come over to work andthey're there six months.
They have a con.
They're not leaving for a yearor two.
They have a contract signed.
I'm like here, these guys wantto raise after two minutes and
these guys have a contract.
You're screwed, so go on.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
It's interesting.
So working that lifestyle wasgreat.
It's very regimented, but youget to learn so much.
But you're in it, you're justin it.
That's all you know.
That's all you work, that's allyou talk about.
You finish work, you go out fora drink, you talk in shop.
(04:26):
On occasion you get to go outto the clubs, and then you know,
and then you leave the club andyou pretty much go back to the
right side you're going to workwith a hangover.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
You go to.
Yeah, how?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
old were you during that time?
Like uh?
19, 20, 21 so this was likeyou're in.
Yeah, is it?
I mean, what's the drinking agethere?
Were you able to go to clubswhen you were?
Speaker 3 (04:43):
yeah, yeah, yeah, you start the drinking age there,
were you able to go to clubswhen you were.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you start thedrinking age legally in England
is 18.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Okay, so you were out out.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
You start when you're 14, 15.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
You buy little suits.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
You were seasoned.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
I was seasoned, yeah.
And then it gets boring after,when you get to the age where
you're supposed to.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
When you're 18.
By the time you're 21,.
You've already freaking,started your adult life.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Well then, I was moving here, in the process of
moving here, but I was 21, hadmy 21st birthday and it was no
big deal because you'd alreadybeen drinking for you know five
years.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Okay, so that's when you came to the States.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Well, when I was there walking was my friend
You're and you just go hang outand walk.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure, Cooloff and stuff.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
I've been there many times, so many times, too many
times.
So coming up in cooking in theUK.
You were there, you went tochef school there.
There are some now I have, likeI told you at the beginning of
this, I have this weird fetish Iguess you could say for the.
UK Because I, some of the bestchefs we know of in the fucking
world come from the UK.
(05:44):
Why the UK has so many Michelinstars, so many protégés?
Everyone comes from the UK, but, however, it's never talked
about unless you study up on it.
Why is this?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
I'm not sure the reason why, but what I know is,
and what my experience was, isthat a lot of the best chefs
were in London, but they wereFrench chefs and they were
Danish and they were German andthey were Belgian.
And these are the guys that youlearn from and they have the
skills and you know.
So you end up learningdifferent languages too.
You know, I learned Flemish andI learned a little German, a
little French, and you know,kitchen, kitchen.
(06:16):
I wasn't fluent.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Kitchen talk right.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Kitchen talk Enough to survive yeah, enough to
survive.
What they need, what they want,they want it now, what the
vegetables are, go to thewalk-in and get this.
But these chefs were so greatand Europe's competitive and
England was great in certainthings Pubs and pub grub and
that kind of stuff Not reallyfood.
The food was pretty basic.
You got fish and chips andpeople always talk about roast
(06:42):
beef, so the French people callus roast beef and we call them
frog's legs.
So it's a banter and a rivalrybetween these European countries
.
But everyone for some reasongravitated to London in England
and I think it's probably gotsomething to do with finance.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Locality.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Locality and finance and what people could afford,
and they could afford theseexpensive meals and the best
chefs ended up in London.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Wouldn't you say.
London is more like a meltingpot too.
It's almost like Manhattan orsomething.
Because of the English speaking, everybody at some point in
time can always run to anEnglish speaking place.
I think if they're coming fromeverywhere else, it's like the
gateway to the rest of Europe,maybe, or getting out of Europe,
rather Both ways.
You know, and you know you got.
(07:26):
So look, marco Pierre Whitebrought through many chefs.
He worked with Mario Batali,even came through him.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Marco was number one, Of course still.
Still Still.
He had Harvey's, thatrestaurant.
It was just legendary.
And he was what America'sAnthony Bredin Sure.
He was a rebel.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
He was what America's Anthony.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Bourdain, sure, sure he was, he was a workaholic but
he was good too excellent, hewas good.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
I mean, he was the inventor of so many methods and
traditions and he doesn't wantto admit it now.
I think now that he's gettingolder, he's starting to take
claim for some stuff, butrightfully so and he was one of
the ones who got the stars firstsure he starts and gave them
back and the forks.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Really, he's got everything.
He gave his stars back.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
He gave his star back because he didn't want to
compete.
He didn't want to.
It was too much pressure.
His mentality is and he's got agreat mentality- is that?
how are people who don't knowhalf the shit, so you know it
gets me excited talking aboutthis.
You have Jamie Oliver.
That kid is a kid.
He's my age, maybe a littleyounger, but that guy is amazing
.
I mean the stuff that guy cookson the normal he may not be as
(08:32):
so, accolades may not be asstrong, but his food and his
cooking and his delivery andeverything.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
He was a great advocate for children in schools
school meals.
He did great programs with that, making sure that the kids in
Britain ate healthy and JamieOliver's he's good.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
I get Samsung products so I can get Samsung TV
, so I can watch Jamie Olivernetwork on on flip all the time,
and you know.
But but then again you gotGordon Ramsey he came from Marco
Pier right.
All these great chefs.
Now that list of Michelin chefsis long and I'm going back to
when I'm talking about the olderones we all know, because I
stopped having the ability andthe luxury of following these
(09:11):
chefs anymore.
So the newer ones I don'treally have locked down.
I know who, they are just basic, but I don't know them as much
as I do them.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
But before Marco and Gordon Ramsay.
There was Albert and MichelRoux.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
These guys.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
They had the gavroche that was right around the
corner from where I used to workTo this day.
One of my biggest regrets is Iused to see Albert Roux every
morning park his car.
He used to drive this old 5Series BMW on Park Street.
I'm walking into work in theloading dock and I just wanted
to say can I come and work inyour kitchen Free?
I would have done it free.
I was just so scared because hewas such an icon.
(09:48):
He was a little short guy buthe was the best.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
And I just regret to this day not asking that he
probably would have said yeah,why not Now.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
I know that Looking back.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Yeah, especially free , sure, Free labor.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
He's like come on in.
But those are the times you getthe best, some of the best.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
You know Anton Massiman and all those great
French guys we were talkingearlier in one of our earlier
episodes that we just filmed nottoo long ago, about this very
thing.
You want to go work for free,while other people want to get a
raise.
The second week they're there.
You look at guys like GrantAckett and stuff.
These are the guys who went andworked for free.
They went to Charlie Trotterand asked him can I work for you
(10:26):
for free?
And then went to thomas keller,can I work for you for free?
And then they get the jobbecause of their determination
and their grit and and that'swhere I like to be in that type
of realm myself I like to dothat.
I work my ass off for free nowbecause a lot of I'm yes the
restaurant's, mine.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
The money comes later and I think what happens is
that the generation nowadays,because of the internet and
because of YouTube and all thosethings, I think they see the
gratification immediately andthey want that immediately.
So some I'm not saying all, butmaybe most are not willing to
put in that work, especially notto work for free.
I mean it's hard to work forfree.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
It's very nice to put a plate that you plate.
Okay, if you plate a plate, youhave your sauce nice,
everything's perfect, your sousvide is done perfectly and you
crisp it off nice, and youbraise everything right and you
put it on a plate perfectly.
You take your pictures and get7,000 likes on it.
That's great, because they'relooking for those likes, but
they have no idea what it takesto do that every single day, day
(11:25):
in and day out, all day, 25years in a row at the same
restaurant.
It's not reality.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
If you make a sauce, you know you make a demi-glace.
You saw that sauce three daysago.
You know you get your stock onbrown off your bones and your
onions and your mirepoix and thewhole thing and then you've got
to reduce out what you're goingto do at night.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
You've got to figure out how many hours you have off
where you can go home and simmerit.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Can I leave it on?
Can I leave it on?
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Can I leave it off?
There's a couch right overthere before every big holiday
where.
I have these big specials.
People are like well, why don'tyou do an Iosobuco?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Because I honestly don't have 14 fucking hours
today you don't have the time ofit, or?
Speaker 1 (11:58):
I can do it right, but it's not the same.
If I want to keep that marrowright, if I want to keep
everything from collapsing, if Iwant to keep my meat from
sliding down that bone, thattakes hours.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
That's where taste and the involvement of the
experience of the dining comesinto play, because you have to
taste it and be there and smellit, whereas on the screen you
can see that sauce and the sheen.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I don't know if it tastes good and and you don't
know if you taste it.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
They could have taken them 20 minutes to make.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah Well, you still have that brigade style, I mean,
in your kitchen.
How has the kitchen changedover the years for you?
Speaker 3 (12:31):
coming from that old school to now.
I mean I started off as acommis chef, which is the lowest
of the low, and I was justlearning by proximity.
I mean I was working in a hotelkitchen and right next to it
was a Michelin star restaurantit was called 90 Park Lane back
then and I used to be able tojump over on the line and help
them and learn a little bit.
So that's where I learned.
(12:51):
But you go from commis chef tofirst commis chef de partie,
junior sous sous.
I mean the brigades were bigthere.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
And then up to chef de cuisine, all the way through.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
So the brigade systems were big because each
station had their own person.
You had your sauce, you hadyour fish, you had your meats.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
One person doing veg, one person doing sauce, one
person doing sauces fish, yeah,the whole day.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Totally different world here, where we don't have
that luxury anymore because yousimply don't have enough of one.
We just don't have that styleof cooking here.
It's tough, it's different.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
One of the reasons I left there was I was working
real hard in London.
I was doing really well.
And one day my sous chef saidto me he says well, you've kind
of reached as far as you can go,because I kept asking for
promotions, not money, but Iwant to do a different section,
I want to get higher.
I was like no, for your ageyou're good, you're good.
This is where you stay here.
You'll be here for a couple ofyears.
And I was like this is notright.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
This is bullshit.
I know I can do better.
You want to?
Speaker 3 (13:48):
work harder.
I wanted to work harder andthen my sister at the time was
living over here in New York andI came over and hung out with
her and it was a little too muchlike London.
I said I can't do this.
But then I had another sisterwho was here and she had married
a Navy guy and was stationed inNorfolk and she lived in
Virginia Beach.
So I said let me go hang outwith her for a while.
And I was hanging out atVirginia Beach and just loved it
(14:11):
.
The ocean, shopping malls wedidn't have shopping malls in
England, you know and it wasjust beautiful.
And I got real lucky.
Somebody told me about theywere doing a green card lottery.
I don't know if you've heard ofsuch a thing.
Anyway, I entered for thisgreen card lottery and won a
green card lottery.
I don't know if you've heard ofsuch a thing.
Anyway, I entered for thisgreen card lottery and won a
green card Second year.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Which meant that I got to stay and work because I
was having to go back and forth,go back and forth.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
So if you had a green card, you could be putting a
lottery to keep it.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
No, once you got the green card, it was yours for
five years and then eventuallythey ask you to become a citizen
, Got you?
Got sworn in by Pete Decker.
It was cool.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
There you go buddy, Uncle Pete.
Shout out to Pete we love andmiss you.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Yeah, so that was my story of being here, and once I
was here I worked in restaurantswhere they valued you for who
you were and what you could do,and not for your age group.
So I found you could get a lotfurther in life.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
So what did you notice most about the cuisine
change when you were over there?
You were doing all the stuff.
If you're next door to aMichelin restaurant that flows
over a little bit, you may be apub in England making fish and
chips, but I guarantee they'refucking good.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
There it was.
Major service, Like on yourplate, was Maybe your protein
and your sauce.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Steps of service.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Everything else was on the side.
Your legumes, your vegetablescame on one plate.
Your starch came in a differentplate.
It was all.
Your sauce came in a little.
It was major, major, major.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
So just setting up for that, just setting up for
all you who don't know thebudget of what we put up with
here.
I try and do different steps ofservice.
Here too, my proteins come a lacarte and all the sides come on
separate plates andeverything's separated.
