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Opening Restaurant In Medellin. Taking Poll Of PBHrs Of whats needed in Medellin.

Hello all you pbhrs;
After travelling to Colombia for the last four years, I came to the conclusion that Medellin has the most potential for a new restaurant, after investigatin Bogota I realized to my surprise, that there is a pretty hip restaurant scene. in Bogota you have all types of restaurants of varieds cuisines and a public to attend them, very good place to do business, but after living in N.Y.C. for so many years, I dont want to be in an other big metropolis, so therefore Bogota its out, besides the weather sucks. Next was Cali, I love Cali, great restaurants, Granada is a really cool neighborhood, with trendy and hip restaurants cool people and not to mention the hot chicks, in el Penol there is a number of very good Japanese restaurants, one own by a paisa that lived in Japan (Paisas are everywhere) so pretty much I was sold on Cali, good tropical weather, cool restaurants, the babes, healthy music scene and nice barrios. I was still on a research mission so I had to check out other cities in Colombia.
Next stop, Cartagena de Indias, I heard alot of good things about cartagena. I found that Cartagena had a number of good restaurants. I like "La casa de refugio" good caribbean cuisine at a very reasonable price. For the most part the restaurants in Cartagena are very pricy, good but nothing spectacular, I dindnt like Cartagena at all, very hot, to touristy, HATED, HATED AND REALLY HATED, the street vendors, they literlaty drove me out of town, so I headed to Barranquilla, very cool city, its a big port city so it has that industrial side to it, I found very good middle eastern restaurants and a very interesting mix of races, lots of sexy women, not like Cartagena, I dindt find Cartagenaras very attractive, I liked Barranquilla but not the city I would want to live in, I have lived in different countries of the Caribbean before so pretty much been there done that, so being that I was in the neighborhood, I headed to Santa Marta, not bad at all, pretty much theres nothing in Santa Marta, I later went to El Rodadero. I like it alot, found me a novia, a Samariana and decided to stay there for a while, it was out of season so the rentals were very reasonable, rented a condo on the outskirts of el Rodadero and stayed there for three months, alot had to do with Monica, mi novia Samariana, came back to N.Y. very nostalgic and missing Monica alot.

Medellin was my next visit to Colombia, "La ciudad de la eterna primavera" I still had the mentality of Pablitos Medellin, one of the most dangerous city in the world, on my way down to Medellim from Rio Negro, the cab driver told me we had to take an alternative road, "the old road" as the new one still under construction, I visualized the news paper head lines. TURISTA DE ESPANA ROBADO Y ASESINADO EN UNA CARRETERA DESOLADA. so I said to the driver, todavia no la an acabado, cuando es que en Colombia acaban algo en tiempo, he turn out to be a very nice guy, we even stop by one of the tipical paisa restaurants by the side of the road, naturally I order the bandeja paisa, Ive have had bandeja paisa, in Madrid, Barcelona, in Queens, L.A. and Miami, but now I was eating the real chit. I had a real bandeja paisa orgasm, of course later I found the best bandeja paisa is in Santa Fe de Antioquia, WOW the real real chit, my mouth just waters thinking about it.
I found that Medellin was a totally different city, it trully was love at first sight, I had coordinated my visit with an event of wines held at the plaza mayor, I met up with this guy I had met through the internet, Kendon Mcdonald, this Irish guy who went to Colombia for a visit and decided to stay for ever, we hit it of and became buddies, at the event he invited me to be one of the wine tasters of a panel, I gave a brief comment, when I step down, eveyone wanted to shake my hand, I left the event with tons of business cards and a couple of numbers from these beautiful models that were hired for the event, I do have to say that we lost a beautiful person filled with life and passion for food, a true "Colombiano at heart" Kendon we missed you, I shall always remember you buddie.

I was surprised to find that a city like Medellin dindt have a culinary movement, they were to enbedded with tradition, all the foreign cuisine restaurants were midiocre and pricy, so I stay with local cusine, mondongos in el parque Lleras, and of course the best burgers I've ever had, "El Corral" a true burger heaven. I decide that this was it, yes, Medellin, Iam moving here, its got everything I like, good bandejas paisa, beautiful women, great weather, and an area to do restaurant business with little or no competition and with a demand for good food at a profesional level, being that Iam from Spain and one of the top Spanish chefs in the U.S.A. I opted to do a fun and funky Spanish Tapas bar and restaurant, but I also see that there is no good Mexican restaurants, or a good Thai or asian fusion cuisine, or how bout a kick ass deli New York Style, a Charcuterie with smoked fish and meats, a good variety of cheeses and olives, good selection of wines all for a very reasonable price, so thas why Iam asking for sugestions from all you PBH readers, nothing is set in stone for me. I would like to hear what are the areas you like for a restaurant, deli or Charcuterie to be. I will be in town in September to look for a local and also for the Medjazz festival, alot of my good friends will be performing so Iam going to have a blast.

