I was really waiting for them to open near my house. They were going to be a cool place and promised to revolutionize cuisine. Their flagship entree would be the best in the market - cheapest and most awesome. The chef kept us updated about the mouth watering dish called Adam and we waited in anticipation.
So, after a lot of delay, they opened and there were a bunch of expectant fans who rushed in. Very quickly most of them found that the food was kind of uncooked. If you wanted to eat it, you had to get your own pepper and salt. In a lot of cases it was frankly rotten so you had to throw most of the dressing away and put your own, sometimes with help from some free awesome external cooks. Many patrons yelled and screamed for the chef and his cooks to come fix the thing, but they pretty much ignored all the screams. They were busy in the kitchen - err, in the chef's office - posting messages on facebook about how awesome their cuisine would be and what was in store and how it would change the landscape. Meanwhile, lot of them could eat no more.
There were some patrons who did indeed get their pepper, salt, dressings and what not and spent hours cooking most of their food. Some of those got upset that the others actually wanted to sit at the table and eat their food! Many of those patient patrons were willing to wait if the chef got a new plate with "un-rotten" food.
A leading local newspaper sent a taster. He ate the food and wrote a pretty scathing review on the daily. Many objected to that the reviewer dared to comment on the quality of the food that was on his plate. Apparently he had to recook it and give better marks.
You know, unfortunately most of us either want to just sit and eat, or in the worst case, wait until we get the food we ordered. Not many of us want to cook our food and change its flavor in the restaurant.
So I, for example, then went to next restaurant called Apple. It's a little more expensive, they don't give you too much choice in the matter of what's in the dish. But I tell you - the dish tastes good, and I can sit down, pull up my knife and fork, and eat it quietly and enjoy it.
I'm not cooking my own darned food and be ignored by the chef when I go to a restaurant.
Flame on.
What a wonderful piece of writing. It exactly summarizes what NI is doing currently. Chef announced new items on the menu last weekend. I hope the new delicacies are not rotten/half baked/half cooked again.
ReplyDeleteBuying Adam was like I ordered Soup but got sour Ice cream.
Ha ha! Apt analogy.
ReplyDeleteSeems you too are another scalded die hard fan. btw, apropos what Rude Cannon says up there, the new posts are like saying they're now keeping a glass of water ready and the A/C switched on when you arrive at your table.
Big f deal.
Nishit. Never was a die-hard fan, but I was a well wisher. I stayed in the sidelines but followed the company from early on. I wanted them to succeed but they've overstayed their welcome treatment. Their approach to market and lack of customer centric behavior infuriates me.
ReplyDeleteI saw a lot of warning signs from early on, and anyone who criticized were run over by die-hard fans refusing to listen or temper expectations, and here we are now.