"It's a secret."

After a dinner at Casa Mun, I became fascinated with the experience of dining at a Closed Door Restaurant, a vaguely themed restaurant whose location was a secret. From divulging the address to the first step into a transformed space, to the rituals performed with an audience of mutual strangers, to a journey that engages the senses, there was a theatricality and purposefulness in the Closed Door Restaurant experience that really excited me. 

It didn’t seem so far from the type of theater experience I seek to create. 

Theater that haunts, that suspends, that's curated, immersive and sensorial. 

So I began my interviews. 

While I started and mainly interviewed owners and founders of closed door restaurants, I also found myself talking with chefs, artists, innovators, and entrepreneurs.  The following is a collection of takeaways I gleaned from each interview. 

2: Dan Perlman: Casa Saltshaker

• The tone is set from the first moment.
• Know the legality of your operation.
• BYOB leads to alcohol one-up-manship at the table. Provide the wine.
• Give them face time
• Ask for feedback.

3: Alan Epstein: The Office

• If it’s not working: make it better or let it go.
• Invite guests: it makes your space a forum for conversation.
• “We did Mondays 1/2 off. Take over Tuesdays. What’s our next problem? Wednesdays.”
• Make your worst your best. And just go down the list.
• Be honest about your mistakes.

4: El Señor Dueño: Almacen Bogensee

• If you like it, stay with it.
• You can work your way up.
• The experience of foreign in a restaurant.
• Making an exception wins customer loyalty.
• There is a destiny that comes to us.

5: Santiago Mymicopulo : Casa Coupage

• The soul of it is based in connecting with your people.
• To communicate the experience of wine.  To curate an experience inside the mouth.
• The next step should be based on what people want.
• People are always searching for a new experience.
• With wine, and really anything and everything there are many many truths.

6: Juanita Posternak: Mis Raices 

• It’s never to late to start.
• Find your niche.
• Details that match the essence.
• If you are generous they will be generous.
• Make it a home.

7: Jerónimo Grandi: Avitantes

• Start with what you love. That is the seed of your work.
• Art is strongest when within it we see a reflection of who we are. People connect as people.
• Take care of people within the experience.
• What you want, give it first.
• Pull at the word theater, pull at the meaning of all words.

8: Hollis Mickey

• The value of creating an accessible community.
• It is possible to charge less but earn more.
• Find what drives you artistically, follow that.
• Have practices.
• It’s okay to change what you do.  

9: Nikki Froneman: Afro-Kitschen

• It’s okay to start small.
• Engage people’s curiosity.
• Don’t forget about identity. And build from that.
• Tell them stories about the food. About anything they engage with.
• Give them a gift to take away.

 10: Samuel Warde: Sammy’s

• Go where there aren’t people like you.
• Try new things every time.
• “Pay what you can” confuses people.
•  Don’t under estimate right time right place
• You never know what’s gonna be dealt to you, but you will have to roll with it.

11: Diego Felix : Colectivo Felix

• Live on all sides.   
• Let it be different because it’s personal, not to just be different.
• Know that what you know is distinct and special and trust that.
• But make a wide big thing and trust that everyone will get it.
• It’s always a leap.

12: Julian Diaz: 878

• Make a thing that matches the climate.
• In starting: aim to make 20 people happy.
• Any given can be extraordinary.
• Know why you.
• Always be better than the expectations.

 13: Abigail Machado : Almacen Secreto

• If it’s daily, make the days distinct.
• Create from what you know.
• Sometimes you will need to push. If so, push.
• It takes 10 years.
• You’re always starting fresh somehow. That means growth.

14: Alison Eakle: Comedy Central

• You get what you put into it.
• You need to want it harder than anyone else.
• Make your own opportunities.
• Trust what you’re doing and what you’re not doing. That tells you something.
• Do it now.

15: Meghan Lewis: Jueves a la Mesa y Buena Onda Yoga

• Don’t let yourself get intimidated out of doing something.
• If you need to wear blinders to get it done, wear the blinders.
• It’s okay to change things as they make more sense. No one will question you.
• No one notices the stop gaps.
• “All we need is patience and faith.”