Thanks for reading my post

By ferran on Aug 7, 2008, 00:01 in Friendly Talkzone.

bickerss says on Aug 7, 2008, 00:33:

If u open a place with decent indian food I will be forever grateful!!!

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gorgonabob says on Aug 7, 2008, 07:50:

as above.. indian food... plus youve got over a hundred englishmen in the city every day and theyd die for a bit of there national dish..

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Timba says on Aug 7, 2008, 08:11:

From what I have seen, Chinese restaurants have become fairly popular. Don't know if the Colombian palate can handle hot(spicey) foods.

Where are you going to get the good meat, cheese, olives ? Are going to import them ?

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brano says on Aug 7, 2008, 08:24:

ferran, i posted a similar topic on opening a restaurant in medellin a couple of months ago. check it out 'cause many people commented on it and i got some decent feedback from them...

good luck with your idea...i will definitely stop by and support anyone who will try to bring some cuisine diversity to medellin...god knows it needs it!!!

"I can remember when the air was clean and sex was dirty."

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papiChulo says on Aug 7, 2008, 08:59:

I think your after a tough market to crack. I have never been into the resturant biz (thankfully) but the paisas like everything paisa especially food. You're from Spain right? Maybe Spanish cusine from different parts of Spain might work.
I still wonder about catering to tourists in Colombia... I find a big part of tourists are back packers and since they may travel for a year at a time they tend to cook at the hostel of go for real budjet type places... so maybe a hole in the wall indian place but then again your not Indian and don't expet locals to beat a path to your door... stick with what you know is a good rule of thumb.
Whatever you choose all the best but choose wisely... suerte.

paz

some of the rudest people I know don't smoke

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Mononoke28 says on Aug 7, 2008, 09:17:

I'm with papiChulo, it's a tough market since paisas are very traditional. You might luck out with stuff that might be like what they currently eat, bandeja paisa, sancocho, mondongo, fried foods, oh boy do they love fried stuff. Because if it's too "weird" or too "different", they'll most likely stay away from it.

Now tourists on the other hand, will be all over it. But is that enough to even break even?

Food for thought, no pun intended.

Diana

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gringoloid says on Aug 7, 2008, 09:25:

i'm with the above.......................after two restaurants that i was involved in, i learned that you have to give these people what they want...............don't try and cram things down their throats.

there is a reason why there is no cuisine diversity here.

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bickerss says on Aug 7, 2008, 09:41:

Maybe start small and target the backpacker crowd - they have to eat somewhere - I see a lot of them around now but never see them eating. There are now I think 5 hostels in the P lleres vicinity?!!

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Gringo Spy says on Aug 7, 2008, 10:00:

bick:

This guy, in his own words, is "one of the top Spanish chefs in the U.S.A." so I seriously doubt if he has intentions of opening a restaurant catering to the "backpacker crowd".

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droble77 says on Aug 7, 2008, 10:05:

If you're a talented chef as you claim, why not go for a "fusion" of colombian cuisine and local ingredients with Spanish-style tapas or whatever your specialty/interest is in?

If you want to maximize your chances of success, you had better know the local paisa cuisine and their preferences. I do remember reading the previous discussion about the very same topic and I agree with what's been mentioned above: my impression of MDE from my all too brief trips is that most locals are not that adventurous when it comes to intl. cuisines UNLESS the venue in question has some other positive draw to it and/or hipness factor.

I think you'll need some good marketing and some capable local promoter/talent if you want your place to be successful, draw the local businessmen and their clients, etc. . .

Another crazy idea I'll throw out: if you're really one of the top Spanish chefs in the states, you have a resume that some of the bigger hotels might be interested in. Maybe a joint venture with one of the hotels that caters to ejecutivos, business meetings and functions, national and intl. conventions is possible? I'm not talking necessarily catering, lol, although that could be a start! :-))

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bickerss says on Aug 7, 2008, 10:07:

That is a good point!!! Wishful thinking on my part!

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Timba says on Aug 7, 2008, 10:26:

Another 2 cents worth.

I guess you will have to decide if you are going to be a destination restaurant or locate in a high traffic area where cost will be a factor.

Spanish foods tend to be tasty and not on the spicey side. You could try convincing the Paisas that it is ''high class' as that seems to get their attention.

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morphus says on Aug 7, 2008, 11:21:

You can make more money selling peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the street.

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Mononoke28 says on Aug 7, 2008, 14:42:

droble77 says on Aug 7 (today)
If you're a talented chef as you claim, why not go for a "fusion" of colombian cuisine and local ingredients with Spanish-style tapas or whatever your specialty/interest is in?

Great suggestion. Fusion would be the way to go.

