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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Line of Duty: the Best Crime Thrillers to Watch Next

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Line of Duty is over, perhaps for good. It’s time to dismantle that evidence wall, file the exhibits away, and close the door on AC-12. With H unmasked, we can all rest our adrenal glands and get back to a healthy, Jimmy Nesbitt-free sleep pattern.

Once that’s achieved, if you start to feel the itch for more seismic shocks and sleights-of-hand, here are a few suggestions of what to watch next – eight TV thrillers that provide similar doses of double-dealing, truth-concealing, witness-squealing, case-breaking shenanigans. Add your own recommendations below!

Bodyguard

Bodyguard proved that there was life after the Red Wedding for Richard Madden. His performance as David Budd, a former combat soldier living a new – and equally dangerous – life as a Principal Protection Officer (PPO) in the London Met deservedly netted him a Golden Globe and a Scottish Bafta award.

Budd’s job protecting the abrasive yet vulnerable British Home Secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes) is complicated by their conflicting ideologies, Budd’s fractured home-life and PTSD, and a wide-ranging conspiracy that brings together Islamic terrorism, organised crime, intra-governmental malfeasance and dodgy cops. Be prepared to watch from behind half-closed eyes, wincing in anticipation of the oblivion that’s promised around almost every corner.

Bodyguard has the kinetic ferocity and explosive twists of 24; the grim and gritty characterisation of a Jimmy McGovern project; and the ‘Oh my God it was them along… or was it?’ twists of Line of Duty, which follows as it was also created by Jed Mercurio and World Productions.

Watch on: Netflix UK

The Americans

What if you were so deeply embedded with your enemies that you were indistinguishable from them, both inside and out, and even started to become increasingly disillusioned about what side you were supposed to be on? That’s the central conceit of FX’s slick and superlative spy drama The Americans, set in Washington DC during the height of the Cold War. Russian operatives Philip and Elizabeth Jennings have fake pasts and fake identities, but they also have very real American teenage children, who have been raised oblivious to the devastating secret thumping Poe-like in their parents’ hearts. Other shows trading in similar tropes may well deal in deception and corruption, but the cross that the Jennings have to bear in the name of ideology makes even the biggest conspiracies in Line of Duty and Bodyguard seem like a fib told by a child to avoid punishment for stealing freshly-baked muffins from their mother’s windowsill.

The heat on the Jennings is turned up even further when an FBI agent tasked with uncovering Russian agents moves next door with his family; further still when the two families become friends, further blurring the lines between truth, lies, identity and loyalty.

Whom do you trust when you can’t even trust yourself?

Watch it on: Amazon Prime Video UK (available to purchase)

Edge of Darkness (1985)

Edge of Darkness is steeped in the same Thatcher-tainted, Reagan-ruled, greed-is-good, hyper-capitalist era as The Americans, but is a contemporaneous piece rather than a period piece, having debuted in 1985.

The tragic tale follows tortured policeman Ronald Craven (Bob Peck) as he tries to unravel the truth behind his eco-activist daughter’s murder, while he himself starts to unravel in a sea of lies, half-truths, hard truths and shifting allegiances. Craven snakes his way through a colourful cast of misfits, agitators, loudmouths, snobs, yobs and psychopaths, as the battle for power – nuclear, economic, hegemonic – and perhaps the survival of the earth itself, swirls and dances and ricochets around him.

It’s a series that’s unafraid to immerse the viewer in complexity; leaving them to fathom the ever-morphing labyrinth of motivations and revelations on their own; leaning heavily into ambiguity whenever it serves the shape and tone of the story. Often, the viewer is left as bemused and perplexed as Craven himself in the face of this deadly puzzle, but they will still find themselves – also like Craven – unable and unwilling to rest until the pieces fit together.

The late Bob Peck – whom many will only know as the game keeper from Jurassic Park, who utters his memorable final line, ‘Clever girl…’, seconds before becoming a velociraptor hors d’oeuvre – puts in a mesmerising, career-defining performance as Craven, effortlessly embodying the full gamut of the man’s grief, guilt, obsession, melancholy and mania. Craven seems at once mythical and otherworldly, and yet solidly, painfully, exquisitely human.

Watch on: Amazon Prime Video UK (available to purchase)

The Shield

“Good cop and bad cop left for the day. I’m a different kind of cop.”

So says LA Detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) seconds before demonstrating his no-holds-barred interrogation technique to an obfuscating paedophile. It’s not that Vic considers himself above the law, more that everybody else is below his. He often does the right things for the wrong reasons, or in the wrong way, or the wrong things for the right reasons. Or at least for reasons that he thinks are right. And he’s got a justification for everything, from bribing fellow officers, to partnering with organised criminals, to even murdering suspects.

