BLUE PLATE BAR AND GRILL

By Jacqui Taffel

July 17, 2010

A southern belle sheds light on US cooking.

There's something thrilling about a good chandelier. Sadly, you don't see too many of them about, especially in Neutral Bay. Blue Plate Bar & Grill has one - a gigantic beauty hanging above the restaurant's bar area.

Blue Plate is part of the suburb's new dining precinct on Grosvenor Street, set well back from the roar of Military Road traffic. On Saturday night this stretch is jumping, from old hand Firefly to the line-up of three newbies - Garden Brasserie, Blue Plate and Enopizzeria. They're all packed.

Blue Plate's chandelier sets the tone for this fancier, more ambitious offshoot of a much humbler restaurant. Around the corner on Military Road, South has been doing brisk trade in comfort food from America's deep south since chef-owner Leo Brereton opened it in 2008. With South seating 22, Brereton was turning away diners and decided it was time to rev things up.

Blue Plate holds 100. The tables are white-clothed, the ceilings are high, the walls are tastefully flock-papered and graceful drapes with gold tasselled ties hang in the ceiling-to-floor windows. Mini-chandeliers line the dining space and the effect is a refined 21st-century take on antebellum style.

There's a cosy bar with artily mismatched armchairs, a blue velvet chaise longue, well-stocked shelves and its own barman. If you don't have a booking, you can order a mint julep and eat at the bar, or perch on a tall chair at the bench along the dining room windows.

When we book, Brereton sets a friendly, relaxed tone on the phone. When we arrive, the welcome from the floor staff is a little more harried. While our table is set, we are left standing longer than expected, with no apology when seated. Our waiter also seems harried. He takes our food order but we need more time with the mostly Australian wine list. He doesn't return and we have to ask to order drinks.

We have a good view of the elevated open kitchen, with a practical art installation of hanging stock pots, bay leaves and shiny black mussel pots piled up. The menu has southern favourites, such as gumbo, jambalaya and Maryland-style crab cakes. Brereton has also mixed in some northern staples, such as clam chowder (New England), deep pan pizza (Chicago) and New York cheesecake. Then there are the mussels, which the chef says were big in New Jersey, where he grew up.

It seems downright ornery not to order ribs, so we do - a half rack that comes with a thick blanket of barbecue sauce, Brereton's special recipe. The meat is tender and the sauce a good balance of spicy, smoky and sweet. Gnawing the bones is part of the pleasure.

The mussels don't disappoint - hot, plump and succulent - and the fragrant sauce demands bread. The shellfish cost $15 but bread ($9 for three of us) should surely come with this dish, built into the price.

The star of our mains is the salmon, brushed with a maple bourbon glaze and served on a small hill of spicy blackened corn. The fish is perfectly cooked and the glaze subtly sweet, so it doesn't overwhelm the dish.

The drunken pork chop, soaked in a beer marinade, doesn't taste beery but the chop is big and juicy. A hearty hit, it comes with a generous serving of garlic mash, vegetables and cranberry apple sauce that tastes light on the cranberry.

Jerk chicken is, however, disappointing. The three breast fillets are dry, with little evidence of the marinade of habanero chillies, ginger, garlic and ''other secret ingredients''. The coarse pineapple salsa helps it go down but the red beans and rice are bland.

Of our desserts, pumpkin pie is the winner. According to the menu, this version ''has converted hundreds of Aussies. Try a piece ... you'll like it - guaranteed.'' They're right: the dense, brown slab is surprisingly light and creamy, with subtle spices on a biscuit base. The bananas foster bread pudding is not as successful, an odd concoction of bread cubes with dry, hard bits of banana.

All up, it's a good night out under the chandeliers. Blue Plate is classier and more comfortable than South but the sophistication of the surroundings makes the food seem a bit coarse in comparison. The appeal of both places is ordering dishes not commonly found in this city. Giddy-up.

