Zurini: It’s time to stop serving everyone 

Who doesn’t like discovering a great restaurant, and then telling everyone they know about it. I do appreciate a great culinary experience, but not at the expense of great taste and being able to recognize what I’m eating. I often tell wait staff, when they ask if I have any food allergies, that my response is “foam.” Yes, foam. I do not want foam of anything, nor do I want the essence of something, or some rare poisonous fish as my amuse bouche. I can appreciate great technique and seasonally rare ingredients, but there is a reason why the three top flavours of ice cream are vanilla (30 to 35 per cent), chocolate (12 to 15 per cent) and strawberry (10 to 13 per cent). Also on my wish list is a great experience — be it from the restaurant’s aesthetic, the staff’s exuberance, underscored by the clientele’s energy, plus the uncomplicated menu items — that makes me one happy camper.

Chef and restaurateur Simon Kim is someone I feel delivers on my simple take on food with his restaurants. Especially Coqdaq, which is one of those word combinations that mimics the sound of a chicken and, when translated, means chicken-chicken (coq being French for chicken and daq/dak the Korean word for chicken). Clever but simple, and so is his menu, which revolves around crispy fried chicken deliciousness, accompanied by what else — champagne, of course.

Getting to the table

Recently, on a trip to New York, I had a problem (a first-world problem, nonetheless). I was there for only a few nights and I wanted bragging rights to the toughest reservations. So I turned to an organization that secures reservations at highly sought-after establishments, for a fee of course. They know someone who knows someone, or they call (yes, call) when the 30-day reservation window opens for eateries that only take call-in reservations. Some companies buy, trade or bid on reservations for a fee.

I used two methods. The first: the “I know someone who knows someone” approach, equally costly because now I owe that person a dinner for the connection. The second was to pay a sum, and this company would ensure my reservation. The fee is paid — approximately the cost of dinner for two with an expensive bottle of wine — when you get your golden ticket: the reservation confirmation.

Listen closely to deliver an unbridled experience

The experience with the reservation facilitator, whose name was Michael, did not end with the confirmation. It began the minute we walked in, where every staff member treated us as if we were VIPs because we knew Michael. The hostess’s first words were “Oh, you are a friend of Michael’s!” I’m not here to tell you that Michael and the restaurant are in on the fact that I paid for it, but not a server or staff member we came in contact with dispelled the fantasy that we knew someone who knew someone.

Michael’s influence extends beyond the reservation. He advises staff to pick up on cues to deliver a milestone experience. The best of these touches was the fact that we were all undecided about what dessert to order. The server made note of the dessert that didn’t make the cut, and said Michael felt we should not miss it — and that he had paid for it. You could have told me my bill was just about anything at that point, and I would have gladly paid it.

Content per square foot

What Michael and Simon Kim subscribe to is the philosophy of “content per square foot” — that the restaurant is a vessel for the ultimate customer experience. Their belief is that if you have entrusted their savorium (a made-up word for an experiential eatery) with your most sensitive of senses (taste buds), your most precious resource (time) and your most tangible asset (money), they promise to deliver an unprecedented culinary experience.

What can the real estate industry learn from hospitality?

So how do these showcase establishments accomplish this day in and day out, such that they are an integral part of every influencer’s top 10 list and become a coveted post for foodies, where getting a table is some sort of lifetime achievement? It doesn’t end there. Just because you got a table at The Polo Bar at 4:30 p.m. doesn’t mean you are the cool kid. You know you have made it when you get an 8 p.m. reservation. So how do these trends that have emerged in the restaurant industry translate into real estate?

Small and exclusive is a smart strategy

These are two very linked concepts in the restaurant industry that came out of necessity, yet reinforced existing strategies. A smaller footprint means lower costs but allows for greater quality finishings. Smaller breeds an intimate setting perfect for seeing the action and being seen. Gated access and limited seating plays into cost savings but also feeds the human psychology of being part of something desirable. Smaller dining spaces fortify efficiency and greater server responsiveness, while smaller menus enhance quality and freshness.

The Corner Store in New York City embodies the small-and-exclusive strategy. The name invokes simplicity and necessity, like that of a corner store. The menu items are culinary staples with flair. It’s intimate by size, but by definition it’s exactly what you imagine: comfort food that satisfies your taste buds and surprises them at the same time.

This concept is a take on how today’s consumers value a more curated experience over mass access. The experience economy is alive and well in this space, where people will pay more and become increasingly loyal when they participate in a status-laden experience.

From restaurateur to Realtor

The “small restaurant footprint” is akin to a smaller, more focused client base and/or tighter geographic niche, rather than trying to serve everyone everywhere.

The “hard-to-get reservation” denotes curated access to properties and information, where clients feel they are in a private club, not just scrolling the same MLS feed and auto-emails as everyone else. Instead of saying “I have more listings on MLS,” an agent can say “I give a small group of clients priority access to the right opportunities, some of which the public never sees.”

Exclusivity strengthens relationships

Exclusive listings are the real estate equivalent of “there are tables, but you only know about them if you know us.” This brings about stronger agent-to-client relationships. Instead of sifting through the noise of uncurated listings, it encourages the agent to invest more time in understanding their clients’ goals and tailoring a strategy for them. That is like a regular diner who becomes “known” at a restaurant and receives special treatment.

Front-of-the-line listings

Like a restaurant with a waitlist that becomes part of your brand narrative, the story of limited access and scarcity itself is a marketing asset.

You can position your brand as someone who works with a limited number of clients at one time, so you can offer priority access to exclusive and pre-market opportunities. And conversely, your value proposition to sellers is that some of your listings are exclusive or pre-market, shared only with pre-qualified buyers on your private list.

Do we solve problems with inventory or service?

Prior to all this open consumer access to inventory, agents used their skills to uncover inventory to solve their clients’ real estate needs. They met in person on a regular basis to discuss the needs and wants of their clients, not the best AI platform to edit a video. Buyers weren’t stressed with an overload of information, and sellers were not made vulnerable by the public portals and the MLS’s restrictive rules. Knowledgeable real estate agents made their clients comfortable with the process and facilitated all of the external relationships to bring the purchase or sale to a successful close.

Some might argue that the contents of this article fly in the face of the evolution of organized real estate. But did that evolution take into consideration all the needs of the various types of consumers and circumstances? The one-size-fits-all scenario is being challenged by consumers, regulators and practitioners.

Restaurants are shrinking their footprints and tightening access to control costs and tap into a scarcity/status psychology. A great lesson for real estate brokerages, agents and teams: don’t try to be everything for all consumers by spreading yourself too thin.

Smaller spaces and hard-to-get reservations support better unit economics and a stronger brand by focusing on high-value guests and curated experiences. You can adopt this by serving a smaller, more curated client base, specializing by niche and designing a high-touch, boutique service model.

Exclusive listings are the real estate industry’s answer to VIP tables. They provide privacy for sellers and give committed buyers access to off-market or pre-market opportunities. But I caution us as an industry to use this strategy with respect and transparency. It only works when exclusivity is authentic and client-centric. It must be framed as a way to protect privacy, filter noise and give clients an edge — not just as a repository of secret inventory.

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