Different, but what it goesthrough to get the steps of
service, meaning the utensilsand just the pourers and the
boats and everything we need tomake this happen.
(15:56):
You hear a smash, there'sanother one Smash, there's
another one.
There's a chip on this plate, abreak on that one there goes
$10.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
It's all money.
It's all money, everything andchemicals and dishwashers and
you know that kind of stuff, andit all breaks.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Yeah, no matter what.
Yeah, you just take your money,crumble it up and say we're
going to use this, we're justgoing to throw this, we're going
to use it for about a week andthen we're just going to blight
it on fire.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
We're going to throw it in the trash.
Hasn't changed too much overtime.
You've kept staple thingsthere's a couple reasons for
that.
Well, one of the reasons.
I want to talk to you about wascost, because one of your
signature dishes and you have alot of signature dishes that
people in this area like if youtook them off the menu they'd
probably murder you when you'rewalking outside.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
That's the problem we have here.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
So one of the signatures on your appetizers is
the scallops Rockefeller andthat has been there for a long
time and we were just talkingabout the cost of scallops right
now.
So I mean you're dealing with alot.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Do you want to punch a scallop guy in the face?
I'm telling you right now, Iwant to go down to Wanchese and
get on the boat and I'm going toact like a scallop guy and act
like they don't know me with thelittle glasses and the mustache
.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
And then in the price of scallops and why are they so
expensive.
And he went into this longdissertation about of course
they have their little script.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
They gotta rehearse.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Yeah, yeah, bullshit but it's, yeah, it's not good
and they're expensive.
But what do you do with that?
Do you pass the that cost on tothe to?
Do you suck it up and take aloss?
Speaker 1 (17:28):
What do you do, bro?
Well?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
what have you done?
Because it is a staple, Peopleknow that appetizer and they go
there specifically for that.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
And so that appetizer's there because people
love it, and then you take itoff and they're like what?
Because people always say, well, when are you going to change
the menu?
And you have to make way fornew things, and then they get
upset because you took off oneof their favorite things.
So that appetizer is still onand I'm charging the same price
right now, so we're not makingas much margin on that.
(17:55):
I mean, we're in the restaurantbusiness to make money.
That one you're not reallymaking money on, not right now,
but at some point, if the pricesdon't come back down on the
scallops, then we've got to passit on to the customer I
unfortunately had to pass it on.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
We go through so many U8s here.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
And.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
I run a U8, which is the biggest scallop we can
pretty much get here and they'rebeautiful and they're succulent
, they're great, but they'restarting to become non-existent
and those fishermen guys aregoing to tell you it's because
they're so.
No, they're no different.
You just don't want no morebecause nobody wants to pay you
your stupid money.
And that's the thing.
So they're going to be actuallyin huge abundance because I
know you're not pulling them outof the water.
They're out there, they're outthere, so we all need to get a
(18:33):
boat, maybe all the chefs in thearea need to get a boat and
just go in.
You know, if it was up to me,when these things happen almost
like gas prices if all the chefsin one region would just come
for freaking, a month guaranteethey'll come down because the
fishermen are going to run outof money fast.
They're robbing us, they're allrobbing us and I don't have a
problem saying that's the beautyof this podcast we can say
whatever we want.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
You know, then we're robbing our clients of what they
want that's right.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
So I have to go to market pricing on it.
So I have to go to marketbecause if I don't, we have to
cut it out because they're goingso ridiculous.
Look, something that used tocost us $180 is now $390?
For what?
The gas prices went down, so itain't the boat.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
What happened?
I bought a 1020 dry scallopswhich was high $115, $120.
Now it's over $200.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
So doubled.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Yeah, 50%.
I can't double the price ofthat dish on the menu because
it's going to look ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yeah you'd have an appetizer at $28.
I mean $30.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Right and the customer just simply doesn't
want to hear it.
They don't understand, and Idon't blame them.
They don't understand, theydon't want to care why it costs
us so much money.
We try and keep our margins inthe same percentage rate all the
time.
I'm not going to necessarilytake a hit so much on the
scallop, but I am going to haveto raise the price on stuff that
(19:53):
has a much bigger margin so wecan make up for it.
So we don't hit them on thescallops.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Our guests are starting to learn, though.
Just by them going to thegrocery store and buying things,
and things are so much moreexpensive in the grocery store,
so they have to know that it'scosting us the same.
You know we're getting the sameraise, yeah, and that's right.
So they're starting tounderstand now why our prices
are going up.
What do you want to do?
Do you want to go to thegrocery store and buy a whole
bunch of things, and then mostof it usually goes to waste?
Speaker 1 (20:16):
right, most of it right, right, right so, and I
was you can go to a restaurant.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
You buy your meal.
You know it's a little moreexpensive than it used to be and
it's good, but it's it's stillon par with well, I mean as the,
I guess the like home cook outof the three of us.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Like I mean, you know I cook at home quite a bit and
I cook everything just fromlearning in the restaurants over
the years.
So but I can go like say I getbecause we don't get cheap meat,
so I'll go get good steaks orgood salmon and I'm gonna spend,
you know, probably 25, 30 bucksper steak at this grocery store
and then I have to buy thesides and it's going to take me
an hour to cook it.
Then I have to clean up.
(20:50):
So really that 30 bucks for asteak, if I come somewhere and
pay 50 or 60 with the sides,everything, not having to do it
like, is that really that muchmore?
It's not.
I mean so a lot of people Iknow, and even in other
countries, like the groceriesare so expensive, it is cheaper
to eat in a restaurant.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
People are talking about the wine too.
They're like well, I've seenthis wine, I can get similar at
the wine store or something I'mlike.
Well, you get your glass andsit in the wine store and drink
your wine, or do you want tocome to a?
Speaker 2 (21:24):
nice environment where we are.
Have somebody open it, talkabout wine, learn something from
the sommelier, have a niceexperience.
You're paying for a lot morethan just the food on your plate
.
You're paying for everybodyelse, that's there.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
I had a conversation with a gentleman the other day
last week and we were talkingabout this very thing and it was
a customer asking you know andI use the reference of going
shopping you go shopping foryourself.
Oh yeah, it's crazy.
The prices are nuts.
You are shopping for two people?
Okay, we are shopping for 300 anight.
We're buying enough meat for300 a night.
We're buying enough meat for300 orders, not just you buying
(21:50):
your one at home.
So we have to break that downto everything that we have
that's going to go bad all thefat we have to trim, all the
butchering we have to do, theweight of those bones that we're
just going to try and hopefullyget a demi out of or something
you know and that's also a risk,because we don't know.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
Not everyone makes a reservation, so we don't know if
everyone's's coming tonight.
So you don't want to buy toomuch food and then have it go to
waste.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
And then you have the reservation, like we had last
night at 12 Top.
If you're listening, fuckyourself.
We had a 12 Top last night thatdecided 30 minutes that they
weren't coming to it.
I wish I had their name.
I'd call them right out.
And then we have on thereservation platform that you
have to pay a fine.
That's the way it is now,because people are now cruising
through and they're jockeying.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
They're making three or four reservations, so they
have tables and they'recanceling three of them.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
We lost a 12 top last night, which in turn we lost
another four top because we hadto use that four top to make the
12.
So they don't understand thatwe lost the 12 plus the four.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
And they do that on a regular night.
Tuesday, on Monday, monday nightlast night I find that they do
that with us on specialoccasions, you know if it's New
Year's Eve or Christmas Eve orthose days.
They want to book two or threeplaces because they want to
figure out where all theirfriends want to go, and then
they make a final decision.
But by the time they make thefinal decision it's 30 minutes
before Sure.
Sometimes they don't even letyou know.
So you've refused people.
(23:04):
Even people come in walk-ins.
You've said no, sorry, thattable's sold, and then they
don't show up.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
They don't show up and that's lost revenue.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
I mean each and every one of those seats.
That's our revenue.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
That's our PSA for the general public that's
listening.
Don't be a douchebag.
Don't be a douche.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Don't be a douchebag and actually stick to it.
My can't come all right, so dothey.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
11 others, too, had the flu because I don't
understand how they all had theflu everybody.
So you're ruining everybody'sdinner just because your kid is
sick it's crazy like no, we'restill going out like my kid will
survive, they'll be, they'll befine, just give them some
nyquil.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Yeah, give them the, give them tussin, put them in
bed, they're fine, don't youknow?
Speaker 1 (23:42):
they'll be there tomorrow when you get home now,
when you're cooking in yourrestaurant, like she said, your
menu has a staples on it.
So do I and, uh, my, my guestshave come to love it in both
restaurants and and if you takeit off you're gonna scare them
away somewhat.
So I run specials a lot.
Every week I'll run newspecials and I'll get a feel for
them and then I'll replace,like you said, make way with
some of those that come on.
Good, and I love creating and Ilove doing that.
(24:04):
My genre is italian.
That's, that's where I come outof, so a lot of my stuff is
multi-regional.
I have, I have the luxury ofhaving regions in italy that are
so abundant in such amazingingredients that I can just grab
and grab and grab and keepgoing and inventing and come up
with new ideas.
Right, um, what style are?
You're more of an americanslash, euro bistro type of vibe.
(24:26):
Where do you get yourinspiration here?
Speaker 3 (24:27):
So I was French classically trained, so my
inspiration is normally, youknow, the French kind of cuisine
.
But I learned real quick when Iopened up my restaurant that
that wasn't going to fly.
You know I was doing the Frenchpretty food and you know the
Nouvelle cuisine, that kind ofstuff.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Back in 2000.
This is in 2000.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Yeah, my customers were like look, we're a meat and
potatoes town, we're a resorttown and I want my meat on the
same plate as my vegetables andpotatoes, and I remember seeing
your stuff.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
I mean you were still plating with that French
enthusiasm.
You would take a short rib andyou would run it out with a
sesame demi.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
I'm making that up, but it's along the lines of what
I remember, you do a lot ofstacks.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
How.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
I was trained and that's what I knew.
Your cabbage was julienne, yourcarrots were julienne.
Right, All your verts was goodthey still are.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
But now you've got to read the room and you've got to
realize what your clients wantand you can not educate them,
but you can show them whatyou're made of, but you don't
take.
I'm still training staff andthey're happy.
They're learning, but mycustomers are also happy at the
same time.
So it's, it's a balance.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
And then you kicked out this banging ass burger day.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Oh, burger night.
We were there all the damn time.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
The burgers came from when there was the great stock
market crash and a lot of wewere just selling filet, mignon
and higher cuts of meat andstuff.
And then everyone was like,where's my money?
My stocks are gone.
So I says, well, let me put aburger on the menu and just see
what happens.
So I put a burger on so coupleswould come in and the ladies
would still get the filet andthen the guys would get the
(26:01):
burger.
So they're mitigating thedamages on the bill.
On the check.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Happy wife, happy life right.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
Yeah, and the burgers started selling.
I said, try it one night andjust see what happens.
So we just picked a slow night,which was Tuesdays, and we said
, well, let's do burger night.
And people were literallylining out the door for these
burgers.
And then we just kind ofstarted elevating the
presentation and we did them onburger boards and we had the
hand-cut fries.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
That we did because most people were just buying
frozen fries and it's he'staking that french influence,
that mindset, going back towhere you, if you law, you can
put a burger out, but if you'redoing it in such a way that the
ingredients are right and it'sdone, perfect.
There's something to be saidabout that.
Like I started doing my italianheritage mondays, because a lot
of my stuff, all of my stuff mycooking is, is actually italian
(26:45):
regional food.
It's not the American Italian.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Right, okay.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
But I do have a little passion for Italian
American food because I amItalian American, my family is
Italian, of course, but I wasborn in America and I grew up on
a lot of that food Going to myfriend's house who were third
and fourth, fifth generation,going to fairs, festivals,
everything I did growing up.
So I do miss chicken, parm andall that stuff.
