Saturday, July 11, 2009
Chow / Economy Re: Now No Longer Open
Posted by Bethany Jean Clement on Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 12:31 PM
As noted in comments over here (and Morning News a couple days ago): Oceanaire has filed for bankruptcy and closed its Seattle restaurant (among others). The Seattle Times' Nancy Leson talked to two former Oceanaire chefs (including Kevin Davis of Steelhead Diner in Pike Place Market), but the best quote is from Wade Wiestling, the corporation's vice president of culinary development and chief executive of tautology: "The restaurants didn't fail. The economy failed the restaurants."
From The Stranger's restaurant guide circa 2007:
The Oceanaire is all about nostalgia and tasteful excess. The restaurant is HUGE, like an obscenely deluxe 1930s art deco cruise ship, with polished, curved wood, gleaming silver accents, leather booths, dark wood floors. The menu—printed new each day and roughly the size of the U.S. Constitution—holds an astounding array of options. There are nine salads to choose from (BLT salad with buttermilk-bacon dressing, $9.95; Dungeness crab Louis, $27.95), twenty-seven seafood entrées (Neah Bay ling cod á la forestiere, $36.95; sesame-seared Hawaiian mahimahi, $29.95) and six "steakhouse specialties," including an 18-ounce Kobe ribeye steak ($49.95).
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6
GOAAALL!! Maybe it's because there were less than 10 of us on the last Sounders live slog, including the 3 "staff" members.
8
Re Josh Feit & Erica C. Barnett... where DID they go? I mean, I see the website for that other news thingy, but what I don't get is why they left the Stranger, and why wasn't it mentioned?
I pick up a copy every week, and I don't recall seeing anything about their departing.
So I'm gonna assume it wasn't very amicable... amirite?
I pick up a copy every week, and I don't recall seeing anything about their departing.
So I'm gonna assume it wasn't very amicable... amirite?
9
Josh announced his departure in one of his last articles for The Stranger a couple of years ago. ECB 's departure is a surprise.
The Oceanaire looks marvelous - but can we really be surprised at a restaurant failing with $25-$50 entrees? In this economy? There's a depression going on, y'know.
The Oceanaire looks marvelous - but can we really be surprised at a restaurant failing with $25-$50 entrees? In this economy? There's a depression going on, y'know.
10
@6 true. I'd join in if I could get the match on TV where I am...(who wants to hear commentary from someone who can't actually see the match?), but I sucked it up and paid the $5 for a lo-res internet stream today. If the sports bars here cared about soccer, that $5 would at least go towards a pitcher...
11
Nice place - recently - I cook a whole lot more - great meals for just a few bucks and some time.
That is why they closed.
Signed: millions of us are doing it frugal
That is why they closed.
Signed: millions of us are doing it frugal
12
@8 See @3. I'm guessing that political journalism is much more exciting than slaking your Slog fix.
13
@1, 8, 9: Frizzelle announced June 17th on Slog that Erica had given notice and would be going to Publicola (~140 comments):
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive…
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive…
14
Sorry there's no Liveslog (because I sucked so bad the first time), but the match was terrific. Three points! Best fans in America!
15
@14, I'm sure you're not looking for an endorsement from a sports-impaired homo, but I lurked and enjoyed. Soccer holds much more potential interest for me than baseball, football, hockey, etc.
16
Sounds like this place was a Sloggers worst nightmare. In other words, it was probably delicious and awesome.
18
I'm not a restauranteur, but I've worked in plenty of restaurants, and I watch Kitchen Nightmares. Any time I hear about a restaurant with a huge menu that's having financial trouble, I say, well there you go.
Having a huge menu means you have to have a huge variety of ingredients sitting around, some of which may only be used in one or two dishes. If no one comes in to order those dishes, the ingredients go bad and have to be thrown out.
Why not focus your menu on a couple pages of excellent dishes that you have fresh ingredients for on hand? The food ends up being better, and the money you're throwing in the garbage each week goes way down.
Having a huge menu means you have to have a huge variety of ingredients sitting around, some of which may only be used in one or two dishes. If no one comes in to order those dishes, the ingredients go bad and have to be thrown out.
Why not focus your menu on a couple pages of excellent dishes that you have fresh ingredients for on hand? The food ends up being better, and the money you're throwing in the garbage each week goes way down.
19
In fact, Fangdoc, I have wondered why there aren't restaurants with EXTREMELY simple menus. I am thinking of one I'd like to see named "STEW." It would serve just two main dishes — two types of stew: one with meat and (hold your hat) one vegetarian.
Since I believe people go out primarily
1. so they don't have to cook
2. so they don't have to eat alone
3. so they can eat with someone specific (like on a 'date')
it doesn't matter what a restaurant serves so long as it is good and cheap.
Since I believe people go out primarily
1. so they don't have to cook
2. so they don't have to eat alone
3. so they can eat with someone specific (like on a 'date')
it doesn't matter what a restaurant serves so long as it is good and cheap.
20
That place was fucking awful -- lots of style, mediocre overpriced food, all wrapped up in a nice PF Chang chain restaurant experience...
21
@19: Some of my favorite meals have been at neighborhood cafes with excellent, innovative chefs who just serve a couple specials of the day. They are much less expensive than a big menu fancy place, with better food, and usually a really good, moderately-priced bottle of wine to go with it.
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