This. Hobbyists will enjoy the cooking and not count the pennies and margin of everything that they do I’m afraid. You need one chef and one management accountant on site at all times!
I have seen that place on the TV.
My memorable eating experiences are at:
Restaurant Moo in Barcelona
El Quim in Barcelona (in the market)
Roganic - in London, was Simon Rogan’s pop-up now closed, but according to an email I have seen maybe re-opening
Hibiscus - in London had 2M* - now closed, run by the chef whose cooking I most admire (Claud Bosi) he has now re-opened upstairs at Bibendum
Bukhara Restaurant in Delhi
Restaurant Story in London
Pasadis del Pep in Barcelona
numerous un-named (possibly “of the moment”) street food places around the world.
restaurant number one in Edinburgh
Sorry if I’m stating the very obvious, but the other thing that’s worth doing (and can be tricky to get right, and a bit depressing sometimes) is to look at the proposition from the viewpoint of the customers. It’s easier to focus on what we, as the proprietor, want out of a business. But there will only be a business if we can find enough customers who want the same thing and who are prepared to travel to get it* and to pay the bill when that arrives. I’m guessing that getting some answers to these questions is precisely why you started this thread. Good. Then you just need to be sure that there are enough customers within reach to make the numbers work.
If you haven’t read it already then George Orwell’s “Down and Out in Paris and London” has some useful things to say about the restaurant business. His friend set one up in Paris and Orwell washed dishes there. The thing which stuck with me was that despite having hardly any money the friend still splashed out on the sharpest knives possible. They made the steak feel like it was the tenderest stuff in the world.
VB
*When I was a student I once took a girlfriend, in my beaten up old car, to the Noah’s Ark at Frilford which, back then, had a fantastic reputation (it’s gone now). As we walked into the foyer we were faced by a photo of the Shah of Iran getting out of his helicopter in the field next door. People were prepared to travel a long way to eat there.
Yeah, I am quite happy running spreadsheets and doing that forensic analysis of the cost of each plate etc. I had started doing it already at the pub and it appeared to be causing some issues because there were dishes the owner wanted using given suppliers that were in no way sustainable. You cannot be paying 12€ for a piece of fillet and then putting it on a plate with salad and good chips for 22€, not if you want to stay in business.
All other points noted too; I do have the advantage of knowing a pair of former restauranters who live out here and they have been hugely helpful with practical advice.
I have watched all the series of Chef’s Table on Netflix, absolutely loved it, especially Francis Mallman and Massimo Botturo.
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JFDI
YOLO
YMMV
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Hedone in Chiswick London. I remember eating here once, had a Swedish Chef and looked from the outside pretty ordinary. Food was fantastic. Never went back.
Muffins by mail order. 
Obvious youtube video is obvious.
Go for it. You are young and will only live to regret it if you don’t go.
Remember that doing the 3 months does not commit you to opening a restaurant. So even if the only things that you get out of it is that you have a brilliant time, meet some amazing people and shout ‘fuck’ a lot in a posh kitchen, it will have been worthwhile.
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Yep. You only regret the things you didn’t do.
Was he not known as the Shah of Persia back then?
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Poncy restaurants don’t interest me any more, have done the ones in London like Ivy and OXO years ago and now am happy with my local Italian that do good food and a great atmosphere but isn’t in any way posh or glitzy.
https://www.francoandpaolo.co.uk/
If you want to create a good restaurant concentrate on the atmosphere where people will come back regularly and feel comfortable.
Reduce overheads by opening a Street Food van.
The type and scale is down to how much equipment you can cram into your van or trailer. For small output think van, for larger output (on a scale of the caterers at French markets), think a large trailer/van.
Market yourself through corporate event companies rather than competing for the “market” market.
+1
One of the best pizzas I have eaten came out a woodfired oven mounted in the back of a Citroën H van, like, but not, this one:
I suspect it’s been done to death in France though.
It is reasonably commonplace but with the right USP…
FTFY
(to be fair, I was a student for a very long time …)
VB
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Yep, them weekender pizzas were pretty damn good 
Holy thread resurrection Batman!
Well it’s been four years since this thread. I have opened neither a restaurant nor a food truck. I have however done a fair amount of private cheffing, and more recently been doing work on the motor racing circuits (as well as juggling all manner of other aspects of life, not least the Wench’s health issues).
Where this gets interesting is that I am currently in talks with a lady who owns and runs a small wine chateau in the Fronsac AOP region, not too far from us. At the moment, she’s doing a certain amount with sharing platters alongside wine tastings, and courses on matching food and wine, However, she’d ideally like to hand over all the food stuff to someone else so that she can prioritise the wine making (she’s very hands on as a chateau owner), and also grow the food side into a small but fully fledged restaurant.
All in all I’m very excited. There’s scope to grow the business in a sensible fashion without spending mega bucks up front for a full on professional kitchen, and her background is in marketing, and she’s clearly having no issue selling her wines at decent prices (basically between 16€ and 22€ per bottle). She’s also already created a really lovely space for all this, including an outside terrace with gorgeous views over the vineyards.
It’s been really interesting to read back over the content in this thread and I definitely feel like my current thoughts and plans on things are headed roughly in the right direction.
For those interested, this is the place: https://www.chateaugeorge7.com
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