Lakewood, New Jersey’s fine-dining boom has reached a somber peak with the recent closing of SEARED Steakhouse. Although this beautiful restaurant only opened in mid-2023, there are several factors that could lead to the restaurant closing. It’s probably impossible to know all the reasons.
Before we discuss some reflections on Seared’s closing, we can announce that Bordeaux Steakhouse in Midwood, Brooklyn will soon be taking over Seared’s restaurant space. This is the Brooklyn-born kosher steakhouse brand’s second location in Lakewood, following the addition of The Loft in the area last year.
After reflecting on this unique restaurant and the circumstances of its closing, I asked several locals and foodies their thoughts on this restaurant and any specific nuances to the Lakewood community, of which I am not a member. . The feedback below is a combination of my thoughts and observations, as well as the opinions of others in New Jersey.
1) The current economy won’t be able to support every fine dining restaurant that opens, whether in Lakewood or anywhere else. In Lakewood alone, many restaurants have opened and closed recently, but it’s virtually impossible for all of them to survive. South Florida is experiencing a similar situation. Additionally, restaurants have always been a difficult business to succeed in, and that continues to be the case.
2) Lakewood is a close-knit community, and Seared (perhaps) entered without (according to local residents) close local ties or an established brand name. For example, compared to another new luxury store like The Loft, which the brand name is known for.
3) The “receiving” situation is interesting. While it may have influenced negative perceptions of the restaurant, a single bad PR situation rarely causes a company to go out of business. Other issues usually complicate PR issues. I don’t know enough about the business or the people behind it to judge. However, what I can say is that you need to be careful about what and who you share online. Content often leaks from private WhatsApp groups and is often judged by outsiders without context. As individuals, we need to be more aware of what we say and how we speak about others and business. This is something I have been guilty of in the past and have worked hard to learn from those mistakes.
For some background on the receipt situation, a receipt for a dinner at Seared was shared and spread on social media, leading to an uproar over price gouging. Details on this background by one of the restaurant’s vendors (posted on LinkedIn) and the receipt itself are shared here.
4) Companies need to pay close attention to public sentiment and take a more pragmatic approach to what content they put online. Entire communities spend a lot of time on WhatsApp (status), Facebook, and Instagram, ignoring these platforms so they can tell their own stories instead of having their stories told (out of their control). I don’t think most restaurateurs are also marketing or PR experts, but you should hire someone or a company to help with these efforts early on, before any problems arise.
Others in the food industry echoed the sentiment, with comments related to both stock availability and overall restaurant closures.
- One local business owner commented that the restaurant has other problems. “The problem was much bigger than that receipt. No consideration was given to operational efficiency, low ceilings, ‘basement seats’ with lots of walls and pillars, no elevator for Ada, and no need to walk through the seating area. A party room in the basement, a closet in the middle of a huge court dining room, among other operational issues, occupy prime real estate, and ultimately Hashem says this is not a Torah town restaurant. I decided that. In my opinion, too much money was poured into the construction of this place and the designers and contractors did a great job building an amazingly luxurious space, with the most expensive finishes. However, this will not make the restaurant successful. I have no experience building a restaurant of this size, and I don’t know what I’m trying to do, I have only a vision but no strategy, and I guide the owner who follows an absurd design. Ask yourself if you have the knowledge. After considering , layout, finishes, etc., they hired a chef and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace the new equipment with equipment they thought was more suitable. The restaurant started out as a hole and unfortunately never recovered. ”
- Added Nattie Burnside, a kosher restaurant writer and frequent contributor to YeahThatsKosher: Many people are not interested in this kind of cooking and do not understand what it takes to make it. So the price gets noticed, even if it’s unfair. The $16 water bottle was definitely an issue, but those issues were resolved fairly quickly. By the time Seared closed, it was probably the best restaurant in Lakewood, if not the most expensive. The restaurant was attempting the type of cuisine that would earn it a Michelin star, but it was not in line with the demands of the local community. ”
After all, so many things can go wrong in the restaurant space, and often even more so in the kosher world. Having a vision, a plan, and understanding the local community seem to be essential parts of running a successful kosher business, especially a super-luxury business. We wish the former owners of Seared and their current kosher entrepreneurs every success in their future endeavors.
