Mr & Mrs Bund - Words from Yves and Fabien

A Conversation with Operations Managers Yves Godard and Fabien Verdier… What are those big machines you have in the middle of the restaurant? Yves: Those are our Enomatic wine serving machines, which dispense wine directly from the bottle using inert gas preservation technology. This technology allows the flavours and characteristics of each bottle to remain intact, as if the bottle had just been opened, for over three weeks. Why use these machines rather than just serving wine the traditional way? Fabien: Because we want to enhance our guests’ experience with wine, we want to open up their opportunities to interact with wine. Using the machines, our guests are able to sample both lesser known wines from small, boutique producers that they might not otherwise think to try in full-bottle format, as well as big, well-known labels that they generally can’t taste by the glass because these are quite expensive, and thus usually served only by the bottle. The Enomatic machines allow them to try and to play around with our extensive wine list. Fair enough. But then, going back to the original question, why place them in the middle of the restaurant? Yves: Because we are encouraging customers to get comfortable in the restaurant, to treat it like their home, and part of this involves feeling comfortable enough to get out of their seats, walk over to the Enomatic machines, and try the wines by themselves. Talk us through the drinks list. What was the thinking there? Yves: We offer classic drinks: ‘historical’ drinks from ‘the good old days’, if you will. If you want a good Sidecar, a good Rusty Nail, a good Alexander, that’s what we serve. On the side – and following the concept of our food menu – we also have variations of these classics. Fabien: Our drinks menu also features the stories behind these timeless drinks, some with tales dating back a few hundred years. The drink George Washington declared as the only way to celebrate national holidays, the drink inspired by Practical Housewife (circa 1860), the drink south Chicago gangs made with their bootlegged liquor…we’ve got them all. You’ve both worked in the top restaurants of Europe and Asia, from Alain Ducasse’s restaurants in Paris, to LAN in Beijing, to Jean-Georges and Jade on 36 in Shanghai. What would you say is a common misconception about the restaurant business? Yves: That we all choose restaurants for the quality of their food and drinks, and that those are the only things that matter. That’s a great misconception; the restaurant experience goes far beyond the food and the drinks. And on our side – and this includes the most renowned chefs and the greatest bartenders – we know that. We understand that after a night at any restaurant, most people do not remember many of the things they had; a week later, they’ll recall even less. But what they do remember is the feeling they had when they left the restaurant. The feeling is what stays with them, and thus the feeling is what truly matters. So how does that affect what you do? Yves: Well, knowing that, our job is to take control of the guests’ experience so that, when they leave, they leave with that good feeling. In a restaurant or a bar or a club, we all process hundreds of factors and stimulants – simultaneously and subconsciously – to determine whether or not we like the environment. “Oh, it smells good when I enter; oh, the menu is clean; oh, the staff uniforms are clean; oh, the lady in the washroom has a nice smile” – you don`t realize it, but you are processing these details. They touch you, and thus they matter. You’re talking about very minor details here, though. Isn’t that going too far? That level of attention to details is usually reserved for fine dining… Yves: Yes, traditionally, this standard is associated with fine dining, but even though we are not a fine dining restaurant, that doesn’t mean we can’t rise to the same level. For us, the tablecloth still always needs to be crisp, the cutlery still always needs to be presented in a certain way – in short, they all still have to be perfect. There is no compromise. You should not have to go to a fine dining restaurant to get a ‘perfect’ experience. A relaxed restaurant should still be able to offer the same standard. So if you’re not ‘fine dining’, what are you? Yves: We are relaxed, and we don’t feel too much of a need to define ourselves beyond that. We serve excellent modern French food, but we have no pretensions. We are not looking for a Michelin star, that’s not our ambition. Sometimes you see restaurants in Shanghai that aspire to be fine dining, and that may even promote themselves as such – that’s not us. We are straightforward, and without pretension. The food we offer is simple, clean; there is no unnecessary extravagance. Starting in May, you will be open until 4am, five nights a week. Are you envisioning a nightclub-like atmosphere in the late hours? Fabien: No, not at all. We don’t have in-house DJs pumping all night, we don’t have people dancing on tables – that’s not the idea. Yves: We are keeping it lounge-esque, but nothing too hectic. If people want to party, they can go to the clubs – there is no certainly no shortage in Shanghai – but if they want something a bit more relaxed – whether before the club, after the club, as a pit stop in between clubs, or simply as a theme for the whole night – they can come to us.