Another reason to think the restaurant biz is tough

Back in the 90's there was a great French restaurant in Naperville in a truly grand room - Montparnasse. It was in the old boiler room of the old Kroehler Furniture factory (rehabbed and spiffed up as Fifth Avenue Station), done up nicely but also combining with charm fine French dining and the industrial tradition of Chicagoland.

Montparnasse came to be during the first Jean Banchet departure from Le Francais - the chef, Suzy Crofton, and much of the staff came from Le Francais. They did a very good job. The owner was a French fellow named Jean-Paul Eskenazi.

Suzy moved on, and after a while Montparnasse folded too, replaced by a couple of places, currently Raffi's on Fifth, which combines middle eastern standbys with more ambitious, French-influenced cuisine with mixed results, but they seem to do a decent business. Jean-Paul moved on to be a manager at Mon Ami Gabi in Oakbrook, get married in a wedding that had some surprising similarities to mine (part of why I was able to keep track of him) and finally disappeared from my world a few years ago.

Today he reappeared, on a house for sale sign. He is now a realtor - between the name and the picture on the sign, I am sure it is the same guy. I guess he had enough of the restaurant biz. Somehow this made me a little sad.

Hi,

When you consider competition, pressure, hours involved and consumer proclivities related to both occupations. He just went from the frying pan into the fire, which maybe by now he is accustomed to.

Real estate is easier on his knees.

Regards,

it isn't easy..let me tell u.

Probably a fairly well-known statistic, but it bears repeating, particularly for those torn between a quick, cheap McDonald's fix and a more leisurely stop just down the block at that newly opened diner:

"Statistics show that 80 percent of all new restaurants do not survive past their second anniversary."


FroM: http://www.foodreference.com/html/artbankruptcy.html

If you have the talent to run a kitchen profitably, you generally have the ability and drive to succeed in most other businesses. And you will EASILY double or triple your salary in a few years. In addition, you will probably get better benefits, more vacation, and work fewer hours, weekends, and holidays.

I could go into more details but there is no need to.