On the eve of last year's summer solstice, Adam and Stacy Jed's ambitious Yerba Buena Lane "American brasserie," Bluestem, was released with a grand soiree. Despite the dreaminess of Olle Lundberg's nature-inspired interior and designer patrons who grace the restaurant on a nightly basis, the Jeds will be the first to tell you that running a 7,000-square-foot downtown bistro, seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., is anything but glamorous. For starters, year one saw Michael Bauer review the restaurant before it was ready, then executive chef Sean Canavan left for a stint in Walnut Creek, and consulting pastry chef James Ormsby hit the trail last month. Still at least one critic thinks Bluestem is "an ideal downtown meeting spot," and going into year two, the Jed's have two new executive chefs they'd like to brag about.
Two new chefs going into year two: how does that feel?
Adam Jed: We're excited because Josh [Lucas] and Fran[cis Hogan] have been a part of our team and vision from the beginning. They're aligned with our passion. They're fanatical about grass-fed meat, whole animal butchery, not wasting anything.
So did they approach you after Sean Canavan left?
Stacy Jed: When Sean left, we thought in traditional ways at first. We thought we'd go find another executive chef, singular. Our team came together to say they really believe in what they're doing. They've never seen this level of production from scratch: 90% production, 10% execution. We kept our team involved in the scouting. We met with a ton of chefs, and we found a lot of really great people, but his final discovery was the talent is right in front of us. It's not traditional to have co-chefs, but they really compliment each other wonderfully.
What can people expect to happen to the menu?
AJ: Josh has been with us since day one. Frances started not that long after. So a lot of things they'll continue to tweak and put their own little edge on. The development of the menu has been about a collaboration.
SJ: We actually ended up bringing on a full-time butcher so we could identify and utilize all aspects. One thing we needed on the menu was a whole animal roast. The first one was wild goat. Now we do it as a regular thing every Thursday night. We did spring lamb, suckling pig, wild boar and then veal is tonight.
AJ: The staff has really been into it. There are some static things on our menu, like the mussels. There will always be two salads, whether it's little gems with green goddess, and maybe beets with different accompaniments. What the plats du jour do is give the chefs the opportunity to explore. On Wednesday nights we do the land and sea parameter, and it's not necessarily steak and lobster. They've done things like prawns and pork belly or last night was octopus and pork a la plancha.
SJ: The thing you'll continue to see is nostalgia. What's really Americana. We like Southern influences too.
Talk to me about your clientele.
AJ: Its every walk of life. It's so awesome. Our clientele is as diverse as our staff. From all walks, perceptions.
SJ: We talked about being an urban neighborhood restaurant, but we never really knew what that would look like until we started. We opened our doors and we have OpenTable, Sales Force, Twitter, high tech, Yelp. We have financial district, residents of the Four Seasons, and the St. Regis, and concierges.
AJ: It's been amazing discovering how central this part of SF has become. Anyone coming up from Silicon Valley, or the Marina or the East Bay, they meet in the middle. People flying into town are probably staying nearby too.
SJ: But so many people are actually calling this area their home too. Before it was a place to work or shop. Now people are walking their dogs outside.
How do you please everyone?
AJ: You have to stand for something. We make our foundation on sustainability and working in harmony with nature. That resonates with people.
SJ: It also helps when you're developing a concept to clarify and simplify. We get feedback all the time. I'm so thrilled we get it.
AJ: Stacy replies to every Yelp.
SJ: Some owners may say they don't like Yelp. But these people on Yelp take the time to talk. Maybe they didn't feel comfortable enough to say it at the restaurants. Often when I reach out to people, I'll start a dialogue and get even more insight. We share reviews at lineup. Some of it you dismiss. Over time, you figure out who the snarky people are, and who's providing valuable feedback.
AJ: We've had things that we modified as a result. We found, for example, the squash was getting overcooked when it was tossed with the gnocchi. So we changed it to raw squash ribbons so when you toss it, it soaks up some of the juices from the pasta, and it cooks perfectly.
SJ: When you're serving three to four hundred people a day. Just put it on the menu for a few days.
AJ: You'll get an answer!
SJ: Watch the dish. Watch it coming back. Expeditors see what comes back. They'll notice. The cauliflower and spinach are flying out the door. The spinach? We need to change that. It's coming back half eaten.
What's surprised you in the past year?
