I Lunch for
a Living
Patricia Breslin, Executive Director of the
Golden Gate Restaurant Association
The
City of San Francisco is more than just a pretty face. It’s also
one of the world’s greatest in terms of fine dining. Whom do you
call for the straight scoop on the perils and possibilities roiling
the restaurant industry? None other than Patricia Breslin, Executive
Director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association (GGRA). Bay
Crossings broke bread with her at Chaya Brasserie on the San
Francisco Waterfront.
BC: It’s a tough time for
restaurants right now, isn’t it?
PB: Very tough. We were amazed at
how tough we found it when we did an economic study last year. Our
study showed that in San Francisco we were down 288 restaurants in
the last six months of 2001.
BC: 288 restaurants closed?
PB: No, 288 more closed. We
were down a net of 288 restaurants. I’d say that we’re
down 7 percent overall. The public perception is that some open,
some close, and that in the end there’s always the same total
number. But that’s not true this time. First, we had the dot-com
crash, and then the threat of terrorism, next the current war, and
now SARS. Add that to workers comp increases, and, well, it’s not
a pretty picture.
The public perception is that the
restaurant industry is glamorous, that there’s a lot of money in
it. The truth is that these places succeed only because of the
creativity, ingenuity, and the incredibly hard work of
restaurateurs. They work night and day; it only looks easy.
It’s a stage, and the customer doesn’t see what’s going on
behind the curtain. Customers come for the magic, the magic we all
enjoy, and believe me, we have to work harder then ever to keep it
up in these tough times.
BC:
Are you satisfied that the city did enough to help its number one
industry, tourism, in the wake of 9/11?
PB: Right after 9/11, there was a
kind of effort to prop up our industry. But in the end, we had to
rely on a very local network. There were wonderful marketing
programs, which got everyone into a feel-good mode, to get people
going out again, like "Open for Business," "Dine
About Town." and "Herb Caen Days." The city did a
wonderful job of stepping into that marketing role through its
Convention & Visitors Bureau. The GGRA partnered with them, we
had mutual websites, and basically just encouraged everyone to get
their joie de vivre back.
Interestingly, neighborhood
restaurants were not traumatized because everyone was nesting in.
These restaurants saw a surge in business. But all in all, the
restaurant business is really hurting, and where I feel that we’re
not positioned correctly with the city is that we are still looked
at as a cash cow. We’re being hit with taxes, burdensome rules,
and being looked to as a way to solve the current fiscal mess.
People don’t appreciate that even in the best of times upper-scale
white tablecloth restaurants in San Francisco earn but two and a
half cents on the dollar in profit.
BC: That’s not a good return on
investment.
PB: No. So why do they do it? They
do it for the love of it. That’s what brings somebody to this
business. You have to love the business, love sitting down with
people, feed off someone appreciating your concept, your
preparation, the altogether of a great evening out. That’s why
people do it. But restaurateurs need appreciation, too. Or at least
a helping hand when they’re down.
BC: What are the specific issues
restaurants are unhappy about?
PB: On the statewide level, there
are three proposed alcohol tax bills right now. An alcohol tax bill,
no matter how you write it, is going to come through the restaurant,
and it’s going to go down to the consumer. It’s kind of like the
old sin taxes coming back. So, for example, there is a bill proposed
to impose a 5 percent sales tax on all alcohol sold. That is huge
for us.
Sometimes people lose
sight of the fact that hospitality is San Francisco’s number one
business. It’s very unusual for a city to rely on
the hospitality industry as its number one revenue source. It’s an
asset the community needs to protect, the golden goose that makes
possible much of the City’s quality of life. I can’t help but
feel that if San Francisco were a one-company steel town, and the
steel factory were in trouble, that more would be done to help out.
We can’t help feeling a bit taken for granted.