Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason
Speaker 1: Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. And Jason and I've been talking
Speaker 1: about it's a big week for New York City restaurants.
Speaker 1: They've been shut down because of the pandemic. While they
Speaker 1: were allowed to reopen indoor dining it started yesterday. Some
Speaker 1: restrictions though on capacity, and we've talked about this with
Speaker 1: our food editor Kate Crater, writing that for many restaurants
Speaker 1: it's still going to be a bit of a struggle.
Speaker 1: So someone Kate knows very well and a familiar voice
Speaker 1: to our listeners. He has found time often to join
Speaker 1: us through the pandemic, which we greatly appreciate. Back with
Speaker 1: us as chef and restaurant tour Danielle Blue, He joins
Speaker 1: us on the phone in New York City. Danielle, it
Speaker 1: is so nice to be back with you. Yeah, Hi,
Speaker 1: how are you and and what does this reopening mean
Speaker 1: for you? Well, thank you for having me and this opening.
Speaker 1: This reopening in New York means so much because we
Speaker 1: have been stunned for eight months with no restaurants inside it.
Speaker 1: Thanks God, the city open up the streets and gave
Speaker 1: the opportunity to have a sidewalk cafe. We did our
Speaker 1: best with that at the restaurant, Danielle with daniel Bully
Speaker 1: Kitchen and the reopening inside. I felt that I wanted
Speaker 1: to also try to set up a mood which was
Speaker 1: maybe a little different, a little more disrupting, and and
Speaker 1: and maybe a theme where I didn't get a chance
Speaker 1: to go to the South of France this summer, and
Speaker 1: every year I go to France, and I always go
Speaker 1: to the South of France. But Sola's many, many Americans,
Speaker 1: and you know, destination vacations the mediterrane always make people dream.
Speaker 1: So I felt that I should do a restaurant who
Speaker 1: expressed a little bit of a journey to the Mediterrane
Speaker 1: through the flavor of the dishes and through the mood
Speaker 1: of the restaurant. So we transformed the restaurant into Buris
Speaker 1: Bully by the Sea as my last name. I love it.
Speaker 1: I love it, I love it, and so Danielle, I mean,
Speaker 1: what's been so interesting in sort of keeping up with
Speaker 1: you throughout this is that this has obviously challenged you
Speaker 1: as as a chef and in many ways, but it's
Speaker 1: really challenged you. I feel like as a businessman in
Speaker 1: many ways and as a manager of your people. So
Speaker 1: tell us about some of the sort of key decisions
Speaker 1: that you felt like you had to make for your business.
Speaker 1: Of course, I mean that we'll all locked down, and
Speaker 1: all my colleague lockdown. Little by little, we started initiative
Speaker 1: to bring back our staff and UM about the months
Speaker 1: and a half after lockdown, we started the Food First Foundation,
Speaker 1: an initiative with sl Green, my new partner in a
Speaker 1: new restaurant, Pavillon at one Vanderbilt, and he wanted to
Speaker 1: really help me start to make meals for New Yorkers
Speaker 1: and bring back some of my staff in the kitchen.
Speaker 1: But he also wanted to help many of his tenants
Speaker 1: around town to be able to reopen their kitchen and
Speaker 1: support their tenants through UH Food First. And today we
Speaker 1: have distributed almost four meals gifted to many many charity
Speaker 1: including City Mill on Wheel and UH in New York
Speaker 1: and World Central Kitchen at the beginning of our mission,
Speaker 1: and and Barry Barry mission as well, and and they
Speaker 1: were I think that was the first initiative. Then from
Speaker 1: that we did the take out at restaurant Danielle and
Speaker 1: then we opened the Terraus at Babu and Danielle and
Speaker 1: UH through daniel Bully Kitchen, UH takeout division as well,
Speaker 1: and today we are opened inside and it felt very
Speaker 1: good last night. I feel that people are still a
Speaker 1: little anxious and there's a mix of anxiety and excitement
Speaker 1: and for us as reopening inside, but at the same
Speaker 1: time we make sure and you know, it gave us
Speaker 1: a chance to bring back more staff. So fifty employees
Speaker 1: we had we had now up to plus and that's
Speaker 1: really growing. So it's good. It's a good sign. And
Speaker 1: we haven't reopened all our restaurant only you know, the
Speaker 1: West Side Barbau and Danielle and Danielle, let's talk about
Speaker 1: New York City and specifically Midtown if we can, Carol
Speaker 1: and I in normal world in the before times, we
Speaker 1: went to Midtown Manhattan literally every day we would do
Speaker 1: our show from there. We were denizens of that, you know,
Speaker 1: into the evening and so many people who we know
Speaker 1: are like that. What is Midtown like now? What do
Speaker 1: you expect it's going to be like over the next
Speaker 1: six to nine to twelve months. Well, I think over
Speaker 1: the next six months it will improve us. I think
Speaker 1: many institutions, UH Bank and other institutions of maybe mad
Speaker 1: they stuff to stay home until the end of the
Speaker 1: year and coming back in January. So some of the
Speaker 1: company I've already bring back, brought back staff on on
Speaker 1: alternative schedule. Now, I mean, of course New York will
Speaker 1: come back New York. It's evident. And some people may
Speaker 1: have lost their job, lost stability in New York and
Speaker 1: had to live town. But for the most part, the
Speaker 1: town might be a little deprived right now of its worker,
Speaker 1: but they're gonna have to come back to work because
Speaker 1: no company can run at a distance like this forever.
Speaker 1: And um, I believe that you know, by spring, even
Speaker 1: after the holiday, New York shill come back strong. I mean,
Speaker 1: we feel that there's a lot of New Yorker back,
Speaker 1: but they they come back, they go back and forth.
