Sonoma Spaghetti Shack Dumbs-Down Concept

While the city of Sonoma is preparing for its gala July 4^th fireworks extravaganza tomorrow night, the explosion caused by Emmy Kaplan and her new restaurant, Emmy's Spaghetti Shack, will linger long after the smoke settles on the grasses of General Vallejo's field.

Kaplan, a Sonoma resident, and San Francisco restaurateur opened her latest location in the heart of this iconic wine country town "six weeks" ago and immediately came under fire for what she had done to one of the town's well-known spaces, Deuce. Kaplan decided the d?cor of Duce didn't fit her "shack" theme. Although signs of sledge hammers are not apparent she morphed the space with a remodel in mind from casually elegant to one step below Eddie's Ghetto in St. Martin. That didn't sit well with the locals. Whereas Eddie's is actually a sophisticated shack, Kaplan's is less on the smooth side.

Kaplan's San Francisco location, in Bernal Heights, has received mixed reviews on social networking sites but diners do comment on the "large portions" of spaghetti.  Since she lives in Sonoma with her husband and young son, she decided to open a place in the town that she calls home. For those of us who have every opened a restaurant that was the least bit controversial, we will all agree opening a restaurant and pleasing everyone is not a n easy if ever-achievable task. However, Kaplan received more than her fair share of comments.

Of course, the town which boasts eateries of an ilk that would make the mouths of Mamaroneck resident's water, there has yet to be place like Emmy's within the city limits of this wine country bastion of palatable casual sophistication. Kaplan has caused a stir with her menu, her remodel, her garden redesign and her approach to a location in a town where the hottest happy hour is holding "Stop the war" signage park side, at the foot of Broadway just under the flags of city hall.

In a town where they arrested a man for having chickens, causing a stir with spaghetti and meatballs might not be so tough to chew.  They don't take things lightly here. So when Kaplan decided – in the course of her remodel- to rip up the front yard gardens of Deuce, delete the roses, and cut down a tree or two, it was a thorn in the side of some of the "locals".

More obscene, in the eyes of town folk, was Kaplan's vision for the inside of the building once housing a mortuary where some relatives of the locals where laid to rest.  In her quest, I presume, to "shack it up" Kaplan painted the inside of the once oak and mahogany space a deep rose tone- ironic isn't it? - mixed with a shade of blue-green that in varying degrese of sunlight could be consider, well, horrendous. But her concept is spaghetti shack- the key word being shack.  And, she certainly has accomplished that goal. One would be hard pressed to find another operator who could perfect the art of theme by taking a space known for fine dining and transforming it into shack as quickly as Kaplan managed to do. It appears she is a master of conceptual focus through previous concept destruction. The question here is whether or not it will work?

The case study is going to be of interest to every restaurant owner who has ever spent fortunes on high priced interiors, lavish booths and banquets, equipment, lighting and artwork. Add highly paid culinarians and professional waiters, managers, and sommeliers. Tally up the overhead, add the rent, linen, taxes and salaries for musicians and entertainment and running a restaurant in today's world is a gamble of astronomical proportion.

Kaplan has also fired a shot across the bow of another famous shackster - Mary. Sonoma is home base to Mary's Pizza Shack a multi-unit family owned operation that is refined shack rather than shack, shack. Mary's offers casually professional accoutrements,  throughout their concept and is more family oriented.

To take the concept full circle, Kaplan has posted her hours next to the entrance of her space on a five-dollar hardware store-hours sign, while not opting for the typical sign announcing closings and opening hours. And, for the piece de resistance, she has posted an employee, in the bike lane of Broadway, holding a sign that reads, "Yes, we're open", which in the world of dumbing-down a concept is at the top of the heap.

Will Kaplan's concept work? Only time will tell. There have been other shacks before, Joe's Crab Shack, Gump's Seafood, and Famous Dave's all began as shack concepts. However, none has perfected shackism as well as Kaplan.

This will be an interesting summer as we watch the Sonoma Spaghetti wars add spice to life in the valley.