Impossibly corrupt, relentlessly self-righteous, fearless to the point of psychopathy, Vic is the badge-wearing heir apparent to Tony Soprano, but burdened with little of the gabagool-guzzler’s guilt. Viewers are left under no illusions about the lengths Vic will go to protect himself and his kingdom, nor about the sort of show they’re watching, when at the close of the first episode he executes an officer who has been placed in his Strike Team to investigate his corruption, framing a similarly deceased drug kingpin for the crime.

So begins the toxic, spreading rot of secrets, lies and double-dealings, each action an effort to cover over and stay a step ahead of the misdeed before. Vic’s three-man Strike Team would follow him into Hell, which is just as well, because that’s exactly where he leads them, along with his family, and anyone who ever associated with or went toe-to-toe against him. The Shield begins as a punchy, kinetic pop-corn spectacle of a series, but slowly evolves into an almost Shakespearian tragedy, rich in sadness, sacrifice and betrayal. The final act – hell, the final few seasons – will leave you in no doubt as to The Shield‘s place in the pantheon of small-screen greats.

Watch on: All4 (UK)

Celebrating Jimmy McGovern’s Cracker

By Jamie Andrew

Line of Duty Series 6 Episode 7 Review: H Unmasked At Last

By Louisa Mellor

Dexter

If Internal Affairs set up an office in the Miami Metro Police Department, the last person they’d suspect of foul play would be the handsome, unfailingly polite blood-spatter analyst Dexter Morgan, doyen of the Homicide bowling team and daily bringer of doughnuts. Whereas Vic Mackey flaunts his corruption in plain sight, Dexter has to stay in the shadows. Dexter’s corruption is a little more extreme than Vic’s: he’s a highly active serial killer. That he only kills according to a strict ethical code – only other murderers, and only those who’d escaped, or would escape, justice by more legitimate means – makes him a complex, compassionate and compelling figure, one with whom we sympathise easily: perhaps too easily. Dexter makes us complicit by proxy. We find ourselves rooting for a serial killer, hopelessly lost in the hedge-maze of his amorality.

Dexter’s relationships with his sister, Deborah (Jennifer Carter) – a detective at his precinct – and Rita (Julie Benz) – first his girlfriend, then his wife and eventually mother of his son – are his only toe-holds on humanity, which is why the show regularly has them dancing on the edge of his dark secret. No more so than when Dexter has to help the department investigate the crimes of a serial killer the media dubs The Bay Harbor Butcher, a serial killer who just happens to be… Dexter.

While it’s true that Dexter came to a perfect natural conclusion after four great seasons, it’s also true that it limped on for another four seasons after that, capped by a finale that is quite possibly one of the weakest and worst of any drama series ever made. Thankfully, it’s coming back for a ninth season later this year, hopefully to right past wrongs.

Watch on: NOW (UK)

Cracker

If you only know the larger-than-life Robbie Coltrane as the much-larger-than-life Hagrid in the Harry Potter series, you’d do well to check out the mid-90s UK crime-series Cracker, and see Coltrane at his most searing, endearing, dangerous and iconic. Here he plays Eddie ‘Fitz’ Fitzgerald – quite simply the role he was born to play – a sharp-witted, full-blooded, foul-mouthed, fast-living psychologist who impresses (and largely imposes) his way into a consulting gig with the Manchester Police, helping them to solve their more grizzly and unusual crimes. The storyline that sees Fitz investigating one of ‘his’ own is perhaps its most harrowing and heart-breaking – a network of tragedies dovetailing into one other – with a denouement that casts a long, sad shadow over the rest of the series.

Warning: If you are a Harry Potter fan, and you decide to watch Cracker, do take the time to psychologically prepare yourself for the sight of Hagrid in bed with Harry Potter’s mum.

Watch on: Britbox (UK)

Luther

Detective John Luther (Idris Elba) has the presence of a bear, the heart of a lion, and the mind of Columbo. With his razor-sharp stare, long, lived-in coat and propensity to stick his neck precisely where it’s needed but never wanted, Luther’s ‘Oh, one more thing’ is just as likely to be a fist as it is a verbal death-blow.

Over the course of five seasons Luther is betrayed by those closest to him, mangled by loss, framed for murder and even strikes up an unusual but oddly touching relationship with a serial killer. It’s electric, captivating TV, and Idris Elba wears and lives Luther’s rage, sadness, regret and fuck-you-ness so intensely that you won’t be able to draw your eyes away from him. A barnstormer all round.

