Name change: From Merchant to Spoon and Stable

It's a memorable day at Gavin Kaysen's opening-in-mid-November North Loop restaurant.

"All of our plates, and glasses, and silverware just arrived, and we're unpacking," he said. "It's a little hectic around here."

Oh, and then there's the slight matter of an announcement Kaysen dropped on social media this morning. He's changed the name of his enterprise, from Merchant to Spoon and Stable (check out his video here).

The new name reflects the century-old building's original use as a stable — remnants of the horse stalls remain in the dining room's brick walls — and Kaysen's well-known penchant for stealing restaurant spoons. As souvenirs. To date, he estimates that his collection, numbers-wise, hovers around 500.
Q: So, spoons?
A: Yeah [laughs]. I started doing it when I was probably like 20. It didn't start out as much. You know, when you travel, you save a postcard, or you save currency — and I did, all these countries before they went to the euro, I have them framed — and I didn't think much of it, I just starting taking spoons, thinking it would be a fun way to remember where I'd been. You know, I would be inspired by the meal, or the company. What's funny is that people started sending them to me. I've had cooks who staged in places around the world, and they'd send me spoons. I'll be honest, I have a number of spoons that I don't know where they came from — no clue — and some of them have got a note taped to them to remind me. But I do know where the majority came from.
Q: Is your collection going to be displayed in the restaurant?
A: My brother is going to create a piece of art work with them. We're going to get out a couple bottles of wine, he's bringing over driftwood from California, and we'll get some glue or nails so they don't get stolen like I stole them [laughs].
Q: Are you holding any spoons back?
A: Yes, I want to be sure they're not included because they mean so much to me. I have a spoon from my first meal at Cafe Boulud. I've got a spoon from Paul Bocuse, I remember that very well. I've got one from the French Laundry, it was given to me, I didn't take it. There's one from David Myers from Sona in L.A. At the end of the meal, I was presented with a cigar box, and I opened it, and inside, there was a spoon.
Q: Have you ever been caught?
A: No. I used to sometimes take them and slip them into my wife's purse, and she'd say, "Don't make me be that person." But there's a spoon that I've never been able to get, from Alain Ducasse's restaurant in Monoco. The silverware is gold. I'd give my left leg to get one of those spoons. A friend was there, and he sent a picture of it, and said it was "the spoon that got away." He didn't take it for me. He said, "Are you out of your mind? I'm not going to steal a gold spoon for you." [laughs]
Q: How much do 500 spoons weigh?
A: A [expletive deleted]-ton, you have no idea. When I moved them from New York, I vacuum-sealed them, separately, because they were so loud. From there, I divided them among three separate boxes, that's how heavy they are.
Q: Are you setting yourself up for souvenir seekers like yourself?
A: Probably [laughs]. I'm going to put a souvenir charge on our POS [point of sale] system. That's the only way to control it. I got the idea at Tru in Chicago. I was having dinner there, by myself, and there was a lady who had ordered that beautiful caviar staircase, do you remember that? When she finishes the caviar, she discreetly grabs the caviar staircase and puts it in her purse. No one says anything, not the waiter, no one. I was shocked. She proceeds through the meal, and asks for the check. When she sees the final invoice, she opens her purse, puts the caviar staircase back on the table, and the waiter takes the bill away and readjusts it. Later I asked him, "What did you do?" And he told me they have a souvenir fee, because people take the staircases all the time. It was $250. And I said, "You legitimately have that as a line item on your POS system?" [laughs].
Q: I can't tell if you're being straight with me. You're really going to have a souvenir charge? How much?
A: I don't even know. Good question. But I'm totally going to have to have a souvenir fee. We have to do something [laughs]. Or we can just let it chill out for six months, and then get the word out that we'll have a Sunday where everyone can come in and return the spoons, no questions asked [laughs].

Q: When did you decide to change the name?
A: About two weeks ago, when I began to realize all the other restaurants named Merchant. I didn't know about them. There's one close to us, in Madison, Wis. More than anything else, I was putting on my small business owner hat, and asking myself, 'How will this help or hurt the guys in Madison, or in New Jersey, or in L.A.? I don't want to the cause of any hurt. I want our name to be genuine to this space.
Q: And you went to your mentors for advice?
A: Yes, I went to Daniel [Boulud], and I asked Thomas Keller. I said, "Chef, do think this is bad, changing the name?" My biggest concern is that people would think it was weird; you know, the prime rib special that's now $9 when everyone else is charging $18. Chef said, "Naming the restaurant is the hardest part of the build-out, and I'm always glad that I didn't have to name the French Laundry, because it was already called that. Whatever is on the front door, you have to believe that. You make it that name."
Q: How many names did you brainstorm?
A: It's funny, Spoon and Stable was the first name that I came up with, way back, but I set it aside. Actually, when I originally wrote the business plan, I was calling it Dorothy's [for Kaysen's late grandmother, Dorothy Ann Kaysen]. Then I walked through the space and saw the stable and thought, yeah, this makes sense. Why didn't I just listen to myself the first time? It could have been a lot easier. But that's part of the process, and I learned a very valuable lesson. That's being a business owner. You learn these things. I want to learn from my mistakes, it makes you better.