this place was very nice but I worry to think it will have same fate as Kinn.
based on what?
doing a tasting menu in a small space in koreatown (with small portions).
both times I left the meal thinking “that was nice!” but no desire to necessarily go back. and obviously kinn closed.
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thats a very surface level comparison.
There could be hundreds of internal and external factors that could determine the longevity with some luck built in.
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serving Korean food in koreatown at a similar set up at a similar price point with similar acclaim… yes oh so surface level.
not sure what you’re offended by but I hope hibi does well. They were very nice well meaning people. I just struggle to see it lasting a year from now, hope I am wrong.
There’s a huge difference between being an enthusiast about something like restaurants and working in restaurants. In my field, I understood … maybe 10-20% of the factors influencing success or how difficult something was from the outside. When you work in the field there are so many more factors that affect things that the end consumer has little to no awareness of. @JLee has experienced all that with blood, sweat, and tears first hand in the restaurant business. I would be inclined to take his opinion seriously. Unless I’d opened and run a restaurant myself, I would assume that there is a mountain of knowledge that I simply didn’t know, I didn’t know.
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well from the amount of people who were there when I ate, and talking with the head people after my meal, they do seem worried. Which I why I therefore, “Worry” about it suffering a similar fate as Kinn given they are following a very similar model.
People getting snooty for no reason over innocent comments is unnecessary.
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You do realize that many of us are here on the FTC board precisely because we are (proudly) snootier than the average diner, right?
There was quite a bit written about the reasons behind Chef Ki’s decision to shut down Kinn. Maintaining mental health was a major factor. I feel that was a particularly valid and personal reason, and wish him all the best. But it’s not credible to witness this closure, and then use broad strokes to presage a similar fate befalling other businesses of its ilk.
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Also, feels weird to judge the format “small plates korean” before they even have a price point or menu out in the world yet for Hibi 2.0. That kind of judgement makes this…not an innocent comment?
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Have you actually eaten there? You haven’t described a bite in your six posts about the place. That’s really not in the spirit of this board.
I point this out because when people start putting out this negative energy out in the open, it can actually manifest itself into discouraging other people from going. Instead of saying you are worried they might close, you should be encouraging people to go there if you actually like it and if you didn’t then its your choice to publicly discourage others from trying it. It doesn’t benefit the restaurant to make assumptions about their survivability. Sometimes a place just needs a little push in the right direction to make it.
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I actually did not! Just realizing now this is an attempt at elitist dining. Not sure how that plays a factor in this discussion however (more like in the Hayato thread).
“Broad strokes”? The furthest thing. He also talked a lot about the difficulties of a restaurant that was a TASTING MENU given the price point and need to always be busy which it wasn’t. Sounds very similar to MY EXPERIENCE talking to the people who work at Hibi.
I have, it was very nice though the wings that were so hyped were just ok. Nothing mind-blowing , but excellent service and the mushroom was creative. My favorite dish actually and closest to excellent was the gyoza. I wish them well.
For a date night or business meeting it’s a nice place to try… however not a place I would go back to.
The one who is judgmental is you, stating a fear for a restaurant is not deserving of this smarmy attack mob.
nice backtracking. the defense of your unnecessary comment is very surface level of you.
I am neither encouraging or discouraging anyone from going, but stating I believe it is a mistake to go to a tasting menu. Last I heard this was a discussion board (or as J L put it an elitist snooty dining forum) so I won’t have someone grandstanding about what can and cannot be discussed.
discussion: a conversation or debate about a certain topic.
YOUR attempts to attack me have in fact brought more unnecessary negativity than anything I ever stated before that as evidenced by the newly made thread purely about their business model.
Homie you haven’t tried the new format of the menu yet! Nor do we even know what it’ll cost. I’m sure the business has put more thought into what is a sustainable model for them or wouldn’t be making the change. I’m sure your concern comes from a good place of wanting them to make it but like @JLee ’s point the delivery can make it sound like you’re just saying “another Korean spot doing a tasting menu” as a monolith.
No one’s being snobby, if anything people want places like this to thrive.
Who said I didn’t want it to thrive?
If you make a tasting menu you’re going for a non profitable theme.
That’s why many profitable high end restaurants have tasting menus ?
Hibi is not currently doing well, them going to a tasting menu is possibly the worst decision they could make. If not, @ me in 14 months.
Folks, I think we can stop feeding the consistent troll. JMHO.
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