Dan Jacobs, a contestant on the latest season of “Top Chef,” is becoming a national star with his soups, cheese treats and upscale snacks — and his open battle against a rare degenerative disease.
But that publicity hasn’t translated into potential customers booking soirees at his Milwaukee restaurants DanDan and EsterEv in advance of the Republican National Convention, just three months away.
“We haven’t received a single request, that’s next to nothing,” said the restaurateur. “I think everyone’s wondering, ‘What’s going on?'”
With the Republican National Convention set to begin July 15 in Milwaukee, some of the city’s largest and most sought-after restaurants, concert halls and other venues are concerned about how expected events surrounding the convention are slowly taking shape.
Birch, whose chef Kyle Knall was twice nominated for the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Midwest, has no signed contracts and has actually received only one inquiry, restaurant management said. The elegant, old-fashioned Pabst and Riverside theaters are still not fully booked, according to entertainment industry officials. Leslie West, co-owner and director of Rave, Eagles Club and Eagles Ballroom, said she had given up and would “just book our own shows during the RNC period, no need to worry.”
“We see what everyone else sees,” said Adam Siegel, whose restaurant Lupi & Iris is in the process of finalizing deals for two 100-plate brunches but hasn’t seen the full restaurant buyouts expected. “There is no sense of security that it will continue as is the case with most conventions.”
His co-owner, Michael DeMichele, later said he was “thrilled with the brunch bookings.”
When the Republican Party chose Milwaukee to host its convention last August, the city’s Democratic mayor, Cavalier Johnson, called the city “full of unexpected gems” and urged convention attendees and partygoers alike: “Take all your money to Milwaukee and give.” “Take it out this week and leave it.”
There are now many theories in Milwaukee as to why bookings are starting so slowly. Among them: turnover in congressional staff after the presumptive nominee, former President Donald J. Trump, cleaned house at the Republican National Committee, turnover that officials denied; a small town with no event infrastructure; and the reluctance of would-be convention attendees to attend an event showcasing Trump and his most ardent supporters.
Republicans involved in planning the convention say concerns are overblown, that fundraising is happening ahead of schedule and that bookings between groups and venues are being actively worked out. The RNC’s Committee on Agreements cited 50 events that “have already been signed or are about to move toward contracting.”
“The fact is that the incredible support of the business community in Milwaukee and beyond has put this Congress in an unprecedented position for success,” said Reince Priebus, a former RNC chairman and Mr. Trump’s first White House chief of staff who now chairs the Milwaukee Host committee primarily responsible for fundraising. “We are ahead of previous host committees in our fundraising efforts and ahead of schedule on our financial and other goals.”
Elise Dickens, chief executive of the Committee on Arrangements, said: “Our team works around the clock to connect external groups with local businesses to create unforgettable events.”
And some bookings are coming through. The Bradley Symphony Center has “confirmed bookings,” said Rick Snow, the center’s vice president of facilities and building operations, and “more events are in the works.”
“A lot of work will come together now,” he said. “People who have attended major events know that everything comes together in the final weeks of planning. It’s the nature of the animal.”
But about 100 miles south in Chicago, the city that will host the Democrats about a month after Milwaukee, the nature of the beast was the opposite, organizers and event planners said. Navy Pier is fully booked. The Offshore Rooftop restaurant and another popular lake-view penthouse bar, Cindy’s Rooftop, have multiple contracts, as does Chicago Cut, a popular steakhouse on the Chicago River. The salt shed, with a capacity of 3,600 people, is intended for concerts.
Kimball Stroud, a Democratic event planner, said that so many theaters in Chicago were fully booked this spring that she “dug deep” and discovered the newly renovated and opened Ramova Theater in the working-class Bridgeport neighborhood and then bought it out for two nights: one for former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ gun control organization, another for an undisclosed client. She’s also trying to get a third night.
But Republicans involved in convention planning say business in Milwaukee should recover soon. Democrats, who held their convention in Chicago, a much larger city, had the advantage of being able to quickly accommodate state delegations in eight downtown hotels. In Milwaukee, however, the GOP only sent hotel allocations to delegates at the end of March – to 110 hotels in southern Wisconsin.
