The state of things at FLPH, June 2021.

We are thrilled to be open again and at least temporarily back to our full weekly schedule, thanks to our wonderful staff and very understanding and supportive guests! It is never cheap or easy to close or open a restaurant and we have successfully done so three times in the past year. Every time we risk not meeting our goals and our guests expectations, each time we must hire and train staff to be more than a sum of their parts and bring more than a meal to our guests. We are a busy restaurant with a strong reputation which comes with the huge responsibility to meet high expectations and it has never been harder for restaurants to do that than right now. I have been running independent kitchens for almost thirty years and have never been more unable to find staff as now. We normally have five servers in season and we have now been operating with only three for months and months. It has been challenging and exhausting for everyone but we need to keep the doors open and must attempt to serve as many guests as possible in order to pay our staff and bills. Restaurant profit margins are famously low, so most restaurants must approach maximum sales to be at all profitable and many are not, ever. After over ten years we know what we must do to stay competitive and in operation. But most profitable restaurants achieve a margin of 3-5 % in a normal year and many restaurants are like us are still unable to even attempt operating at a full schedule 0r seating due to low staffing. Although we pay our staff at the very top of the local scale and our servers are normally rewarded well for their excellent service, we still can not even get one real potential applicant in recent weeks. So, our primary costs have increased over 20% just over these past few months while we are still unable to fill all our available seats. The struggle of the past year is by no means over for restaurants like us. We must stay on this rollercoaster of be tossed off to face injury or death.

I would respectfully ask everyone who reads this to please keep this struggle in mind when making reservations and especially when leaving tips and writing reviews. I want to stay positive and of course we accept responsibility for our shortcomings of which there are many. I will not detail the specific cases of unreasonable expectations and childish tantrums restaurants and their employees have experienced, in far greater numbers, this past thirteen months. I will simply request that everyone, figuratively, tries to walk in one another’s shoes before passing judgement. We take your opinions very seriously and very much to heart. It is difficult to be even fairly criticized when you are battling powers beyond your control and are making every effort just to fight another day. But, in part our jobs are to shield our guests from the stress and impossible situations restaurants overcome every day, to ensure your comfort and enjoyment, and that means not making excuses when you are dining. But everyone needs to realize, at this time, it may be impossible for most restaurants to both meet their financial requirements and also provide the service and prices we all wish for. We deeply appreciate all our guests and are making every possible effort to meet these currently difficult and contradictory goals. Please be patient and expect prices to be a little higher and service to be a little slower in the short term; relax and enjoy the food and friendships we missed this past year! Thank you all for your attention and support!

Much Love and Thanks,

Toni, Kaighn & The FLPH staff.

About Chef Kaighn

A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Executive Chef Kaighn Raymond has over 23 years of experience with the last 8 years as owner and executive chef of Frogs Leap Public House and 13 of the previous in the Atlanta fine dining scene. Coming to Atlanta directly from the Culinary Institute of America, Kaighn had already reached sous chef level at Chatterley's, a beloved Connecticut bistro recognized by the New York Times and still flourishing today. Chef Kaighn worked his way through CIA gaining exposure to the industry in multiple capacities. Upon graduation from CIA with Dean's List Honors and a high pass on his 5th term practical Kaighn was recruited to the 5th group in Atlanta. Over the next decade Chef Kaighn developed his diverse skills as a highly celebrated Executive Chef in the Atlanta scene at several of the Atlanta's most notable establishments, including Brasserie le Coze, Alon’s, Atlantic Seafood Company, Horseradish Grill, Food 101, La Tavola, The River Room, The Vinings Inn, Pastis and The French American Brasserie. As the Executive Chef at Brasserie Le Coze, his flawless integration of creative, unpretentious cuisine coupled with inspired presentations re-elevated the reputation of the restaurant to one of the hottest in the city. During his years here Chef Kaighn fine tuned his skills under world renowned Chef Eric Ripert at Le Bernardin in New York City . After a long career at the top of the Atlanta fine dining scene, Chef Kaighn followed his dream to Waynesville, NC where he opened his first self owned restaurant: Frogs Leap Public House at 44 Church Street in 2012. FLPH was voted the #1 Restaurant, #1 Food and #1 Service in Western North Carolina by Open Table diners in 2018 and is in the Trip Advisor Hall Of Fame 2018.
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