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/restaurants-and-bars/blue-plate-bar--grill-20100716-10dps.html

We were also invited to the Westfield Sydney City presentation held to launch the project to the fitout industry.  One of the stand-out features of the development is the use of full-height glass outer walls to perimeter tenancies which will provide a challenging and exciting opportunity to any designer as they look to maximise the impact of an almost 360 degree viewable space.  The effect from street level should be particularly marvellous when the stores are internally illuminated at night.  The level of transparency promises to be remarkable.  Further information on the development can be found at www.westfield.com.au/sydney/retailer-delivery

However the experience of the centre as a whole was a bit of a let down.  It is spread across so much convoluted floor space that even the most mall-savvy customer is sure to find themselves exhausted and confused.  It is so big that no woman on earth would be able to shop more than half of it in one day and this begs the question as to whether there's such a thing as too big a mall?  Also the general finish of the public areas was unimpressive.  The quality of the floor finishes, light features and occasional seating ae surpassed by Westfield's Doncaster's luxury brand zone.  I was expecting Chadstone to eclipse Doncaster's wow factor but it falls short, lacking the sense of a premium mall experience and the clean sight lines that make Doncaster easier on the shopper.

Show me the LOVE ( from Inside Retailing http://www.insideretailing.com.au/Latest/tabid/53/ID/6623/Show-me-the-LOVE.aspx)

by The Retail Doctor on November 03, 2009

Go ahead, make yourself comfortable, kick off those shoes, relax, perhaps even slip into something a little more comfortable (no photos please) because we are now going to talk about love. That's right that soft emotional feeling, or as Google defines it: a strong positive emotion of regard and affection.

Now let's get even more intimate - (The rigid, disassociated "retail is only a numbers game" people will close down the article about now).

Let's not get confused here. Retail, when all is said and done, is an affair of the heart, the art of connecting with customers at an emotional level and helping them feel good about themselves. Isn't that what love is? An act of connecting and feeling good about ourselves and the object of our affection.

Starting to relax? Feeling soft and warm? Now tell me the last emotionally uplifting experience you had in a retail business? (That should bring you back to life).

You see, for some retail businesses the love is dead, emotionless businesses simply going through the motions & squeezing out the last drop of profit that they can.

A type of romancing the stone if you will, perpetuating mediocrity and sameness day in and day out to their suspecting public. You know this business has a pulse, it's just hard to find.

* Now close your eyes- think closely about the last three times a customer came to you and said something like, I love those windows, I love the brand messaging, I love this product, I love the customer service, I love the in store experience?
* If you are the CEO - Close your eyes and think of the last three times somebody in the team told you how much they loved working for the company you lead?
* Now close your eyes and think of three words that describe the personality of your business, Irreverent? Fun? Exciting? Cheeky? Energetic? Inspirational? Engaging? Different? Evocative? Sexy?
* Or do the words predictable, consistent, low cost per square metre ratio, functional , perfectly suited to our target market, etc. come to mind?
* Now walk through any mall and by and large you see a lack of love, in fact in some cases the windows and shop experience look like castings from "Land of the Living Dead". In some ways the vogue of ‘standardisation and consistency of delivery' might have been the death knell of innovation and exciting our customer? Now we make sure that all windows, layout, fitout, look, staff greeting, and therefore experience is the same across the board.

The mantra of no surprises, consistent delivery and don't get it wrong sounds suspiciously like any relationship in need of rejuvenation and one in which the love is missing.

What is the Doctor's prescription for this malaise? Simple, bring back the love of retail and the passion. Work on what turns your customer onto your retail experience and your staff, designers, merchandisers, buyers etc to deliver it and love them for their contribution.

Imagine a business where innovation and customer comments of excitement and adulation from all the stakeholders were openly rewarded above wage to sales ratios, or sales PSM productivity,

It is great genuine customer excitement that builds a legendary status and the folklore of your business. Your customers won't share stories of the profit you reported, they will however help grow the legend by loving what it is you do.

Think Nike, Apple, Vin Diesel and many other examples where love of the crusade, commitment to exciting the customer, innovative experience and product, and a chorus of voice amongst staff in unison who love their companies and are delivering this love to their customers.

As an aside, I listen with interest to businesses who want to build a customer loyalty program yet they have no love for what they do and their employees jump ship at a rate of knots. How can they possibly engage anyone into a customer engagement program? These businesses don't really want loyal customers, they just want more money and the two are inversely related.

Imagine a business where short term profits were sacrificed to do something that the minority of retailers have actually consistently done over time and that is to genuinely love what they do.

To some degree LOVE in retail could be an acronym for:

L Lights, camera, action
O Object of our desire and affection
V Visual magic, vivacious,
E Experience, energy, excitement, enveloping, evolving,

'Fit' businesses understand that uniqueness, people and love are the engines that drive the retail bus.

