Menu copycats. A good or bad thing?

Just finished reading this interesting article about dishes being recreated at another restaurant that another establishment originally came up with.

http://nrn.com/food-trends/nancy-kruse- ... ats?page=2

I found this article intriguing because during a recent trip to Columbus, OH, I stumbled upon a new restaurant in the Short North district that was having thier opening day called "Bakersfield" . They had a striking resemblence to what "Manny & Merle's" is doing here on Main St. Almost to a "T".

As a chef, I always looked through the latest culinary magazines and cookbooks looking for new ideas for dishes. Heck we all do. But the only dishes that I have pretty much outright "borrowed" are the Green Chili Wontons from the Bristol and the Hot Brown. I make no apologes for this this as these are mostly consumer driven choices.

Please direct your attention to the following news articles:
http://www.columbusunderground.com/bake ... -north-aw1
Bakersfield OTR (Cincy) and Bakerfield Mass Ave (Indy) expands to Bakersfield North Short (Columbus).
http://cincinnati.com/blogs/developingn ... y-quarter/
Original Bakersfield OTR opening in Cincy, article dated 4/19/11.

Manny and Merle's opened November 15, 2012
http://louisville.eater.com/archives/20 ... street.php

But Bakersfield was probably inspired by Big Star in Chicago.

The whole Bakersfield bar thing seems to be a trend right now. In addition to Manny & Merle, we've also got The Silver Dollar and now El Camino.

It seems to be a hot trend right now.

[Robin Garr]

Doesn't Manny & Merle's in turn bear some resemblance to Silver Dollar? As a matter of fact, Silver Dollar specifically lays claim to "Bakersfield Sound" as part of its shtick.

So in this case, imitation is not the most sincere form of flattery?

OK, I am going to chime in here......as if this will surprise any of my close friends on this blog

I agree that there seems to be a large amount of "copycatting" these days, and imitation is the highest form of flattery HOWEVER, in the food biz, less is more. The days of multiple Italian chains (i.e. Hurstbourne Parkway) are still around and we must go out of our way to find the places that we foodies crave: Unique, Inventive, and Palate Tempting.

A steakhouse, is a steakhouse, is a steakhouse.....UNLESS it is someplace with a twist like Cast Iron (my current steak fav).

Louisville is very fortunate in having some of the best and most noteworthy chefs in the Southeast, if not the United States. And the first thing that they will tell you is they work very hard to keep it unique to keep the patrons coming back for the "new and improved".

On a recent "quick" trip to Nashville, I had the pleasure of dining (at the recommendation of dear friends who were dining with me) at a wonderful place, Mack & Kate's, off of Moore's Lane and Franklin Pike. It is in a strip center by a high end shopping district outside of Nashville, beyond Brentwood and on the way to Franklin. Food was spot on, service was excellent, atmosphere was perfect, and the menu was well planned out. I felt like I was dining in a farmhouse kitchen (a very upscale farmhouse kitchen) with dear friends. I can't wait to go back and try some other things there. That, my friends, is what a good menu does....leave you wanting more.

Copying ideas is not an old idea. How many have put their own spin on Fried Green Tomatoes or Deviled Eggs (Mack & Kate's included on both counts). But, it is how they copy and tweak the items that make it unique to the individual dining room.

Stepping off the soap box now.

This is a picture of Manny and Merle:

Louisville.jpg

and here is a picture of Bakersfield in Columbus

Columbus.jpg

Sure as hell looks to me like -someone- stole someone -else's- concept....and It doesn't stop with just the concept...check out the menus:

http://www.bakersfieldotr.com/food-beer-wine-Otr.pdf

http://mannyandmerle.com/menu/menu-lunch/

On the surface anyway, it seems to be a pretty blatent highjacking and I can see where a certain group of owners (who may or may not have had Louisville on their radar) would be pretty frickin' pissed.

[Robin Garr]

On the surface anyway, it seems to be a pretty blatent highjacking and I can see where a certain group of owners (who may or may not have had Louisville on their radar) would be pretty frickin' pissed.

This makes no sense to me at all, since Manny & Merle isn't a "Bakersfield" concept and doesn't purport to be. Heck, Silver Dollar claims the Bakersfield meme up front. I wonder why the Ohio guys don't have heartburn over that? (I am not suggesting that they should, just that they sound pretty thin-skinned to me.)

On the surface anyway, it seems to be a pretty blatent highjacking and I can see where a certain group of owners (who may or may not have had Louisville on their radar) would be pretty frickin' pissed.

This makes no sense to me at all, since Manny & Merle isn't a "Bakersfield" concept and doesn't purport to be. Heck, Silver Dollar claims the Bakersfield meme up front. I wonder why the Ohio guys don't have heartburn over that? (I am not suggesting that they should, just that they sound pretty thin-skinned to me.)

<shugs>....I dunno boss...but you gotta admit, the rooms are eerily similar in terms of layout and appearance. BTW, it's gonna be hard to compare the two menus (as posted in the links above) since interestingly between the time I posted the link to Many and Merle's menu (around 2pm) and now....The menu just up and disappeared from their website. One can still find images of the original if you search "Google Images" though. Check it out, it's definitely one of those things where once you compare the two you go "Whoaaaaaa".

[Robin Garr]

<shugs>....I dunno boss...but you gotta admit, the rooms are eerily similar in terms of layout and appearance. BTW, it's gonna be hard to compare the two menus (as posted in the links above) since interestingly between the time I posted the link to Many and Merle's menu (around 2pm) and now....The menu just up and disappeared from their website. One can still find images of the original if you search "Google Images" though. Check it out, it's definitely one of those things where once you compare the two you go "Whoaaaaaa".

Well, dang! Now I want to look!

As for the similar appearance, I see long rooms with bars and a lot of wood, but maybe I'm just not suspicious-minded ...

As for the similar appearance, I see long rooms with bars and a lot of wood, but maybe I'm just not suspicious-minded ...

Come on over to the dark side, there is a little conspiracy theorist in all of us and it's just waiting to get out and spread it's wings.

All joking aside and pot stirring aside, I honestly have -no- idea if anyone took liberties with anyone else's concepts or not as I've not been in either place. So who the hell knows....like someone else said it -does- seem to be a rather common restaurant theme these days.

This is the truth, as I see it...

I've been the victim of this form of 'flattery.' Indeed, watched as some people toured the country and made lots of money and repute based upon my work.

'The Carbonated Cocktail' Circa- a long time ago. In fact, I rolled out that technique back in the Bon Vivant Days, alongside Ethan Ray.

Yup, I got quite salty about the affair- that someone else was using my work and making money off my efforts. You have no idea how many hours I spent on that technique.

At the end of the day, you have to let it go. This is the only thing that sets you free to create new stuff.

It kind of sucks that people are imitating the Silver Dollar/El Camino crowd, but they are imitating others, as well.

On the positive, they may just be carving out new genres in the community. That great taco truck at the entrance to my community? I'm sure that wouldn't happen without that first taco truck.

So there should be no beef.

A lot of these places look similar, because they're in old buildings, old buildings tend to have high ceilings and are long and narrow. Add to that, wood, which almost everyone does nowadays in old buildings, and they'll look similar. Much ado about nothing. Unless they were to open right down the street.