Do we want veg restaraunt?

rockbeer

So it was in support of "the actual facts" that you lied about the cost of Guillabaud?

I'm also happy to end this and let people work out for themselves who's interested in the facts and who's spouting ignorant and uninformed opinions.

Sorry it's degenerated to this level, mods.

Minder

Op - what would you serve as main course veggie fayre?

Any chance of a couple of descriptions?

Barn Owl

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.....start your restaurant and let it be a great success for you. There simply are not enough Veggie restaurants in this country. I recently spent a lot of time on the west coast of America and was so surprised how much veggies are catered for there. I think more and more people are health aware and people who questioned my vegetarianism for years are now giving up meat etc. I think it would be ideal to set up in Rathgar or the outskirts of town. Please do this, and maybe others will follow. By the way, please do not put garlic in everything, as does Cornucopia, for fear of the meal being flavourless!! ha ha, what a joke, when are people going to realise there are a million herbs, flavours etc out there, and you DONT need garlic in everything just because it is a veggie dish. Don't knock this garlic comment until you really really think about it. Trust me, GARLIC is not always a must! Sorry just had to include that!
Full respect to you and the new restaurant....PS you better hurry! Denis Cotter has plans to open in Dublin too! He's great, dont get me wrong, but a wee bit o' competition wouldnt go astray!
Good luck
Barn Owl

Mr.Boots

Why exclude possible customers from your new venture??? Just cos your a veggie dosnt mean you cant have meat on your menu, banks are terified of loaning money to people who want to open restaurants because of the high failure rate (70% i think)
you cant afford to just appeal to a small percentage of the population and be a success.
if i were you i would have a menu with a strong veggie influence and incorporate meats that are more "animal friendly" ...for example source your animal products from small producers who take animal welfare seriously.
Promote this on your menu and in your marketing.
Im not a veggie by the way.

Peanut

Mr.Boots wrote: »

Just cos your a veggie dosnt mean you cant have meat on your menu

It doesn't, but it won't exactly endear you to them either..

Mr.Boots wrote: »

..you cant afford to just appeal to a small percentage of the population and be a success.

This is not really true, look at somewhere like Blazing Salads, they are entirely vegetarian (salads all vegan) yet they are doing fantastically well, and I'm sure a good chunk of their customers are not committed vegetarians.

Same with Cornucopia, it's constantly busy.
If you have a good product to sell, you will do well, and attract customers from outside the supposedly small target audience (which I don't believe is so small either).

Nature Boy

Mr.Boots wrote: »

Why exclude possible customers from your new venture??? Just cos your a veggie dosnt mean you cant have meat on your menu, ban

There's a market for people who want their food cooked in a meat free environment.

rockbeer

Mr.Boots wrote:

Just cos your a veggie dosnt mean you cant have meat on your menu

Well, no, but much depends on your reaons for being vegetarian. If you're implacably opposed to killing animals, it would be downright weird to suspend your principals for business purposes. It would be like caring for the environment in your personal life but running a company with a huge carbon footprint. Even if you prefer not to eat meat for health reasons alone, it might be a bit strange not to confer the same benefits on your customers.

It's hard to imagine many vegetarians being happy to follow your suggestion.

Tar.Aldarion

Mr.Boots wrote: »

Why exclude possible customers from your new venture??? Just cos your a veggie dosnt mean you cant have meat on your menu, banks are terified of loaning money to people who want to open restaurants because of the high failure rate (70% i think)
you cant afford to just appeal to a small percentage of the population and be a success.
if i were you i would have a menu with a strong veggie influence and incorporate meats that are more "animal friendly" ...for example source your animal products from small producers who take animal welfare seriously.
Promote this on your menu and in your marketing.
Im not a veggie by the way.

um, just because people eat meat that does not mean you are excluding them by having meat free dishes. It is not like they only eat meat. There are plenty of delicious foods that they can still eat...

maniac101

I think the key to a commercially successful veggie restaurant is to appeal to meat eaters, and not to alienate them. However, I don't agree that this should be done by offering meat options. Cafe Paradiso is a good example of a vegetarian restaurant that's popular with everyone. It's discreetly vegetarian, not overtly so. There's no ethical theme and no attempt made to emphasise the owner's objection to eating meat. The vegetarian message is delivered simply through the food only, not through the restaurant name or the decor. The majority of their customers are meat eaters. Cork doesn't have enough vegetarians who could pay the high prices there regularly enough to keep the place going.

OP, I'd give your location careful consideration in this regard also. CP is located across from a four-star hotel renowned for expensive and poor quality food. As a result, CP captures a lot of meat-eating corporate business. Best of luck with your new venture, and let us know when you're up and running.

Weyhey

Without a doubt there is a market for a good veggie restaurant in Dublin. I am veggie, four of my friends are veggie and my boyfriend can't eat certain meat products and we would all regularly eat in nice veggie place if there was one. We are constantly walking the streets looking in restaurant windows at menus for veggie options to little avail (Dublin Restaurants just don’t get the veggie cheese thing). 99% of my meat eating friends love veggie food too and would gladly eat veggie.

Juice Restaurant doesn’t get the crowds because the food is mediocre, Cornucopia is always jam packed but you can’t relax or take your time and it’s not a place for socialising so a fancier place would be perfect. Maybe somewhere that looks a bit like the Mario’s but with only veggie food.

Cafe Paridiso in Cork is a perfect example of a successful vegetarian restaurant but so are www.hendersonsofedinburgh.co.uk and www.davidbann.com in Edinburgh. It's hard to get a seat in any of these places. Henderson’s is like a fancier Cornucopia with relaxed seating and a winebar and has music nights (piano player or singer) and don’t do bookings, they also have a deli and around the corner a fancier reservations only bistro. David Bann’s is much fancier and harder to get a table.

Best of luck with your venture Miarosa and I have no doubt it will succeed.

cunning-doll

So excited to hear that there are plans for more quality veggie restaurants! I agree that the trick is to entice carnivores too. As long as they're presented with something tasteful,rather than their 'hippy' perceptions and the menu doesn't scare them you'll be on to a winner.

Oh and it is so important to get the wine right. Thats what would sway me, so many mid priced places serve only vinegar.

Please let us know how far along the plans are - I cant wait!