Latest / Forking Around with Flavor South Florida / Cleve Mash, Angelo Abbenante, Scott Freilich: Three Amigos Behind Some of Florida's Favorite Spots

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Cleve Mash, Angelo Abbenante, Scott Freilich: Three Amigos Behind Some of Florida's Favorite Spots · Forking Around with Flavor South Florida

• 0:02
  Thank you. Welcome to Forking Around with Flavor
• 0:06
  South Florida. I'm Kerri Paizzi, CEO of Flavor
• 0:09
  South Florida. We are sitting down with entrepreneurs,
• 0:12
  business owners, and influential community partners
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  to talk growth, trials, tribulations, and more.
• 0:17
  These conversations lead into Flavor South Florida,
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  the region's largest restaurant month, happening
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  every September from the 1st through the 30th.
• 0:24
  If you're in hospitality or thinking about building
• 0:27
  something meaningful in this industry, you're
• 0:29
  in the right place. Pull up a chair and let's
• 0:31
  get into it. This episode is sponsored by Altima
• 0:38
  Caviar. Visit them at Altimacaviar .com. Today,
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  we are sitting down with my favorite three amigos
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  in the area here, restauranteurs. I'm certain
• 0:50
  you know them. I'm certain you've been to their
• 0:52
  restaurants. I'm going to introduce to you Scott
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  Freilich, Cleve Mash, and Angelo Abanante. Welcome
• 0:59
  to the podcast today, guys. We are here to fork
• 1:02
  around. Are you ready? Let's do it. Let's go.
• 1:05
  Let's do it. You guys have a huge dynamic, right?
• 1:10
  You are honestly like the restaurateurs in the
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  area, in my opinion. I feel like you're serial
• 1:16
  entrepreneurs in opening restaurants. Am I correct
• 1:19
  to say that? We've opened quite a few. How many?
• 1:24
  I've opened over 20 bars, nightclubs, and restaurants.
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  20? From here, just here in Florida? All in South
• 1:32
  Florida, from Miami Beach to Jupiter. And that's
• 1:35
  like nightlife bars, restaurants, that's all
• 1:38
  of it, right? All over the board? Yep. Okay,
• 1:41
  Cleve? I've got about 18. 18, you're catching
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  up. Remember, combined, we've opened up. If you
• 1:47
  take the ones we have and the ones in my past,
• 1:50
  PapiChulo is on it. Don't forget Dugan's. Yeah,
• 2:16
  Dugan's. Well, that's— Yeah, but— Your Lake Worth
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  steakhouse. Yeah, a lot of them. A lot of them.
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  So you're the man behind Lynora's. I am. All right.
• 2:26
  All right. You just opened in Palm City. We did.
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  Which I find to be fascinating because Palm City
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  is popping off. And now is something else coming
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  to Palm City soon? Shh. Don't tell anybody. I
• 2:38
  mean, they might have leaked renderings already.
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  Just so you know. Well, it seems like I'm the
• 2:45
  guinea pig with these two guys because I went
• 2:48
  to Palm City about two years ago and found a
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  location. It just seemed like the progression
• 2:53
  was heading north. And for me, it was like, okay,
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  go to Stewart. I went downtown Stewart. I didn't
• 2:59
  love it. It didn't feel right. And then there
• 3:01
  was an opportunity on Map Road and decided to
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  open up Lynora's there. And it's been, you know,
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  we just, January was our one year anniversary.
• 3:10
  It's crushing. I went there on a Wednesday night
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  and I waited for like 40 minutes. Because it
• 3:16
  was packed. I didn't have a reservation because
• 3:18
  it was Wednesday. Like, shame on me. But, like,
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  it was popping. And I got these, like, these
• 3:23
  mussels in this encrote. Encrosta. And they cut
• 3:29
  it open table side. So, I mean, obviously, I'm
• 3:32
  not even going to talk about the M word. Everybody
• 3:35
  knows about the meatballs. Like, yes, Laura's
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  meatballs are the best. I said that. I said it
• 3:40
  out loud. Yeah, no. And when we opened, it was
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  like, you know, people are like, you know, everybody's
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  heading north in general, you know, our population
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  of Palm Beach County. And, you know, and that's
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  kind of how, you know, another opportunity came
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  about. eight months ago. And, you know, I dragged
• 3:58
  these guys up there. And finally, Scott's the
• 4:01
  one that takes the longest to get to the group.
