Joe Baum
Proprietor
The Rainbow Room & Windows on the World
New York City

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When Governor Clinton asked the owner of the Fraunces Tavern to prepare a dinner in honor of General Washington on November 25, 1783, the population of New York City was 4,000 people. Almost all were of European origin.

When The Windows on the World Restaurant opened on the 107th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in 1976, the population of New York City exceeded eight million, uniting virtually every nation on earth. Alone, this restaurant directly employed 1,500 people at every skill level.

Indirectly a restaurant provides employment for electricians and plumbers, manufacturers of china, flatware, glasses, furniture and uniform makers. It purchases refrigerators, air conditioners, lighting fixtures, flowers and virtually everything that is bought for a home from paper products and vacuum cleaners to the kitchen sink. It contracts for linen services, waste and garbage disposal services and increases business for wholesale suppliers of meat, fish, poultry, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, bread and cheese, tea and coffee. .

One percent of all Americans are waiters.

Collectively restaurants are America's largest retail employer, providing work for more than nine million people while generating $38 billion in spending on business meals and tourist spending. There are more than 554,000 commercial food establishments in the United States. The ripple effect of a thriving restaurant generates revenues and a tax base for an entire community. On an annual basis the food service industry in New York contributes close to $2 billion a year to the local economy.

Individually, a restaurant can single-handedly change the economy of a region. The World Trade Center displaced the old Washington Market, where the best of everything edible once made its way into New York. During the 17th Century, The Dutch West India Company guaranteed to all who ventured to settle in the new colony that there would be a public market to satisfy the needs of the settlers. One of these was The Bear Market that was established in 1771. Gradually, almost imperceptibly, the market and everything around fell into a deep decline. By the time The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey began drawing up plans for the twin towers, the region was desolate. With its realization, it became a vibrant vertical city. Its business population exceeded 50,000 a day. Eighty thousand tourists and business visitors passed through its doors every day.

And left every night.

Windows on the World was a restaurant that changed the one-way flow of traffic out of the area. It was like a magnet, attracting a new surge of restaurant goers. It became a catalyst that transformed the entire area; and brought a new spirit of optimism to a financially troubled city and a specific part of the city that was not only dead but certified gone by the financial coroners.

On the day Windows on the World opened its doors, this singular restaurant employed a full time staff of 30 to handle 2,500 phone calls from those seeking reservations. It became a destination. Twenty years later, the surrounding area is poised to grow into a residential community that will boost the construction of schools, parks, churches and other public buildings.

While it can't be claimed one restaurant was the sole impetus for the renewal of The Downtown Village, the region is today attracting throngs of tourists to its newly built museums and the renovated South Street Seaport. There is renewed interest in preserving its other historic buildings. There is even talk of a ferry service to carry commuters down the rivers as well as across them.

Windows on the World was an extraordinary enterprise; unique in its ability to solve the problems of supplying first-rate food to each of its 22 eating places and in its ability to serve 25,000 meals a day. Its construction budget exceeded $26 million. The money was well and wisely spent. It became the largest grossing restaurant in the world.

The restaurant closed after the terrorist bombing in 1993 that destroyed its subterranean commissary but has now been completely reinvented for its reopening. Like every business and every institution, restaurants must constantly recreate themselves. They must accommodate new tastes and different fashions. After all there has been a 700 percent increase in orders for vegetarian dishes compared with a decade ago.

Change is a word that is greatly feared in the restaurant industry as in almost every other industry. Yet old assumptions crumble willingly when there is a perceived benefit. As more and more people eat more meals away from home, they must be persuaded to change the times they eat. Nowhere is it written that lunch is at noon and dinner at 7 (or, how we restaurateurs wish – Friday and Saturday are the only evenings to dine out!). With increasing urban populations, large office buildings should encourage their work staff to stagger their meal times thus reducing congestion on the streets as well as overcrowding in the dining rooms.

Restaurants play a vital role in the cultural and economic life of cities. In the last few years they have taken a leadership role in supporting their communities, providing food and staff for gala dinners that raise money for the poor, the elderly and dozens of worthy causes. Surplus food is often donated to shelters and to feed the hungry. Cooking education and training programs are undertaken by chefs helping the less fortunate to find employment in food service industries. In New York restaurateurs have joined hands to create promotional campaigns to attract new customers and lure back old ones. As they fill their seats, they simultaneously fill the coffers of the tax collectors.

The difficulties of operating a restaurant are many and the failure rate extraordinarily high. Close to half of all new restaurants fail in their first year of operation; 65 percent bite the dust within two years. Competition is stiff. There are more than 15,000 restaurants in New York City. Staff turnover is higher in restaurants than in most other businesses and the labor pool is shrinking. Reservations are made and not honored. Such losses are lost for ever. Theft is staggering. Food costs vary almost on a daily basis and higher prices cannot always be reflected on the menu. There is a limit to the amount a guest is willing to pay for a salmon steak, yet it is almost a required item on the menu.

The curbing of tax deductions for business entertaining has leveled a heavy blow to many fine restaurants that once depended on this trade to fill their tables both at lunch and dinner. Like all institutions they must be nimble on their feet, finding new revenues to replace old. Liquor sales drop precipitously so bottled water provides a healthy, (and profitable) alternative. As health concerns change the kind of food that is ordered, chefs have to become more inventive, enticing guests to try new foods. It is an ongoing challenge to pull rabbits from hats that have yet to be invented. The best succeed. The best deserve to.

Professional cooking schools have acquired stature and more skilled and innovative chefs are filling senior positions in established restaurants and opening their own businesses. As the American wine industry reaches maturity, the quality of the food in restaurants continues to improve too. The new restaurants represent a broad spectrum of cuisines that reflect the extraordinary ethnic diversity of the nation.

It is true that a restaurant is as good as the quality of the ingredients it selects. The search for the best naturally leads restaurateurs to seek out the produce of small farms. Chefs are taking a leadership role in supporting the use of organically grown foods. Many are devoted to a philosophy of using minimally processed ingredients and seasonal produce. They are broadcasting the importance that our health is dependent on the good health of the land, the rivers and the sea.

Today more people than ever consider themselves environmentalists. The challenge of restaurants is to respond to consumers priorities – buying pesticide-free produce, humanely raised meats, becoming eco-sensitive and actively seeking out the freshest and highest quality ingredients.

The rules have changed. The goal is no longer to eat as much as you can. Rather it is to make wise food choices. Successful restaurants are providing beautiful food in settings that are elegant without being stuffy, sophisticated and at the same time casual and relaxed. Guests are rewarded with big flavors, gracious service and value for their time as well as their money.

The word restaurant is a large one, encompassing as it does every type of eatery from a fine white-table cloth icon to a neighborhood pizza parlor. The history of restaurants is a reflection of the country and its peoples. Once America was described as a melting pot – today it has become a glorious, green salad bowl.
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