Meatballs so I do miss chicken,parm and all that stuff,
meatball shit like that.
So we do it now Monday nightshere and people love it.
(27:10):
I mean, it's one of our busiernights in the week now we get
the reservations all through theweekend.
So I call it Meatball Madness orMeatball Monday, because I do a
Wagyu meatball and we take ameatball.
We put our twist, we elevate itand it's to die for it melts in
your.
It took me about three and ahalf months to perfect the
recipe.
I'm not kidding you.
Just every day take a littlebit up, third out of that, third
into this, trying to get thatright consistency.
(27:31):
But it works and it's takingsomething as simple as a
hamburger, putting a chef'stwist and spin on it.
Basically love and passion,doing it the right way and
staying true to it and puttingit out.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
And people like you have been going there for 20
years.
I've been going there for 25years, but also you like.
I think you're the only placethat has beef Wellington.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
So that was you know.
So I get homesick, so you know.
So we put fish and chips on themenu and you know they kind of
argue.
I'm from England, so who'sgoing to do better fish and
chips than I do?
I need it.
We need to go there, Well it is,and you have the Napoleon stack
Like there's terms that arebrought in, Like the beef
Wellington.
I do it like I learned it whenI was in England, so we have it.
French pâtisserie foie gras.
(28:11):
Instead of doing a duxelleswith the mushrooms which is just
ground up, I do sauteedmushrooms and put it on there,
Sure, and it's baked right andit's nice, and it's amazing and
it's delicious and people loveit.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
It's comfort, it's elevated comfort food.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Yeah, and it's an art and you can't get that
everywhere, so it's nice Somepeople come there on special
occasions.
I'm going to get the beefWellington, but or you can get a
burger, or you know it's.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Yeah, Well, you've diversified the menu a lot since
the beginning, but I've lovedseeing it and having some of
those influences, because therereally wasn't there, it was on
the Boulevard, it was Napoleon's.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
I think it was Napoleon's.
That was the only other kind ofFrench.
La Chambord was there too.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
La Chambord I worked at La Chambord before I opened
Cobalt, so that was one of thefirst restaurants.
It was the first restaurantBecause when I came here I
wasn't sure where to work and Iwas with my sister, I had this
magazine called the PortfolioMagazine.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Great magazine.
I miss that magazine.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
And they had the top ten restaurants and I just faxed
my CV.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
You're like faxed.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
Faxed it to these ten restaurants.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Delivered it on horse and pony.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
And I remember it was the Sheraton Hotel in Norfolk
called me back, coastal Grillcalled me back.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
And Frank Spapen at Le Champort.
He called me back and I saidwell, let me go meet these
people.
And I met with them.
And I met with Frank and he wasthis larger-than-life guy.
He's from Belgium, he spokeseven languages.
He came over for similarreasons to Virginia Beach.
He met a lot of guys inMarbella, in Spain, through the
Navy, and he came and set up ashop here.
(29:48):
He was like oh, you know, yousee all these things and you
worked in London and you've gotthis great CV and I don't
believe you.
I don't believe you.
I'll just work for you andwe'll see what do you want to
get paid?
I said nothing, he said, I'llwork for you for two weeks, for
a month free and if you like me.
Well, nice to meet you I lovethat, yeah, okay okay, let's try
it.
So after about three days it'slike okay, how much you want you
know.
Yeah, perfect, that's right Iwas who I said that's good.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
So what about your um ?
What about your jamaican roots?
Your parents are from jamaica,so does that come into your
cooking?
Speaker 3 (30:21):
not often more.
More comes into my temperamentwhen I get home.
Yeah, yeah yeah, french andJamaicans are similar.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
You know, the French are throwing copper pans and the
Jamaicans have the machete.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
Sometimes I'll do a little Caribbean to Istanbul,
but not very often.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
I went to Jamaica for the first time two years ago
maybe, and fell in love with thefood.
I didn't realize how, how kindof close it is to european style
or mediterranean style ofcooking.
I mean, it does have its owntwist too.
It does have a lot of frenchinfluence.
It's got its.
It's got influences everywhere,but it's definitely its own
thing.
Yeah, you know how they cooktheir fish, the whole fish, all
(31:00):
that, the oxtail, the slowbraising this.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
A lot of it's using the organic produce as well.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Sure, that's a problem.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
Which makes it different From the country, Like
they're up in the country.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
St Catherine and Clarendon up there in the hills.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
They're getting good ingredients by mistake.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
Well, it's just right there, you just go outside.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
You've got sugar cane .
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Look how sugar cane Are an orange, yeah, yeah,
callaloo, isn't that something?
Yeah, it's amazing, it's allthere it's and it's fresh.
I love that.
And yeah, dining there, like Iloved.
The places we stayed werepretty, yeah, pretty small, like
they were smaller, so we got alittle bit more of a local feel,
yeah.
And then obviously, we went andate food trucks like I try and
(31:39):
go, right, you know you want togo side of the road somewhere,
especially there, because, likethe chicken, it it's just
amazing.
And you know I'm a wimp, I can'tdo spices, so I, I, I tried and
they.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
They were very kind to me in.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Jamaica to help me out with the chicken, so I was
like, all right, cool, um, butyeah, I love going to those
places and seeing it.
Um, yeah, you haven't doneanything really with that on
your menu.
I'm not really surprised.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
More with the growing .
So we grow a lot of our ownproduce now.
But my grandparents they raisetheir own chickens and goats and
pigs and cows and stuff andthey're growing produce.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
And there's nothing better than that.
I mean, you can't mimic that.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
When I was growing up in England, my mom was always
like come out in the garden andgrow this, and I was like no, I
don't want to do this.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
And now that's all the things you do and the work
you do and the hard work you doand the putting.
You always get the good reviews, the good feedback.
There's got to be times whereyou get just so pissed off
because somebody is going tosneak in there with some
bullshit and you just want tofreak on them.
Some bad reviews are goodbecause you learn from them.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Others, though let's talk about the others though.
Some bad reviews are good, someare constructive and I take
that constructive criticism andI show those reviews to my team
and I say look, they were right,they called us out on this.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
I call that a good review.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
That's a good review.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
I call it a good review.
You have good reviews and thenyou have those good reviews.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
It is what it is the reviews that I think you're
talking about, where people jerkoffs just want to either hear
the sound of their own voices orthey think that they're
journalists and they want towrite correct food critics I try
not to pay too much attentionto those, because I don't want
to waste my energy on thosepeople.
I'd rather waste my energy onthe people who've given us the
good reviews.
Yes, and that they come in andthey tell us why they like it,
(33:20):
and then we keep.
We put our energy into thatwhich is like 95.
Because what's the point inputting your energy into the
haters?
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Because you focus on them, they're taking your energy
and then you're taking thatgood energy away from the people
who support you.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Sure, that's my feeling.
It's a great feeling.
It's a great thought because wedo the same thing.
So for every hundred greatreviews we have, there's always
the one or two and the onesyou're talking about that are
constructive.
That's a good review because wecan learn from it.
If there's an obvious issuethat they have, right away we
find it, and that, to me, iswhere I spend my energy.
(33:55):
The good reviews are a pat onthe back saying phew, we did it,
we made it through anothercustomer, we did what we were
supposed to do, they were happy,perfect.
The ones that have theconstructive, those are the ones
I focus on, because there'sfixable situations, solution
there and we can make solutions,and then that makes us better
in the long run.
Right, Because you add those up, it becomes you get better and
better, sometimes the bad ones.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
They talk about the cost.
Well, I think this is tooexpensive and I think the shrimp
were too small or whatever.
And those people?
They don't know what our costsare.
Okay, well, check this out bro,she's going to read a review.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
It's literally like this review was meant for this
conversation, all right, so thisis what I do at the end of each
show, I'll take a ridiculousreview because it's not.
It's fun.
If you don't know how to havefun with it, either you're
falling a victim to the hatertoo.
Yeah, you got to know how, too.
You gotta know how.
You know what.
You're an idiot.
I don't like the way you'retalking.
Either you don't like my place.
I don't like your review.
You suck so let's do it.
(34:47):
So we like to have a little funwith it, because people love
this segment.
She's gonna read a review thatis about me.
I may have read it I'm sure Ihave at some point but I haven't
read it today, so I'm gonnarespond to it.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
I respond to these like oh, he does online.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Yes, oh, you should read it it's great, it's like I
do.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
I don't care, I don't care, because you want it's now
.
As everyone says, it's an openforum okay, let's do it.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
Does that start a thing?
Speaker 1 (35:11):
they love it.
I think some people actuallyput some bad ones on there just
to hear just to get him becausethey change it they put them
back to five after they do theydo they?
Put it back to five like, hey,you did it, we got them all.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
Right, I just have to know.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Sorry, yeah okay, great, it doesn't affect us,
though there was two.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
I was going to choose from two this one is this one
is very applicable, so it wasalmost meant to be.
So one star review.
This is jeff from chesapeake,virginia my name's jeff hi, jeff
, my name is jeff my name's jeff.
Um, all right, we were a fewminutes early and sat in the bar
lounge area until seated staffwas plentiful and our server was
very attentive.
Appetizers were a challenge tochoose as it was not clear if
(35:48):
some of the items were notcooked or only seared.
We had to ask regarding severalitems.
The menu should clarify this oneach item.
Our entrees came out and I wasshocked that the scallops on my
plate were a total of three, butthe plate is $40.
My wife's halibut came out withonly two ounces of fish, a
(36:08):
scallop that was larger than thethree I had on my plate and a
prawn.
She ordered the dish wantingthe halibut based on the
waitress recommendation, had noidea there was additional
seafood.
It's one of the popular disheson your menu.
She was not a fan of the shrimp.
I observed the floor manager goto many tables.
We did not get a visit.
My one word summation wouldhave been underwhelming in
quotes.
This was a custom specialoccasion, my birthday and one of
(36:31):
my wife's gifts to me.
The $170 tab no drinks orderedwas over the top for the meals
we received.
Only our second time at Luce,probably our last.
Noise and decor was good, butthe subwoofer was getting too
much of a workout.
I don't know what the goal isfor the music, but the thump of
the bass was readily present.
That's just an odd way to endthis, but let's break it down.
(36:53):
If we go to the first, we'regoing to break down this.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
Let's do it, it's great.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
I'm going there right now.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
First of all, should you clarify on your menu.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
If items are only seared and not cooked Now, that
does indicate they're cooked.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
Okay, Well, before that they said that staff was
very attentive and helpful.
So if you've got a question,ask the staff.
They'll tell you.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
I write this off to being embarrassed that they
didn't know what they weregetting, so on my menu the thing
that's raw is.
What they're talking about is atuna crudo, or a carpaccio.
So you should know what you'redoing.
It's a language barrier perhaps.
However, when it says on there,raw crudo, that's raw.
You need to know your room, readthe room and understand what
level of dining you're in andunderstand the language barrier
(37:40):
of where you're going.
If I go to a Chinese restaurant, I'm probably going to assume I
don't know a lot of the things.
I don't speak the language,cantonese or whatever it is.
Yeah, so that's that.
So learn what it is you want.
Crudo means raw.
That's Italian, we're inagreement.
We're in agreement.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Okay, All right, so entrees came out and we had this
whole discussion on Scallopsthe plate $40.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Okay, three scallops.
These are.
You ate scallops.
For all those who don'tunderstand what that means, that
means there are eight units perpound.
There's eight scallops in apound.
You got three of them, whichmeans these scallops are like
buttermilk biscuits.
There's three of them.
Okay, those scallops also breakdown to about $50 a pound.
(38:23):
It's ridiculous.
So that's the whole problem.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
That's a good portion .
That's a huge portion.
It's ridiculous.
You have a nice entree, givesyou room for dessert.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Yeah, sure, we're not trying to overfill.
You're not trying to overfill.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
You're not trying to send people home with takeout
boxes.