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  Cleve comes. I'm like, Cleve, let's go. He's
• 4:06
  like, all right, let's go. Scott's like, you
• 4:08
  have to kind of like massage him. Hey, are we
• 4:10
  going up? It's a process. It's a process with
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  Scott. He's the most conservative out of the
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  group. Let's put it that way. And we finally
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  got up there and I guess they liked it. Well,
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  like he said. He's the guinea pig. And so the
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  funny thing is, is that every time he brings
• 4:27
  us something, we're always like, oh, no, it's
• 4:30
  not a good idea. He ends up doing it. We're like
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  the George Costanzas. Have you seen Seinfeld?
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  You do the opposite of what George does. You
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  do the opposite. He'll come to us and we're like,
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  oh, I don't know, that area, Map Road. And then
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  he's like, I'm doing it. And then he'll show
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  us the numbers. And they're like, oh, what are
• 4:49
  we doing PapiChulo's next? So that's what happened
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  in Jupiter. That's how we became Papachilos in
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  Jupiter was Angelo, against all of our advice
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  and everybody else, said, don't go to Tequesta.
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  And he's like, you know what? I see the progression.
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  He has a vision of where people are going. And
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  he saw an opportunity. He opened up Jupiter.
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  It was unbelievable. And then the opportunity
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  came up that there was this little place. actually
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  in the plaza next door that we originally looked
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  at. And the owner of the plaza said, you know
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  what? There's this little house that's like,
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  I mean, ready to be torn down. It was in such
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  bad shape. PapiChulo's was a house before? Well,
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  it looks like a house. It was a chicken place
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  back when I was in high school in Palm Beach
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  Gardens. And then it became Pepsi food. But for
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  eight years, it was left vacant. And if the walls
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  were rotted, it was just in bad shape. But Angelo
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  convinced me to come up, take a look at it. He's
• 5:56
  like, we should do a little side project. And
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  then Angelo and I, a whole other story. We play
• 6:02
  soccer together. So we were like, we need a third
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  person because he's a forward, I'm a sweeper.
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  And we always are locking horns. And we're like,
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  we need a third partner on this. And I was like,
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  we need to call Scott. Mind you, six months to
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  get him up there. He was not budget. He's like,
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  do you know how far it is? And I'm like, Scott,
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  it's really not that bad. I had a lot going on.
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  I wasn't really thinking I was going to do anything.
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  I was more of just checking it out, giving my
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  opinion. I don't think it originally started
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  as like I was going to be involved. Surprise!
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  How long have you known each other? Different.
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  Over 20 years. Yeah, well, Scott, it's definitely
• 6:56
  over 20 years. I'm trying not to. You're 22.
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  22 years old. So it was over 30 years. And then
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  for myself and Angelo, we met back when I had
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  Monkey Club. Okay. And then we played soccer.
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  against each other forever forever yeah forever
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  my whole team hated angelo you still play soccer
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  now uh he started again yeah i stopped and i
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  haven't gone back but i stopped about five years
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  ago his dad warned me once you stop you never
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  go back yeah it is so true really it's really
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  hard because your body your muscles those muscles
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  that you use in soccer are different from like
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  running or walking because you're sprinting,
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  you're stopping. And every time I go back, I
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  end up getting hurt. My dad coached all of my
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  teams when I was young. And so, and everybody
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  wanted to be on all my teams because my dad was
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  like, he, we always won. He was like the best
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  coach. I played soccer, basketball, softball.