Diana

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ferran says on Aug 7, 2008, 14:46:

Hello guys and gals; I do have to say that all of you are right on the money, Iam a top profesional, I have done three Spanish cuisine events in Medellin, I was feature in El Mundo Cocina supplement and also in the Catering magazine of Bogota, I did these events to study the market, and paisas are the hardest to sell, but there are there, first of all, Iam a business person, and believe me I would not do anything if it dindt any make money, so unfurtionally I have to cater to an upscale crowd to make money at first, I have very good conections in publicity and the press, I also know people in the highest stratus. Like droble said, for six months I took the food part of a hotel in el Poblado, it was a learning experience and met lots of people, but not for me, dont want any partners. eventually I would love to open a small funky fusion restaurant down the road for expats and world travelers, something of Eastern Mediterrenean, with indian and asian touches. the world is changing and so are the people of Medellin.

Thanks for your comments, very well apreciated
Ferran

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Mononoke28 says on Aug 7, 2008, 14:50:

Speaking of Indian... I still haven't tried it. =\

Diana

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august says on Aug 8, 2008, 08:03:

I dunno, the more time I spend in Medellín, the more provincial it feels. There´s a reason why some cities have very internationally diverse cuisines available - it´s because of an internationally diverse population, no? Medellín is not that, in my opinion. For all the intermingling of the world that´s going on, Medellín seems to have remained fairly isolated from that. People do not come from all over the world to settle down here and so it remains almost completely Colombian in culture. Not saying that´s necessarily good or bad, but that´s the case. Maybe because it´s nestled deep in the Andes Mountains, instead of being a coastal port city, but people seem to still be staunchly for all things Paisa - especially in terms of food - and fairly uninformed/uninterested in what else is being served on plates outside of Antioquia and especially outside of Colombia (much like others have said above). Look at the supposedly "Chinese" food. Perhaps it's because of lack of ingredients, but if you based your knowledge on what´s available in "Chinese" restaurants here, you´d think that the entire country of China survives on fried rice and arepas. WTF is that, right? Probably not so surprising coming from the place where all Asians are referred to as Chinese, but so it is. I personally would love to see something beyond bandeja paises in this town, but I just can´t ever imagine a restaurant based on anything non-paisa drawing much of a crowd. Whatever you do, just make sure its greasy, fried, salty and minimally spicy.

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viajero123 says on Aug 21, 2008, 04:25:

Ferran and everyone how would you rate Madrid and Spain in general in terms of international food and people's openness to different flavours, spicy foods, etc...? I have a feeling that this provincial feeling of Medellin has its roots in Spain. Many of the Spanish I've met here in London don't seem to enjoy "ethnic" foods, refuse to even try anything spicy and so on. I am not sure if they are just a bad sample. Any insights of anyone?

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ferran says on Aug 28, 2008, 12:51:

Viajero, there's is allot of truth to your comment, just in the last five years new restaurants of ethnic foods seem to be getting noticed, Spaniards by tradition stick to spanish cuisine, Japanese cuisine did not have to much appeal, eating something raw was not in the the palate of to many spaniards, only in Barcelona and Madrid do you see such restaurants, Paisas are very much like this, but change is in the air, soon most people have to recognized the value and pleasure in different cuisines.

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juli says on Aug 28, 2008, 16:32:

Has a foreigner ever had a sucessful restaurant? Wondering.

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tomtom33 says on Aug 28, 2008, 16:36:

I don't know how successful it is, but there is an Italian restaurant near UPB in Laureles owned by an Italian that seems to be doing well. I surely like the food.

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juli says on Aug 28, 2008, 16:39:

No offense Mr Tom, it's just that I have heard of so many gone after a year and I was wondering if anyone has made it work. Thanks

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viajero123 says on Aug 28, 2008, 17:11:

Well, I bet the more "traditional" flavours like Italian, Spanish, French, Argentinian and maybe Japanese food might work. The problem is with food with lots of different spices like Mexican, Indian, South-East Asian, etc... all this post really reminds me of how Spanish people react to uncommon/new foods that abound in London.

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romy says on Aug 28, 2008, 17:19:

"Fly in some really good Alberta, Canada beef"
I just had some 'AAA' with an excellent Argentine Malbec... I agree

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kalder says on Aug 28, 2008, 17:44:

"I love Cali, great restaurants"

In my hole.

"kalder- have you ever had a woman?"--Sam Salmon

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paisa29 says on Aug 28, 2008, 17:51:

"but there is an Italian restaurant near UPB in Laureles owned by an Italian that seems to be doing well. I surely like the food."

I love Salvatore`s food.

"Fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality" Conrad Hilton

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papiChulo says on Aug 29, 2008, 02:19:

tomtom y paisa... I've known of the place on numerous visits... sometimes get a small pizza delivered next door to parche(sp) pilsen... can't do that in canada... not long now... ;)

some of the rudest people I know don't smoke

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tomtom33 says on Aug 29, 2008, 05:35:

Crispino's. Sometimes I can't remember my own name.

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