That's an additional cost forus as well that we have to show
to the cost of your.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
We try to get you to get it all.
Speaker 3 (38:43):
And your bags and everything else.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
No, you're good, no, we get it.
So $40.
We're riling you up.
It's on.
I want some Jamaican to comeout.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
No, I'm not no sir.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Just give that man a machete.
Let's go to town.
All right, wife just halibut.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
I'm going to break down some more numbers for you
folks out there.
You ate scallop is one sides ofa buttermilk biscuit.
It's not two ounces of halibut.
You don't know what the hellyou're talking about.
That dish right there is apesci misto Misto in Italian
(39:29):
means a mix, so it's a fish mix,'s a fish nugget and and we
wouldn't waste the other two onnothing, so it's a four or eight
ounce pieces is how we breakdown a 50 pound side of halibut
if anyone knows what that is, at27 a pound.
So we have to get 100 or 200pounds of it to break it down
three times a week.
That's a lot of money.
That's a lot of money.
So 27.99 is a part of halibutright now and that's why it's
priced.
Now the prawn they're talkingabout you'll laugh at this.
(39:49):
I get U3 prawns, full prawns.
Speaker 3 (39:53):
Not a shrimp, it's a prawn, it's a prawn Right
Difference, little spike.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
So a U3 shrimp means there's three of them to a pound
.
It's this.
It's the size of a lobster, asmall lobster, okay.
Speaker 3 (40:10):
So I don't know what more jeff wanted on his plate,
but it's 40 bucks no, so the thescallop dish is 40, the the the
scallop.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
They're both.
The scallop dish is 40 and theother one is actually like 39
it's like 40.
It's like 40 it's inexpensivefor what it is.
I mean it's beautifully done.
I mean there's broccolini in it.
It's really good.
Speaker 3 (40:29):
Yes, hand-tossed breadcrumbs they get vegetables
and everything.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
It's a roasted dish in a beurre blanc type of
champagne.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
They're just not understanding the language of
what the dish is supposed to be.
So they said, they asked I meanyeah, apparently you didn't ask
the right questions, so she'snot a fan of that Floor manager.
Didn't get to their table, sothey're pissy about that.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Probably didn't need to, probably everything looked
like it was going good, they'renot going to bother you if
you're on a date for yourbirthday.
They leave you alone here.
This is not Bennigan's oranything like that.
Okay, Our managers don't checkin to every single table.
We will stop by onanniversaries, birthdays.
We will stop in if there's timeto check in, if everything's
going okay, but typically ourjob is to leave you alone and
(41:14):
let you dine.
We have so many steps ofservice here that you don't need
another one.
You know there's between ourSAs, our servers, assistants,
our servers, our hosts, ourhosts, our maitre d'.
There's plenty of people.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
There's a lot of people touching your table, yeah
there's a lot of people andpeople touch, like you know.
The wine person will come by orthe manager will just stop by
and say hi, but you don't needto be.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
You don't need to be.
You'll sit up at the table foryou know, 20 seconds For sure
they're not refilling your waterevery 30 to where they spent
$170 for food.
You got away easy, bro.
No, no, no.
How the hell did you do that?
Speaker 2 (41:46):
No, but for two people.
Your dishes were both $40, andyou spent $170 with no drinks.
So, that's only half.
So what other $80 in food didyou order that you did not
mention in this review?
Speaker 1 (41:58):
Well, right and as far as the base, we are an
up-tempo restaurant the weekends.
Weekends we have a three-piecejazz band on Friday and Saturday
night in the dining room.
Other times we play a Euro typeof trendy house type of style
of music.
It works very well for everyoneelse that comes here besides
Jeff.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
Well, I mean, you'd think you'd like the bass.
It's like extra.
This is their second time.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
How did they not know what to expect?
Speaker 1 (42:20):
I don't understand.
That's the question.
That's why I read these out,because somewhere out there
someone who read this might bewatching this show and I want
them to understand that we havethe same accessibility to call
you out as you do us, and it's atwo-way street now.
That's the beauty of it.
And a lot of restaurateurs areafraid to do that because they
don't want to open that can ofworms Me.
I'm a worm can opener from wayback.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
You're fishing.
You're fishing all the time I'mlooking for trout, whatever you
want, halibut.
Speaker 3 (42:46):
Well, sometimes it just gets into this back and
forth.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
It does, it does banter Sure, no, no, you're
absolutely right about that.
Speaker 3 (42:51):
And then they want to rise out of you.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:53):
You want the good meal or do you want the rise out
of the chef, scallop and eat ittoo.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
These things make me laugh.
Speaker 1 (42:59):
When I look at that thing that person had a bad
experience and it escalated andthey had to throw in the base
because the story just needed toreally have that final punch.
Speaker 3 (43:13):
They had a bad experience.
Or your birthday, really suckedthey just said they weren't
agreeable with the prize or thesize.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
That's worth one star that hurts our whole team.
Speaker 3 (43:23):
That hurts our team.
That hurts our team.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (43:25):
So that hurts our team.
You know, for Yelp you have togo 15 five star reviews in a row
to get your next point.
Yes, Okay.
So if we're on 14 and you justdid this, Jeff, because you
didn't understand it, you justtook us all the way back to zero
.
Speaker 3 (43:39):
Yeah, so you're uneducated, self.
Speaker 1 (43:41):
That's why I get on here and that's why I talk shit
to people on that, because younot only made your point, but
you just screwed our fuckingentire team.
If you're the 14th problem andthat's happened multiple times-
Our system is interesting.
Speaker 3 (43:54):
One of my best friends owns a restaurant in
town and they always rave abouthis restaurant and it was great,
the entrance was great and theflowers and the environment and
the service and the staff andand it was really good and had a
good time and the the bestfried shrimp and you know and
four stars every day.
He'd never built.
Never give him five stars.
The same thing here.
Speaker 1 (44:15):
I don't know.
It's a new trend because thisjust happened.
Started happening in the lastsix months because now it's
every.
If you look at my reviews,Everything is perfect.
Immac best time ever.
Here's all the pictures.
Look at this food.
Four stars.
Speaker 3 (44:28):
I think they're saving the fifth star for, like,
when they go to Bernadino, whenthey go to Alenia there's
already people doing that whenthey go to.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Alenia, but that's what I think.
I think so, maybe yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
That is yeah.
Whatever the fuck that is Elite.
Yeah, so that was on par forthe whole conversation with you
today.
Speaker 1 (44:49):
But that was great.
Yeah, thank you everybody whodoes take their time to put in a
review period.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
Or understand food cost Right.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
If you put in the time to make a review, that
means you took the time to comehere in the first place.
Yes, but if you are the ones ofthe thousands who put in the
good reviews, we trulyappreciate you.
You are our fuel, and he canattest to that and the ones who
do have actual issues out of ourcontrol.
Food cost is not in our control.
We would love to give you asmuch as you can for less,
(45:18):
because we want more peoplecoming, so let's get that out of
here and if you have a badissue, please call us directly
or email us directly.
Correct, there's a chef out ofhere and if you have a bad issue
, please call us directly oremail us directly.
Correct, there's a chef or amanager.
Speaker 3 (45:25):
Yeah, not necessarily put it out on.
Speaker 1 (45:27):
Sure, if you're really wanting to help, that's
it.
But if you want to make yourcause better, you'd probably get
more results out of having agood review than a bad one,
because a lot of people brushthrough the bad ones to read the
good ones.
No one wants to stars yeah,they're not going to look for
(45:48):
the two that were bad becauseit's so.
Speaker 3 (45:48):
I don't mind a shaky review in that anyway, because
sure, if you always get goodreviews, good, good, good, good,
no one's going to believe it.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
Yeah, there's gotta be sending in nice reviews,
right, right, you know sotomorrow I'm gonna go on yours
and just leave you a really badreview that you respond to, and
I'll change it later, just forfun.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
Just screw with Alvin , don't do that?
Speaker 2 (46:05):
Please don't do that everybody.
Speaker 1 (46:07):
So if you're going to take a review on somebody, take
your time and do it right.
Really, pay attention to whatit is you're doing to them and
the team.
Sometimes your words reallyaren't going to be as seen as
you thought, but that stupid onestar does mess something up.
It does.
So if that in you it is.
But as of right now I wouldlike to say this I would like to
say tell them where we can findyou.
Speaker 3 (46:27):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (46:31):
We are.
Where are they going?
We are Cobalt.
Speaker 3 (46:33):
Grill in the Hilltop North Shopping Center in
Virginia Beach, corner of LaskinRoad and First Colonial, and
online.
Online, we are CobaltGrillcomwith an E, so
C-O-B-A-L-T-G-R-I-L-L-E CobaltGrilly Cobalt Grilly.
Speaker 1 (46:49):
Because you can charge a little more when you're
grilly than when you're grilled.
Speaker 2 (46:51):
Yeah right, it's like when they call it pommes frites
you can charge more.
Speaker 3 (46:58):
You can charge more.
Speaker 2 (46:59):
Okay, I like it Add an and they have great.
So meet me there for BurgerNight.
Speaker 1 (47:03):
Tuesday night's Burger Night Go check them out.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
Make a comment below what else you see.
Don't forget to hit like andsubscribe on this show.
Speaker 1 (47:10):
Shut up, give us all the support, hit, like and
support on this show and youknow where to find us.
We'll be here every time.
Check us out on YouTube,facebook, where else?
We at Chris.
Speaker 2 (47:19):
Tell them On Apple, spotify, all of the above
anywhere you search.
Burnt Hands Perspective Is thatokay, that was nice.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
That was nice, that was bedroom voice.
That's not it.
No, I don't know your bedroomvoice.
Speaker 2 (47:30):
How the hell do I know?
Speaker 1 (47:32):
I'm just assuming.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
It's the end of the show.
We do not need to get theclimax at the end of the show.
Speaker 1 (47:37):
The sun's still out.
All right, the sun is, I'll dothat later alright, great, well
listen.
Thanks for tuning in.
Thanks for checking us out.
Speaker 2 (47:44):
Ciao for now thank you, alvin ciao, thank you guys.
All right, here we are with a great chef today.
I'm excited about this.
We've been trying to lock thisdude down.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Local legend infamous .
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Local legend Chef Alvin from Cobalt.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Cobalt Grill Virginia Beach, Virginia, Somewhere I've
been going for 20 years.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
I was going to say I think that she might be there
more than you, bro.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Well introduce yourself.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Well, I'm Alvin Williams Chef.
Alvin Williams Cobalt Grill isthe name of my restaurant.
We're in Virginia Beach.
We've been there.
This is year 25.
We opened in October 11, 2000.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Wow, you're saying it so smoothly, like that's not 25
years ago, it's 25 years.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
It's the last time I slept yeah bro.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Let me tell you something, man 25 years in this
industry.
Everybody who's watching thispretty much knows and
understands our industry andthat's why you're fucking
watching it.
But it is not an easy industryto live in, it's not an easy
industry to succeed in and it'sdefinitely not an easy industry
to stay in for 25 years,especially in one spot, one
location.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
And one you've never changed locations.
Same restaurant, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
So I remember 25 years ago when they opened and
it still is, but I remember thehype of it.
Just a word I'm like cobalt,what is cold.
I was so young then I didn'tknow it was a fucking blue.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Well, this is yeah and there was a lot of confusion
as to where the name came fromand really we just like the
color and that color was kind ofoh, really hip at the time yeah
, it was right, right, cobaltblue we also wanted to do many
other different restaurants andthat was one of those things we
were going to do.
Cobalt and copper and all theseearth things.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yeah, it was.
Yeah, you're right.
Yeah, there was kind of a trendof that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
And then what happened, though?
So you were going to domultiple restaurants and your
scheme of things.
Everything seemed perfect,right, yeah, you should Shit hit
the fan.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
When, when, you first stopped working in a restaurant
.
