The Los Angeles-based restaurateur is planning to celebrate a year in advance of Jan. 31, 1999. Like any New Year's Eve, it will be a time to look ahead. And what makes this really special, and also scary, is that most of us haven't seen the change of a century. There are plenty of unknowns. The optimism that pervades the foodservice industry will continue, he believes.
People are confident, smarter.
They want simplicity and quality. That should carry through the early part of the millennium. Operators can cross their fingers and hope it is so. The impact of a new millennium will bring with it a sense of change. And that can be unnerving, according to psychologist Barbara Caplan, who charts consumer trends for Yankelovich Partners in New York.