Sale of Le Bec Fin mirrors kitchen cabinet worlds changes

New Years Throwback Thursday. Main Line Kitchen Design flashes back to a 2012 blog about Le Bec-Fin. And Paul’s first Bon Appetit!

June 30th 2012

The sale of Le Bec Fin and the loss of its 5-star rating has signaled a change in the Philadelphia restaurant landscape, and in a small way, our society as a whole.  Society has become less formal.  Our younger customers usually don’t have sterling silver and China place settings they began to acquire as wedding gifts. In our kitchen design world traditional dining room and kitchen space is now routinely being combined.  The larger area becomes a more social place to eat day to day as well as to entertain on special occasions.

We don’t spend less money on eating out and certainly we don’t spend less on our kitchens today, but we spend it differently.  Imagine, Craig LaBan gives Bibou a BYOB his highest rating.  At Bibou diners can enjoy fine cuisine and bring $100 or $1000 bottles of wine that would have troubled my sensibilities purchasing at traditional restaurant prices. NOTE Bibou closed in 2024

Le Bec Fin

I am reminded daily of our changing world.  Certainly, the business model that Main Line Kitchen Design employs would not have been possible just a few years ago.  But what truly warms my heart is when I mail out the Julia Child cookbooks to each homeowner whose kitchen we just completed.  I love change but it’s nostalgia and remembering Le Bec Fin as it was or Julia Child working in her PBS kitchen that gets me choked up.

…and so Bon Appetit!

Paul

Main Line Kitchen Design still sends cookbooks to our customers when their kitchens are complete. Usually no longer Julia Child books as they have become harder to get.

Here’s another blast from the past for those interested. Link Here

Does Every Kitchen Need 8 Dishwashers?