Saturday Morning Trade-Off
1 CommentThis holiday weekend was gorgeous in the City That Works, and I was out and about with millions of my fellow Chicagoans taking a break from the work-a-day grind. Saturday morning dawned and people were jogging, bike-riding, gardening, shopping at their neighborhood farmer's markets, and heading down to the Taste of Chicago.
I don’t think many people were holed up in front of their television sets, blinds drawn, glued to Saturday morning TV — not even for the cartoons.
Yet, I know some restaurant publicists who would have — have had — no qualms about rousing their clients, sleepy from Friday night’s service with Saturday’s still looming large, to make a three-minute appearance on one of those Saturday morning news programs. And I know plenty of chefs who want to, because they have been told to believe it will make a difference for them.
The blasted wake-up call wouldn’t be the only intrusion. Chef would need to prep a dish, practice it to ensure he could get it done within the time allotted and with a generous side dish of witty, distracting banter, thank you very much, all without accidentally chopping off the tip of his index finger.
Why? Why, why, why?! WHY?!!!!!!
If I and millions of other Chicagoans can think of a hundred other things we’d rather be doing on a Saturday morning than watch chefs doing quickie demos, why would a publicist line it up for her Chef? Is that really what’s going to bring in new customers to a restaurant? Assuming a few people are tuning in, are they even paying attention to the show, or are they using it as background noise while they brew coffee, clean out the litter box, and otherwise go about their Saturday morning routine?
Here’s what I’d rather see: I’d rather see that publicist ask Chef to wake up on Saturday morning an hour before he usually does, brew himself a nice cup of coffee like the rest of the civilized world, and comment on five food blogs that have mentioned his restaurant in the past few weeks. I’d rather see him begin to engage the food lovers, and more specifically the people who’ve already shown interest in visiting his restaurant, than to cast a wide net hoping to drag in a few good fish and not just some water-logged boots.
I’d rather see that publicist let Chef get some damned sleep so he can shine at service on Saturday night — and leave the Saturday morning TV to the kids.
Great comment! (said the blogger)For me the real point is, who's watching those shows? (Well, listening, they're basically radio.) They draw real numbers that make blogging look piddly... but when those numbers are made up of 55-year-old housewives in Algonquin, do you really think they're going to produce reservations for restaurants in River North? I don't mean any offense to 55-year-old housewives in Algonquin, but everything has its audience and that sure ain't where River North's is coming from.By comparison something like 1600 people have watched my Sky Full of Bacon podcast with Mado in it... and I can't tell you how many people have told me it inspired them to 1) go to Mado and eat charcuterie 2) make charcuterie. My numbers may be far smaller, but my conversion rate to reservations is far higher (since any integer is, by definition, higher than zero).(The only thing I'd say is, even better than commenting on blogs that have mentioned your restaurant... comment on ones that haven't. I feel weird if someone who's the target of what I said says something about it, but I love when chefs I respect turn out to have actually read something on my blog... that didn't turn up in a Google search for their own names...)