Delegates, corporations, lobbying firms and trade associations may have waited to learn where these hotels would be located before they were ready to sign contracts for restaurant meetings, concerts and warehouse parties.
Evan Hughes, co-founder and chief executive of Central Standard Distillery and Central Standard Crafthouse & Kitchen, said Friday he has three evening takeovers booked and three proposals are in negotiations. CNN and Politico are expected to open a joint dining and media center, most likely at the same swank downtown Turner Hall venue that the media organizations booked for the canceled 2020 convention.
Mr. Hughes said he had heard from several planners that groups had prioritized securing venues for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and that they would now “turn their focus to Milwaukee.”
But when Mr. Trump is involved, there are usually heated arguments. Venue managers say unrest at the Republican National Committee after Mr. Trump became the presumptive nominee and began assembling an even more loyal team led to business partners dropping out and being replaced by new faces. RNC officials say there were no turnovers. Potential customers have demanded clauses in contracts that would hold them harmless if Mr. Trump simply cancels the convention.
“This is a great opportunity for our city to shine,” said Mr. Siegel of Lupi & Iris, “and that’s all we want for our city to shine.”
In 2020, Democrats opted to hold their convention virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic, canceling it in the city of Milwaukee as hotels and stores across the country were empty. Republicans staged part of it at the White House, a radical break from tradition that mixed politics with the trappings of governance and led Democrats to accuse the Trump administration of a litany of Hatch Act violations. (The law generally prohibits government employees from participating in partisan activities.)
Eight years later, Mr. Trump is a known quantity, and his presence is a far more complicating factor. A Milwaukee bar, the Mothership, announced last month that it was closing because of the convention because the owner, Ricky Ramirez, said, “I’m not trying to get involved in this or actively take money or rent out the space for it.” “Nonsense.”
Some organizations will establish a foothold in Milwaukee while focusing on Chicago. The Latino Leaders Network will hold a reception for about 150 people at a law firm in Milwaukee, said the group’s chairman, Mickey Ibarra. Navy Pier is hosting a party for 750 guests, with a contract allowing expansion to 1,000 guests.
“There will be a very big difference,” he said.
But even in Chicago, there is concern that in addition to unions, state delegations and liberal interest groups, major corporations could shy away from the Democratic convention because those companies also shy away from Republicans, said President Sam Toia of the Illinois Restaurant Association. As in Milwaukee, discussions with such companies are ongoing, but contracts have yet to be signed.
The disgust of deep-pocketed corporations may be keeping some of the biggest and most expensive venues out of the conversation. The Milwaukee Art Museum, with its panoramic views of Lake Michigan and designed by renowned Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, for example, will not host private parties, Congress and Milwaukee officials said, citing costs and a desire to keep the museum out of politics to entangle.
In some cases there was a clear discrepancy between expectations. According to an invoice obtained by The New York Times, the Riverside Theater had planned to charge a group $116,804 for a movie screening, open bar and appetizers for 50 people. The venue remains unbooked, according to entertainment industry officials.
Many companies say that such disputes should have been resolved long ago after just three months. In February 2020, just before the pandemic upended plans, much of Milwaukee was already booked for the summer Democratic convention.
Ms. Stroud, the Democratic event planner, said that until February she was thinking about building a temporary floor above the permanent seating at the Pabst and Riverside theaters so partygoers could dance and socialize. And Mr. Jacobs, the Milwaukee restaurateur, said he spent a day selling individual tables for $1,000 a seat while Democratic conventioneers set aside seats for the trial.
The slow start comes with potential costs. Like other Great Lake cities, Milwaukee comes to life in the summer. Congress will close large parts of the city in mid-July, sending locals fleeing.
“If we don’t see the business, I don’t think our locals will be here to support us,” Mr Jacobs said. “We’ve never been so scared at the DNC.”
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2024-04-07 12:51:50
www.nytimes.com