Watch on: BBC iPlayer (UK)

State of Play

The cast-list alone is enough to commend this early 2000s conspiracy thriller: John Simm, Philip Glenister (prior to the duo teaming up in Life on Mars), David Morrissey, James McAvoy, Bill Nighy, Amelia Bullmore, and Line of Duty‘s own Kelly MacDonald. Thankfully, almost everything else about this mini-series also screams excellence, especially the crackling, incisive and deeply honest writing from Clocking Off, Cracker and Shameless-stalwart Paul Abbott.

State of Play follows a group of journalists as they stumble onto the greatest story of their lives – ministerial corruption, contract killings, corporate greed, industrial espionage, illicit affairs – that pits the police, the government, and even their own friends and loved ones against them. It’s a twisting, turning, shifting, shocker of a masterpiece: a true titan of the genre.

Watch on: Amazon Prime Video UK (available to purchase)

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Line of Duty series one to six are available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.

The post Line of Duty: the Best Crime Thrillers to Watch Next appeared first on Den of Geek.

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elesianne · 4 years

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Happy just couldn’t be more handsome! Is my completely unbiased opinion. It is a bit sad that everyone in the family would prefer him to keep this level of fluffiness (= length of coat) but he is inevitably going to get a longer coat. German spitz are... total fluffballs. Males especially.

Unfortunately Happy is also a glutton and a guzzler who wolfs down his kibble much faster than is good for him, so my mother bought him a maze food bowl.

#happy the puppy #german spitz #mittelspitz

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guava-jarritos · 6 years

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I’m turning 20 this year, and recently I’ve been hit hard with the need to get out somewhere, meet new people, do new things, be my own person on my own terms. I can’t, because I take college classes online. The new people I meet are spread out across the country and even the world. I still live in my childhood bedroom, and the odd jobs I’ve taken in the past weren’t any new opportunities - I’ve either been the only employee or working alongside people I’ve known for years. I’m too stressed about paying for school out-of-pocket to find new things to do and experience.

Money is a big issue for me too, which is why when a family friend offered me a job for a few weeks in a makeshift call-center, promoting his gold and diamond company’s show next month, I jumped all over it. Reading from a script for $12 an hour? Yes please. I figured that it would be mind-numbing work, I’d hate everything for the rest of the month, I’ll practically be draining my bank account keeping my gas-guzzler of a car filled enough to get to and from the city every day, but in the end the money will be worth it so I’ll make do.

I started today. I drove to my carpool’s house, not knowing anything about him than that his name was (unfortunately) a muppet’s name. I expected (and dreaded) meeting this probably white, probably middle-aged, probably creepy dude named Kermit.

I certainly didn’t expect the drive to be this breakneck, breathless, stop-and-go, weaving through traffic, good-natured bantering between college roommates about how they are SO excited for Shaky Beats (!!!). I was still nervous enough about being around new people that it was all background - the other two people in the car who greeted me with smiles like they’d known me for years, the morning sun reflecting off the skyline when we got into the city, the STUNNING view from the top of our parking garage, the adrenaline of jaywalking to get in the doors on time.

And yeah, the work is mind-numbing. I called 250 people, said “I’m Maureen with Gold and Diamond of Atlanta, I was just calling real quick to see if you’re planning on going to the Vegas show this year?” probably twice that, wrote down only 41 emails (honestly Floridians are so rude and the girl behind me who got the Canada list was so lucky, she got at almost 100 emails just by lunch), and took a 30 minute lunch break in a dingy, silent back room. I hesitated to call for “the boss” when my phone was dying, when I wasn’t clear what form I needed to fill out, but Kermit and friend Andrew, on either side of me, still chatted with me occasionally and joked about the weirdest people on the other side of the lines, gave me advice, and let me know when it was lunch time.

So yeah, I hate the work and just one day here has firmly cemented in my head just exactly how insane I would go, having a desk job. The dude a few cubicles down who complained about how he has two degrees and is still stuck calling people off the excel sheet didn’t help any. But...

At the end of the day, trying to find our way out of the huge maze of a building we’re in, walking down the streets, really seeing the Atlanta skyline from the top of our parking garage (”I call shotgun!” “Oh sure, Andrew, like she’s gonna fight you for it...”), driving down the highway, windows down and the smell of rain in the air, complaining together about having to head into work an hour early tomorrow and how traffic will be a bitch at 8 am, these two very white, very straight, but honestly pretty chill college boys up front, talking about their summers like I already knew this stuff (”I swear, dude, you’re gonna get back from the beach with her as your girlfriend. There’s four of you going and only two beds.”), it was... good.

I was happy, and I get to do it again tomorrow.

I still want to know what parents could ever name their kid KERMIT, but I feel fresh and new and... ready.

#personal #anxiety #depression #it really does get better yall #you too can be content and happy #also like #atlanta #its a love/hate relationship #but im still amazed by how beautiful it can be #how beautiful life can be #i mean yall #im happy to be alive #ALSO #KERMIT #???#WHY

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lovemesomesurveys · 6 years

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Does it make you nervous when someone does something dangerous showing off? Very. I can’t watch when people do flips or anything that could end with them breaking their neck.

