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Re: TALDE JERSEY CITY
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Home away from home
 
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2014/8/19 16:35 Last Login : 2019/1/12 22:36 From the village
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I agree with you on that disconnect. My belief is that landlords are putting the cart before the horse as far as rent goes and that restauranteurs are sometimes blindly ignoring that we are still very much a bedroom community.
Posted on: 2016/3/2 22:39
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Re: TALDE JERSEY CITY
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Just can't stay away
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I agree. I heard the rumor a month or so ago. Seems like there has always been a general disconnect between where JC is at in the present moment and where business owners or restaurateurs think JC should be at or how fast it'll get there. Disconnect is probably occurring on many levels (landlords, business owners, etc.). Strange that they would put so much time and money into these operations and bail, but you never know what's happening behind the scenes or who is paying for this stuff.
Posted on: 2016/3/2 22:33
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Re: TALDE JERSEY CITY
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Just can't stay away
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Is this good information about the impending closure? It seems like it's doing well on weekends. And winter weeknights are slow everywhere.
Posted on: 2016/3/2 22:31
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Re: TALDE JERSEY CITY
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Home away from home
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it's awful that restaurants are shuttering... they always seem busy whenever I walk by...perhaps the rent was too high? Might the landlords be asking for more than is reasonable in jersey city?
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Posted on: 2016/3/2 22:04
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Home away from home
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As someone who lives across the street, I have to disagree with the place always being packed. It does get busy on the weekend but week days have been pretty dead as of late. Interesting to hear. I have no idea what will fill those two gigantic restaurant spaces. Something like Berg'n would fit the bill. Maybe with some performance space in the basement.
Posted on: 2016/3/2 21:59
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Re: TALDE JERSEY CITY
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I heard the same from someone I know, which really took me by surprise and I had discounted as unfounded rumor. The place is always packed, including the basement club/bar. Why would they close?? But, letting their website expire could be a harbinger of things to come.
Posted on: 2016/3/2 20:58
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Home away from home
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2010/5/26 20:32 Last Login : 2023/9/14 15:34 From Hamilton Park
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So is the restaurant. I heard from a couple of friends that work there that they were told the place was closing down, no time frame was given, but it will be closed shortly.
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Posted on: 2016/3/2 20:40
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Posted on: 2016/3/2 17:24
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Re: TALDE JERSEY CITY
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Home away from home
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"kitchen will send dishes when done, in no particular order" Am I the only one who always hears "we don't know how to run a kitchen"?
Posted on: 2015/12/4 15:26
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Re: TALDE JERSEY CITY
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Home away from home
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I get the "kitchen will send dishes when done, in no particular order" thing, but if 2 people at the bar when the restaurant is, more or less empty you should try not to send out all 4 dishes ordered at the same time. Don't care what your policy is, try understanding that these are paying customers, and their experience and comfort is probably more important than clearing tickets as quickly as possible (in an empty retaurant).
Posted on: 2015/12/4 15:22
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Re: TALDE JERSEY CITY
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Home away from home
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Meh..
I come from a restaurant family, and know dozens of owners. A rigid, overly specialized and overdone elaborate concept never works out except for a few first class places that can draw from a wide area. Thirty Acres was never a destination, so going all tasting menu was a death blow. Also, not catering to local tastes enough, and insisting on preparations that didn't move is a n issue. The last time I did a tasting menu, it was for my wife's birthday. We went to Bouley, in NY, and it cost a heck of a lot more than what Thirty Acres charges. It was a true world class meal, which warranted the $650 bill, pre-tip. If I am going to go for a meal like that, I will not blow the experience on a restaurant with uneven cuisine and snotty staff. The servers, wine stewards, as well as the cheese and bread stewards were welcoming and were helpful, and offered suggestions to us, and even put a little candle in my wife's dessert for her birthday when they overheard us talking about it. That is an experience I get in no restaurant here, although Satis comes close in providing a friendly, but nice atmosphere. Back on topic, Talde lacks in these areas as well. They need to firm up their details, turn down the loud music, and finish the underside of that shitty concrete communal table.
Posted on: 2015/10/7 14:56
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Look out Robert Irvine, Look out Jon Taffer, its JCList rescue.
Fascinating to see that we have so many food service analysts on JC list. Clearly you all are doing really well with your consulting businesses. It would be hilarious to sift through random JClist users' affairs and speculate on your personal life choices, missteps and misfortunes. Bankruptcies, CC debt, extramarital affairs, shady dealings, if it's so much fun to speculate, let's get it all out there people.
Posted on: 2015/10/7 13:54
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Re: TALDE JERSEY CITY
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Home away from home
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On this we are in complete agreement. It's a little puzzling as to why they granted that interview, or why they chose to answer in the way they did. It was like they took a swipe and a dump on JC as they are preparing to close up shop and move elsewhere. Not a nice way to show gratitude and appreciation to the people and community that supported them and patronized their restaurant for 3 years.