Now you can connect with the Retail Doctor and respond to this diagnosis. Go to www.retaildoctor.com.au Contact brian@retaildoctor.com.au to discuss how to increase your multichannel sales and profitability to be truly "Fit For Business".

I really wish I could advise some potential clients NOT to start a business.  There have been so many times where the first briefing process has revealed that the prospect is about to quit their day job and pin their house and entire financial future on a business idea about which they've done little to no research at all.  I get approached all the time by passionate, excited people with gorgeous ideas for cafes, retail stores and all manner of offering but who have no idea how many sales they'll have to make to re-coup their rent, fitout, start-up costs or wages.  Generally they have no experience in the industry that they wish to enter, they have not written any sort of budget, or if they have then they've based it on guess work and have come up with seriously inadequate figures.

With the banks tightening their purse strings I had hoped that it would become harder for poorly planned start-ups to get loans and whilst this has been the case in many instances, I'm still seeing people ploughing forward anyway, with or without finance.  To further compound the problem, these prospects are leased spaces by shopping centres and private lessors who take no responsibility for scrutinising the tenant's business plan or financial situation.

The only thing I can do is ask the difficult questions such as: what is your budget for construction?  How many staff will you have?  How will you coordinate takeaway versus eat-in orders and manage congestion around the POS counters?

I try to give my honest opinion on the inadequacy of fitout budgets vs the prospect's brief but this is often received negatively as 'raining on their parade'.  Sometimes I find other people who seem to have the goods to begin with, specifically request expensive design details despite my warnings, and then freak out when the fitout quotations come in.  Frequently their next reaction is to indiscriminately cut the guts out of the design, marketing, displays, furniture, lighting etc until there's nothing unique or attractive left and their beautiful dream lies in tatters at their feet.  Those who haven't budgeted realistically from the start always end up cutting off their own nose to spite their face (as the old adage goes).

My advice to you then: If you are considering starting a business and need design and fitout then do your research first and be prepared to spend money.  The money you spend on setting up and marketing a start-up business is an investment in the business' future success.  If your over-riding, number one aim is to spend as little as possible then you obviously have little confidence in your business' ability to turn a profit and recoup the initial set up investment.  Sure, you need to control your budget, set parameters and get value for your dollar but how can you expect customers to hand over their cash for your goods and services if you don't even have the confidence to back your own business from the start?

Spaces that cry poor speak volumes about their owner's fears.  A hesitant looking business will only attract hesitant clientele, if anyone at all.  You can buy the cheapest of everything and have your fitout completed at a third of the average cost, but that can be a false economy if you can't attract customers. Far too many retail and hospitality businesses go bust within the first 12 months.

They say that a failure to plan is a plan to fail and likewise a failure to invest with confidence in your business will illicit a similar reaction from the buying public.  I encourage you to ask the best operators in your industry about what they spent in setup and how they got where they are today.  Ask shopfitters and designers what the average prices are for setting up the type of space you're after.  Get advice from a good solicitor and accountant.  Enrol in a reputable business management course and attend government run seminars.  Speak to specialist consultants in your industry and be a sponge for information as you write a detailed and realistic business plan.  Surely it is better to realise early on that you don't yet have the resources or that your idea is flawed, than to plough blindly into a potential financial committment/risk that often surpasses the scale of buying a house?

Owning a business can have many perks and be extremely rewarding if it is done right.  Please give your dream it's due and don't rush in.  Ask the questions, find the answers, go in with your eyes wide open and all contingencies planned for.  And then breathe easy and enjoy the exciting journey towards becoming a succesful entrepreneur.

Last week I undertook a personality and wealth creation analysis which was given to me as part of the prize for a business award that I recently won.  The consultant who donated the analysis was Margaret Hamar from Be Savvy www.besavvy.net.au.  It was an interesting experience because whilst there was little revealed about my own strengths and weaknesses that I didn't already know, the session did help me to clarify the types of people that I need on my staff.

Previously I have fallen into the trap of bringing other designers on board who have similar personality traits to my own.  The failure of these relationships have left me wondering what went wrong and questionning my own ability as a manager.  However, when I recently invested in a personal assistant who's strengths lie in the areas of my weakness (and visa versa) I suddenly found that our productivity soared and I seemed to finally be able to focus on the things that I do best.  I now realise that making good, complementary choices in my support staff may provide greater ROI than simply hiring more creatives.

