@SXSW2021
@SXSW2021 · 2:09

SXSW Mentor Elizabeth Blau - Restauranteur

article image placeholderElizabeth Blau
This is Deborah party. So I'm speaking on the swell cast for South By Southwest. I'm about to have a conversation with Elizabeth Blau, who is an extraordinary restauranteur who is going to be a mentor this year. And anyone who gets to sit down with her is really in for a treat. I have to say first and foremost, as somebody who has lived in San Francisco for 18 years, I now live in Los Angeles, but I lived in San Francisco

James Beard Award Nominee, Blau has transformed what "culinary destination" means by creating a dining experiences that are works famous.

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@elizabethblau
Elizabeth Blau
@elizabethblau · 2:09
Hi, Deborah. Thank you. And thanks for that great introduction. It sounds like we share so many fabulous women restauranteur and chef friends on the West Coast. I guess I am just one of those very lucky people that had a passion for this industry at a young age. I always tell the story that I was a Taco girl at Happy Hour at a restaurant called Ponto McGee when I was growing up in West Hartford, Connecticut, at 16 years old and just fell in love with the industry
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@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:04

The culture of competition

But I want to ask you because you've been around this industry for as long as you have what's your feeling about competition? And as a judge, did you feel comfortable? Was it was it a good experience? Do you have thoughts about it? And I just want to hear your thoughts because we've all been watching these shows and it's entertaining. But I would love from your perspective, how does competition play into this culture and does it stay inside the shows?
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@elizabethblau
Elizabeth Blau
@elizabethblau · 1:59
But an Iron Chef in particular, what you see is really that competitive nature, and it's a tough show because you get a secret ingredient and you have to create with your sous chef this beautiful meal in 1 hour and that's it. And if you go over, you are disqualified. So what you are seeing is really reality there. So I think these shows are providing a great escape for people. And I know for one, I have started sourdough baking
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@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:09

Location location location?

I love that you are one of the millions of people who have been making bread. It just cracks me up because every time I hear another person who, like, got the mother, I think they call it the mother. Someone gives you a little bit of sourdough, and it's a gift, as opposed to bringing someone wine or flowers. We can't do that. So we leave a jar on their doorstep and say, Here, make some more bread. It's so weird and wonderful
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@elizabethblau
Elizabeth Blau
@elizabethblau · 2:00
But if you are going to build a brick and mortar restaurant, the location is absolutely everything for you. And so finding an emerging market, looking into smaller cities and basically doing your research because that lease that rent deal that you have is really going to be the most critical factor in your success. It is the largest cost that many of us carry on a LG on a monthly basis. And so it's often a make or break for a restaurant or chef in the business
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@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:27

🙏🙏🌱 thank you ! Open for all!

But thank you for being a part of this celebration of south by Southwest and also for connecting with us and letting us get to know who you are and some of the things that you love to do, including baking and also just the way you describe this new food economy, it just feels like it's boundaryless, and it feels really helpful to me
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