I mean literally, I knew it wasgoing to be hard work.
I knew that and I was used tohard work and that's never been
a problem.
And when I built the place Iput a shower in there, so I
pretty much never left.
I had a shower, a locker roomand I was there 20 hours a day.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Now what you're talking about, what he's talking
about right now.
For all those who don't know, Ijust had a quick conversation
with them before this and I havethis almost like an inquisitive
love for UK Europe and theirway of doing things there and
the whole system of stuff thatshower in the kitchen is not far
from reality from where it isyou come from here.
It's a little drastic.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Not to me.
It's not actually in thekitchen.
No, no, no, no.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Which would make it really interesting.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Regardless.
So I thought when I built thisplace, I honestly thought about
putting a shower with a bedroomand a thing like that, so I can
stay here.
So this is not out of thenormal for people like us and
definitely people with you.
You're coming from the UK.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, so my background I was born in England
.
My parents are jamaican.
Uh, I went to culinary schoolin england right out of high
school and I did real well withit and ended up working in in
london and um a lot of thoserestaurants that you work in
there, you are there 18 hours aday so it's pretty common to
(03:19):
have showers and locker roomsthere because you don't even
have time to go home, becauseyou can't live in central london
because it's too expensive.
So you got to live out in thesuburbs.
It's like new york manhattanyou go out to queens of brooklyn
.
So here I was living inhammersmith and fulham and I
lived in layton stone, and allon the outskirts.
So by the time you leave workat midnight and, luckily, to
either get a bus or the tubehome, you're back on the tube
(03:42):
again at 6 am to get back intowork by by 7.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Then yeah, you had no other choice.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
And it's almost contracted there, isn't it?
Yeah, so over in europe anditaly, when I go there and work
with the chefs there, I I jokewith the kids saying, hey, you
need to come over to work andthey're there six months.
They have a con.
They're not leaving for a yearor two.
They have a contract signed.
I'm like here, these guys wantto raise after two minutes and
these guys have a contract.
You're screwed, so go on.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
It's interesting.
So working that lifestyle wasgreat.
It's very regimented, but youget to learn so much.
But you're in it, you're justin it.
That's all you know.
That's all you work, that's allyou talk about.
You finish work, you go out fora drink, you talk in shop.
(04:26):
On occasion you get to go outto the clubs, and then you know,
and then you leave the club andyou pretty much go back to the
right side you're going to workwith a hangover.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
You go to.
Yeah, how?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
old were you during that time?
Like uh?
19, 20, 21 so this was likeyou're in.
Yeah, is it?
I mean, what's the drinking agethere?
Were you able to go to clubswhen you were?
Speaker 3 (04:43):
yeah, yeah, yeah, you start the drinking age there,
were you able to go to clubswhen you were.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you start thedrinking age legally in England
is 18.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Okay, so you were out out.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
You start when you're 14, 15.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
You buy little suits.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
You were seasoned.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
I was seasoned, yeah.
And then it gets boring after,when you get to the age where
you're supposed to.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
When you're 18.
By the time you're 21,.
You've already freaking,started your adult life.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Well then, I was moving here, in the process of
moving here, but I was 21, hadmy 21st birthday and it was no
big deal because you'd alreadybeen drinking for you know five
years.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Okay, so that's when you came to the States.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Well, when I was there walking was my friend
You're and you just go hang outand walk.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure, Cooloff and stuff.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
I've been there many times, so many times, too many
times.
So coming up in cooking in theUK.
You were there, you went tochef school there.
There are some now I have, likeI told you at the beginning of
this, I have this weird fetish Iguess you could say for the.
UK Because I, some of the bestchefs we know of in the fucking
world come from the UK.
(05:44):
Why the UK has so many Michelinstars, so many protégés?
Everyone comes from the UK, but, however, it's never talked
about unless you study up on it.
Why is this?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
I'm not sure the reason why, but what I know is,
and what my experience was, isthat a lot of the best chefs
were in London, but they wereFrench chefs and they were
Danish and they were German andthey were Belgian.
And these are the guys that youlearn from and they have the
skills and you know.
So you end up learningdifferent languages too.
You know, I learned Flemish andI learned a little German, a
little French, and you know,kitchen, kitchen.
(06:16):
I wasn't fluent.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Kitchen talk right.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Kitchen talk Enough to survive yeah, enough to
survive.
What they need, what they want,they want it now, what the
vegetables are, go to thewalk-in and get this.
But these chefs were so greatand Europe's competitive and
England was great in certainthings Pubs and pub grub and
that kind of stuff Not reallyfood.
The food was pretty basic.
You got fish and chips andpeople always talk about roast
(06:42):
beef, so the French people callus roast beef and we call them
frog's legs.
So it's a banter and a rivalrybetween these European countries
.
But everyone for some reasongravitated to London in England
and I think it's probably gotsomething to do with finance.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Locality.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Locality and finance and what people could afford,
and they could afford theseexpensive meals and the best
chefs ended up in London.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Wouldn't you say.
London is more like a meltingpot too.
It's almost like Manhattan orsomething.
Because of the English speaking, everybody at some point in
time can always run to anEnglish speaking place.
I think if they're coming fromeverywhere else, it's like the
gateway to the rest of Europe,maybe, or getting out of Europe,
rather Both ways.
You know, and you know you got.
(07:26):
So look, marco Pierre Whitebrought through many chefs.
He worked with Mario Batali,even came through him.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Marco was number one, Of course still.
Still Still.
He had Harvey's, thatrestaurant.
It was just legendary.
And he was what America'sAnthony Bredin Sure.
He was a rebel.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
He was what America's Anthony.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Bourdain, sure, sure he was, he was a workaholic but
he was good too excellent, hewas good.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
I mean, he was the inventor of so many methods and
traditions and he doesn't wantto admit it now.
I think now that he's gettingolder, he's starting to take
claim for some stuff, butrightfully so and he was one of
the ones who got the stars firstsure he starts and gave them
back and the forks.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Really, he's got everything.
He gave his stars back.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
He gave his star back because he didn't want to
compete.
He didn't want to.
It was too much pressure.
His mentality is and he's got agreat mentality- is that?
how are people who don't knowhalf the shit, so you know it
gets me excited talking aboutthis.
You have Jamie Oliver.
That kid is a kid.
He's my age, maybe a littleyounger, but that guy is amazing
.
I mean the stuff that guy cookson the normal he may not be as
(08:32):
so, accolades may not be asstrong, but his food and his
cooking and his delivery andeverything.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
He was a great advocate for children in schools
school meals.
He did great programs with that, making sure that the kids in
Britain ate healthy and JamieOliver's he's good.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
I get Samsung products so I can get Samsung TV
, so I can watch Jamie Olivernetwork on on flip all the time,
and you know.
But but then again you gotGordon Ramsey he came from Marco
Pier right.
All these great chefs.
Now that list of Michelin chefsis long and I'm going back to
when I'm talking about the olderones we all know, because I
stopped having the ability andthe luxury of following these
(09:11):
chefs anymore.
So the newer ones I don'treally have locked down.
I know who, they are just basic, but I don't know them as much
as I do them.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
But before Marco and Gordon Ramsay.
There was Albert and MichelRoux.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
These guys.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
They had the gavroche that was right around the
corner from where I used to workTo this day.
One of my biggest regrets is Iused to see Albert Roux every
morning park his car.
He used to drive this old 5Series BMW on Park Street.
I'm walking into work in theloading dock and I just wanted
to say can I come and work inyour kitchen Free?
I would have done it free.
I was just so scared because hewas such an icon.
(09:48):
He was a little short guy buthe was the best.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
And I just regret to this day not asking that he
probably would have said yeah,why not Now.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
I know that Looking back.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Yeah, especially free , sure, Free labor.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
He's like come on in.
But those are the times you getthe best, some of the best.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
You know Anton Massiman and all those great
French guys we were talkingearlier in one of our earlier
episodes that we just filmed nottoo long ago, about this very
thing.
You want to go work for free,while other people want to get a
raise.
The second week they're there.
You look at guys like GrantAckett and stuff.
These are the guys who went andworked for free.
They went to Charlie Trotterand asked him can I work for you
(10:26):
for free?
And then went to thomas keller,can I work for you for free?
And then they get the jobbecause of their determination
and their grit and and that'swhere I like to be in that type
of realm myself I like to dothat.
I work my ass off for free nowbecause a lot of I'm yes the
restaurant's, mine.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
The money comes later and I think what happens is
that the generation nowadays,because of the internet and
because of YouTube and all thosethings, I think they see the
gratification immediately andthey want that immediately.
So some I'm not saying all, butmaybe most are not willing to
put in that work, especially notto work for free.
I mean it's hard to work forfree.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
It's very nice to put a plate that you plate.
Okay, if you plate a plate, youhave your sauce nice,
everything's perfect, your sousvide is done perfectly and you
crisp it off nice, and youbraise everything right and you
put it on a plate perfectly.
You take your pictures and get7,000 likes on it.
That's great, because they'relooking for those likes, but
they have no idea what it takesto do that every single day, day
(11:25):
in and day out, all day, 25years in a row at the same
restaurant.
It's not reality.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
If you make a sauce, you know you make a demi-glace.
You saw that sauce three daysago.
You know you get your stock onbrown off your bones and your
onions and your mirepoix and thewhole thing and then you've got
to reduce out what you're goingto do at night.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
You've got to figure out how many hours you have off
where you can go home and simmerit.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Can I leave it on?
Can I leave it on?
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Can I leave it off?
There's a couch right overthere before every big holiday
where.
I have these big specials.
People are like well, why don'tyou do an Iosobuco?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Because I honestly don't have 14 fucking hours
today you don't have the time ofit, or?
Speaker 1 (11:58):
I can do it right, but it's not the same.
If I want to keep that marrowright, if I want to keep
everything from collapsing, if Iwant to keep my meat from
sliding down that bone, thattakes hours.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
That's where taste and the involvement of the
experience of the dining comesinto play, because you have to
taste it and be there and smellit, whereas on the screen you
can see that sauce and the sheen.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I don't know if it tastes good and and you don't
know if you taste it.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
They could have taken them 20 minutes to make.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah Well, you still have that brigade style, I mean,
in your kitchen.
How has the kitchen changedover the years for you?
Speaker 3 (12:31):
coming from that old school to now.
I mean I started off as acommis chef, which is the lowest
of the low, and I was justlearning by proximity.
I mean I was working in a hotelkitchen and right next to it
was a Michelin star restaurantit was called 90 Park Lane back
then and I used to be able tojump over on the line and help
them and learn a little bit.
So that's where I learned.
(12:51):
But you go from commis chef tofirst commis chef de partie,
junior sous sous.
I mean the brigades were bigthere.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
And then up to chef de cuisine, all the way through.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
So the brigade systems were big because each
station had their own person.
You had your sauce, you hadyour fish, you had your meats.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
One person doing veg, one person doing sauce, one
person doing sauces fish, yeah,the whole day.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Totally different world here, where we don't have
that luxury anymore because yousimply don't have enough of one.
We just don't have that styleof cooking here.
It's tough, it's different.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
One of the reasons I left there was I was working
real hard in London.
I was doing really well.
And one day my sous chef saidto me he says well, you've kind
of reached as far as you can go,because I kept asking for
promotions, not money, but Iwant to do a different section,
I want to get higher.
I was like no, for your ageyou're good, you're good.
This is where you stay here.
You'll be here for a couple ofyears.
And I was like this is notright.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
This is bullshit.
I know I can do better.
You want to?
Speaker 3 (13:48):
work harder.
I wanted to work harder andthen my sister at the time was
living over here in New York andI came over and hung out with
her and it was a little too muchlike London.
I said I can't do this.
But then I had another sisterwho was here and she had married
a Navy guy and was stationed inNorfolk and she lived in
Virginia Beach.