AJ: Within every two days our walk-in is empty. We have a 36 hour production cycle. We have vendors who are willing to deliver on Sundays. That's the nice thing about working with farmers and ranchers. We get three delivers of eggs a week, just to cover our needs.
What about blessings in disguise?
SJ: You have to work as a team to be successful here. It's no surprise we have two chefs collaborating. Our servers and bartenders do it all night long. When you're running a party of 100 people on the mezzanine. And you've got 100 downstairs, you can't do it alone. Our servers are jumping to each others aid.
What's happening with the dessert program now that James has left?
AJ: James was a consulting chef who we brought in to help us put into pastry what American nostalgia meant. We had ice creams, sundaes, things reminiscent from a childhood. He helped develop the Honolulu Hangover, which I believe will become static.
So it doesn't sounds like you feel the need to hire anyone else?
SJ: We always collaborate on new ideas. We will eventually get some creative element here to continually drive the program. The foundation has been built, thanks to James. I didn't realize he was going to stay with us for a year. At six months he was definitely stepping away. We have a couple new desserts we're working on.
How did you deal with the critics when they came in?
SJ: Our perspective is, 29 days after you open your doors, after you've just hired 90 employees to work in a space that's never been a restaurant, with a kitchen that's half firing because the hoods aren't working, I didn't really think much about it. I'm most interested in seeing where we are two, three, five years down the road. For us it's always evolving. It's something we made a very long term commitment to.
AJ: Critics give you a very knowledgeable and conscientious heads up as to what you need to work on. It's tough. I'm torn in many ways. Critical acclaim is a little bit of bragging rights in the industry. And you want that. You want to be appreciated. What critics bring is some common ground. You hope they are unbiased, and professional and have a very clear set of parameters by which they evaluate all businesses. You can say this business, in this class, among its peers rates this way.
Do you think critics should wait longer before they come it?
AJ: Boy that's a tough quesiton. My answer is yes. I remember the New York days with the Ruth Reichls and the Gael Greens and the Billy Grimes, where you were never reviewed before 90 days. But I'm getting older. And there's the internet now. And there's Yelp, and bloggers, and home writers, people that take what they do seriously on the internet and have quicker access to eyeballs.
SJ: I think it changes what the review becomes. As a reader of a review of a restaurant that's been open only 30 days, I get a sense of whether it wasn't a shit storm. [Adam: laughing] Day two, someone was complaining they had to wait thirty minutes for a steak and it was medium not medium rare.
AJ: And I said "That's it?" We had one range that wasn't working. There should be a rule. It should be give me 90 days. Or hell, give me 90 days and give me year one. Do you know we couldn't even melt butter for the first four months on one of our ranges? Because the HVAC couldn't figure out how to balance the air right.
SJ: There's a synergy with your team that has to happen. When we brought 90 people together, nothing's going to replace actual interaction with guests, learning better ways of navigating this huge space.
AJ: We have over 70% of the opening team. They kinda know each other now. They know each other's strengths and weaknesses. You can't get that immediately.
SJ: A critic can say you should be ready the moment you open your doors. But there's no replacing experience.
What have you learned?
AJ: I think we have come a long, long way. We still have a long way to go. There was one day we had to literally butcher food to order because of the ebbs and flows of the guests and times.
SJ: We're doing everything a la minute. It's a made-to-order environment, and we have 1000 dishes that go out. It's critical that you have systems in place, and the systems have evolved. Everything has to align with the 36-hour production schedule. It works, and it works really well, and it's not going to work right away. At the beginning too, people are more forgiving.
I think people have learned to be that way.
AJ: I think so. I think there was a time that the average consumer was not forgiving.
SJ: Day one we had 300 people come in the door. And I was like, 'how did you hear about this?' You learn really quickly. We do 30 to 40 events per month in our space. You can only withstand so much pain and then you figure out a system.
AJ: I do think there are a lot of things you learn, and a lot you just have to put out there.
SJ: You don't always get it right. Our staff genuinely wants people to be happy. They lament about what they could have done differently. You try to do it flawlessly every time. But you don't. We're human. The temperature of the steak may be our perfect medium, but it doesn't mean it's yours.
AJ: In the restaurant industry some people say you reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. But you send somebody packing, and you're going to get sued. Do you really reserve that right? No. We reserve the right to do the best that we can do. And be fanatical about what we do.
SJ: And we're proud to say we look back from today to 29 days into opening, and we have a much better batting average.
· All Bluestem Brasserie Coverage [~ ESF ~]