This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. And Jason and I've been talking about it's a big week for New York City restaurants. They've been shut down because of the pandemic. While they were allowed to reopen indoor dining it started yesterday. Some restrictions though on capacity, and we've talked about this with our food editor Kate Crater, writing that for many restaurants it's still going to be a bit of a struggle.
So someone Kate knows very well and a familiar voice to our listeners. He has found time often to join us through the pandemic, which we greatly appreciate. Back with us as chef and restaurant tour Danielle Blue, He joins us on the phone in New York City. Danielle, it is so nice to be back with you. Yeah, Hi, how are you and and what does this reopening mean for you? Well, thank you for having me and this opening.
This reopening in New York means so much because we have been stunned for eight months with no restaurants inside it. Thanks God, the city open up the streets and gave the opportunity to have a sidewalk cafe. We did our best with that at the restaurant, Danielle with daniel Bully
Kitchen and the reopening inside. I felt that I wanted to also try to set up a mood which was maybe a little different, a little more disrupting, and and and maybe a theme where I didn't get a chance to go to the South of France this summer, and every year I go to France, and I always go to the South of France. But Sola's many, many Americans, and you know, destination vacations the mediterrane always make people dream.
So I felt that I should do a restaurant who expressed a little bit of a journey to the Mediterrane through the flavor of the dishes and through the mood of the restaurant. So we transformed the restaurant into Buris Bully by the Sea as my last name. I love it. I love it, I love it, and so Danielle, I mean, what's been so interesting in sort of keeping up with you throughout this is that this has obviously challenged you as as a chef and in many ways, but it's
really challenged you. I feel like as a businessman in many ways and as a manager of your people. So tell us about some of the sort of key decisions that you felt like you had to make for your business. Of course, I mean that we'll all locked down, and
all my colleague lockdown. Little by little, we started initiative to bring back our staff and UM about the months and a half after lockdown, we started the Food First Foundation, an initiative with sl Green, my new partner in a new restaurant, Pavillon at one Vanderbilt, and he wanted to really help me start to make meals for New Yorkers and bring back some of my staff in the kitchen. But he also wanted to help many of his tenants around town to be able to reopen their kitchen and
support their tenants through UH Food First. And today we have distributed almost four meals gifted to many many charity including City Mill on Wheel and UH in New York and World Central Kitchen at the beginning of our mission, and and Barry Barry mission as well, and and they
were I think that was the first initiative. Then from that we did the take out at restaurant Danielle and then we opened the Terraus at Babu and Danielle and UH through daniel Bully Kitchen, UH takeout division as well, and today we are opened inside and it felt very good last night. I feel that people are still a little anxious and there's a mix of anxiety and excitement and for us as reopening inside, but at the same time we make sure and you know, it gave us
a chance to bring back more staff. So fifty employees we had we had now up to plus and that's really growing. So it's good. It's a good sign. And we haven't reopened all our restaurant only you know, the West Side Barbau and Danielle and Danielle, let's talk about New York City and specifically Midtown if we can, Carol and I in normal world in the before times, we went to Midtown Manhattan literally every day we would do
our show from there. We were denizens of that, you know, into the evening and so many people who we know are like that. What is Midtown like now? What do you expect it's going to be like over the next six to nine to twelve months. Well, I think over the next six months it will improve us. I think many institutions, UH Bank and other institutions of maybe mad they stuff to stay home until the end of the
year and coming back in January. So some of the company I've already bring back, brought back staff on on alternative schedule. Now, I mean, of course New York will come back New York. It's evident. And some people may have lost their job, lost stability in New York and had to live town. But for the most part, the town might be a little deprived right now of its worker, but they're gonna have to come back to work because no company can run at a distance like this forever.
And um, I believe that you know, by spring, even after the holiday, New York shill come back strong. I mean, we feel that there's a lot of New Yorker back, but they they come back, they go back and forth. Right now, we feel and I am positive, New York City is New York City, and I think it will take more than COVID to make it really a challenge city.
But we have we have a restaurant Midtown and because of Broadway, we if we don't have the culture, if we don't have the art, if we don't have the tourists, it's abused and the Town is also suffering, and so hospitality in general hotels and restaurants are suffering. And um, and we need also the workers back to really have this life during lunch midtown. So I am positive we're opening a restaurant in Midtown at forty second and one
Vanderbilt next year. Is that pavilion the pavilion, And I'm positive that, you know, it will be a good time to open a restaurant in the spring of twenty one. And at the same time, we have taken all the measure possible to make sure that people feel them they are in a very safe environment. And um, you know, it's has been m Daniel right for most let me ask you, because I can't tell you how many people
we have come on in. Even real estate guys are like, you know, it's like everybody's leaving New York City, everybody's leaving these major cities and so and so forth. I mean, I've been in New York City a long time too, and I've heard the demise of the big cities over and over again. How do you see it? I see it, And a lot of people, as I said, feel very
stressed right now. And I feel comfortable being out but they're gonna be so bored and so missing out with everything that I think they'll be back to New York. And you know, I'm a New Yorker at art and if I'm going to leave the city, where am I going to go back to France in my small village. Um, I don't know. But I'm also been a New Yorker involved with the community and involved with my profession and having an a credible support from our customer and we
still feel it, we still get it. I mean, our customers are so positive and so happy that we are here and we are continuing, and I can see I can see them coming back all the time. Are they going to spend as much time in New York City and they used to? Maybe less, but they still come back and support us. And so, Danielle, what is something like this due to the next generation of chefs coming up?
You know, I mean you have seen so many promising chefs sort of come through your kitchens and the kitchens of your friends. I do wonder about this next generation and how they will adapt and what advice you might be giving them. And and many young chefs left me to go to smaller city around the country, UM. It has been struggling challenge for them to wherever they are UH in UM in Minnesota, in California, or in UH in Florida or other part Texas. It's it's not easy
to UM. It's not easy to start a business. And then too you know when you when you start your new place, you have that you have you you might do very well, but you have to pay back the investment. And I think for younger for young chef who want to start a business, what's important is to not be in debt to the point where they can never pay
back or lose their business. Now for young chef learning to cook, I think UM there's there's going to be opportunity in the food business, maybe different than what they envision. But for me, we have been very creative at expanding into other directions in in the food world, such as UH national distribution with Gold Belly of daniel Bury Kitchen for dishes for home, so that brought me gave me a chance to bring more staff. We do also the takeout in New York City with daniel Bury Kitchen and
that brought me more staff. And UM expanding into catering. More catering, I have a catering company, but we're expanding into more services like that, and so I think we tried to stay very creative, very engaged with opportunity that maybe needed right now and make change later. But I think for young chef it's important to find a good house and to also try to work for the community
as well. A lot of young chef was doing a lot of good things for charities and they were getting paid, you know, maybe a low pay, but at least you felt very rewarded. And through um for example, Food First Foundation, it has gave me a chance to have twelve chef working full time just for the charity. And I think that is very important everybody. Everybody understands that being part of a company is being part of all it's uh
endeavors and ambition. Well, I have to say, and and it's pretty impressive with all the stresses that you guys were dealing with and with your workers, yet you still thought about the community and feeding the community, especially when New York was in such a tough way, and whether it was feeding healthcare workers or feeding people who did not have money to put food on their table. So um,
you know, you guys have been incredible Danielle. Thank you so much, Danielle Blue Chef and Restaurant Tour, joining us of course, on the phone from New York City. New York City restaurants, folks, they're open. You can go inside any