Have you ever had to take a pee test? Yeah.

Have you ever had to supply someone with clean pee? No, and I wouldn’t.

Are you a bit of a nerd? Probably.

Are you in charge of cleaning anything in your household? Yeah, I mean besides picking up after myself I help around the house with what I can.

Are you good at HTML? I just know the very basics.

Ever carved/written anything on a park bench? No.

Most interesting place you’ve ever visited? Hmm. I don’t know what was the “most” interesting out of all the interesting places I’ve visited.

Have you ever had anything tailored? No.

Fan of Walton Ford artwork? Ever even heard of him? I’m not familiar with him or his work.

Do you keep your eyebrows more thick or thin? Thickish.

What color is your bedroom door? White.

Do you value your personal space, or do you hate being alone? Yes, very much so.

Have you ever been hunting? Nooo.

Your take on one-night stands? Are they okay? Not for me, personally.

Do you always wear a bra? Not at home.

Do you have a wrist watch? No.

Could you be happier? I could just be happy to begin with.

Don’t you just love aerial views? Sure.

Do you like wine? Nope.

Would you feel bad about breaking up with a kid on his birthday? What a weird way to word this question.

Do your shoulder blades protrude? Yes.

Have you ever sung anyone the happy birthday song? Yeah, plenty of times.

How many followers do you have on Twitter? I don’t know. Not that many.

Do you like Hello Kitty? It’s cute, but I’m not into much like I was when I was younger.

Have you ever won on one of those grabber machine things? No. Such money guzzlers.

Is there an actual word for those? Claw machines.

Have you seen the movie Remember Me? Yes.

Do you like thunderstorms? Yes.

Have you ever been horseback-riding? Nope.

Have you ever seen your naked back? Yes...

Are you gonna French kiss your hubby at your wedding? I doubt I’ll ever get married, but if I did I can’t imagine that I’d do that in front of everyone.

Do you think girls generally look better with their natural hair color? Just depends. Personally, I don’t like my natural hair color.

Who is the last person you held hands with? It was with my pup.

Would you agree that wedding cake is so much better than any other cake? Cake is cake.

Do you feel awkward with strangers in elevators? Yes, it’s really awkward.

Do you cuss excessively when you’re upset? No.

Would you rather cheat and tell your other about it or be cheated on? How ‘bout neither one?

Have you ever felt free after losing something once important to you? No.

Have you ever been to a rave? Nope. Not my thing.

How many bananas have you ever eaten in a row? Just one.

Have you ever felt like you can burn the world down? I’ve never felt that way.

Can you read/speak in any language(s) other than English? Some in Spanish.

Have you ever had sex outside? I’ve never had sex in general <<<< Same.

Have you ever been outside naked? Noooo.

Do you like guys with long, brown, shaggy, flippy hair? I like short hair on guys, personally.

Do you have a beauty mark? I have birth marks.

Have you ever been in a shrubbery maze? Nope.

Do you think you’re the best thing that’s happened to someone? Ha, no.

Do you know anyone who works in a cafe? No.

What’s the most emotionally painful thing you’ve ever been through? Health and life struggles and loss of loved ones.

How many band t-shirts do you own that are black? Zero.

Can you make a clover shape with your tongue? No.

Do you have a protective father? Yes.

Last thing that caused you to get sick? I always feel sick on some level.

What’s the biggest misconception about you, personally? Hmm. I don’t know.

Have you ever seriously thought you loved someone without telling them? Yes.

Are you squeamish? Extremely.

#personal #text #survey #surveys

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pervyking · 6 years

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The Strange Disappearance of Joseph Turner Ch.II

“I still can’t believe Joe Joe is missing,” Nancy Lee, a black-haired woman of Chinese descent said with deep lamentation as I questioned her. She looked utterly dejected as she sat there on her bed in her dorm room. She was the twenty-fifth girl I questioned today about Joseph Turner. Like all the others, Nancy was one of his friends, friends’ with benefits that is. All these girls had varying reactions. Some were mortified that their favorite guy vanished while others were scornful and glad that he was gone, clearly hoping for the worst; Nancy was of the former. The more we talked about the Turner boy, the more she choked up.

“How did you meet Joseph?” I asked her.

“W-we met at a bar. It’s called the Jungle,” she sobbed.

I heard of the Jungle before. Not one of the most highly advertised bars, the Jungle was an invitation only bar where those eager to get a certain itch scratched frequented; prostitutes were also known to skulk about the establishment for clientele. A place like the Jungle would have seemed like a paradise for a promiscuous brat like Joseph Turner. More than likely, that is how he scored so many lady friends.

