Sale of Le Bec Fin mirrors for kitchen cabinets The world changes

New Year’s Throwback Thursday. Main Line Kitchen Design recalls a 2012 blog about Le Bec-Fin. And Paul’s first Bon Appetit!

June 30, 2012

The sale of Le Bec Fin and the loss of its 5-star rating has signaled a shift in Philadelphia’s restaurant landscape and, to a small extent, in our society as a whole. Society has become less formal. Our younger customers generally don’t have the sterling silver and porcelain flatware that they started purchasing as wedding gifts. In our world of kitchen design, the traditional dining and kitchen space is now routinely combined. The larger area becomes a more social place for everyday dining as well as entertaining on special occasions.

We don’t spend less money eating out and we certainly don’t spend less in our kitchens today, but we spend it differently. Imagine, Craig LaBan gives Bibou a BYOB your highest rating. At Bibou diners can enjoy fine cuisine and bring back $100 or $1000 bottles of wine that would have disturbed my sensibilities buying at traditional restaurant prices. NOTE Bibou closed in 2024

Le Bec Fin

Every day I am reminded of our changing world. Certainly, the business model Main Line Kitchen Design employs would not have been possible just a few years ago. But what really warms my heart is when I mail Julia Child’s cookbooks to every homeowner whose kitchen we just finished. I love change, but it’s the nostalgia and remembering Le Bec Fin as it was or Julia Child working in her PBS kitchen that makes me feel a lump in my throat.

…and then Enjoy your food!

Pablo

Main Line Kitchen Design still sends cookbooks to our clients when their kitchens are finished. There are generally no Julia Child books anymore because they have become harder to get.

Here’s another blast from the past for those interested. Link here