So I said let me go hang outwith her for a while.
And I was hanging out atVirginia Beach and just loved it
(14:11):
.
The ocean, shopping malls wedidn't have shopping malls in
England, you know and it wasjust beautiful.
And I got real lucky.
Somebody told me about theywere doing a green card lottery.
I don't know if you've heard ofsuch a thing.
Anyway, I entered for thisgreen card lottery and won a
green card lottery.
I don't know if you've heard ofsuch a thing.
Anyway, I entered for thisgreen card lottery and won a
green card Second year.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Which meant that I got to stay and work because I
was having to go back and forth,go back and forth.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
So if you had a green card, you could be putting a
lottery to keep it.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
No, once you got the green card, it was yours for
five years and then eventuallythey ask you to become a citizen
, Got you?
Got sworn in by Pete Decker.
It was cool.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
There you go buddy, Uncle Pete.
Shout out to Pete we love andmiss you.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Yeah, so that was my story of being here, and once I
was here I worked in restaurantswhere they valued you for who
you were and what you could do,and not for your age group.
So I found you could get a lotfurther in life.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
So what did you notice most about the cuisine
change when you were over there?
You were doing all the stuff.
If you're next door to aMichelin restaurant that flows
over a little bit, you may be apub in England making fish and
chips, but I guarantee they'refucking good.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
There it was.
Major service, Like on yourplate, was Maybe your protein
and your sauce.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Steps of service.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Everything else was on the side.
Your legumes, your vegetablescame on one plate.
Your starch came in a differentplate.
It was all.
Your sauce came in a little.
It was major, major, major.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
So just setting up for that, just setting up for
all you who don't know thebudget of what we put up with
here.
I try and do different steps ofservice.
Here too, my proteins come a lacarte and all the sides come on
separate plates andeverything's separated.
Different, but what it goesthrough to get the steps of
service, meaning the utensilsand just the pourers and the
boats and everything we need tomake this happen.
(15:56):
You hear a smash, there'sanother one Smash, there's
another one.
There's a chip on this plate, abreak on that one there goes
$10.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
It's all money.
It's all money, everything andchemicals and dishwashers and
you know that kind of stuff, andit all breaks.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Yeah, no matter what.
Yeah, you just take your money,crumble it up and say we're
going to use this, we're justgoing to throw this, we're going
to use it for about a week andthen we're just going to blight
it on fire.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
We're going to throw it in the trash.
Hasn't changed too much overtime.
You've kept staple thingsthere's a couple reasons for
that.
Well, one of the reasons.
I want to talk to you about wascost, because one of your
signature dishes and you have alot of signature dishes that
people in this area like if youtook them off the menu they'd
probably murder you when you'rewalking outside.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
That's the problem we have here.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
So one of the signatures on your appetizers is
the scallops Rockefeller andthat has been there for a long
time and we were just talkingabout the cost of scallops right
now.
So I mean you're dealing with alot.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Do you want to punch a scallop guy in the face?
I'm telling you right now, Iwant to go down to Wanchese and
get on the boat and I'm going toact like a scallop guy and act
like they don't know me with thelittle glasses and the mustache
.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
And then in the price of scallops and why are they so
expensive.
And he went into this longdissertation about of course
they have their little script.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
They gotta rehearse.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Yeah, yeah, bullshit but it's, yeah, it's not good
and they're expensive.
But what do you do with that?
Do you pass the that cost on tothe to?
Do you suck it up and take aloss?
Speaker 1 (17:28):
What do you do, bro?
Well?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
what have you done?
Because it is a staple, Peopleknow that appetizer and they go
there specifically for that.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
And so that appetizer's there because people
love it, and then you take itoff and they're like what?
Because people always say, well, when are you going to change
the menu?
And you have to make way fornew things, and then they get
upset because you took off oneof their favorite things.
So that appetizer is still onand I'm charging the same price
right now, so we're not makingas much margin on that.
(17:55):
I mean, we're in the restaurantbusiness to make money.
That one you're not reallymaking money on, not right now,
but at some point, if the pricesdon't come back down on the
scallops, then we've got to passit on to the customer I
unfortunately had to pass it on.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
We go through so many U8s here.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
And.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
I run a U8, which is the biggest scallop we can
pretty much get here and they'rebeautiful and they're succulent
, they're great, but they'restarting to become non-existent
and those fishermen guys aregoing to tell you it's because
they're so.
No, they're no different.
You just don't want no morebecause nobody wants to pay you
your stupid money.
And that's the thing.
So they're going to be actuallyin huge abundance because I
know you're not pulling them outof the water.
They're out there, they're outthere, so we all need to get a
(18:33):
boat, maybe all the chefs in thearea need to get a boat and
just go in.
You know, if it was up to me,when these things happen almost
like gas prices if all the chefsin one region would just come
for freaking, a month guaranteethey'll come down because the
fishermen are going to run outof money fast.
They're robbing us, they're allrobbing us and I don't have a
problem saying that's the beautyof this podcast we can say
whatever we want.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
You know, then we're robbing our clients of what they
want that's right.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
So I have to go to market pricing on it.
So I have to go to marketbecause if I don't, we have to
cut it out because they're goingso ridiculous.
Look, something that used tocost us $180 is now $390?
For what?
The gas prices went down, so itain't the boat.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
What happened?
I bought a 1020 dry scallopswhich was high $115, $120.
Now it's over $200.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
So doubled.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Yeah, 50%.
I can't double the price ofthat dish on the menu because
it's going to look ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yeah you'd have an appetizer at $28.
I mean $30.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Right and the customer just simply doesn't
want to hear it.
They don't understand, and Idon't blame them.
They don't understand, theydon't want to care why it costs
us so much money.
We try and keep our margins inthe same percentage rate all the
time.
I'm not going to necessarilytake a hit so much on the
scallop, but I am going to haveto raise the price on stuff that
(19:53):
has a much bigger margin so wecan make up for it.
So we don't hit them on thescallops.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Our guests are starting to learn, though.
Just by them going to thegrocery store and buying things,
and things are so much moreexpensive in the grocery store,
so they have to know that it'scosting us the same.
You know we're getting the sameraise, yeah, and that's right.
So they're starting tounderstand now why our prices
are going up.
What do you want to do?
Do you want to go to thegrocery store and buy a whole
bunch of things, and then mostof it usually goes to waste?
Speaker 1 (20:16):
right, most of it right, right, right so, and I
was you can go to a restaurant.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
You buy your meal.
You know it's a little moreexpensive than it used to be and
it's good, but it's it's stillon par with well, I mean as the,
I guess the like home cook outof the three of us.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Like I mean, you know I cook at home quite a bit and
I cook everything just fromlearning in the restaurants over
the years.
So but I can go like say I getbecause we don't get cheap meat,
so I'll go get good steaks orgood salmon and I'm gonna spend,
you know, probably 25, 30 bucksper steak at this grocery store
and then I have to buy thesides and it's going to take me
an hour to cook it.
Then I have to clean up.
(20:50):
So really that 30 bucks for asteak, if I come somewhere and
pay 50 or 60 with the sides,everything, not having to do it
like, is that really that muchmore?
It's not.
I mean so a lot of people Iknow, and even in other
countries, like the groceriesare so expensive, it is cheaper
to eat in a restaurant.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
People are talking about the wine too.
They're like well, I've seenthis wine, I can get similar at
the wine store or something I'mlike.
Well, you get your glass andsit in the wine store and drink
your wine, or do you want tocome to a?
Speaker 2 (21:24):
nice environment where we are.
Have somebody open it, talkabout wine, learn something from
the sommelier, have a niceexperience.
You're paying for a lot morethan just the food on your plate
.
You're paying for everybodyelse, that's there.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
I had a conversation with a gentleman the other day
last week and we were talkingabout this very thing and it was
a customer asking you know andI use the reference of going
shopping you go shopping foryourself.
Oh yeah, it's crazy.
The prices are nuts.
You are shopping for two people?
Okay, we are shopping for 300 anight.
We're buying enough meat for300 a night.
We're buying enough meat for300 orders, not just you buying
(21:50):
your one at home.
So we have to break that downto everything that we have
that's going to go bad all thefat we have to trim, all the
butchering we have to do, theweight of those bones that we're
just going to try and hopefullyget a demi out of or something
you know and that's also a risk,because we don't know.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
Not everyone makes a reservation, so we don't know if
everyone's's coming tonight.
So you don't want to buy toomuch food and then have it go to
waste.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
And then you have the reservation, like we had last
night at 12 Top.
If you're listening, fuckyourself.
We had a 12 Top last night thatdecided 30 minutes that they
weren't coming to it.
I wish I had their name.
I'd call them right out.
And then we have on thereservation platform that you
have to pay a fine.
That's the way it is now,because people are now cruising
through and they're jockeying.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
They're making three or four reservations, so they
have tables and they'recanceling three of them.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
We lost a 12 top last night, which in turn we lost
another four top because we hadto use that four top to make the
12.
So they don't understand thatwe lost the 12 plus the four.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
And they do that on a regular night.
Tuesday, on Monday, monday nightlast night I find that they do
that with us on specialoccasions, you know if it's New
Year's Eve or Christmas Eve orthose days.
They want to book two or threeplaces because they want to
figure out where all theirfriends want to go, and then
they make a final decision.
But by the time they make thefinal decision it's 30 minutes
before Sure.
Sometimes they don't even letyou know.
So you've refused people.
(23:04):
Even people come in walk-ins.
You've said no, sorry, thattable's sold, and then they
don't show up.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
They don't show up and that's lost revenue.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
I mean each and every one of those seats.
That's our revenue.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
That's our PSA for the general public that's
listening.
Don't be a douchebag.
Don't be a douche.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Don't be a douchebag and actually stick to it.
My can't come all right, so dothey.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
11 others, too, had the flu because I don't
understand how they all had theflu everybody.
So you're ruining everybody'sdinner just because your kid is
sick it's crazy like no, we'restill going out like my kid will
survive, they'll be, they'll befine, just give them some
nyquil.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Yeah, give them the, give them tussin, put them in
bed, they're fine, don't youknow?
Speaker 1 (23:42):
they'll be there tomorrow when you get home now,
when you're cooking in yourrestaurant, like she said, your
menu has a staples on it.
So do I and, uh, my, my guestshave come to love it in both
restaurants and and if you takeit off you're gonna scare them
away somewhat.
So I run specials a lot.
Every week I'll run newspecials and I'll get a feel for
them and then I'll replace,like you said, make way with
some of those that come on.
Good, and I love creating and Ilove doing that.
(24:04):
My genre is italian.
That's, that's where I come outof, so a lot of my stuff is
multi-regional.
I have, I have the luxury ofhaving regions in italy that are
so abundant in such amazingingredients that I can just grab
and grab and grab and keepgoing and inventing and come up
with new ideas.
Right, um, what style are?
You're more of an americanslash, euro bistro type of vibe.
(24:26):
Where do you get yourinspiration here?
Speaker 3 (24:27):
So I was French classically trained, so my
inspiration is normally, youknow, the French kind of cuisine
.
But I learned real quick when Iopened up my restaurant that
that wasn't going to fly.
You know I was doing the Frenchpretty food and you know the
Nouvelle cuisine, that kind ofstuff.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Back in 2000.
This is in 2000.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Yeah, my customers were like look, we're a meat and
potatoes town, we're a resorttown and I want my meat on the
same plate as my vegetables andpotatoes, and I remember seeing
your stuff.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
I mean you were still plating with that French
enthusiasm.
You would take a short rib andyou would run it out with a
sesame demi.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
I'm making that up, but it's along the lines of what
I remember, you do a lot ofstacks.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
How.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
I was trained and that's what I knew.
Your cabbage was julienne, yourcarrots were julienne.
Right, All your verts was goodthey still are.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
But now you've got to read the room and you've got to
realize what your clients wantand you can not educate them,
but you can show them whatyou're made of, but you don't
take.