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  Softball is definitely my favorite. Soccer was
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  really, soccer is very hard. Soccer is, I feel
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  like, I don't think people think of it. Like
• 7:58
  you're just running, kicking the ball. Soccer
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  is really hard. But Cleve, tell me about your
• 8:04
  individual projects that you've had or that people
• 8:09
  may have visited in the past and current. Well,
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  I mean, my first one was, the first one I owned
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  was Monkey Club. And we opened that and signed
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  the lease in 97. And then we opened up in 98.
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  It was January 17, 1998. I opened up Monkey Club.
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  And then that turned into Dr. Feelgood's and
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  then turned into Pawn Shop and now Clamata Social.
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  Same owner. Obviously, everything has a shelf
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  life, especially in the nightclub business. But
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  I've been able to kind of time it to the street,
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  right? The Clamata Street in itself is one big
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  machine. Yeah. And it sets an engine. And so
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  it's gone through so many different levels of
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  changes. Different mayors, you know, you saw
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  the streets were ripped up at one time. So it's
• 9:01
  evolved through a different period of time. So
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  I've always kind of evolved and timed it to change
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  with the times. And so that's how I've been able
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  to survive and flourish for over 28 years now.
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  That's commendable because I feel like some restaurateurs
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  would fold at that point. I could go from feel
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  goods to climatic social. Those are different
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  concepts. Those are different. it's a different
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  audience. It's right. Am I right to say that?
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  Like it's, it's that's, I mean, I went to feel
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  good. If I'm going to, out of your three of what
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  you just said, right. That feel good. Right.
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  All the way. That was my favorite too, by the
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  way. But it's also when I first moved to Florida
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  and that was 15 years ago from New York. So I
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  was used to that. I know. I think we're all around
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  the same age. So I went to like the clubs in
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  Manhattan and all that. And that's what Feel
• 9:47
  Goods gave me when I first moved here. So I found
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  Feel Goods was one of the first places I went
• 9:52
  to in Florida. And I was like, oh, this is great
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  because I was homesick, you know. And it was
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  a vibe. Can we just bring it back? Yeah. Just
• 9:59
  bring it back. Fortunately, you can't bring Vince
• 10:02
  back. Just bring the bar back. We actually, Cleve
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  and I, when he had Feel Goods, I think that was
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  our first venture together. Yeah, it was. We
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  ended up opening a spinoff of it in Miami Beach.
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  You did? With Vince Neil. And it didn't go that
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  well. Oh, interesting. Because it was really
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  there, you know, it's a Motley Crue concept in
• 10:24
  Miami Beach in, was that early 2000? Yeah. And
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  it just, it wasn't the right vibe for Miami.
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  People were not into Motley Crue. 2005. It was
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  a Ricky Martin vibe and we're playing Motley
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  Crue. Isn't that funny? Well, it goes to show
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  you that certain concepts work good in, let's
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  call it a smaller market. Yeah. And you go to
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  a, let's call it a market like Miami Beach at
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  the time. And something like that just is not,
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  it didn't fit. You know, as much as it was successful,
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  which was huge, hugely successful in West Palm
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  Beach, it wasn't successful in Miami. And I think
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  it's, you know, if we would have went to, let's
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  call it, you know, a smaller market like Jupiter
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  or let's go to a smaller market in North Florida.
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  I thought it would have been. Jupiter has cows
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  back then, by the way. Yeah. We had the whole
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  band there for opening night. It was pretty,
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  like, they showed up with their tour bus. Oh,
• 11:17
  they did? Tommy Lee was there, like, the whole
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  band. They played at the Hard Rock the night
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  we opened. So they came in afterwards, and it
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  just didn't really connect with. That's such
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  a risk to take. I feel like if you're opening
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  a restaurant, I think people look at a restaurant
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  like, oh, it's pretty, it's fluffy, it's all
• 11:35
  that, right? And the behind the scenes of it,
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  I'm getting dollars to dollars. Throw a number
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  out. How much does it cost to open a restaurant?
