"You Can Still Open": Matt Rodbard On What New York Operators Are Getting Wrong

"You can still open in New York." Matt Rodbard, founding Editor in Chief of TASTE, on what operators get wrong when they try. Conor sets up this episode on the three-times cost of entry in New York — the number that decides who is allowed to try at all. Matt's reply reframes the hour in his first line: "You can still open in New York. So I hope that's like a headline from it." The rest of the conversation holds that tension. The opex is real (over $100 per square foot in Manhattan, $70 wage plus payroll taxes), and NY menus have become more uniform because of it (seared fish, steaks, roast chicken, whole fish). London is quietly where more creativity is happening right now because the opex is lower. Chicago is the overlooked US city (great restaurants in black-box spaces at roughly a tenth of NY rent). Hawksmoor, Gymkhana and Carbone Las Vegas now land in a way they wouldn't have ten years ago. The "hotshots" who get this wrong fail because they don't ingratiate themselves to the community. Restaurant books are either a serious brand builder or "the most expensive business card you'll ever produce." Payroll tax reform (Camilla Marcus's proposal) is the single intervention that would most help NY operators. And restaurants functioning as third spaces is a public-safety issue, not a nice-to-have. Plus a Quick Turn (where to open right now: LA, London, NY in that order; the belief about the industry he's changed in the last five years; the best-run NY restaurants he's eaten in recently; his favourite food city globally), a flag on Eye Level, the new TASTE podcast on grocery and CPG, and a closing flip where Matt turns the mic on Conor's chicken-sandwich reputation. KEY TAKEAWAYS "You can still open in New York." The three-times cost of entry is real, but Matt's headline is that it is still possible — and the operator-facing question is what you do, not whether you try. London is quietly where more creativity is happening right now, because the opex is lower. NY menus have become more uniform (seared fish, steaks, roast chicken) as a direct consequence of what the city costs to operate in. Chicago is the overlooked US food city. Great restaurants in black-box spaces at roughly a tenth of NY rent, James Beard winners, a supportive dining community, and under the radar for most operators. "Hotshots" fail when they open in a new city without ingratiating themselves to the community. Great press and great food is not enough. Payroll tax reform is the single intervention that would most help New York restaurants (Camilla Marcus's proposal: rebate two thirds of the payroll tax back to the restaurant to reinvest in PTO and staff benefits). The civic case is that restaurants = third spaces, and third spaces = public safety. USEFUL LINKS & RESOURCES Matt Rodbard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattrodbard/ Matt Rodbard on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattrodbard/ TASTE: https://tastecooking.com Matt's author page on TASTE: https://tastecooking.com/author/mrodbard/ The TASTE Podcast: https://tastecooking.com/category/the-taste-podcast/ CONNECT WITH THE SHOW All What's Cooking episodes: https://www.nory.ai/podcasts Nory: https://www.nory.ai/ Nory blog: https://www.nory.ai/blog Nory on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asknory/ Conor Sheridan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheridanconor/