This is the Gatekeepers, in which Eater roams the world meeting the fine ladies and gentlemen that stand between you and some of the restaurant world's hottest tables.
When lauded Canadian chef David Hawksworth — of Vancouver's West — announced plans to open his own restaurant, it immediately became one of Vancouver's most-anticipated projects. In 2010, two years into the development of the eponymous Hawksworth, the chef made his first hire in general manager Chad Clark, who's been running operations ever since. "He described it as this intimate little restaurant, only 80 seats, nothing crazy," Clark says. "But it's actually turned out to be the biggest thing I've ever run, by a long shot."
Hawksworth debuted inside downtown Vancouver's Rosewood Hotel Georgia in 2011 and emerged as one of the city's top fine-dining destinations, necessitating at least a two-week lead time to score a reservation. In the following interview, Clark dishes about the expectations of hotel diners, the rise of celebrity chefs, and how-to infuse a sense of fun into the fine-dining experience.
What's the worst time for a walk-in diner to attempt to get a table, and what would be the wait time then?
It's hard to say. The prime dinner hour is often the worst, between 6:30p.m. and seven. If you're willing to eat in the bar or the lounge and there's availability there, you can have a full dinner menu in the bar and lounge. It's a slightly more casual setting, but it is a viable option. If you happen to get it wrong, the wait can be as long as an hour, an hour-and-a-half if the timing is wrong.
It seems you're booked pretty solid, at peak times, for the next few weeks. How far in advance would you recommend people reserve a table?
We don't have a huge room — it is only 80 seats — and we have such a huge volume of calls and inquiries about reservations. And you also have to consider that Vancouver diners are quite accustomed to eating whenever they want, there isn't so much choice. It's amazing, when someone calls and asks for a 7 p.m. reservation and you tell them 7:30 p.m. [is the first available table], they're like, "Nope, that's too late." So, the prime dinner slot fills up very quickly. I always tell people that if you want between 6:30 and 7:30 and it's more than just two people, I recommend at least a couple weeks in advance, especially on weekends. During the week it's not as bad.
[Photo: Hawksworth Restaurant]
Have you had to deal with angry or surprised guests who aren't expecting that wait?
Of course. [Laughs] We're in a unique scenario, being located in a hotel. It's a different set of standards, because you have a hotel guest. Most hotel restaurants, the mandate is to give them whatever they want, whenever they want it, however they want it. Whereas we are leasing partners from the hotel, we're not managed by the hotel, so we have a slightly different set of rules. But we do get the hotel guests who do just kind of expect to get a table because they have a hotel room.
What percentage of diners are hotel guests?
It varies by season. This time of year we do, because the tourist traffic is so high, I would say it's higher, but I wouldn't even be able to venture a guess? it could range anywhere from 30 to 60 percent during peak hotel season, on the weekends. Because of the notoriety of the restaurant, we do get people who book in [the hotel] with the full expectation of dining in the restaurant. Just this past weekend, I had a couple come in on their way home to Calgary from Australia, and they had three days booked in the hotel, and they loved the restaurant so much they ate breakfast and dinner [here] three days in a row. They're like, "We don't even need to go anywhere else."
How does the clientele shift from breakfast to dinner?
Our breakfast clientele is 90 percent hotel guests, if not higher. We have a small contingent of local regulars that do breakfast, but there isn't a big business breakfast community in Vancouver that I've noticed. But lunch is when we do all of our power meetings, I would say 80 to 90 percent business, it's all suits, and then a small contingent of tourists. And then as we roll into evening, we really do get a little bit of everything. Because of the nature of Vancouver, we really get all walks of life. We have a burger on the bar menu, which automatically opens the door to somebody who just wants to come in and have a burger — to the person who's spending thousands of dollars on a dinner for two.
Chef David obviously has a huge following in Vancouver. Do you find that affects guests' expectations when they come in for the first time?
