Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right

Here we are, stuck in the middle with you.

Trigger warning: The Restaurant Reality Series is unlike commercial posts and newsletters that are typically intended to sell you something, or to give you information needed to access services or events. That is not the case here. This post simply tells a story about our circumstances and the challenges we are facing at this unique point in time. It is simply intended for the curious, for those of you who are as much stakeholders in the restaurant as you are customers. Enjoy…

For thirty years Higgins has been a rock in the Portland restaurant scene. When friends came to town, or when you wanted to simply have a meal where all the marks were hit, Higgins was the go-to. Really… still is. So when the restaurant sent out its “we’re on life support” notice fearing that only a few weeks remained before their collapse if something doesn’t change, it was quite a shocker. I believe that Higgins is worth saving and I encourage our customers to find their way downtown for a visit.

Schadenfreude typically translates to a sense of pleasure one gets from viewing the fall or failure of another. A subtler definition describes not pleasure, but validation. That is what occurred for me in the case of Higgins. “If Higgins can’t make it…” The challenges of funding a team capable of cooking and serving world-class meals in a hospitable setting in 2025 are virtually insurmountable. It is simply too hard.

The Cat Bird Seat

For Bethany’s Table, our secret sauce is our staff. When shaky outfits like Sortis Holdings started gobbling up brands as exhausted business owners walked away during the pandemic, the restaurant scene in Portland was forever changed. Diners may or may not detect the new ownership, but the employees do. Now, instead of working for creative individuals spilling their life-blood to provide an experience, we have carpetbaggers withdrawing life-blood from their employees in pursuit of market dominance.

Our last ad for a server got 90 applicants. Good pay, loving environment, great team, food to be proud of, authenticity, health insurance. These factors give us, Decarli and Mingo (all three of us Washington County independents bucked the pandemic closure trend) and restaurants in town like Higgins and Coquine the ‘picks of the litter’ when luring talent. The effort, production and quality produced by our back of house team is unparalleled.

Yes, we are in the cat bird seat. Just like Higgins…

Gentle readers of this post that work for Intel, with one eye permanently cast over their shoulder, are less inclined to turn to their spouse on a Wednesday night and suggest a night out on the town. Nike has pulled through most of its reorganization, which had similar effects. Market uncertainty and low consumer confidence are disincentives for many folks to splurge on a special meal. 

Sales this July fell $22,000 shy of July sales last year. Effort and tweaks over the last few months have brought the cost of labor down by a few points, but the decrease in revenue has us chasing our tails. The price of beef, fish, eggs, chocolate and sundry other items continues on a steep incline. And it looks like it might get worse before it gets better.

Assign a 33% direct cost of goods to that $22,000 sales decline and you are left with $15,000 less in gross profit to pay fixed expenses. It’s a squeeze play. Yet the slow nights are not terrible and the busy nights are bustling, a 90-cover Friday night looks to the casual eye like the 105 covers from 2024, but less hubbub than the 120 covers from 2019. That 15% decline from 105 to 90 amounts to – oh yeah, 15% - a $22,000 monthly decline in revenue. $15,000 less cash. Anguish.

The Pi Solution

Anticipating the shift in the market and attempting to attract a broader range of customers to a lower cost dining option, we kicked off Radii Pi last November. But I muffed that ball. Neither did we do a sufficient job of branding Radii Pi to Bethany’s Table’s cuisine and reputation. The POS system we chose as a companion to the restaurant system was an inferior point of sale system. It proved insufficient for maintaining the customer communications and outreach necessary to grow a pizza business and we couldn’t effectively synchronize the activities of the two kitchens. So we recently implemented a new POS system that enable the two kitchens to coordinate.  

We assigned lunch service to the Pi staff and significantly upgraded the Pi menu to broaden its daytime offerings.

Additionally, we were also able to add the restaurant’s menu items to the online ordering menu, which now includes delivery. We were a bit too hasty in the lunch switchover, which caused some unfortunate miscommunication. We are fixing that and the messaging is now clear.

We are open for lunch. Period.

We have also added the full selection of Pi pizza to the BT dinner menu. If just the two of you want to sneak out for a quick bite and just order pizza, you are certainly welcome!  

Hopefully we will now be able to grow the Pi business to replace some of that lost revenue. Time will tell.

So What’s Next?

This is the touchy part. It is my job to demonstrate that we have created a means to stop the bleeding. That said, Janet and I need help.  

When Janet once waited on me at Zell’s café some 30 years ago I noted something peculiar about her. All signs pointed to a fun-loving woman. The fun attire, striped tights, chartreuse Converse and pigtails sent that message. Yet that face. That frown… What I later learned is that she was exhausted. Maintaining her three children and household with meager support and managing two or three jobs left her exhausted. When she absolutely could not take it any longer she quit. She’d had it. That, was that. Now, too often I see that face and it terrifies me. She works so hard. Every day.

Correspondingly, I just turned 70. I’m no longer the sharpest knife in the drawer and jump as I might, some days I simply cannot reach my bootstraps. We need help.

Michael Krikorian

A large dose of that help arrived when I hired Michael. For eight years Michael had been an owner and the driving force of Il Terrazzo, a successful Italian restaurant on the downtown waterfront. Arriving here, it is like he was shot out of a cannon. A winemaker with advanced wine knowledge, Michael took over the wine program. His influence on the culture of the front of house team has been a godsend. I would like Michael to eventually join us as an owner. There are other candidates on the staff that also deserve to participate more directly in the outcomes they are producing.

The Final (?) Phase

I have always had an imagination to create a broader ownership team at Bethany’s Table. I have had in mind to distribute 60% of the equity to a group that would ensure the longtime survival of Bethany’s Table. Janet doesn’t want to quit and I’m willing to keep on contributing what I can. But we are ready for the next chapter. Something has to give.

Wanna Own a Restaurant? (Chef included)

I don’t know what the deal is. It’s complicated. I have a distinct imagination for the possibilities but the details depend on who shows up. The complications need to be sorted, but the riddle of how to do so needs work. I am willing to share my thoughts on those details and the challenges they pose, but as much as I’m inclined to overshare, it is not suitable for public display.

If you, you and a friend, or you and a group of other customers would like to consider joining us as owners, I ask that you contact me here. I will patch together an NDA and prepare a writeup that conveys the full story.

I said a while ago, that when this phase of turmoil settles back down, there will be restaurants. And we will be one of them! Janet and I feel that these bold steps are what it will take to maintain the team we have built and enable Bethany’s Table mature into a legacy neighborhood restaurant. Feel free to share your thoughts.

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Settling the Dust