In the mood for food

Preparations for a celebrity-packed charity function at Tuscan Steak in New York leave Jeffrey Chodorow (right) unmoved. People scuttle about, checking the sound system, polishing glasses and adjusting lighting, for this is to be an A-list gathering with Sir Elton John and Robert de Niro among the guests.

Chodorow shrugs it off as "just another event". He doesn't care for the limelight but he is no stranger to the celebrity milieu. As restaurant partner to the hotelier of the moment, Ian Schrager, Chodorow's restaurants (Asia de Cuba, Tuscan Steak, China Grill) are famous as see-and-be-seen places where getting a table can be as difficult as spotting a diner not dressed in black. Many are located in Schrager's ultra-trendy hotels, others stand alone. All are very busy.

Just over a year ago Chodorow and Schrager, whose hotel collection includes the St Martin's Lane and Sanderson in London, formalised their association with the creation of Chodorow Ventures. This 50:50 partnership owns the restaurants and bars in Schrager hotels and works closely with operating company China Grill Management, which Chodorow set up in 1987. The marriage seems happy. "We complement each other," says Chodorow. "I get where he's coming from stylistically and he defers to me on F&B."

The new company has proven to be a startling success. Turnover last year topped $100m (£69.3m), 15% ahead of target; this year it should hit $150m (£104m). Profits, Chodorow says, are "very high" but, with diners spending about $60 (£41.60) a head plus tax and service (about 28%) in China Grill or Asia de Cuba and tables often turning several times a night, it's not surprising that most restaurants are posting gross profit levels above 20%.

"I've got restaurants in the low 30s [percentage gross profit], which is unheard of," says Chodorow. "The average in the USA is six [per cent]." Three years after opening, Asia de Cuba still receives 1,100 calls a day from diners wanting a table in the 180-seat restaurant, and Chodorow intends to keep the ball rolling with 10 more restaurant openings in the USA over the next two years.

What's the secret? Chodorow lists three key ingredients - money, environment and the food. He sank $8.5m (£5.9m) into the 150-seat Tuscan Steak in New York, which opened last December. Describing himself as manic about design and quality, Chodorow admits that pre-opening budgets can be 25% of the cost of the restaurant.

Creating an entertaining environment is also essential to a successful restaurant. He says: "Lighting and music are as important as food and service, because going out to eat affects all the senses. It's not just about eating. I create an ambience and style and I push people to become part of it." This ethos is shown most clearly at Tuscan Steak (left) and Asia de Cuba (right), where dishes are shared. It is taken a step further at the Hudson Cafeteria in the Hudson hotel, New York, where a refectory style means that diners even share tables.

Getting the food right is important, however. "A restaurant will be a flash in the pan without good food," he says. "It's the same with Schrager's hotels. People say they're wacky, but the beds are great beds, the sheets great sheets. All the elements are there, just enveloped in a cool environment."

So how does somewhere like Asia de Cuba in London remain successful (the 150-seat restaurant will do 550 covers on a busy night) despite a largely hostile reception from influential critics? Likewise, the Hudson Cafeteria, which received a drubbing from the New York Times? Chodorow puts it down to knowing his customers and offering them what they want, not seeking to appeal to critics. "Asia [New York] is much stronger now than three years ago," he says, "and the reason is that customers like the food." China Grill, he points out, has been pulling in the New York crowd consistently for 14 years.

He appeals by offering food that's adventurous and familiar at the same time. The Hudson Cafeteria sells macaroni cheese gratin with foie gras, and China Grill has had skate with wasabi mashed potatoes on the menu. Chodorow stresses that he's not a chef but he believes he has good food sense. "I can taste a combination in my mind," he says.

Even at Asia de Cuba, which Chodorow describes as his most "out of the box" menu, there's a familiar ring to dishes such as wok-crispy fish stuffed with crab escabèche. "The components are identifiable, so that even if it's made in a novel way, you understand what you're getting," he says.

Chodorow went ahead with Asia de Cuba in London despite the conviction of many in the trade that it wouldn't work. For Chodorow, London is a fertile market, ready for new concepts like his. "British people travel more than Americans," he says. "They eat a lot of different foods and are receptive to new ideas."

Chodorow, who studied at the London School of Economics in the early 1970s before studying law, clearly has a soft spot for the city. "I love London," he murmurs. "It's like New York without some of the bad points." He's in the capital at least twice a month and makes a point of eating out. On a recent trip, he enjoyed the Real Greek, and he loves the rôtisserie bar in Harrods, Wagamama and Gordon Ramsay.

While he believes that London stands out in Europe gastronomically, he also has his eye on continental Europe. "I'd like to do something in Paris," he says. "In France, it's 95% French restaurants, and people are dying for something different."

He stresses, however, that none of his restaurants will become global chains, despite pressure to open all over the world. "I'd do China Grill Paris, China Grill London, China Grill Madrid, but I've got no plans to do 50," he says. In the USA, he's planning to take Asia de Cuba to San Francisco, and open a Blue Door in Santa Barbara and in New York. He's also just signed a lease for another Red Square in New York, and is looking for spaces for two new concepts.

It's the new concepts that keep Chodorow buzzing. "I eat, drink and sleep food and food concepts," he says. He's coy about current work in progress but says that the variation of "surf and turf" that he's developing for a Schrager hotel may come to London.

Any suggestion that expanding as the USA heads for recession may be unwise is rejected. He says: "Nobody is recession-proof, but impact on us will be minimal. Top restaurants will remain top restaurants. Ours perform at a high level, and even if business is cut back they'd still operate above the norm."

It looks likely that Chodorow will continue to confound both restaurant critics with his food combinations and financial pundits with his plans to grow as the economy teeters. There's not much, it would seem, that will shake the man's confidence.

THE CHODOROW EMPIRE

Chodorow Ventures

This joint venture between Jeffrey Chodorow and Ian Schrager owns the following restaurants in Schrager hotels:

• Asia de Cuba (London, New York, Los Angeles)

• Spoon+ (left) (London)

• Tuscan Steak (London)

• Blue Door (Miami)

• Hudson Cafeteria (New York)

• 44 at Royalton (New York)

China Grill Management

Chodorow's original company, set up in 1987, owns restaurants outside Schrager hotels and is in charge of all operations. These include:

• China Grill (New York, Miami, Las Vegas)

• Red Square (Miami, Las Vegas)

• Rock Lobster (Las Vegas)

• Rumjungle (Las Vegas)

1. Tuscan Steak (Miami, New York) Other businesses

These include four hotel bars at the Sanderson and St Martin's Lane hotels in London, and Chodorow's two private enterprises, Noa and Suva in Miami.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 26 April - 2 May 2001

Photographs: Sam Bailey