What happens when you pair a Michelin-trained New York chef with a seasoned wine and hospitality pro? Check out our most recent episode of So You Want to Run a Restaurant to find out. Hosts Claudia Saric and Spencer Michiel welcomed Chef Jack Logue and founding partner Chris Miller from New York City’s legendary Lambs Club.
Once a haunt for Broadway singers, legends of the silver screen, and New York’s cultural elite, the iconic Lambs Club was hit hard by the pandemic. Jack and Chris saw and seized the opportunity to purchase and reinvigorate the elegant but aging beauty.
Today, Lambs Club is a thriving experience-dining destination for both out-of-town visitors and real New Yorkers. Jack credits this success to a renewed emphasis on the thing that truly makes New York great – fun.
Lambs Club first opened in 1905, and sits in a historic Stanford White building. Just a heartbeat away from Times Square, Lambs was originally conceived as a safe haven for the stars of stage and screen. It’s also where Jack and Chris first met, and where they would soon launch an extremely fruitful partnership.
Two Parallel Trajectories
Chris actually worked as the wine director for Lambs Club before the pandemic. In the aftermath of the COVID crisis, a new management company took over. While this particular management group struggled to reinvigorate the famed restaurant, they did make two very smart decisions. They re-hired Chris as their general manager and brought on Jack as their chef de cuisine. It was immediately clear to both Chris and Jack they shared a vision for how to turn the struggling operation around.
“We had both grown up in the New York City hospitality world, but on separate paths,” said Chris. “We were kind of having these parallel trajectories while rising the ranks, and we came together, and it was kind of just magnetic.”
They also had the benefit of building off an incredible space. “You just completely forget you're in the middle of Times Square,” said Chris. “You’re just in this beautiful restaurant with big leather banquettes, red leather seats – just a really, really great dining room.”
Five Big Takeaways From Our Chat With Jack and Chris
Jack remembered that “the group that had taken over wasn’t quite working out so well. The second we both felt that there was a little opportunity, Chris and I were like, ‘Let's just do this. Let's build what we want to build.’”
They secured funds, made an offer and, Jack recalled, “We got the gig, as they say.”
So how did Jack and Chris join their experiences in order to breathe fresh new life into the Lambs Club? And what exactly is a “wine window.” For the whole story, check out the full podcast. For the best moments from our chat, read on.
1. Know Your Product Inside and Out
Jack calls this the first rule of business and credits the CEO of Chipotle with imparting this wisdom. Today, Chipotle is obviously a QSR giant. But back in 2005, they were just getting off of the ground. Qdoba was their biggest competition at the time. Jack saw Chipotle’s CEO during a guest speaking engagement and learned that “He went down to Mexico and he learned how to make burritos from this one family.”
While Jack concedes that he wouldn’t necessarily call Chipotle “the most authentic Mexican food in the world,” he was struck by the CEO’s commitment to understanding his own product.
“I heard that,” recalled Jack, “and basically, a week later, I dropped out of college and made a plan to get into a culinary school in Italy. I moved to Italy when I was 18 and it all started from there.”
2. Expect a Lot of Stops on the Way to Success
Chris runs the business side of the operation, but he stopped at pretty much every single station on the way. He got his first restaurant job when he was 16 and he stayed with the same place for the next decade.
“I started off as a food runner, became a barback, then became a server, then became a bartender,” said Chris. That type of experience gave Chris a really clear sense of what makes a successful restaurant.
“We had this unbelievable group of bartenders. And it was all about hospitality and taking care of people.” said Chris. “It was the type of atmosphere where you’d see the person walking in from the parking lot and you’d put their drink on the bar.”
“That's kind of how I got the bug,” Chris recalled. “And I kind of just knew at that point, this was what I was gonna do with the rest of my life.”
3. Keep Things Fun
Jack explained that the concept behind the new Lambs Club was simple but powerful – elevated and fun takes on American classics through a New Yorker's lens. This proved the perfect balance as the young entrepreneurs took control of the storied venue.
“Whenever you're taking over an iconic property in any capacity, you don't want to change everything,” observed Jack. “There are things that have been working, things that people do gravitate towards, and traditions you should honor.”
But there were also things that could be improved. Jack and Chris agreed that the best way to do this was to “Make it fun, make it exciting, make it refreshing and not stuffy.” For a tantalizing look at Jack’s idea of fun, check out key menu items like the ‘Nduja Carbonara with bacon fat poached egg or the Sweet Corn Ravioli with chorizo crumble, teardrop peppers, and parmesan.
4. Create Value for Your Customers
Given Jack’s pedigree as a chef, it goes without saying that the food is amazing. But customer experience is every bit as important. Chris noted that “We just wanted to build a restaurant that we would want to go to. I’m very big on getting value. We just want people to feel like they get good value.”
Chris acknowledged that a full-service night out at the heart of Times Square is never going to be cheap. You could easily spend $500 on a table for two. “And that's about what it costs for dinner in New York City, if you want to have a bottle of wine, an entree, dessert, and cocktail,” Chris pointed out.
It’s not that customers aren’t willing to spend this much. It’s that they are growing more particular about how and where they will spend this much. “People are working really hard these days,” said Chris. “And it's like, ‘Is this worth it?’”
“We want to make sure that the people that come into the Lamb are like, ‘I know I’m going to spend a lot of money there. But it was great. I felt like I was taken care of. And I want to come back,’” Chris said.
5. Dig Into Your Data
As Jack noted, when it comes to giving customers that valuable experience, “it’s all about having fun again.”
But Jack and Chris both acknowledged that this fun is backed by solid data. This has been especially important for the launch of their innovative “wine window” concept. If you're looking for a touch of Florence right in the middle of Times Square, Buchette del Vino has a curated list of over 600 labels. Managing that kind of inventory requires some serious number-crunching. “We're very into analytics,” said Chris. “So on a quarterly basis, on an annual basis, we run a product mix, and we see what people are spending.”
The data has helped Chris hone in on a wine list that matches the spending habits of the clientele. “We're in Times Square,” Chris pointed out. “A super esoteric wine list probably wouldn't be the best thing for us.” The big takeaway here is to be sure you really understand who your clients are and how they respond to your menu.
Don’t Leave It Up to Guesswork
So how do you know what the best items are for your menu? How can you better understand your clients, their spending habits, and their expectations? The short answer to all of these questions is technology.
From menu engineering technology and customer loyalty programs to advanced machine learning and data analytics tools, all kinds of solutions can help you take a deeper dive into your own data. Not sure where to start?
Reach out today to schedule for your free, personalized consultation with one of our resident restaurant tech experts and we’ll work together to figure out what you need.