I'm still training staff andthey're happy.
They're learning, but mycustomers are also happy at the
same time.
So it's, it's a balance.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
And then you kicked out this banging ass burger day.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Oh, burger night.
We were there all the damn time.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
The burgers came from when there was the great stock
market crash and a lot of wewere just selling filet, mignon
and higher cuts of meat andstuff.
And then everyone was like,where's my money?
My stocks are gone.
So I says, well, let me put aburger on the menu and just see
what happens.
So I put a burger on so coupleswould come in and the ladies
would still get the filet andthen the guys would get the
(26:01):
burger.
So they're mitigating thedamages on the bill.
On the check.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Happy wife, happy life right.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
Yeah, and the burgers started selling.
I said, try it one night andjust see what happens.
So we just picked a slow night,which was Tuesdays, and we said
, well, let's do burger night.
And people were literallylining out the door for these
burgers.
And then we just kind ofstarted elevating the
presentation and we did them onburger boards and we had the
hand-cut fries.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
That we did because most people were just buying
frozen fries and it's he'staking that french influence,
that mindset, going back towhere you, if you law, you can
put a burger out, but if you'redoing it in such a way that the
ingredients are right and it'sdone, perfect.
There's something to be saidabout that.
Like I started doing my italianheritage mondays, because a lot
of my stuff, all of my stuff mycooking is, is actually italian
(26:45):
regional food.
It's not the American Italian.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Right, okay.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
But I do have a little passion for Italian
American food because I amItalian American, my family is
Italian, of course, but I wasborn in America and I grew up on
a lot of that food Going to myfriend's house who were third
and fourth, fifth generation,going to fairs, festivals,
everything I did growing up.
So I do miss chicken, parm andall that stuff.
Meatballs so I do miss chicken,parm and all that stuff,
meatball shit like that.
So we do it now Monday nightshere and people love it.
(27:10):
I mean, it's one of our busiernights in the week now we get
the reservations all through theweekend.
So I call it Meatball Madness orMeatball Monday, because I do a
Wagyu meatball and we take ameatball.
We put our twist, we elevate itand it's to die for it melts in
your.
It took me about three and ahalf months to perfect the
recipe.
I'm not kidding you.
Just every day take a littlebit up, third out of that, third
into this, trying to get thatright consistency.
(27:31):
But it works and it's takingsomething as simple as a
hamburger, putting a chef'stwist and spin on it.
Basically love and passion,doing it the right way and
staying true to it and puttingit out.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
And people like you have been going there for 20
years.
I've been going there for 25years, but also you like.
I think you're the only placethat has beef Wellington.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
So that was you know.
So I get homesick, so you know.
So we put fish and chips on themenu and you know they kind of
argue.
I'm from England, so who'sgoing to do better fish and
chips than I do?
I need it.
We need to go there, Well it is,and you have the Napoleon stack
Like there's terms that arebrought in, Like the beef
Wellington.
I do it like I learned it whenI was in England, so we have it.
French pâtisserie foie gras.
(28:11):
Instead of doing a duxelleswith the mushrooms which is just
ground up, I do sauteedmushrooms and put it on there,
Sure, and it's baked right andit's nice, and it's amazing and
it's delicious and people loveit.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
It's comfort, it's elevated comfort food.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Yeah, and it's an art and you can't get that
everywhere, so it's nice Somepeople come there on special
occasions.
I'm going to get the beefWellington, but or you can get a
burger, or you know it's.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Yeah, Well, you've diversified the menu a lot since
the beginning, but I've lovedseeing it and having some of
those influences, because therereally wasn't there, it was on
the Boulevard, it was Napoleon's.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
I think it was Napoleon's.
That was the only other kind ofFrench.
La Chambord was there too.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
La Chambord I worked at La Chambord before I opened
Cobalt, so that was one of thefirst restaurants.
It was the first restaurantBecause when I came here I
wasn't sure where to work and Iwas with my sister, I had this
magazine called the PortfolioMagazine.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Great magazine.
I miss that magazine.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
And they had the top ten restaurants and I just faxed
my CV.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
You're like faxed.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
Faxed it to these ten restaurants.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Delivered it on horse and pony.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
And I remember it was the Sheraton Hotel in Norfolk
called me back, coastal Grillcalled me back.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
And Frank Spapen at Le Champort.
He called me back and I saidwell, let me go meet these
people.
And I met with them.
And I met with Frank and he wasthis larger-than-life guy.
He's from Belgium, he spokeseven languages.
He came over for similarreasons to Virginia Beach.
He met a lot of guys inMarbella, in Spain, through the
Navy, and he came and set up ashop here.
(29:48):
He was like oh, you know, yousee all these things and you
worked in London and you've gotthis great CV and I don't
believe you.
I don't believe you.
I'll just work for you andwe'll see what do you want to
get paid?
I said nothing, he said, I'llwork for you for two weeks, for
a month free and if you like me.
Well, nice to meet you I lovethat, yeah, okay okay, let's try
it.
So after about three days it'slike okay, how much you want you
know.
Yeah, perfect, that's right Iwas who I said that's good.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
So what about your um ?
What about your jamaican roots?
Your parents are from jamaica,so does that come into your
cooking?
Speaker 3 (30:21):
not often more.
More comes into my temperamentwhen I get home.
Yeah, yeah yeah, french andJamaicans are similar.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
You know, the French are throwing copper pans and the
Jamaicans have the machete.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
Sometimes I'll do a little Caribbean to Istanbul,
but not very often.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
I went to Jamaica for the first time two years ago
maybe, and fell in love with thefood.
I didn't realize how, how kindof close it is to european style
or mediterranean style ofcooking.
I mean, it does have its owntwist too.
It does have a lot of frenchinfluence.
It's got its.
It's got influences everywhere,but it's definitely its own
thing.
Yeah, you know how they cooktheir fish, the whole fish, all
(31:00):
that, the oxtail, the slowbraising this.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
A lot of it's using the organic produce as well.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Sure, that's a problem.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
Which makes it different From the country, Like
they're up in the country.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
St Catherine and Clarendon up there in the hills.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
They're getting good ingredients by mistake.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
Well, it's just right there, you just go outside.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
You've got sugar cane .
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Look how sugar cane Are an orange, yeah, yeah,
callaloo, isn't that something?
Yeah, it's amazing, it's allthere it's and it's fresh.
I love that.
And yeah, dining there, like Iloved.
The places we stayed werepretty, yeah, pretty small, like
they were smaller, so we got alittle bit more of a local feel,
yeah.
And then obviously, we went andate food trucks like I try and
(31:39):
go, right, you know you want togo side of the road somewhere,
especially there, because, likethe chicken, it it's just
amazing.
And you know I'm a wimp, I can'tdo spices, so I, I, I tried and
they.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
They were very kind to me in.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Jamaica to help me out with the chicken, so I was
like, all right, cool, um, butyeah, I love going to those
places and seeing it.
Um, yeah, you haven't doneanything really with that on
your menu.
I'm not really surprised.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
More with the growing .
So we grow a lot of our ownproduce now.
But my grandparents they raisetheir own chickens and goats and
pigs and cows and stuff andthey're growing produce.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
And there's nothing better than that.
I mean, you can't mimic that.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
When I was growing up in England, my mom was always
like come out in the garden andgrow this, and I was like no, I
don't want to do this.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
And now that's all the things you do and the work
you do and the hard work you doand the putting.
You always get the good reviews, the good feedback.
There's got to be times whereyou get just so pissed off
because somebody is going tosneak in there with some
bullshit and you just want tofreak on them.
Some bad reviews are goodbecause you learn from them.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Others, though let's talk about the others though.
Some bad reviews are good, someare constructive and I take
that constructive criticism andI show those reviews to my team
and I say look, they were right,they called us out on this.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
I call that a good review.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
That's a good review.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
I call it a good review.
You have good reviews and thenyou have those good reviews.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
It is what it is the reviews that I think you're
talking about, where people jerkoffs just want to either hear
the sound of their own voices orthey think that they're
journalists and they want towrite correct food critics I try
not to pay too much attentionto those, because I don't want
to waste my energy on thosepeople.
I'd rather waste my energy onthe people who've given us the
good reviews.
Yes, and that they come in andthey tell us why they like it,
(33:20):
and then we keep.
We put our energy into thatwhich is like 95.
Because what's the point inputting your energy into the
haters?
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Because you focus on them, they're taking your energy
and then you're taking thatgood energy away from the people
who support you.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Sure, that's my feeling.
It's a great feeling.
It's a great thought because wedo the same thing.
So for every hundred greatreviews we have, there's always
the one or two and the onesyou're talking about that are
constructive.
That's a good review because wecan learn from it.
If there's an obvious issuethat they have, right away we
find it, and that, to me, iswhere I spend my energy.
(33:55):
The good reviews are a pat onthe back saying phew, we did it,
we made it through anothercustomer, we did what we were
supposed to do, they were happy,perfect.
The ones that have theconstructive, those are the ones
I focus on, because there'sfixable situations, solution
there and we can make solutions,and then that makes us better
in the long run.
Right, Because you add those up, it becomes you get better and
better, sometimes the bad ones.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
They talk about the cost.
Well, I think this is tooexpensive and I think the shrimp
were too small or whatever.
And those people?
They don't know what our costsare.
Okay, well, check this out bro,she's going to read a review.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
It's literally like this review was meant for this
conversation, all right, so thisis what I do at the end of each
show, I'll take a ridiculousreview because it's not.
It's fun.
If you don't know how to havefun with it, either you're
falling a victim to the hatertoo.
Yeah, you got to know how, too.
You gotta know how.
You know what.
You're an idiot.
I don't like the way you'retalking.
Either you don't like my place.
I don't like your review.
You suck so let's do it.
(34:47):
So we like to have a little funwith it, because people love
this segment.
She's gonna read a review thatis about me.
I may have read it I'm sure Ihave at some point but I haven't
read it today, so I'm gonnarespond to it.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
I respond to these like oh, he does online.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Yes, oh, you should read it it's great, it's like I
do.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
I don't care, I don't care, because you want it's now
.
As everyone says, it's an openforum okay, let's do it.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
Does that start a thing?
Speaker 1 (35:11):
they love it.
I think some people actuallyput some bad ones on there just
to hear just to get him becausethey change it they put them
back to five after they do theydo they?
Put it back to five like, hey,you did it, we got them all.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
Right, I just have to know.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Sorry, yeah okay, great, it doesn't affect us,
though there was two.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
I was going to choose from two this one is this one
is very applicable, so it wasalmost meant to be.
So one star review.
This is jeff from chesapeake,virginia my name's jeff hi, jeff
, my name is jeff my name's jeff.
Um, all right, we were a fewminutes early and sat in the bar
lounge area until seated staffwas plentiful and our server was
very attentive.
Appetizers were a challenge tochoose as it was not clear if
(35:48):
some of the items were notcooked or only seared.
We had to ask regarding severalitems.
The menu should clarify this oneach item.
Our entrees came out and I wasshocked that the scallops on my
plate were a total of three, butthe plate is $40.
My wife's halibut came out withonly two ounces of fish, a
(36:08):
scallop that was larger than thethree I had on my plate and a
prawn.
She ordered the dish wantingthe halibut based on the
waitress recommendation, had noidea there was additional
seafood.
It's one of the popular disheson your menu.
She was not a fan of the shrimp.
I observed the floor manager goto many tables.
We did not get a visit.
My one word summation wouldhave been underwhelming in
quotes.
This was a custom specialoccasion, my birthday and one of
(36:31):
my wife's gifts to me.
The $170 tab no drinks orderedwas over the top for the meals
we received.
Only our second time at Luce,probably our last.
Noise and decor was good, butthe subwoofer was getting too
much of a workout.
