Learning from others’ missteps can keep your footing sureLearning from others’ missteps can keep your footing sure

The New York restaurant nut is a notoriously tough one to crack. It’s so notorious, in fact, that when I first moved here, a friend joked that I could only consider myself a “real New Yorker” after I’d seen at least three restaurants cycle through the same building space, two of them having closed their doors permanently. 


Despite the industry’s reputation, I guess I underestimated just how difficult it is to make it in this business, because I’m surprised and saddened to say that 14 months in, I’m already two-thirds of the way there — several times over. 


Two-thirds of the way, but not quite there yet. And therein lies the silver lining. 


It seems that several of the new restaurants have figured out how to capture the elusive customer b...