“When was the last time you saw him?” I asked, smoke wafting out of my mouth.

“Three days ago,” she answered. “I asked him if he wanted to go out, but he said he met a girl at the Jungle. He wanted to…you know…”

“And that didn’t bother you?” I questioned.

“Why would it?” she shrugged. “I like Joe Joe, but we’re just messing around. If he wants to spend the night with someone else, that’s his business. God…! I wish I objected. He might not be missing or…d-de--”

“That’s why I’m on the case,” I interrupted. “I’ll figure out if he’s alive or not. Got a name for the girl he was with?”

“Some occult girl. Aaliyah I think,” Nancy answered. “Aaliyah or Ali or something like that.”

After taking a long drag from my old friend from Newport, I asked, “Any idea where I can find Aaliyah?”

Nodding her head, Nancy replied with, “The library. She’s always in the library.”

With the information Nancy gave me, I ventured to the library. Miskatonic wasn’t a small college by any stretch. Divided into an upper and lower campus, I felt like I was navigating through a maze; the kid in me pondered if I should have brought some string to navigate this labyrinth. Eventually, I made my way to the lower campus where the library was located. A large, foreboding building that looked more fitting of a horror story, its decidedly gothic architecture with arched doors, stain glass windows, and overall skeletal motif seemed oddly in place despite its outdatedness. I took one last drag of my cigarette before discarding the butt; I didn’t need the librarian grumbling at me about fire hazards.

The minute I stepped in, I was greeted with shelves upon shelves of books. The numerous shelves made the interior of the library a confusing maze – much to my annoyance. At the front desk was a bespectacled woman of apparently sixty or seventy years. She appraised me with her beady eyes, trying to access me.

“I take it you aren’t a student,” the old crone cackled.

“What was your first guess, Granny?” I quipped.

“Just don’t make a spectacle of yourself,” she warned.

Rather than aimlessly wandering around the library looking for someone, I decided to narrow down the field by asking, “Where’s the occult section at?”

“Second floor,” she responded. “Keep going right and eventually you’ll know it when you see it.”

I looked about the library until I finally found the staircase that led to the second floor. The library was quiet, but there was a strangeness to it. Rather than a solemn quiet where someone might study, this was a deathly silence. Each step I took only seemed to intrude on the foreboding quiet. The second floor diverted in two directions – left and right. Following the librarian’s instructions, I turned right. If Nancy was to be believed, the occult girl would be here. Right away, I could tell that the upper right was entirely dedicated to the occult. Numerous books on the numerous shelves boasted strange symbols. My journey right came to an end when I came across a table adjacent to a window, and seated there was a tawny girl with long black hair.

Despite the noise my steps made on the carpeted floor, she appeared to not notice me. Only when I got close enough did I hear her say, “You smell like an ash tray.”

“Cute,” I scoffed. “You Aaliyah?”

“Aaliyah Kassab, and who are you?” she inquired.

“Detective Miller,” I answered. “Just investigating Joseph Turner’s disappearance. Last person I heard he was with was you.”

Even though I only saw the back of her head, I saw her body tremble, shaking with a kind of amused delight. A deep, melancholy laugh that unsettled me came out of her, making me wish the grim silence of the library returned. Still laughing, she said, “I already spoke with the detectives from the precinct. This must mean you’re a private investigator hired by Old Man Turner.”

“Smart girl,” I told her.

“Not hard to deduce.” Aaliyah swiveled around in her chair and I glimpsed this tawny girl. She was cute, but not beautiful. Her nose was a little big for my liking, but her eyes were a mesmeric grey that just drew my attention, and no doubt the Turner brat’s. “I was helping Joe Joe with his project. He called it--”

“Dispelling the Superstitions of Primitive Man,” I finished.

“Such an ignorant title,” she spat, though she was still laugh. “Only a privileged few have read the pages of the Necronomicon, and even fewer have completed that archaic tomes documents. Ha ha…and what does Joe Joe do? He reads all the way through it and immediately calls it superstitious nonsense. I wonder who’s really primitive? Our ancestors or us?”

I just shrugged my shoulders. There was nothing more aggravating than listening to a self-professed intellectual standing on their soapbox and ranting about how everything in the world is wrong and how the good old days were better; if I wanted that, I’d watch Fox News. This made my job so much more difficult. I said nothing, letting her hopefully get that rant out of her system.

