Back to the Future
Food should be fun.
Thomas Keller
Every time we shuffle past the sneeze guard at a “fast casual” restaurant a little piece of American hospitality dies. Convenient, yes. Tolerable, yes. Fun, no.
The business model exchanges delight for efficiency, minimizing human interaction to squeeze out a few extra points of margin.
But all isn’t lost - there’s an underground movement to bring back good times. Slow casual is organizing against the Man, and evidence can be found at Dear John’s in Culver City, California.
Dear John’s first opened in 1962 but later fell on hard times. In 2019, two-star Michelin chef Josiah Citrin and Hans and Patti Röckenwagner of The Röckenwagner Bakery Group brought it back to life.
Dear John’s embraces darkness. Candles illuminate the red tablecloths - the opposite of any bright and modern salad chain. Absent are clean lines, blonde wood, and succulents - and if Dear John’s had a mission statement, wellness wouldn’t be included.
Dear John’s makes proper martinis - only spritzed with vermouth.
And bone-in chicken parm, Kiev-style.
Few things are less labor-efficient than a table-side caesar salad, and it makes for delightful hospitality.
Dear John’s isn’t alone in waging war against fast casual. Eric Finkelstein and Matt Ross - the cool kids behind New York City’s Court Street Grocers - opened S&P, a restaurant located in the former home of Eisenberg’s, the old-school Manhattan lunch counter.
S&P has the classics: celery soda, matzo ball soup, pastrami sandwiches.
And a slow casual patty melt with a half sour pickle.
S&P is casual but not fast. And the hospitality is alive and well.
Their handheld menus stand in firm defiance of the fast casual competition.
Blame us real estateurs for spreading the fast casual cancer and making the world less fun: the chains can pay higher rent and their creditworthiness allows property owners to borrow more money and on better terms.
The Dear John’s crew was only able to secure their location when the property owner’s development deal fell through in 2019. Citrin and the Röckenwagners snagged a five year lease, keeping the building intact. When the lease came due in 2023, higher interest rates again scuttled the owner’s development plans and Dear John’s got a reprieve.
In good locations, the days are numbered for fun places like Dear John’s and S&P. When they lease their buildings (as most do), they’ll remain only until a new higher density building or a higher rent fast casual chain replaces them.
Have fun and enjoy them while they last. Just be careful with joints like Dear John’s - a night starting with an innocent lager can devolve quickly.
And whenever visiting a vintage joint, wear a vintage jacket:
How bout we start the conversation surrounding ‘fast fancy’
Eric- the attention to the retail atmosphere is truly a great read every sat. While I am not in this actual retail space many of the apartments I buy want to make sure that I am close to something food related. My first real estate deal was sealed at Thumbs up diner and the equity partner had the best Cheeseburger in town....