Sale of Le Bec Fin – Major change for Philadelphia.

Kitchen Design Experts Ponder Philly’s Changing Restaurant Landscape

The sale of Le Bec Fin and the loss of its 5-star rating has signaled a change in the Philadelphia restaurant landscape, and in a small way, our society as a whole.  Society has become less formal.  Our younger customers usually don’t have sterling silver and China place settings they began to acquire as wedding gifts. In our kitchen design world traditional dining room and kitchen space is now routinely being combined.  The larger area becomes a more social place to eat day to day as well as to entertain on special occasions.

We don’t spend less money on eating out and certainly we don’t spend less on our kitchens today, but we spend it differently.  Imagine, Craig LaBan gives Bibou a BYOB his highest rating.  At Bibou diners can enjoy fine cuisine and bring $100 or $1000 bottles of wine that would have troubled my sensibilities purchasing at traditional restaurant prices.

Le Bec Fin

I am reminded daily of our changing world.  Certainly, the business model that Main Line Kitchen Design employs would not have been possible just a few years ago.  But what truly warms my heart is when I mail out the Julia Child cookbooks to each homeowner whose kitchen we just completed.  I love change but it’s nostalgia and remembering Le Bec Fin as it was or Julia Child working in her PBS kitchen that gets me choked up.

…and so Bon Appetit!

Paul