“Joe Joe came to me wanting to conduct a ritual,” Aaliyah professed. “I remember it well. Glorbûsh Laiy-Tulah!” she exclaimed. “Exalt Laiy-Tulah, the Great Devourer, Dread of Za’cklaan, Guzzler of Obvril, and Terror of Kcaaloos! Ha ha…! Yes, poor Joe Joe wanted to summon feared Laiy-Tulah to prove our ancestors’ fools. Now… he’s gone away…♫” That last part was sung in such a joyful singsong voice that it was almost like a giddy child singing a nursery rhyme. This girl was doing a terrible job trying to dismiss any suspicion…

“You were last seen with the Turner boy at the Jungle, is that correct?” I asked, trying steer the subject away from this boloney and back to the topic at hand.

As if suddenly knocked from a fit of madness, Aaliyah looked at me with sane coherence and said, “He took me to the Jungle. He might be an ignorant snob, but he’s a snob who knows how to show a girl a good time. He ditched me at the Jungle, though, and that’s the last time I saw him, but I suggest you don’t look into this matter any further.”

“Heh… Why is that?” I scoffed.

“Detective Miller, do you have a pet cat by any chance?” Aaliyah asked out of the blue.

By chance, I did have a cat. Mr. Patches strayed up to my office one day and I instantly took a liking to him; that old tabby made quick work of the rats that infested my office/home and we’ve been close ever since. I was reminded that I needed to go by the butcher later and get him some chicken. For a stray, he was damned finicky – only ate meat from the butcher.

“The Black Goat’s daughter fears cats, Detective. She believes her great enemy can peer behind their eyes…” Aaliyah cracked a smiled and stifled an oncoming laugh.

#Iron Writer #Halloween #Challenge #Lovecraft #Horror Story #chapter 2

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nicheretailstrategies · 7 years

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03/2017 | Secrets From the Highest-Grossing Restaurant in New York

BLOOMBERG | KATE KRADER | MARCH 21, 2017

An empire built on Tao-tinis and sea bass satay.

If there’s a venture with a projected shelf life of five minutes, it’s a nightlife restaurant in New York’s Meatpacking District. The exception? Tao Downtown. Since it opened in 2013, with heavy wooden doors that look like they were airlifted in from an ancient Chinese fort, the temple to Pan-Asian-style food and drinks has been a prime Manhattan destination for athletes, celebrities, and businessmen and women waving corporate cards to out-of-town families.

Alcohol makes up more than 50 percent of sales at Tao Downtown, an astounding number compared with the typical 20-plus percent elsewhere. Source: TAO Downtown

Each night, some 1,200 people stream through the David Rockwell-designed, 22,000-square-foot, bilevel maze of dark wood-paneled rooms decorated with candles and giant Buddhas. The 300-seat dining room is massive by New York standards; the new Union Square Cafe, also designed by Rockwell, seats about 90. Tao Downtown estimates it did more than 220,000 covers (aka customers) in 2016—significantly more than the population of Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood. There’s almost always a line to get into the adjoining nightclub.

When you're in Vegas: Marquee is a profitable piece of Tao's empire. Source: Tao Group

According to an annual survey by Restaurant Business, Tao posted almost $34 million in food and beverage sales in 2016. That’s the highest-ranking spot for a non-chain restaurant in New York, and the third-highest in the U.S. What’s in first place? Tao Asian Bistro in Las Vegas, where total sales were just shy of $48 million. Third place is actually a decline for Tao Downtown; in 2015 the club claimed the list’s No. 2 spot with $38 million in sales. (This year, second place went to the venerable Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami.) Even so, Tao Group dominates the 2016 list; another of its New York restaurants, Lavo, came in sixth with sales of $27.5 million. Tao Uptown, with $23 million in sales, came in 11th.

In February, Tao Group announced a partnership with the Madison Square Garden Co., which acquired a 62.5 percent stake in the company for $181 million. This month, industry insiders say Tao will also be taking over the space on the second floor of 130 E. 57th St. that housed Frederick Lesort’s restaurant lounge Opia. Meanwhile, Tao itself is expanding: In April it will open its first locations in Los Angeles, a complex adjacent to the Dream Hotel in Hollywood. The group has plans for additional U.S. cities and Asia, as well.

How does Tao stay ahead of the game and keep making money? Rich Wolf, one of Tao Group’s co-founders (along with Marc Packer, and partners Noah Tepperberg and Jason Strauss), gave me a behind-the-scenes tour of the place. He was joined by Tao Downtown’s general manager, Tony Oswain, and chef/partner Ralph Scamardella. Here are their secrets.

Be a One-Stop Shop

Rule No. 1 at Tao: Don’t give guests a reason to leave. Most people will spend at least a drink’s worth of time at the softly lit, brick-walled Ink Bar in what’s called the Eastern Mezzanine before heading down the grand staircase to a dining room, where a DJ spins in the background. Then they can move to the perennially packed club, where the roster of acts includes Tiësto, Lorde, Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, and the ubiquitous Questlove. It’s easier to gain entrance if you’re coming from dinner, the team confirms. Tao’s kitchen is open until 2 a.m.; the club closes at 4.