Posted on: 2015/10/7 0:00
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Re: TALDE JERSEY CITY
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Well now we are entering pure speculation, but I'd agree this should have been obvious and simple to solve so one wonders what else was going on. It's a shame if a great place closed due to it shooting itself in the foot, which is certainly the perception I get. You'd like to think they were going to move anyway, or the other factors you mentioned, so this was inevitable. I just know one thing, and that is you can't blame the "community" for their restaurant failing, and it seemed like they were trying to do so (passive aggressively) in the interview they gave, along with some here.
Posted on: 2015/10/6 22:39
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The tasting menu flopped but I'll give them a little more credit than you by assuming that if that was the only extenuating circumstance, they would have just flipped back to the old model. Seems pretty simply for them to see, right? I'm assuming there were other factors in play (debt payments were too high, bad business deals, maybe they simply just wanted to move anyways, etc)
Posted on: 2015/10/6 21:45
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I think you are being too charitable. First, your #2 is far from proven. More importantly, your #3 seems false. By all accounts, their business was packed until they forced everyone into a tasting menu. Your "timeline" presupposes they had no choice but to make this switch because business had dropped, which does not seem to be the case. The article you posted in another thread said they had an affinity for "raw fish" which they acknowledge has "always been a tougher sell." So maybe they tried the tasting menu concept as a way to ensure they can consistently move this "tougher sell" by forcing it on everyone (in small portions). That's a (poor) business decision, not some inevitable "remedy" they needed to employ to stop the bleeding. And for #6, by many accounts, the tasting menu flopped for many reasons, NONE being that other restaurants opened in the area. It was a bad idea, period. If anything, simply make it optional, not mandatory.
Posted on: 2015/10/6 21:10
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Home away from home
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The tasting menu was hardly extortionate from a value perspective, the community just wasn't going to support it.
Even Contra in the LES has upped their tasting menu from the original $45/50 to $67. The timeline I see is: 1.Very successful high end byo restaurant 2. Owners obtain liquor license as it is pretty much the only way to remain financially viable/stable in urban environments (my guess is that the folks at Presto and Madame Claudes own their spaces) 3. Business trails off due to a combination of the lack of BYO and general cooling any restaurants go through 4. Because of this new inconsistency in guests, food costs become much harder to manage 5. Owners attempt to remedy this with tasting menu, hoping that it serves both them and the community (my guess is at this point the closing/move was already top of mind) 6. Tasting menu flops with community as about 6 or 7 new restaurants open in the area 7. Owners confirm the business is no longer financially viable and take steps to close up shop
Posted on: 2015/10/6 20:18
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I can't edit my post. Sorry for jumping on you, didn't realize they were closing. Surprising for sure.
Posted on: 2015/10/6 17:12
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It is not hyperbole at all. They are a failed restaurant. Here is a quote from the owner. "But honestly, it wasn't really working out. It wasn't financially stable, or the type of thing where we could sustain our family life with our new daughter. That's probably for a lot of reasons. Maybe the timing wasn't right. Maybe Jersey City didn't want us, or we didn't want them at the right time. There's no negative here whatsoever. We're really, really happy to move on." Of course, this quote misses the obvious. Maybe they failed because they switched to an extortionate "tasting menu" that not enough people wanted? Certainly seemed to be "financially stable" before the switch.
Posted on: 2015/10/6 16:46
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Home away from home
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Honestly, Kevin (and, Alex) come across as a bit arrogant and dismissive of the same JC crowd that so enthusiastically welcomed and supported them. I got that from their little indie movie they made eating Hollywood fried chicken LMAO
Posted on: 2015/10/6 16:41
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Re: TALDE JERSEY CITY
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I guess you haven't heard... They are closing their doors on November 28. By the owners' own admission, "it didn't work out". Spin it all you want, but their restaurant venture failed. They themselves are quoted as saying Jersey City wasn't ready for them, or unable to afford them once they moved from BYOB to a place with a liquor license. Tweet, from Alex (super sweet, welcoming wife of Kevin, the chef): https://twitter.com/amagwheels/status/651133401181720576?s=17 Eater article, with direct interview quotes. Honestly, Kevin (and, Alex) come across as a bit arrogant and dismissive of the same JC crowd that so enthusiastically welcomed and supported them. A double shame, really. http://ny.eater.com/2015/10/5/9456607 ... acres-closing-jersey-city
Posted on: 2015/10/6 16:35
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Re: TALDE JERSEY CITY
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Wait, you're actually saying that 30 Acres FAILED? Hyperbole, much? There's a difference between not enjoying a restaurant and saying it failed.
Posted on: 2015/10/6 16:20
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Home away from home
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To get back to Talde specifically, last Saturday evening we tried this place for the first time. We were seated outside and ordered: the Tuna Tartar Spring rolls - $15 dollars, three of them, and they were tiny. Perhaps the thickness of two cigarettes and pretty much the length of a cigarette too; Zuzu quacamole - $12, four servings of something like a Triscuit with guacamole and ham on top; and we shared the Crispy Oyster and Bacon Pad Thai - $17, which was a decent size and very tasty.
