LOCATION OR LUCK OR SOMETHING ELSE?

Last night, my wife & I met up with some of our social buddies from The Wednesday Club for a dinner outing.

James & Sophia, who had recently moved into "temporary residence" at the Valley Park condominium on River Valley Road, as their house on One Tree Hill has just started its massive renovation program, suggested the newly opened Cafe Le Chateau, located on the ground floor of the nearby Valley Point shopping mall, also located on River Valley Road.

Our group of seven, comprising James & Sophia, S T & Gek Wee, Jeffrey [his wife Betty couldn't make it, due to irrevocable baby-sitting obligations to their grand-daughter for the evening], plus my wife & myself, met at 7pm in the supposedly French restaurant. James & S T brought along their favourite wines.

While looking for a good deal, we finally opted for set dinner, at S$38++ per pax: rib-eye or salmon (main course), baked oysters Florentine or escargots (starter), soup of the day (potato soup - I must say they certainly made delicious soup!), tiramasu, coffee or tea.

The food was reasonably good, considering from the "value for money" angle. The restaurant ambiance was relatively nice & cosy with small candle lights, & customer service was "on the ball".

Best of all, there wasn't any no corkage charge, & so the eventual damage to our pockets came up to S$43 per pax.

In reality, our focus of the evening wasn't food. It was incidentally Wednesday again, & thus, it was the usual "bonding" time among fellow members of The Wednesday Club.

Our casual conversations followed the unintended course of "sashaying" from golfing & holidaying during winter times in China [Lijiang, Shangrila] & Japan [Hokkaido], to ghost stories, & personal encounters with weirdos, to even a brisk review of celebrity chef Jeff Chan & his failed ventures, as well as of the Glen Goei's new movie, 'The Blue Mansion'.

Getting quite close to 9.30pm, we decided to break pack. We then noticed that the restaurant was poorly patronised. Beside us, only another table was occupied.

As my wife & I walked back to the Valley Park condominium to pick up our car, we also noticed that the Italian restaurant, called La Forketta, at the other front end of Valley Point shopping mall, was also empty, except for one table, where a couple was eating.

Just imagine owning & running a relatively large restaurant with such low patronage level in the evening. Such an unpleasant scenario, if extended indefinitely, can really keep one awake all night long, notwithstanding the cash-flow nightmare.

As observed, the Valley Point shopping mall was more or less deserted, as shops were already closed, at that hour, except for the Cold Storage Supermarket.

Could it be a location problem? Not enough advertising & promotion?

Strange enough, the myriad of shop-house eating places just further down River Valley Road, towards Kim Seng Road, had their good share of eating crowd for the evening.

Was it timing, as the current economic prospects are seemingly not the best in shape, to say the least.

Too much competitive choices for the foodie?

Or was it the geomancy factor or luck, so to speak, then?

Chinese owners are often very adamant in consulting geomancers for their restaurant locations & openings, to ensure "natural harmony of wind & water". More explicitly, to ensure that their "entrepreneurial aspirations resonate with their life charts".

How much weight does that carry actually?

I really don't know or rather I am unable to explain it rationally, but one thing I am very sure of, drawing from my own personal & professional experience of running a small business for some fifteen years, luck & timing are essential prerequisites to busines success, no matter how you look at it.

Interestingly, I also had my fair share of geomancy readings during my entrepreneurial forays in the 90s.