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  I mean, nowadays, I mean, you're spending. north
• 11:47
  of a million dollars on an average build, lower
• 11:51
  to average build. But if you're building out,
• 11:53
  you know, a higher end restaurant, you know,
• 11:56
  perfect example, the Blackbirds compared to a
• 11:58
  Lynora's are double, you know? I mean, it's just,
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  you know, the details, the finishes, the higher
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  end finish, just everything is just, and it's
• 12:07
  become, I actually just did a build out cost
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  for a new one that we have in Wellington or Royal
• 12:13
  Palm that's opening. I'm astonished of where
• 12:17
  we're at now price -wise to compare to where
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  we were five years ago. I mean, just the equipment
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  alone was like - Doubles every two years. Like
• 12:27
  260 ,000 in equipment. And that's no furniture,
• 12:31
  no startup. I mean, nothing, just equipment.
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  And it's become, the business has really, I would
• 12:39
  say since COVID, it has changed. so much. And
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  one of the parts that, you know, and I get a
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  little bit like, like you start looking at numbers
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  sometimes, like what you're talking about, like,
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  you know, you start looking at the insurance,
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  like, like it's mind boggling. Like insurance
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  four years ago was like 20 to 25 ,000. right?
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  Per location insurance today at any location
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  is what 50 to 60 ,000. I mean, that's, it's,
• 13:06
  I mean, it's, it's become, you know, and, and
• 13:09
  I'll tell you, I'm so thankful I have these two
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  guys because we all take a part separately, right?
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  Where we're all really good at one, you know,
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  I mean, we're all great at what we do, but like,
• 13:20
  you know, Scott has a niche, like he's our, you
• 13:22
  know, he's our designer. He's our, you know,
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  he's our. inspirator on certain things, you know,
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  cleaves a machine, you know, anything needs to
• 13:29
  be done. It's like cleaves on it. It's like,
• 13:31
  it's great. So we have like our dynamic, but
• 13:33
  the, I think I'm getting off topic. We're going
• 13:39
  back to what he said, the cost of it. You know,
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  I don't think the consumer, the normal guests
• 13:45
  understands. And we, we get upset when we see
• 13:50
  people on reviews, attack other restaurant owners.
• 13:54
  whether they're tracking like, you know, for
• 13:56
  the quality of food or the experience, you don't
• 13:59
  realize how much people put their heart and soul
• 14:00
  into something. These are life savings, you know,
• 14:04
  and you're talking about millions of dollars.
• 14:06
  And you eventually are getting to a point now
• 14:09
  where the landlords are requiring, you know,
• 14:12
  big money. You then are building these places
• 14:15
  out. Let's say 5 ,000 square feet. Average is
• 14:18
  going to be 600 bucks a foot. That's 3 million.
• 14:20
  So now you're looking at $3 million of your hard
• 14:23
  -earned money. You've got the landlord who's
• 14:24
  got the high insurance costs. You've got high
• 14:27
  labor costs. You've got high food costs. And
• 14:30
  you're trying to squeeze out a bottom line. And
• 14:32
  then you have consumers and guests who are critiquing
• 14:36
  you on every little detail. And, you know, it's
• 14:42
  almost like they want to see you fail versus
• 14:44
  they want to see you be successful. And I think
• 14:47
  that's the thing about being in a community like
• 14:49
  Jupiter. I think being in these smaller communities
• 14:52
  where we thrive is that we have community involvement.
• 14:56
  Yeah. Like our guests, you know, like what we
• 14:58
  do, they see the hard work. And I think that's
• 15:01
  the connection that we make where sometimes corporations
• 15:04
  come in and they've got these big machines and
• 15:07
  they come in, they do a big build out, but they're
• 15:09
  not connected to the community. And I think that
• 15:12
  is really important now to our success is making
• 15:15
  sure that we. connect with, you know, whether
• 15:18
  it's in Naples, we did a big, Scott was behind
• 15:22
  this. We did a huge mail out and to the locals
• 15:26
  and we wanted to let them know that the locals
• 15:28
  are so important to us. It's not just about the
• 15:30
  snowbirds. We know we're going to be there. We're
• 15:33
  going to be successful based on taking care of
• 15:36
  the locals. And so you really have to kind of
• 15:39
  make that connection because the profit margin
• 15:42
  is so small. I think that's what people don't
• 15:44
  recognize, that your profit margin is so small.