I don't know what the goal isfor the music, but the thump of
the bass was readily present.
That's just an odd way to endthis, but let's break it down.
(36:53):
If we go to the first, we'regoing to break down this.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
Let's do it, it's great.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
I'm going there right now.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
First of all, should you clarify on your menu.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
If items are only seared and not cooked Now, that
does indicate they're cooked.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
Okay, Well, before that they said that staff was
very attentive and helpful.
So if you've got a question,ask the staff.
They'll tell you.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
I write this off to being embarrassed that they
didn't know what they weregetting, so on my menu the thing
that's raw is.
What they're talking about is atuna crudo, or a carpaccio.
So you should know what you'redoing.
It's a language barrier perhaps.
However, when it says on there,raw crudo, that's raw.
You need to know your room, readthe room and understand what
level of dining you're in andunderstand the language barrier
(37:40):
of where you're going.
If I go to a Chinese restaurant, I'm probably going to assume I
don't know a lot of the things.
I don't speak the language,cantonese or whatever it is.
Yeah, so that's that.
So learn what it is you want.
Crudo means raw.
That's Italian, we're inagreement.
We're in agreement.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Okay, All right, so entrees came out and we had this
whole discussion on Scallopsthe plate $40.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Okay, three scallops.
These are.
You ate scallops.
For all those who don'tunderstand what that means, that
means there are eight units perpound.
There's eight scallops in apound.
You got three of them, whichmeans these scallops are like
buttermilk biscuits.
There's three of them.
Okay, those scallops also breakdown to about $50 a pound.
(38:23):
It's ridiculous.
So that's the whole problem.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
That's a good portion .
That's a huge portion.
It's ridiculous.
You have a nice entree, givesyou room for dessert.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Yeah, sure, we're not trying to overfill.
You're not trying to overfill.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
You're not trying to send people home with takeout
boxes.
That's an additional cost forus as well that we have to show
to the cost of your.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
We try to get you to get it all.
Speaker 3 (38:43):
And your bags and everything else.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
No, you're good, no, we get it.
So $40.
We're riling you up.
It's on.
I want some Jamaican to comeout.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
No, I'm not no sir.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Just give that man a machete.
Let's go to town.
All right, wife just halibut.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
I'm going to break down some more numbers for you
folks out there.
You ate scallop is one sides ofa buttermilk biscuit.
It's not two ounces of halibut.
You don't know what the hellyou're talking about.
That dish right there is apesci misto Misto in Italian
(39:29):
means a mix, so it's a fish mix,'s a fish nugget and and we
wouldn't waste the other two onnothing, so it's a four or eight
ounce pieces is how we breakdown a 50 pound side of halibut
if anyone knows what that is, at27 a pound.
So we have to get 100 or 200pounds of it to break it down
three times a week.
That's a lot of money.
That's a lot of money.
So 27.99 is a part of halibutright now and that's why it's
priced.
Now the prawn they're talkingabout you'll laugh at this.
(39:49):
I get U3 prawns, full prawns.
Speaker 3 (39:53):
Not a shrimp, it's a prawn, it's a prawn Right
Difference, little spike.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
So a U3 shrimp means there's three of them to a pound
.
It's this.
It's the size of a lobster, asmall lobster, okay.
Speaker 3 (40:10):
So I don't know what more jeff wanted on his plate,
but it's 40 bucks no, so the thescallop dish is 40, the the the
scallop.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
They're both.
The scallop dish is 40 and theother one is actually like 39
it's like 40.
It's like 40 it's inexpensivefor what it is.
I mean it's beautifully done.
I mean there's broccolini in it.
It's really good.
Speaker 3 (40:29):
Yes, hand-tossed breadcrumbs they get vegetables
and everything.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
It's a roasted dish in a beurre blanc type of
champagne.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
They're just not understanding the language of
what the dish is supposed to be.
So they said, they asked I meanyeah, apparently you didn't ask
the right questions, so she'snot a fan of that Floor manager.
Didn't get to their table, sothey're pissy about that.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Probably didn't need to, probably everything looked
like it was going good, they'renot going to bother you if
you're on a date for yourbirthday.
They leave you alone here.
This is not Bennigan's oranything like that.
Okay, Our managers don't checkin to every single table.
We will stop by onanniversaries, birthdays.
We will stop in if there's timeto check in, if everything's
going okay, but typically ourjob is to leave you alone and
(41:14):
let you dine.
We have so many steps ofservice here that you don't need
another one.
You know there's between ourSAs, our servers, assistants,
our servers, our hosts, ourhosts, our maitre d'.
There's plenty of people.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
There's a lot of people touching your table, yeah
there's a lot of people andpeople touch, like you know.
The wine person will come by orthe manager will just stop by
and say hi, but you don't needto be.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
You don't need to be.
You'll sit up at the table foryou know, 20 seconds For sure
they're not refilling your waterevery 30 to where they spent
$170 for food.
You got away easy, bro.
No, no, no.
How the hell did you do that?
Speaker 2 (41:46):
No, but for two people.
Your dishes were both $40, andyou spent $170 with no drinks.
So, that's only half.
So what other $80 in food didyou order that you did not
mention in this review?
Speaker 1 (41:58):
Well, right and as far as the base, we are an
up-tempo restaurant the weekends.
Weekends we have a three-piecejazz band on Friday and Saturday
night in the dining room.
Other times we play a Euro typeof trendy house type of style
of music.
It works very well for everyoneelse that comes here besides
Jeff.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
Well, I mean, you'd think you'd like the bass.
It's like extra.
This is their second time.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
How did they not know what to expect?
Speaker 1 (42:20):
I don't understand.
That's the question.
That's why I read these out,because somewhere out there
someone who read this might bewatching this show and I want
them to understand that we havethe same accessibility to call
you out as you do us, and it's atwo-way street now.
That's the beauty of it.
And a lot of restaurateurs areafraid to do that because they
don't want to open that can ofworms Me.
I'm a worm can opener from wayback.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
You're fishing.
You're fishing all the time I'mlooking for trout, whatever you
want, halibut.
Speaker 3 (42:46):
Well, sometimes it just gets into this back and
forth.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
It does, it does banter Sure, no, no, you're
absolutely right about that.
Speaker 3 (42:51):
And then they want to rise out of you.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:53):
You want the good meal or do you want the rise out
of the chef, scallop and eat ittoo.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
These things make me laugh.
Speaker 1 (42:59):
When I look at that thing that person had a bad
experience and it escalated andthey had to throw in the base
because the story just needed toreally have that final punch.
Speaker 3 (43:13):
They had a bad experience.
Or your birthday, really suckedthey just said they weren't
agreeable with the prize or thesize.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
That's worth one star that hurts our whole team.
Speaker 3 (43:23):
That hurts our team.
That hurts our team.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (43:25):
So that hurts our team.
You know, for Yelp you have togo 15 five star reviews in a row
to get your next point.
Yes, Okay.
So if we're on 14 and you justdid this, Jeff, because you
didn't understand it, you justtook us all the way back to zero
.
Speaker 3 (43:39):
Yeah, so you're uneducated, self.
Speaker 1 (43:41):
That's why I get on here and that's why I talk shit
to people on that, because younot only made your point, but
you just screwed our fuckingentire team.
If you're the 14th problem andthat's happened multiple times-
Our system is interesting.
Speaker 3 (43:54):
One of my best friends owns a restaurant in
town and they always rave abouthis restaurant and it was great,
the entrance was great and theflowers and the environment and
the service and the staff andand it was really good and had a
good time and the the bestfried shrimp and you know and
four stars every day.
He'd never built.
Never give him five stars.
The same thing here.
Speaker 1 (44:15):
I don't know.
It's a new trend because thisjust happened.
Started happening in the lastsix months because now it's
every.
If you look at my reviews,Everything is perfect.
Immac best time ever.
Here's all the pictures.
Look at this food.
Four stars.
Speaker 3 (44:28):
I think they're saving the fifth star for, like,
when they go to Bernadino, whenthey go to Alenia there's
already people doing that whenthey go to.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Alenia, but that's what I think.
I think so, maybe yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
That is yeah.
Whatever the fuck that is Elite.
Yeah, so that was on par forthe whole conversation with you
today.
Speaker 1 (44:49):
But that was great.
Yeah, thank you everybody whodoes take their time to put in a
review period.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
Or understand food cost Right.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
If you put in the time to make a review, that
means you took the time to comehere in the first place.
Yes, but if you are the ones ofthe thousands who put in the
good reviews, we trulyappreciate you.
You are our fuel, and he canattest to that and the ones who
do have actual issues out of ourcontrol.
Food cost is not in our control.
We would love to give you asmuch as you can for less,
(45:18):
because we want more peoplecoming, so let's get that out of
here and if you have a badissue, please call us directly
or email us directly.
Correct, there's a chef out ofhere and if you have a bad issue
, please call us directly oremail us directly.
Correct, there's a chef or amanager.
Speaker 3 (45:25):
Yeah, not necessarily put it out on.
Speaker 1 (45:27):
Sure, if you're really wanting to help, that's
it.
But if you want to make yourcause better, you'd probably get
more results out of having agood review than a bad one,
because a lot of people brushthrough the bad ones to read the
good ones.
No one wants to stars yeah,they're not going to look for
(45:48):
the two that were bad becauseit's so.
Speaker 3 (45:48):
I don't mind a shaky review in that anyway, because
sure, if you always get goodreviews, good, good, good, good,
no one's going to believe it.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
Yeah, there's gotta be sending in nice reviews,
right, right, you know sotomorrow I'm gonna go on yours
and just leave you a really badreview that you respond to, and
I'll change it later, just forfun.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
Just screw with Alvin , don't do that?
Speaker 2 (46:05):
Please don't do that everybody.
Speaker 1 (46:07):
So if you're going to take a review on somebody, take
your time and do it right.
Really, pay attention to whatit is you're doing to them and
the team.
Sometimes your words reallyaren't going to be as seen as
you thought, but that stupid onestar does mess something up.
It does.
So if that in you it is.
But as of right now I wouldlike to say this I would like to
say tell them where we can findyou.
Speaker 3 (46:27):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (46:31):
We are.
Where are they going?
We are Cobalt.
Speaker 3 (46:33):
Grill in the Hilltop North Shopping Center in
Virginia Beach, corner of LaskinRoad and First Colonial, and
online.
Online, we are CobaltGrillcomwith an E, so
C-O-B-A-L-T-G-R-I-L-L-E CobaltGrilly Cobalt Grilly.
Speaker 1 (46:49):
Because you can charge a little more when you're
grilly than when you're grilled.
Speaker 2 (46:51):
Yeah right, it's like when they call it pommes frites
you can charge more.
Speaker 3 (46:58):
You can charge more.
Speaker 2 (46:59):
Okay, I like it Add an and they have great.
So meet me there for BurgerNight.
Speaker 1 (47:03):
Tuesday night's Burger Night Go check them out.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
Make a comment below what else you see.
Don't forget to hit like andsubscribe on this show.
Speaker 1 (47:10):
Shut up, give us all the support, hit, like and
support on this show and youknow where to find us.
We'll be here every time.
Check us out on YouTube,facebook, where else?
We at Chris.
Speaker 2 (47:19):
Tell them On Apple, spotify, all of the above
anywhere you search.
Burnt Hands Perspective Is thatokay, that was nice.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
That was nice, that was bedroom voice.
That's not it.
No, I don't know your bedroomvoice.
Speaker 2 (47:30):
How the hell do I know?
Speaker 1 (47:32):
I'm just assuming.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
It's the end of the show.
We do not need to get theclimax at the end of the show.
Speaker 1 (47:37):
The sun's still out.
All right, the sun is, I'll dothat later alright, great, well
listen.
Thanks for tuning in.
Thanks for checking us out.
Speaker 2 (47:44):
Ciao for now thank you, alvin ciao, thank you guys.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com