The group will stay true to the formula at its coming Los Angeles home. The Dream Hotel will include Tao Asian Bistro, Beauty & Essex (another of its empire builders), and a brand-new concept, Luchini Pizzeria & Bar. Here’s how Wolf sees it: “We’ve built several concepts on one block—two restaurants, plus the Highlight Room on the roof with a club and a pool. You can take an Uber over in the afternoon, then roll from the pool to the restaurant to the club. And stay in the hotel if you don’t feel like going home.”

Create a Dining Destination

“The beauty of Tao is that you can order two sushi rolls or go all out and have an $800 live crab,” says Oswain. Most people don’t order that live crab: The average check is $75. Still, there’s an audience for pricier entrees, like a recent surf-and-turf special of Japanese wagyu with African prawns the size of lobsters. They sell for $150 each, and the restaurant usually processes 25 orders of the dish per night.

One fact that doubters overlook: The food at Tao is good. Scamardella makes regular trips to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo in search of inspiration. “People don’t come here for basic fried rice,” the chef says. (He adds barbecue duck and lobster with kimchi to his.) Scamardella calls his food “as chopstick-friendly as possible,” which makes diners more inclined to share and invariably pushes up check averages. The one dish you’ll find on almost every table is the $23 miso-glazed Chilean sea bass satay. “It’s the dish that built the empire,” says Wolf. Chef Scamardella estimates Tao Downtown sells 700 orders a night and goes through about 2,500 pounds of sea bass per week.

Embrace Convention

You won’t find a daily changing special at Tao; instead, Scamardella plans his menus ahead. “We don’t do specials based on what’s at the market or what we have left over,” he says. Rather, he orders ingredients such as Japanese beef way ahead to run as an off-the-menu. Conventions have a big effect on his calendars of specials. “In January they release the convention schedule,” Scamardella says. “If one of the big conventions is in town—the construction and concrete guys spend a lot of money—I know we’ll be having some big-ticket specials, and I order accordingly.”

Some 1,200 guests dine at Tao Downtown each night. Source: TAO

Crowd Control

The Tao Group knows its audience, and it knows their schedules. Mondays and Tuesdays, the Tao Downtown crowd can comprise up to 80 percent people with corporate cards, according to Wolf. “But it changes by the hour,” he notes. “As it gets later, the suits and ties disappear.” The biggest spending days are Wednesday and Thursday; Saturdays and Sundays are the lightest. “That’s the bridge-and-tunnel crowd,” says chef Scamardella. “People come in to celebrate, but they spend less money.”

Drinking Up

Alcohol makes up a little more than 50 percent of Tao’s sales, a huge number compared with percentages in the 20s at most other places. Ryan Arnold, wine director of the Chicago-based Lettuce Entertain You restaurant group, puts it into perspective: “Tao’s drinks numbers are insane. They’re the stuff of legend in the restaurant world. At our places, I’m happy when I see alcohol percentage in the mid-20s. I dream about a number like 32 percent.” Drinks in Tao’s bar and restaurant, like the best-selling vodka-based Ruby Red Dragon or the Tao-tini, cost $17—not an outrageous price, at least by the standards of New York cocktail lounges. How are they hitting their mark? The sheer volume helps—these are crowd-pleasing, guzzler-style beverages—as do club sales: Drinks are closer to $20 there, and bottle service ranges from about $250 to $290 a person.

Avoid Undesirable Associations

Wolf is adamant about one thing: Tao Downtown is not technically in the Meatpacking District, where the official northern boundary is 14th Street. (Tao is on 16th, just off Ninth Avenue.) Tao benefits from first-time visitors who are headed to the neighborhood to party, as well as from regulars who know it’s easy to get to. “The Meatpacking District is a quagmire,” says Wolf. “You get stuck in it, and you say, ‘I’m not going back there.’ Tao is easy in and easy out.’”

Tao is bringing the party to Los Angeles. Source: TAO

The Celebrity Factor

“Capital didn’t have a lot to do with it,” Wolf says about the recent deal with Madison Square Garden. “A lot of our venues are driven by celebrities. If someone has a concert at MSG, they’ll come here to party. Plus there’s synergy. MSG has venues all over the place. They’re building an arena in Vegas near the Sands. Imagine what can happen at Marquee.” Following the L.A. opening, Tao has deals in place at the Sands in Singapore, where the group will open a nightclub and a couple of restaurants in 18 months. And the co-founders are employing their hub strategy elsewhere in the U.S. In early 2018 they’ll open a Tao and a new concept in Chicago. Further into the future? “Miami is probably the only other U.S. city we’d look at,” says Wolf.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-21/secrets-from-the-highest-grossing-restaurant-in-new-york

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touristguidebuzz · 7 years

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7 Hospitality Lessons From the New York Restaurant That’s a Tourist Attraction

Tao Downtown's dining room, pictured here and located in New York City, estimates it served more than 220,000 customers in 2016. Tao Group

Skift Take: The Tao Group knows its clientele very well and it understands how to be the destination for tourists, locals looking to party and businessmen and women using their corporate cards for its notable hospitality and cuisine.

