I feel like I should post this on "Hare-Brained Schemes," which is a blog that Yves and I share. The concept of that blog is that we would post our business ideas/ventures on it, the dumber the better, and you would get a laugh. There's been two entries, both written by Yves.
I (and maybe some others) have been kicking around the idea of a restaurant that serves food you can only get at home. Home, in this case, is a concept, not your actual home. Restaurants tend to serve roughly the same fare. For example, I can get bowl of pho anywhere in the city, but when the craving for chicken ro-ti strikes, I have to call my mom. Then I have to wait until Sunday and drive 35 miles to my parents' house. Or I have to make it myself, like I made some meat stuffed tomatoes the other day. My friend was coincidentally eating the same thing all the way across the country, except hers was from a frozen batch made by her mom during her last visit to NYC.
I wouldn't limit it to just Vietnamese food; it's a cross-cultural thing. During lunch at LAFLA (a non-profit where I used to work), my Taiwanese coworker would share her food, things I wouldn't even know how to order. My ex-boyfriend loved this souffle egg thing his mom made. It didn't appear on any of the menus of the three Thai restaurants she owned. She had just the basics, stir fries and noodle dishes, while at home, we ate home Thai food.
Clearly, there is an underlayer of regional cuisine that hasn't been explored. Since this is just the germ of a hare-brained scheme, I don't know what the demand would be for such a restaurant, but it is LA--plenty of foodie appetites to fuel a burgeoning concept. If I build it, will you come? Or better yet, if I pitch it, will you Kickstart it?
I (and maybe some others) have been kicking around the idea of a restaurant that serves food you can only get at home. Home, in this case, is a concept, not your actual home. Restaurants tend to serve roughly the same fare. For example, I can get bowl of pho anywhere in the city, but when the craving for chicken ro-ti strikes, I have to call my mom. Then I have to wait until Sunday and drive 35 miles to my parents' house. Or I have to make it myself, like I made some meat stuffed tomatoes the other day. My friend was coincidentally eating the same thing all the way across the country, except hers was from a frozen batch made by her mom during her last visit to NYC.
I wouldn't limit it to just Vietnamese food; it's a cross-cultural thing. During lunch at LAFLA (a non-profit where I used to work), my Taiwanese coworker would share her food, things I wouldn't even know how to order. My ex-boyfriend loved this souffle egg thing his mom made. It didn't appear on any of the menus of the three Thai restaurants she owned. She had just the basics, stir fries and noodle dishes, while at home, we ate home Thai food.
Clearly, there is an underlayer of regional cuisine that hasn't been explored. Since this is just the germ of a hare-brained scheme, I don't know what the demand would be for such a restaurant, but it is LA--plenty of foodie appetites to fuel a burgeoning concept. If I build it, will you come? Or better yet, if I pitch it, will you Kickstart it?
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