Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1547305
does not bother me, not even a little bit. Oversaturation is a different problem. I like to talk about Charles Clark at Brasserie 19, because that space is a juggernaut. When he opened, if you drew a circle around his space within a mile radius, there might have initially been 10 places he was in competition with, in his demographic. I bet you it's 100 now. It's insane how much competition he has on his back doorstep. On service. Bryan Caswell: I've said this my entire career: I can serve the same salmon dish to five people at a table. One person could love it, two could say it's okay, and two could hate it. But if they have one rude waiter, all five will say that the place is terrible. Service from the valet at the entry to the valet at the exit, and everything in between will always be the most important part of what we do. Some people are foodies, and some people aren't, but there's not a single person that doesn't love great service. When something goes wrong. Ben Berg: It's tricky. Let's say you're there with your family, and it's very informal; there's no problem voicing your concern at the table. Ask for a manager, because we want you to have a great experience. What I can't stand is when we want to fix things, but if we don't know, we can't do anything. But I also understand if it's an important business dinner, or there's another couple there, maybe you don't want to say anything to cause a scene. Perhaps excuse yourself and speak to a manager and let us fix it right then and spoil you a little bit to make it up to you. If you're not comfortable doing it in person, email us, or give us a call. If you complain online and we reach out to you, answer us back. We can't do anything if you never answer. Delivery apps. Chris Williams: We do a decent amount. Our costs used to be around 30 percent, which is why we stopped promoting it. Restaurant margins are 3 to 5 percent; if they're going to take 30 percent off the top, then why are we even doing it? Now they've switched their model to put costs on the end user, taking less off the restaurant, which is smart. Ryan Pera: We don't use them. We feel our profit becomes their profit. Until there are more transparent delivery services working with smaller businesses, we will continue to do most of our takeout in-house. Greg Martin: They're a total rip-off. I never use them. I order through the restaurant's website and pick it up myself. I tip the staff because the app drivers never do. I don't know what the solution is. I do know this: Everybody is looking to take a piece of full- service restaurant business. On what inspires. Ryan Pera: Travel, our garden, great meals with loved ones here or around the world, other people's recipes — so many things. My last trip (Mexico City) inspired me with its incredible food scene. Chris Williams: I've lived all over the world, and before I got smart at 43 and decided to have another child, I was out there, lived everywhere, exploring other cultures. You really get to know a place through their food. Restaurants are where you'll find out everything you want to know about a place: where the locals are, where to avoid tourists. You can get a real understanding of the people just by looking at the ingredients they use, the flavors, and the smells. (Continued from page 80) Behind Pass the Barbara Josephson is a real estate agent affiliated with Compass. Compass is a licensed real estate broker and abides by federal, state and local Equal Housing Opportunity laws. Three Decades of Trust. Lifetime Results...Experience is Everything. "Barbara Josephson has been our Realtor for over 30 years. She helped us buy our first house in Houston and our dream house in West University. Most recently, Barbara helped us sell our family's long time home in the Memorial Villages. No one knows the local real estate market better than Barbara Josephson. She educated us to current market conditions, strategy and what we needed to do to make an older house ready to sell. She knew the best contractors, told us what needed to be done to stage the house with the existing furniture. Barbara is polished and professional and her interactions with buyers and their agents put everyone at ease and made the sale and closing a breeze. We highly recommend Barbara!" - Paul and Nancy Barbara Josephson Broker Associate 713.899.6603 barbara.josephson@compass.com