I was a guest speaker at a young entrepreneurs event this week and whilst preparing my speaking notes I got thinking about business research.  It's probably a lucky thing that I didn't do any research before I started Forward Thinking Design because if I had I might have seen that the interior design industry was saturated with competitors and hence I may have decided not to go into business afterall.  However, when I reflect back I realise that I had undertaken some research - I'd spent years listening to clients tell me what they they didn't like about other design firms and I knew what I needed to do differently.

Whenever I speak about starting a business I cannot emphasise enough the need to conduct research.  You would not believe the number of people I've met who've said that they want me to design their first cafe and, when I've asked them how many other cafes there are in the neighbourhood; have said that they either don't know or that there's just one or two.  Everytime I design a fitout for a new business I always go straight to Yellow Pages online and find out how many competitors are in their area.  So very often there are at least 10 others that the client is not aware of.  When I rattle off the names of their 'hidden' competitors, these clients frequently start to remember name after name along with comments such as 'ahhh, yes I forgot them because I never go in there' or 'ahh yes, but their shop is always empty'.  Usually these businesses have been forgotten because they are bland and don't offer a memorable point of difference.

The question therefore is: How can you afford to start a business without researching your market and your competitors?  If you don't know what everyone else is doing then how can you position your business as being different or any better than them?  How can you ensure that you don't emulate the mistakes of all your competitors and end up fading away into similar invisibility?

If your fitout has seen better days and you wish you could refresh it but know that you can't afford an expensive re-fit, then I may have a solution for you.  A spot of paint and some new artwork could improve your premises but there is also an interesting vinyl film on the market that can do wonders for tiried old joinery counters and vertical features. 3M Di-Noc can be applied, on site, over many existing finishes and comes in a good range of colours to suit your existing fixtures.  Some of the colours have an anti-bacterial finish, others can be used outside, and the product is easy to clean, can be fully sealed and can be heat formed around curves.  It does need to be applied by a qualified installer but is nonetheless a cheaper alternative than having joinery sent away for re-cladding, or having counters rebuilt from scratch.  For more information on this product, or for advice on how you can cost effectively improve your tenancy, contact Vanessa from Forward Thinking Design.

I've read recently that Melbourne restaurant Lentil As Anything's system of ‘Pay What You Think it's Worth' is being applied in other business sectors, as an attempt at gaining a competitive edge in these cut-throat times.  Whether we agree with this payment model or not, it does challenge us to examine our levels of customer service and the quality of our offering.  Is there anything we could do differently or better to create greater value in our service?  Could we provide a customer experience so amazing that our patrons would voluntarily hand over more than we would normally charge?  Perhaps this is the time to consider ways to reward and entice your customers to pay you what you're worth by returning again and again and by referring your business to their friends and acquaintances.  You expect loyalty from your customers but ask yourself ‘what's really in it for them?'

Vanessa Cullen

As Principal of Forward Thinking Design, Vanessa Cullen specialises in creating memorable customer experiences through fitout design and project management for restaurants, clubs, retail stores, commercial offices and healthcare centres.  Contact her directly on 0403867807 or email vanessa@forwardthinkingdesign.com.au

Customers have enjoyed years of relative affluence allowing them to pursue immediate satisfaction of their needs and desires.  People are addicted to the power of purchasing to feel good.  Retail figures show that even in tight times this addiction to satisfaction is never entirely dead.  Aspirational consumers crave that which is out of their reach and those in the business of luxury meet this demand by offering a taster at a lower price point to get them hooked.  Mature customers assuage the guilt of purchasing by turning their loyalties to local providers, reassuring themselves that they're keeping fellow Australians in jobs and supporting the local economy.  Indulgence remains acceptable as long as the transaction offers value and the experience is one of quality.  Why not tap into popular sentiment by promoting your loyalty to local suppliers, supporting your neighbourhood (whether physical or online), engaging your customers in conversation, getting to know them, letting them get to know you and helping them develop a bond with you and your staff?  When your customers truly care about you, identify with the philosophy of your brand and have a vested interest in whether your business lives or dies, then, and only then, will your venture have the basis on which to remain sustainable.

Vanessa Cullen

As Principal of Forward Thinking Design, Vanessa Cullen specialises in creating memorable customer experiences through fitout design and project management for restaurants, clubs, retail stores, commercial offices and healthcare centres.  Contact her directly on 0403867807 or email vanessa@forwardthinkingdesign.com.au