Photograph by Katherine Bish
On your next visit to Lafayette Square’s 1111 Mississippi, notice the tabletops and woodwork, or the “temporary” pendant lights above Vin de Set’s bar (so popular they became permanent), then understand that owners Paul and Wendy Hamilton cobbled it all together themselves. Their versatility, dedication, and talent make an impossibly tough business look deceptively easy (no wonder that Paul is the newly elected president of St. Louis Originals, the local coalition of independent restaurants). Next time you see a Vin de Set or 1111 Mississippi food booth at a charity event or art fair, take note of who’s working the hardest… Then say hello to Paul and Wendy Hamilton.
How has 1111 Mississippi grown over its six years?
Wendy: When we first opened, we wanted to venture out beyond the local comfort zone, but we just didn’t think St. Louisans were ready for it. Diners are much more adventuresome now. Paul: So we’ve been experimenting with things like beef tongue and tripe…making our own sausages and smoking our own meats.
Such edginess is economical as well.
Paul: You can no longer maintain a price-point with traditional main plate items--racks of lamb, filets—so you have to come up with something more creative. And it allows us get back to the roots of what we really wanted to be.
Vin de Set started strong and remains so.
Wendy: The challenge there is balancing the huge summer business with the winter. We continue to load up ammunition…promos and specials to entice the wintertime diner.
The main room at Vin de Set is charming, yet is relatively unknown.
Wendy: It’s true. Sixty to 70 percent head directly to the rooftop patio. But once they experience the dining room, they come back. It’s just getting them there in the first place. Paul: We now have winter regulars to go along with our summer regulars.
You have always been good at unique promotions…
Paul: We did a coursed meal this last summer that focused on dishes from Julia Child…the Saturday dinner on her actual birthday in August was the busiest day we’ve ever had at both restaurants.
And August is traditionally a slow month.
Paul: Now [in September] we’re doing a Master Chef series, focusing on one chef a month, based on their cookbook. This winter, we’re also ramping up to “April in Paris” where, with every wintertime visit, you increase your chances to become the couple we’ll send to Paris.
Restaurateurs are generally poor promoters…you guys get it.
Wendy: The key is to be creative enough to get guests in without discounting.
But more and more restaurants are pressured to do just that.
Paul: Which we don’t ever want to do. We’ve had good success with our birthday postcard program—we’re targeting specific zip codes depending on which part of the highway is open—and partnering with a wine company to provide a free bottle of wine. Wendy: It’s not discounting, but you do get something nice for free. Our hope is that it attracts a customer we haven’t yet reached.
I’ve long admired how you converted the patios at both restaurants into all-season dining, maximizing a rent-free space.
Paul: Eleven Eleven is so big inside there’s not as much demand to sit outside, although the Holidays--Christmas parties, New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day—are popular. But Vin de Set’s patio is full every Friday and Saturday, all year long…it has a wide open, Tavern on the Green feel up there, especially with the fire pit going.
Those natural gas heaters make a difference.
Paul: Radiant heat warms up the surface of things…it’s meant for outside. Even though it’s cold, you feel warm, your skin feels warm, the table feels warm. It’s costly, but worth it.
Do you get out and check out the competition?
Paul: We probably get out more than most restaurateurs, just to see what everyone else is doing—even to the chains, because there are things they do well. To not go, just on principle, is a mistake.
Often their procedures make them execute better than the independents.
Paul: Remember that chains are born out of independents…they just take their systems to the next level, which is what they do best. I know that if a chain charges X dollars for the exact same thing I serve, I ought to at least charge that. If I can charge less—as a higher-end independent restaurant--so much the better.
Explain how and why restaurants book private parties. Is that efficient use of space?
Paul: Vin de Set has 13,000 sq feet of banquet space –350 in one room, two rooms that seat 75 and the first floor, which seats 125. We have the staff and kitchen to do all kinds of things there. Wendy: But in most other banquet situations, you’re tapping the main kitchen…guests in a small room don’t realize why they can’t just order off the menu on a Saturday night. Restaurants limit menus for a reason.
Most folks don’t know you fabricated much of the woodwork and fixtures in both restaurants. What’s your latest project?
Paul: I just added another deck on Vin de Set’s roof. Now we can book a rooftop party, a cocktail gathering as part of a dinner party downstairs, or to serve as spillover when nothing else is booked. Wendy: Yesterday, he was on a BobCat at home. It’ll never leave his blood.
Let’s talk about the “Originals.” Are there similar organizations in other cities?
Paul: It was a national organization that really wasn’t set up all that well; now it’s local chapters, working independently.
Sum up the program.
Paul: We are technically St. Louis Independent Restaurant Association, dba St. Louis Originals. We are our own organization that now doesn’t require anything out of pocket—from anyone--to join. Our main selling point is our frequent diner reward program, where the diner accumulates points and can blow the respective dollars—up to $100 worth--all at one restaurant if he wants to. That’s quite a reward.
How many members are in the program?
Paul: There are 45 restaurants and 25,000 cardholders, so via the newsletter, our two restaurants hit that many cardholders each month. If diners choose to visit me, they become my guest and part of my email list.
If there are no dues, why isn’t every independent a part of this?
Paul: There are obligations…To support the program, the restaurant agrees to sell Web certificates on the Originals’ website. It’s solid marketing that drives diners to your door, with nothing out-of-pocket. And for the diner, there’s a gift-card program. We’ll sell $80,000 worth this season.
And these gift cards are good at all 45 restaurants?
Wendy: Yes, split up any way you want.
Another Originals event is held in november, right?
Paul: St. Louis Originals restaurant week is the week after Thanksgiving. It’s similar to Downtown Restaurant Week, where diners get a three-course menu at a discounted price, hopefully $20.09 for 2009... We’ll offer incentives to cardholders—or prospective cardholders…dining at multiple places will yield even more rewards…double points, things like that.
Those programs are great for getting people to try new places.
Paul: Locals and travelers alike…I’d love to get the travel market to support the independents as well. Wendy: Travelers want to know where the locals go, so they end up asking a concierge or a bartender. It’s be nice to say: “Here’s a list of the independents. Go there.”
You drive by a restaurant chain and the parking lot is packed; the independent guy next door—a good operator--is not doing much business. How do you react?
Wendy: And they aren’t cheaper, and that’s where I get frustrated. Even a Red Lobster isn’t cheap.
Why do you think diners flock to chains?
Paul: Part of it is that flashy, chain image…in my opinion, an independent who looks like a chain fares better…Villa Farotto looks like a chain, is located where a chain place would be, and is successful. No disservice to them…it was smart design. It’s keeping up with the Joneses of the chain restaurant world.
Chain restaurants will always be tough competition. What should the independent say to the local diner? Paul: Everything we do stays here: what we make, what we spend, charities we give to... Independents are more inclined to give to our own community. The chains have merely endorsed and copied independents’ ideas. The goal of the independent organizations—like the Originals—is to help the local places that dream up those ideas.
