I know a lot about restaurants — I worked in fine dining restaurants, I went to culinary school so I could understand the food, I got my sommelier certificate so I could understand their wine lists, I've done PR for some super-fantastic restaurant clients for a bazillion years and, right, I eat out a lot.

My consigliere, Lauren, feels the piece of the puzzle I bring to the table at a restaurant meeting is all that firsthand experience — years of watching who succeeds and who doesn't with the insidery perspective of hearing the inside story straight from the chef's mouth. I get to see firsthand how the bomb is wired, which certainly helps understand why it went off.

There are all types of bombs — partnership bombs, bad seed bombs, extenuating circumstances bombs — but the one I hear most is what I consider the Yeah, But bomb.

It's the tick-tick-tick of the chef prattling on about why his restaurant is going to succeed if people could just understand what he is trying to do.

This is how the conversation goes:

ME: "You're prolly dead because you are too expensive."
CHEF: "Yeah, but if people could just understand the quality of the ingredients ... blah, blah, blah."

ME: "I think you're trying to be too many things to too many people."
CHEF: "Yeah, but I don't wan't people to just come here for special occasions ... blah, blah, blah."

ME: "I don't really think that tasting menu works in your casual restaurant."
CHEF: "Yeah, but I am bored with the menu and really wanna cook this kind of food ... blah, blah, blah."

ME: "Your food doesn't really read as yummy or even understandable."
CHEF: "Yeah, but if people could just eat here, they would get it ... blah, blah, blah."

If your marketing strategy includes a "Yeah, but," trust me, you've got some rethinking to do.