When Randall Restiano departed from Gramercy Tavern as beverage director to establish his own venue last year, his initial inclination was to seek a location in Manhattan. Then he analyzed the figures. “The costs, potential return on investment, and the number of investors required to bring it to life didn’t add up,” he states. “I pondered, Maybe it’s time to try something different.”
Restiano secured a site in the Westchester suburb of Bronxville alongside chef John Poiarkoff, another veteran of the Union Square Hospitality Group, to launch La Chitarra, a pasta bar and wine studio. “When I was contemplating this, it was quite an emotional struggle,” Restiano reflects. “I asked myself, Am I prepared to leave the city? What implications will that have for me?”
The allure of lower blood pressure and reduced expenses turned out to be a remedy stronger than his pride. “The financial demands of operating a restaurant in Brooklyn or Manhattan these days are exceedingly high. If you fail, the repercussions are enormous,” he explains. “Here, we managed to undertake a substantial renovation, boast a 100-bottle wine list, and source the ingredients we desire at a reasonable price point because our overhead is significantly lower.”
Major cities provide excellent opportunities for chefs to gain recognition and receive media attention and accolades. However, they are also environments rife with considerable burnout, escalating costs, and exorbitant rents. This is why many chefs from bustling metropolitans—like New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia and beyond—are choosing to resign and venture into less hectic surroundings, often returning to their roots to lessen the chaos. This trend has grown so prevalent that it has its own term, “boomerangs,” a term introduced by food writer Adam Reiner in Bloomberg, discussing the evolving culinary landscape in Buffalo.
“I believe that individuals are becoming more aware of the immense effort this industry demands,” states chef Joe Cash, who had stints at Per Se, Noma, and The Pool before returning to his hometown of Greenville, South Carolina, to establish the Michelin-starred Scoundrel in 2022. He plans to unveil Dootsie’s, an Italian restaurant named after his grandmother, in the spring. “There’s no profit and an overwhelming amount of hard work, and people are reaching their limits. Gavin [Kaysen, who exited NYC in 2014 to launch Spoon and Stable in Minneapolis] had foresight. He recognized that the future wasn’t in Manhattan.”
The Financial Drain
Reduced stress and increased rewards (along with the arrival of her third child) prompted Tía Pol’s Mani Dawes to return to New Orleans, where she opened Cafe Malou late last year. “There’s no feasible way to operate an independent mom-and-pop restaurant like we did at Tía,” she remarks. “The numbers just don’t work.”
