How to Stay Relevant in the Attention Economy

Dear Pros,

Hunter here. Deep breaths. Whether you're sprinting, slouching, or crawling towards the invisible finish line, I hope there is a well-deserved break on the other side.

In this final missive of the year, I want to thank you for tuning in. I've been fortunate to meet many of you at our events like the F&W Classics in Aspen and Charleston and correspond over email. More of you are reading our F&W Pro stories, using our recipes, subscribing to our newsletters, listening to our award-winning Tinfoil Swans podcast, and engaging with us on social media than ever before.

Our aim, as always, is to equip you with the information and inspiration to be the best cook, dinner party host or guest, and restaurant customer — or, specifically for those of you working in the hospitality industry, the sharpest leader in the business. I'm really proud of the work my colleagues do and the way they go about it.

In this time of incredibly rapid change and microscopic attention spans, I've been thinking a lot about a quote from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella that first resonated with me 10 years ago when I became editor in chief of Cooking Light. "Longevity in this business is about being able to reinvent yourself or invent the future," Nadella told an interviewer back in 2014. I translated it on a sticky note to this simple formula: Reinvention=Longevity.

Ever since, I've pushed myself and the teams I've led to practice the core fundamentals of journalism while taking big, ambitious swings in the name of innovation. I'm allergic to doing the same thing over and over again just because it worked the year before. It isn't just boring, it's a recipe for irrelevance.

Longevity was on our mind this year when we gave flowers to Gramercy Tavern, the iconic restaurant in New York City that was founded by Danny Meyer and Tom Colicchio 30 years ago and continues to fire on all cylinders today. Check out Kat Kinsman's story here if you missed it. Gramercy Tavern's was one of a flurry of restaurant anniversaries — The French Laundry turned 30 and Frasca Food & Wine, Momofuku, and Barbuto celebrated their 20th birthdays, to name a few.

George's at the Cove celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, but the birthday seemed to fly under the national media radar, even with Trey Foshee, who joined as chef and operating partner in 1999 after earning the F&W Best New Chef accolade the year before. I was curious about how Foshee and his partners continue to breathe new life into an iconic three-story spot on the waterfront in La Jolla, California. A killer view of the Pacific Ocean, great Margaritas, and fish tacos certainly help, but you can't coast on that combo for decades. So, how does George's stay relevant?

"We are not afraid of change, sometimes drastic change," Foshee told me. "We make decisions very carefully but if our underlying culture for hospitality stays true it keeps us on the right path for those drastic changes."

Here are a few highlights from our conversation about George's for you to carry into the new year:

On Culture: "I believe a culture is developed over time by the way we treat each other, our guests and the decisions we make. I'm not a big fan of forced culture. It does not seem genuine to me and I can smell it in a restaurant. Part of culture is also taking care of problems (HR or otherwise) quickly and with respect so the rest of the staff sees it and feels safe."

On Hiring: "We interview new employees three times. If you hire right, you save yourself a lot of headaches and hopefully build on the culture."

On Loyalty: The George's team celebrated the 30th work anniversary of prep cook Celia Colon this year with a cake and a bonus to help fix up her home. Two of her daughters work at the restaurant, and 28 employees have worked there for five years or longer, including Colon, line cook Jose "Yoyo" Seoberanis (32 years), server Pat Glenn (27 years), line cook Danny Andrade (27 years), and server Robert Sylvester (24 years). Foshee told me. "They help maintain consistency and cultivate the culture, too."

On Consistency: "Maintaining consistency seems to have fallen a bit out of favor. In my youth I worked for L'Orangerie, La Folie, Röckenwagner — all restaurants that lasted decades. It seems now if a restaurant lasts five years it's a miracle. If someone wants to build a restaurant to last, I believe in not necessarily reinventing yourself but definitely questioning what you're doing often and asking yourself without ego if you are offering a unique and quality experience. Is there anything you can do to be better? Guests will notice even if it's small adjustments. They may not be able to pick out what is different but they will feel it."

On Process: For their annual strategic planning, Foshee and the management team focuses on three core areas of the business: the staff ("people"), the food and service ("product"), and the physical space ("environment"). "If everyone feels included in the process it's not just me that is pushing forward with innovations. It's a group effort," he says.

"If you're not moving forward and looking ahead in our industry you are pretty quickly thought of as irrelevant," Foshee says.

Same goes for journalism. So, as 2025 comes into view, I'm taking a page from one of our O.G. Best New Chefs and updating Nadella's formula on a new sticky note that reads: Consistency+Innovation=Reinvention=Longevity.

Have a wonderful holiday, folks. And plenty of gingerbread. See you in the new year.

Warmly,
Hunter