The Fhima Meltdown

Why are people surprised that David Fhima closed Louis XIII at Southdale, the restaurant that was intended to be the jewel in his crown? Was it because the adjacent chain restaurants grossed almost $30 million last year? Was it because David Fhima was the most talked-about restaurateur in the Twin Cities? Was it because his restaurants always seemed to be in newspapers and magazines?

Or was it because people loved his product and execution, the typical measure of restaurant success?

It seems Fhima’s other projects aren’t faring well either. LoTo, his bakery cum casual restaurant in Lowertown St. Paul, briefly closed due to unpaid utility bills. Fhima’s is struggling to hold an audience. And David was dumped from the Hennepin Avenue Stimson project for the Bellanotte Boys.

The first year of business for any sexy restaurant is lucrative if you make some noise before you open. And David Fhima opens sexy restaurants and makes lots of noise. But the Law of Small Numbers always catches up to those who don’t execute well. Always.

It says that early indications can be misleading. That a business’s true potential and relevance is only apparent after a lengthy period of operation. In our hype-driven consumer culture, that’s truer than ever. And the Law of Small Numbers is crushing David Fhima.

By putting himself out front so loudly, so often, he attracts more attention than any other restaurateur in town. But the hype has masked the fact that all his restaurants eventually underperform because the food and experience are never consistent and too many guests fail to return.

Fhima thinks the problem is that he got distracted and that his restaurants need more Fhima. “I need to get my ass in the kitchen a lot more, I’ll admit it,” Fhima told me recently. “I can cook with Moroccan–Mediterranean flair better than anyone. Chefs today need to be able to cook, run a business, and sell their product to the public. I cannot be in all three places, but I can cook and sell to the public. I am turning over the business end of the stick to Rob Nelson [his new partner] and I will focus on guest experience, community outreach, and cooking.”

But, back in the day, when Fhima was doing the cooking, the food was never that great at Mpls. Café or Fhima’s, was it? Fhima is a charmer and a talented promoter, a great packager and concept man, but spending more time in the kitchen is not going to solve his problems.

Fhima’s and LoTo don’t need tweaking, they require open-heart surgery. In my opinion, none of Fhima’s restaurants is on a secure footing, even with a cash infusion from a new investor. They are all endangered, and I’m drawing that conclusion purely on the basis of customer experience.

Nobody asked me, but if I were David’s adviser, I’d tell him he needs to remake all three restaurants (he still holds the Louis XIII lease) with a COO, national caliber chefs, new menus, and energy. David needs to merely be the public face of his restaurants, a role he performs admirably. With a competent management structure, he could do what he does best: create restaurants, buzz, and press the flesh.

David says these days he is concentrating all his energy on LoTo and Fhima’s, rather than exacerbating his troubles by looking downstream. He was saying the same thing three years ago about his Chicago restaurant that never opened. I like David. He’s a smart, funny, talented guy who has great ideas. But I don’t think he gets it. “I need to have my hand on every sauce. It’s the only way I know how. I need to train people better.”

David Fhima is walking one of the riskiest high-wire acts in local restaurant memory. And there’s no net underneath him.

For more foodie conversation, tasty recipes, and fun photos, check out Andrew Zimmern’s new blog, Chow & Again.