— Dan Peltier

If there’s a venture with a projected shelf life of five minutes, it’s a nightlife restaurant in New York’s Meatpacking District. The exception? Tao Downtown.

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Since it opened in 2013, with heavy wooden doors that look like they were airlifted in from an ancient Chinese fort, the temple to Pan-Asian-style food and drinks has been a prime Manhattan destination for athletes, celebrities, and businessmen and women waving corporate cards to out-of-town families.

Tao Downtown estimates it did more than 220,000 covers (aka customers) in 2016—significantly more than the population of Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood. There’s almost always a line to get into the adjoining nightclub.

What’s in first place?

Tao Asian Bistro in Las Vegas, where total sales were just shy of $48 million. Third place is actually a decline for Tao Downtown; in 2015 the club claimed the list’s No. 2 spot with $38 million in sales. (This year, second place went to the venerable Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami.) Even so, Tao Group dominates the 2016 list; another of its New York restaurants, Lavo, came in sixth with sales of $27.5 million. Tao Uptown, with $23 million in sales, came in 11th.

In February, Tao Group announced a partnership with the Madison Square Garden Co., which acquired a 62.5 percent stake in the company for $181 million. This month, industry insiders say Tao will also be taking over the space on the second floor of 130 E. 57th St. that housed Frederick Lesort’s restaurant lounge Opia. Meanwhile, Tao itself is expanding: In April it will open its first locations in Los Angeles, a complex in the Dream Hotel in Hollywood. The group has plans for additional U.S. cities and Asia, as well.

How does Tao stay ahead of the game and keep making money? Rich Wolf, one of Tao Group’s co-founders (along with Marc Packer, Noah Tepperberg, and Jason Strauss), gave me a behind-the-scenes tour of the place. He was joined by Tao Downtown’s general manager, Tony Oswain, and chef/partner Ralph Scamardella. Here are their secrets.

Be a One-Stop Shop

Create a Dining Destination

The one dish you’ll find on almost every table is the $23 miso-glazed Chilean sea bass satay. “It’s the dish that built the empire,” says Wolf. Chef Scamardella estimates Tao Downtown sells 700 orders a night and goes through about 2,500 pounds of sea bass per week.

Embrace Convention

You won’t find a daily changing special at Tao; instead, Scamardella plans his menus ahead. “We don’t do specials based on what’s at the market or what we have left over,” he says.

Rather, he orders ingredients such as Japanese beef way ahead to run as an off-the-menu. Conventions have a big effect on his calendars of specials. “In January they release the convention schedule,” Scamardella says. “If one of the big conventions is in town—the construction and concrete guys spend a lot of money—I know we’ll be having some big-ticket specials, and I order accordingly.”

Crowd Control

The biggest spending days are Wednesday and Thursday; Saturdays and Sundays are the lightest. “That’s the bridge-and-tunnel crowd,” says chef Scamardella. “People come in to celebrate, but they spend less money.”

Drinking Up

Alcohol makes up a little more than 50 percent of Tao’s sales, a huge number compared with percentages in the 20s at most other places.

Ryan Arnold, wine director of the Chicago-based Lettuce Entertain You restaurant group, puts it into perspective: “Tao’s drinks numbers are insane. They’re the stuff of legend in the restaurant world. At our places, I’m happy when I see alcohol percentage in the mid-20s. I dream about a number like 32 percent.” Drinks in Tao’s bar and restaurant, like the best-selling vodka-based Ruby Red Dragon or the Tao-tini, cost $17—not an outrageous price, at least by the standards of New York cocktail lounges.

How are they hitting their mark? The sheer volume helps—these are crowd-pleasing, guzzler-style beverages—as do club sales: Drinks are closer to $20 there, and bottle service ranges from about $250 to $290 a person.

Avoid Undesirable Associations

The Celebrity Factor

Following the L.A. opening, Tao has deals in place at the Sands in Singapore, where the group will open a nightclub and a couple of restaurants in 18 months. And the co-founders are employing their hub strategy elsewhere in the U.S. In early 2018 they’ll open a Tao and a new concept in Chicago. Further into the future? “Miami is probably the only other U.S. city we’d look at,” says Wolf.

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This article was written by Kate Krader from Bloomberg and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].

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