| Salt Lake City |
 |
 |
| GER |
12 |
16 |
7 |
35 |
 |
| USA |
10 |
13 |
11 |
34 |
|
| NOR |
11 |
7 |
6 |
24 |
|
| CAN |
6 |
3 |
8 |
17 |
|
| RUS |
6 |
6 |
4 |
16 |
|
| AUT |
2 |
4 |
10 |
16 |
|
| ITA |
4 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
|
| FRA |
4 |
5 |
2 |
11 |
|
| SUI |
3 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
|
| NED |
3 |
5 |
0 |
8 |
|
|
|
|
Games give eateries indigestion
By Diane Urbani
Deseret News staff writer
The thrill is already gone from the Olympics for Dennis Hummel. Even Valentine's Day's romance has faded.
"We always fill up on Valentine's Day," said Hummel, owner of Bangkok Thai, usually one of Salt Lake City's popular east-side eateries. But this year is "pathetic." The Winter Games — or rather rumors of impenetrable traffic and crowds — have "people afraid to leave their houses." Bangkok Thai usually books 90 reservations for the night of Feb. 14; this year 25 tables were booked by Wednesday evening.
"This is not a good year for a guy to duck his girlfriend or wife and say, 'We can't get in anywhere,' " Hummel said.
But among other east-side restaurants, reports are mixed. At the Blue Plate Diner and the Paris Cafe, locals are still coming. "We're kind of the local secret," said the Paris' Andrew Benson. People in the surrounding neighborhoods aren't worrying about long waits or upped prices, and neither place has them.
Fresco Italian Cafe, also several miles from Olympic Square, is doing great business and is completely booked for Valentine's Day. That may have something to do with the fact that the New York Times included Fresco on its short list of Salt Lake restaurants to try during the Olympics.
Red Iguana was on that list, too. "We have been really busy, but we've noticed a lot of local customers are not coming," said manager Antonio Cardenas. Patrons are mostly from out of town and recently included a couple of Texas TV reporters. "We're just lucky, I guess," Cardenas said.
Brumby's bistro was also "lucky" enough to be on the Times' list and located near the Olympic Village full of athletes and coaches and thousands more volunteers. So far, however, the Olympics have gone very wrong for the restaurant.
"We had a lot of enthusiastic response from our local patrons, who said they saw us" in the Times, said Brumby's co-owner Paul Gladstone. Then came opening ceremonies night. "We had a full slate of reservations by that (Friday) afternoon, and one by one they started canceling. People said, 'Everyone's told us we have to be there four hours in advance, so there's no time for a leisurely meal.' "
Like many other Salt Lake restaurateurs, Gladstone hired extra workers in anticipation of a Games-time swell, and his bistro is staying open later than usual, until 10 p.m. For Valentine's Day dinners, Brumby's has a good number of reservations, but unlike previous years, there is still room for patrons who want to dine after 8 p.m. or so.
Gladstone said he could hardly believe it when a customer said he was a reporter from New York Times and was planning to write up the restaurant in the paper's travel section. But "lo and behold," there it was, in the Sunday, Nov. 11, edition of the nation's newspaper of record.
But Brumby's is far from the middle of the Olympic action. The Legacy Bridge that would connect athletes staying on the University of Utah campus is closed till after Feb. 24, "so none of them can get into our little college town area" on 1300 East, Gladstone said. "As you meander through our neighborhoods, no one has an inkling that the Olympics are in full bloom."
The business tastes as bitter these days for restaurants closer to the Olympic action, such as the Orbit Cafe at 540 W. 200 South. Orbit stays open till 4 a.m., and "everyone here expected it to be completely busy," said barrista Kady Newland. "Actually I would say business is down from normal."
"We're putting on the best party ever," said Hummel of Bangkok Thai. But all the media attention hasn't brought him much business. All restaurant owners can do now is encourage locals to "come out of their homes," Hummel said.
E-mail: durbani@desnews.com
|
|
February 14, 2002
|
