The name restaurateur comes from the French word restaurateur, which means “restaurant owner.” Instead, the word is frequently spelled restauranteur. While restaurateur is considered the more correct term, restauranteur is not entirely incorrect due to its widespread use, and both terms are used in the culinary world.
The aspiring restaurateur has a budget, a vision, and a certain amount of courage. Restaurants used to have a 90% failure rate in their first year, according to popular belief. Actual studies on this show that this is exaggerated, and that the failure rate is around 60%. When starting a business, this is still a significant risk; people are more likely to fail than succeed. Before the end of the first year, any budget in hand could be long gone, and any vision for fantastic food could be a nightmare. However, when people are willing to put their money on the line, there is always a chance of success.
These sobering statistics do not deter people from pursuing a career as a restaurateur, and restaurant owners come from a wide range of backgrounds. Someone can own a restaurant and have very little involvement in it. They may be essentially financing other people’s creativity because it is a profitable venture for them. A celebrity will occasionally open a restaurant, and the main draw will be the celebrity name attached to the restaurant.
Alternatively, the restaurateur may have worked in a variety of restaurants and believes they are qualified to run one. Some people have extensive training in this field, including studies at hotel and restaurant management schools. They may be in charge of running the restaurant, hiring chefs and other staff, and planning all aspects of it. Those with a good sense of how to serve delicious food and provide excellent service can be very successful.
The chef/owner is another type of restaurateur. Chefs who have built a reputation cooking in other people’s kitchens may dream of opening their own, where they can follow their own vision of how food should be prepared. Some chefs, such as Wolfgang Puck, Gordon Ramsay, and Emeril Lagasse, have done exceptionally well in this capacity. Chefs who are well-known may own multiple restaurants, or they may be less well-known but have a fantastic local restaurant.
While the term “restaurateur” may connote only high-end restaurants, it actually refers to any restaurant owner, whether an uninvolved investor, a skilled manager, or a talented chef. The proprietor of the neighborhood barbecue pit is just as much of a restaurateur as the proprietor of ten fine dining establishments in major cities. Furthermore, regardless of how sophisticated or basic the menu and location are, each of these professionals has taken the first step, risked their money, and hoped to be among the 40% who make it past year one.