Speaker 1: Right now, we feel and I am positive, New York
Speaker 1: City is New York City, and I think it will
Speaker 1: take more than COVID to make it really a challenge city.
Speaker 1: But we have we have a restaurant Midtown and because
Speaker 1: of Broadway, we if we don't have the culture, if
Speaker 1: we don't have the art, if we don't have the tourists,
Speaker 1: it's abused and the Town is also suffering, and so
Speaker 1: hospitality in general hotels and restaurants are suffering. And um,
Speaker 1: and we need also the workers back to really have
Speaker 1: this life during lunch midtown. So I am positive we're
Speaker 1: opening a restaurant in Midtown at forty second and one
Speaker 1: Vanderbilt next year. Is that pavilion the pavilion, And I'm
Speaker 1: positive that, you know, it will be a good time
Speaker 1: to open a restaurant in the spring of twenty one.
Speaker 1: And at the same time, we have taken all the
Speaker 1: measure possible to make sure that people feel them they
Speaker 1: are in a very safe environment. And um, you know,
Speaker 1: it's has been m Daniel right for most let me
Speaker 1: ask you, because I can't tell you how many people
Speaker 1: we have come on in. Even real estate guys are like,
Speaker 1: you know, it's like everybody's leaving New York City, everybody's
Speaker 1: leaving these major cities and so and so forth. I mean,
Speaker 1: I've been in New York City a long time too,
Speaker 1: and I've heard the demise of the big cities over
Speaker 1: and over again. How do you see it? I see it,
Speaker 1: And a lot of people, as I said, feel very
Speaker 1: stressed right now. And I feel comfortable being out but
Speaker 1: they're gonna be so bored and so missing out with
Speaker 1: everything that I think they'll be back to New York.
Speaker 1: And you know, I'm a New Yorker at art and
Speaker 1: if I'm going to leave the city, where am I
Speaker 1: going to go back to France in my small village. Um,
Speaker 1: I don't know. But I'm also been a New Yorker
Speaker 1: involved with the community and involved with my profession and
Speaker 1: having an a credible support from our customer and we
Speaker 1: still feel it, we still get it. I mean, our
Speaker 1: customers are so positive and so happy that we are
Speaker 1: here and we are continuing, and I can see I
Speaker 1: can see them coming back all the time. Are they
Speaker 1: going to spend as much time in New York City
Speaker 1: and they used to? Maybe less, but they still come
Speaker 1: back and support us. And so, Danielle, what is something
Speaker 1: like this due to the next generation of chefs coming up?
Speaker 1: You know, I mean you have seen so many promising
Speaker 1: chefs sort of come through your kitchens and the kitchens
Speaker 1: of your friends. I do wonder about this next generation
Speaker 1: and how they will adapt and what advice you might
Speaker 1: be giving them. And and many young chefs left me
Speaker 1: to go to smaller city around the country, UM. It
Speaker 1: has been struggling challenge for them to wherever they are
Speaker 1: UH in UM in Minnesota, in California, or in UH
Speaker 1: in Florida or other part Texas. It's it's not easy
Speaker 1: to UM. It's not easy to start a business. And
Speaker 1: then too you know when you when you start your
Speaker 1: new place, you have that you have you you might
Speaker 1: do very well, but you have to pay back the investment.
Speaker 1: And I think for younger for young chef who want
Speaker 1: to start a business, what's important is to not be
Speaker 1: in debt to the point where they can never pay
Speaker 1: back or lose their business. Now for young chef learning
Speaker 1: to cook, I think UM there's there's going to be
Speaker 1: opportunity in the food business, maybe different than what they envision.
Speaker 1: But for me, we have been very creative at expanding
Speaker 1: into other directions in in the food world, such as
Speaker 1: UH national distribution with Gold Belly of daniel Bury Kitchen
Speaker 1: for dishes for home, so that brought me gave me
Speaker 1: a chance to bring more staff. We do also the
Speaker 1: takeout in New York City with daniel Bury Kitchen and
Speaker 1: that brought me more staff. And UM expanding into catering.
Speaker 1: More catering, I have a catering company, but we're expanding
Speaker 1: into more services like that, and so I think we
Speaker 1: tried to stay very creative, very engaged with opportunity that
Speaker 1: maybe needed right now and make change later. But I
Speaker 1: think for young chef it's important to find a good
Speaker 1: house and to also try to work for the community
Speaker 1: as well. A lot of young chef was doing a
Speaker 1: lot of good things for charities and they were getting paid,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe a low pay, but at least you
Speaker 1: felt very rewarded. And through um for example, Food First Foundation,
Speaker 1: it has gave me a chance to have twelve chef
Speaker 1: working full time just for the charity. And I think
Speaker 1: that is very important everybody. Everybody understands that being part
Speaker 1: of a company is being part of all it's uh
Speaker 1: endeavors and ambition. Well, I have to say, and and
Speaker 1: it's pretty impressive with all the stresses that you guys
Speaker 1: were dealing with and with your workers, yet you still
Speaker 1: thought about the community and feeding the community, especially when
Speaker 1: New York was in such a tough way, and whether
Speaker 1: it was feeding healthcare workers or feeding people who did
Speaker 1: not have money to put food on their table. So um,
Speaker 1: you know, you guys have been incredible Danielle. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much, Danielle Blue Chef and Restaurant Tour, joining us
Speaker 1: of course, on the phone from New York City. New
Speaker 1: York City restaurants, folks, they're open. You can go inside
Speaker 1: any