I would have to say the reasons are probably different as to why Voltaggio closed vs Choi. I think Choi’s just a one trick pony who started the food truck craze, although he definitely reps LA hard.
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Ahhh… perfect.
Yep, there it is. Unlike the irritating Top Chef villain, Marcel, who worked hard at building one solid restaurant, Wolf on Melrose. He’s not reinventing the wheel but he’s done a great job and people really enjoy the place… oh and he’s there all the time.
They can’t all be David Chang. You can’t just decide to do something out-of-the-box and expect people to flock to you.You have to have the drive, the planned thoughtfulness and mega creativity.
Yah, I’m not really comparing them other than the quick starts and finishes. There are sooo many variables in the restaurant biz. My thoughts were more about resisting the urge hop on something new instead of focusing on what’s at hand. It just seems to be a bad business model and one that seems to be affecting (effecting?) new chefs.
I totally get all this. I figured it was something like this. The place didn’t intrigue me enough to go. But what the heck happened with Sack formerly known as ink.sack? It was crowded every time we went. Sometimes it can have something to do with the person. He seemed very uptight and the employees and service sometimes reflected this.
counterpoint: why keep dumping money into a failed business venture? save your capital and move on.
such is the life of any entrepreneur.
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Okay, I’ll stop picking on Voltaggio. After all, it was just a random thought. But I am still curious about what happened with ink.sack.
Ink was actually open for almost 6 years, not a bad run compared to a lot of other spots. Liked the place, went 4-5 times.
I think ink.well lasted less than a year.
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Ink was pretty great those 6 years. Even at the end it was always packed on any given night, the vibe was nice, and quality was excellent, most of the time consistent. Since you had an open view of the kitchen, you saw who was working there, and more often than not Voltaggio was there.
Ink.well had a strange vibe, no clue who was in the kitchen, it I thought right away they were not going to last.
Okay, so both ink and ink.sack were busy (as far as appearances go) then he opens ink.well and it’s not as good and you don’t see him in the kitchen. Then they all close. That’s a head scratcher and made me wonder what is his business model?
I have this problem with Choi and Chang. Tried almost all of Chang’s restaurants in NYC meh… and leave amazed at how much I got charged for the meals. And Sergio is never in the house.
Tried a few of Choi’s and everything seems like a gloppy mess. Reminds me of the meals of my college roommate, who wasn’t a good cook.
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I think at Ink he had to close due to issues with investors, leases or something like that.
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I had an amazing dinner at Ko in NYC and a solid dinner at Ssam.
I had a good brunch at Ssam but meh experience at the Noodle Bar…hoping for a good experience at Majordomo tomorrow in LA.
The same can be said for restaurants around the globe by JR, Alain Ducasse, Pierre Gagnaire, Thomas Keller, and many others, but I’m okay with that. Take JR’s restaurants, I’ve been to 3 of his outposts in 2 countries and I’ve had nothing but great experiences at each location. Sometimes, a good concept, vision, and a good CDC are all a restaurant needs in order to be successful.
We got drinks and snacks at Ssam. It was a good experience, but didn’t dig into the menu really so I don’t think my experience was complete.
Just tried Soban for the first time last night (delicious, if a bit pricey)… And nothin’ clears you out like kimchi.
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Agreed, of late though, I tend to avoid chains of famous chefs. For high $ meals, I try to seek out restaurants with Sergios helming the stove. I don’t dine out as much as I used to and can afford to be more selective.
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- #askmehowiknow
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Allow me to show my ignorance and finally ask WTF is Sergio? 
Oh, man, leave them alone please.
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