Jose Garces: Basically Recession Proof
We are so looking forward to the openings of Jose Garces' new establishments: Chifa, the Peruvian-Cantonese restaurant is slated to open within the month, while Whiskey Village is supposed to right beside Tinto by the end of the year. So far, less is known about Whiskey Village, but a new piece in the The Philadelphia Business Journal reveals more about it, along with some other fun Garces factoids.
On the subject of his soon-to-be-five restaurants:
All will have opened within a four-year span. No other independent restaurateur has opened as many places in that span. And, with the economy in recession and consumers hunkering down for a long winter, Garces’ plans for this year put him in a class of his own.
Most important though is the bit about Whiskey Village that is buried in all the talk of his super-mega-success. "Village Whiskey will be a departure from those traditions, more of a bar with offerings of burgers and an oyster bar." Whiskey, burgers, and oysters? The Cantonese element at Chifa is a departure to begin with, but this is pretty big.
This level of diversity in the Garces Restaurant Group stable of restaurants makes us think that he is planning on going much, much bigger. This theory is not entirely unrealistic: Garces' near-empire has not been affected by the economic downturn and he's still getting financing for new projects.
Garces’ downturn recipe is to open 2 more restaurants [Philadelphia Business Journal]
Tinto [MenuPages]
Tinto [Official Site]
[Photo: Jose Garces via TimeOut Chicago]
