Forty years is quite a long time for anything, let alone a restaurant.
Joe's opened on Wandsworth Bridge Road in 1986, and this year we find ourselves celebrating our 40th birthday. Fulham has changed enormously in that time. Restaurants have come and gone, fashions have changed and the way we eat and drink has probably changed more than any of us realised while it was happening.
But Joe's is still here.
And I think a large part of the reason for that is that Joe's has never really tried to be something it isn't.
It has always been a neighbourhood place.
Somewhere you can come in for a coffee, meet someone for a drink at the bar, have dinner with friends or gather the family for Sunday lunch. Somewhere that works for a quick hour as well as a long afternoon. Somewhere you can celebrate a birthday without it feeling overly formal, or simply walk in because you don't particularly fancy cooking.
That sounds straightforward, but I think those places are actually quite rare.
The people make Joe's
When you run a restaurant for any length of time, you realise very quickly that the food and the room are only part of it.
The thing that gives a place its character is the people.
There are customers who have been coming to Joe's for years. Families whose children have grown up knowing the restaurant. People who stop at the bar on the way home. Friends who always seem to choose the same table. Dogs who possibly receive a warmer welcome than their owners.
And then there are the people working here.
Restaurants are wonderfully human businesses. They're built on conversations, recommendations, remembering someone's usual drink, recognising a face and making somebody feel welcome when they come through the door.
That's the bit of Joe's I never want us to lose.
Joe's is changing too
That doesn't mean standing still.
Over the last year we've been thinking a lot about what Joe's should look like for its next chapter.
The Brasserie remains at the heart of it, but we're giving more identity to the different sides of Joe's: Bar, Brasserie and Providore.
The bar should be somewhere you genuinely want to drop into, whether that's for a pint, a glass of wine, a cocktail or something to eat.
The Brasserie should continue doing what a good neighbourhood restaurant ought to do: familiar food, seasonal dishes, generous plates and reasons to come back throughout the week.
And Providore gives us the opportunity to take a little bit of Joe's beyond the restaurant — wines we like, food from the kitchen and things that make entertaining at home that bit easier.
We're also putting more into what's happening at Joe's.
Golden Hour, Joe's Classics, Saturday breakfast, Sunday roasts, wine dinners, live music and events all give us an excuse to keep changing the rhythm of the week without changing the character of the place.
The next forty
I don't know what Wandsworth Bridge Road will look like in another forty years.
I'm fairly certain I don't want to predict what restaurants will look like either.
But I do know what I'd like Joe's to remain.
A place where people know they can come in and feel comfortable.
A place where the food is good, the bottles are worth opening and there is usually something going on.
A place that belongs to its neighbourhood.
Most importantly, a place people want to come back to.
So thank you to everyone who has been part of Joe's over the years — whether you've been coming since the early days or discovered us last week.
Forty years feels worth celebrating.
And we're only getting started.
Will