Walking into Bodean's BBQ on Clapham High Street is like stepping out of London and directly into a smokehouse in Kansas City . That is the feeling Bryan Tyrell, Bodean's Director of Operations and Kansas City native, wants you to feel anyway. "When somebody walks out the door from the States and says, 'you could put this place anywhere in the U.S. and it would fit in,' that is the ultimate compliment somebody can give me," he says.
Opened in May of 2004, Bodean's in Clapham is the second London restaurant venture of Tyrell and owner Andre Blais, who met a few years ago and eventually opened the first Bodean's BBQ in Soho in the beginning of 2003. Originally set up in a deli style, as one might find in America , the Clapham restaurant has recently changed over to a proper sit down eatery. Tyrell is happy with the results. He says that since the change, the restaurant has seen a 20% jump in business.
But how easy is it to sell a bedrock American cooking style to people who are content with fish and chips and curry? According to Tyrell, not as hard as it seems. "The English people are meat eaters," he says, "and for us to bring this concept to London has really opened up another avenue for them to have different types of food." Tyrell did have to adjust his cooking a bit to cater to the British taste buds. He said he had to cut down his spicing by 30% so it would not be too hot for English tongues.
Watching his British patrons, Tyrell quickly noticed something different about the way the people here were eating the cuisine he grew up with. Typical American BBQ is eaten without much use of utensils, but with a lot of napkins. London diners are not used to this simple style of eating. "In the States, they jump in and grab their ribs with their hands and gnaw away getting barbeque sauce all over them, where here we still get people who eat ribs with a knife and a fork," Tyrell says. "You want to go up to them and say, 'pick up your food and eat it!'" Perhaps this is one of the reasons "FINGERS WERE INVENTED BEFORE FORKS" is printed on the top of every menu.
To get Bodean's to really feel American, Blais travelled with designer Quentin Reynolds to America where they took pictures of similar restaurants to get the décor to look authentic. The use of placemat menus, booths, and farm animal designs on the wall all help make the restaurant feel genuine. But Bodean's Americanism does not stop with décor. Tyrell brought in several cable channels like NASN and Sky Sports to bring customers the live and taped showings of American sports like professional American football and college basketball. When those weren't enough, Tyrell insisted on getting a satellite system from Abu Dhabi that would bring in a few extra games a week. "People have loved it," Tyrell says.
Bodean's has also been able to capitalise on American holidays. The restaurant in Soho had around 200 people show up for the set menu on Thanksgiving. Other popular days include the Super Bowl and the 4 th of July. "[British People] like to come in with their American friends," says Tyrell of the American holidays. A new holiday he plans on tackling is the Mexican Cinco De Mayo where they will sell Mexican specials as well as deals on margaritas.
Another American restaurant tradition Tyrell insists on having is a high level of service. "You have to be on your game with every customer," he says. In fact if you choose to dine at Bodean's you may very well have Tyrell himself coming to check in to make sure your meal is going well. The entire wait staff are expected to follow a standard of service where they are fun and cordial during the meal and make sure to thank each customer on the way out.
The problem with being an American restaurant in another country is that the American food can actually be a range of different things. Bodean's was nominated for Tito Pepe and was put up against famed chef Gordon Ramsay's Boxwood Café, his go at American food with a French spin, and a South American restaurant. The South American restaurant ended up winning, but do South American cuisine and barbeque really compare? "I don't know if there is an 'American' style," Tyrell says. His aim is to bring the food he grew up with to people who may never have enjoyed it.
So what does the future hold for the still developing Clapham Bodean's? For starters, the installation of a bar. Tyrell says that most of the work for that is being done outside the restaurant, so they will not have to shut down for too long. There is also supposed to be the inclusion of more comfortable seating as well as some additions to the menu to get it up to speed with its sister restaurant in Soho. Tyrell admits to having plans to expand on Bodean's if the popularity continues to grow, but he also has plans for another restaurant that he is hesitant to speak about. He did leak that it is something that London doesn't have, but definitely needs.
Report by Corey Fenwick and Ryan T. Barlow, our American interns. Thanks guys!