With any chef-owned restaurant, there's always an expectation, especially a chef with a reputation like David's. The nice thing about Vancouver, we've got a really loyal bank of devoted diners. You come in, it's amazing, even with having a few of the staff on the website, they come in and they know everything about us already. And with the celebrity chef phenomenon, people love a celebrity chef, they love the personality. They come in wanting to see him, they come in wanting to get the whole experience. He's the third big-name chef I've worked for, so it's been really interesting to watch the evolution of this kind of culture. Because I started with Rob Feenie, and was with Rob in his heyday while he was still on the Food Network, had just released his third cookbook, he won Iron Chef. And then I got to go do the same thing with Tom Aikens in London.
The philosophy I always have is that we need to take the food seriously, we need to take the service seriously, but we don't really want to take ourselves too seriously. I hire people that are just as passionate about food as the kitchen is, and people who really take service seriously. And just understand the expectation and understand what people are expecting from you when they come through these doors. With the kind of accolades we've received, they often come in just wanting the best, and so you have to be that. And then you throw in the challenge of having all these different kinds of clientele, you really need to able to read what your guests are looking for. Because man, when you get it wrong, it's a disaster. [Laughs]
Any disastrous example you're willing to share?
Well, it's interesting what people's definition of "fine dining" is nowadays. What I find the biggest challenge is, when people come in with a definition of what they want. For people who dine out a lot, you go to a restaurant like ours to experience what the restaurant has to offer — not to impose your ideal dining experience. So, people come in and they don't want anything on the menu, they want these things specifically the way they want them, and they're not indulging in the experience we have to offer, they're tailoring it to themselves. Sometimes, you can't win. And in cases like that, I literally just don't take their money and apologize.
Tell me about some of the outrageous requests you've received from guests.
We're pretty lucky that way, I haven't had anything crazy. I've had two guests ask for one steak — the same steak — but different temperatures, and expected to get it at the same time. That's pretty crazy. They ordered our 22-ounce steak [to share], but they wanted half of it well-done, half of it medium-rare, and then they were upset when they didn't get the well-done half at the same time as the medium-rare. You're like, "Are you fucking joking me? It's the same steak."
[Artist Rodney Graham's Anamorphic Psychomania Variation, hanging in the dining room. Photo: Hawksworth Restaurant]
Do you have favorite regulars?
We have so many. I have people that literally come here two or three times a week. Rodney Graham is a huge supporter, we feature his art in the restaurant, and he's one of David's biggest fans. ... We have guys that come in here and literally will drink $2,000 or $3,000 bottles of wine once a week. For lunch. We also have one woman, she comes in probably at least once a week, has two glasses of Champagne and half of a burger, and eats one French fry. Every single time.
With all the positive reviews and awards, have you noticed a shift in diners?
We're definitely getting more occasion diners. There really isn't anybody in Vancouver right now that's doing exactly what we're doing. There's a lot of beautiful restaurants, but we've kind of become one of the major occasion spots. So, you look at the reservation sheet and honestly 70 to 80 percent of them are birthday or anniversaries.
What's your must-have gatekeeper tool?
Patience. On every level. I have 140 staff? and we've got 1,200 square feet of private dining space, we have an off-site catering business that's all run out of here. So between managing the guests' expectations, managing my staff expectations, and then managing David's expectations, it requires a great deal of patience.
Any last words?
We really do have something special here, and the restaurant is a lot of run. We're getting recognition for being very occasion-oriented, but I really believe that we're the new definition of West Coast, upscale fine dining. It's really been an evolution in what people are expecting now, and if I could be so bold as to speak to what I think the industry is in Vancouver, we don't have the same entertainment as they do in other big cities. Vancouver is a slightly sleepier city as far as cities are concerned, so they come to restaurants for entertainment. They come to restaurants to have a little bit of a scene, to be recognized by people that work there. We have a really laid-back approach to fine dining service — the refinement is there, but nobody's wearing gloves, there's no aprons or tablecloths, there's slightly louder music. We really like to infuse an element of fun into the experience.
· Hawksworth Restaurant [Official site]
· All Previous Gatekeepers Coverage [Eater]