All the food was very good, but the portions were grossly inadequate. Two glasses of wine each plus tip put the meal at $120, which we thought was a rip. Wouldn't have minded the price if we felt we got a good meal. Nice place, glad to have it in the neighborhood, but we won't be back. I think people who live in DTJC have displayed a selection bias for good value. Any NYC transplant has chosen DTJC due to the inarguable better value it provides for your money relative to Brooklyn or Queens. I think we have just a vastly lower tolerance for restaurants that charge high prices but skimp on quantity than the beatniks of Brooklyn who take photos of their food, put it on Instagram and then leave with both an empty stomach and an empty wallet. Just my personal theory.
Posted on: 2015/10/6 16:10
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Re: TALDE JERSEY CITY
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I think it's a combination of things, but to me, the major one was not mentioned.
A tasting menu is something for a special occasion of people like me. I'll go to all of the more expensive restaurants in town, and enjoy them all for what they each are, but I reserve large meals like a tasting menu for a special occasions. The change in service took them out of my regular restaurant rotation. I still go to my other regular spots, like Satis, Porto Leggero and the Kitchen at Grove, and now that I have moved to Union County now that I have married, to others like 100 Steps (great raw bar), or Pairings (excellent upscale BYOB). My checks at all those places are comparable to what they were at 30 Acres before the service change.
Posted on: 2015/10/6 15:30
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I think your last paragraph hit the mark. When I had been to Per Se or Jean George many of the other diners were business people on expense accounts. These diners were the business backbone for high end restaurants in Manhattan. I don't think we had this in JC.
Posted on: 2015/10/6 12:32
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I get what you're saying, but I think we have a different take on your last point. I don't think $75 for a 10-course, 2+ hours tasting menu was outrageous. In fact, if anything, it was a good price for the food, service and preparation that went into the meal. In my experience, high end tasting menus usually start around that price, and go much higher. Drop the place in some hip or trendy neighborhood in Manhattan or Brooklyn and people would be linning up to hand over their money. My disappointment was only so because, as I said in my post, given my history at the place, I know what it was and wish it still was (a scrappy newcomer with a killer menu and good prices) but for anyone that has arrived in JC over the past year or two, the place was always that, and those newcomers were not supporting the place at the levels needed. I just don't think that JC is ready (or, gentrified enough) to support a truly high end, expensive restaurant. The few that have tried something new, different, or special, have all failed, some spectacularly. I can think of only one expensive restaurant that has lasted a long time, despite limited hours and an odd location, but it seems to mostly target the business expense account set.
Posted on: 2015/10/6 9:50
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Re: TALDE JERSEY CITY
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How did you have such a good post completely go off the rails at the end? Did you not realize that Thirty Acres seems like it would have been fine if it didn't deviate from the way it was? A higher priced restaurant serving high quality food fit in just fine. It was only when they made an extortionate switch that they lost business, apparently ultimately leading to their downfall. Gentrified = turn previous shitholes into nice places, with nice amenities. Certainly the case for DTJC. High quality with matching prices turns out fine. Gentrified does NOT = places can charge as much as they want and the people just pay. Also, not the case here, but in other examples, it also does not mean you can charge a high price and put out an inferior product or service.
Posted on: 2015/10/6 3:06
Edited by JCMan8 on 2015/10/6 3:21:10
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You called it...! And, I have to say, I do agree with each of your points. I used to frequent this place, visiting at least once a month, sometimes twice. Loved that every visit included a menu of mostly new items, with a few holdovers that were often tweaked with a seasonal item. The BYOB was great, and kept the bill affordable enough to visit often. Once they got their liquor license, I found myself going less often. While the food remained as good as always, I never expected prices to go up. Prices were already a bit on the high side, but most BYOB places can and do get away with charging a bit more than other comparable places because most diners understand that this is how restaurants can survive on otherwise razor thin margins. But, the added cost of alcohol and increased prices became a bit of a deal breaker. Once they went to the tasting menu, which I tried twice, I was both impressed and disappointed. Impressed with the overall effort and experience, but disappointed with the bill (around $250) for what felt like a bit lacking given my previous history at the place. It's TRULY a shame that they somehow managed to turn a HUGELY SUCCESSFUL endeavor into another failed JC restaurant. Maybe all the naysayers are right: for all the handwringing and clamoring for more upscale shops and dining, all I see is a bunch of failures whenever one of those types of places comes on the scene. Maybe JC is NOT ready, nor as gentrified, as some people would like to believe.
Posted on: 2015/10/6 2:52
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Newbie
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LOL! JcDevil's famous last words. So the majority on this thread was right. Talk about some moron restaurant owners. They figure out a way to take a successful, packed business, and shoot it in the foot. Who thought converting to an overpriced tasting menu was a good idea?
Posted on: 2015/10/6 0:27
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Re: TALDE JERSEY CITY
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Just can't stay away
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and they're closing...
Posted on: 2015/10/6 0:00
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