• 15:46
  And I see a lot of restaurants that open up.
• 15:48
  So my backstory, my history is that I started
• 15:53
  working in restaurants when I was 14 years old
• 15:55
  in New York as a hostess and as a server, bartender,
• 15:59
  general manager, et cetera. So I've been in every
• 16:03
  aspect of it except for the kitchen because I
• 16:05
  don't belong there. I cook, but not in that environment.
• 16:09
  That's an environment, right? Now I opened up
• 16:14
  a marketing company in 2018 and I mainly do marketing
• 16:17
  for restaurants. And then I acquired Flavor South
• 16:20
  Florida in restaurant month in 2021, right after
• 16:24
  COVID. And I did that because I really genuinely
• 16:28
  want to help the restaurants. The amount of restaurant
• 16:30
  owners that I see that open, they open a restaurant
• 16:33
  because they want, because it's pretty and it's
• 16:36
  glamorous and it's fun. And my friends are going
• 16:39
  to come drink here. And then they don't see the
• 16:41
  other side of it. So my question to you is, what
• 16:44
  is like, what do you think the profitability?
• 16:46
  I have my answer in my head and I don't even
• 16:48
  know if it's true or accurate. But when you actually
• 16:51
  see a profit when you open a restaurant, is it
• 16:52
  like your six months, a year? What's the timeline
• 16:55
  on that? I think it varies. Yeah. I mean, it
• 16:57
  depends, like just to pay back your, like Naples,
• 17:00
  I think for the three of us was the most expensive
• 17:02
  restaurant we've ever, it was definitely my most,
• 17:04
  I think. For sure. But for us to pay back the
• 17:08
  initial investment is years. Years. Before we
• 17:11
  see our first. So you're running in the red for
• 17:14
  years. We're profitable, but that money is just
• 17:16
  going back to what we put in. So, yeah, I mean,
• 17:19
  if we can pay ourselves back in two years, then
• 17:22
  that's a great success for us. But that's 24
• 17:24
  months of working for free. Yeah, which brings
• 17:27
  me to my next question. Like, then why are we
• 17:29
  doing it? Because you love it, right? It's a
• 17:31
  passion, yeah. That's it, right? That's it. Tell
• 17:34
  me about that. Every restaurateur will tell you.
• 17:35
  Like, we have a whole group of people that we
• 17:37
  all own restaurants in the area. We talk daily.
• 17:40
  And it's like, you know, after every opening,
• 17:43
  it's like, we're never going to do this again.
• 17:44
  It's ridiculous. The prices have doubled. The
• 17:46
  equipment. The city. The licensing process, it's
• 17:51
  all been a nightmare. And then like eight months
• 17:53
  later, they're like, did you see that space available
• 17:56
  down there? And I was like, just. It's a disease.
• 17:59
  Yeah. Right? It can't stop. That's what I said.
• 18:01
  You're like serial restaurateurs. And I'll tell
• 18:05
  you, you know, because it's us three, when we
• 18:08
  do them, it's really fun. I mean, I do mine on
• 18:11
  my own and it's great. I mean, I have my own
• 18:14
  team and I have, and I love doing it. But it's
• 18:17
  so different with these guys. Like we'll plan
• 18:19
  out trips. Like last year we went to Chicago,
• 18:22
  which was insane. Like we'll go there and it's
• 18:26
  – you get some good inspirations when you go
• 18:28
  to these other cities that have great food, great
• 18:32
  – ideas that, that, that we'd like to bring here.
• 18:36
  And then, you know, and then one of the things
• 18:38
  that I love more than anything is honestly the
• 18:40
  design side. I mean, we sit together where, you
• 18:42
  know, we, we meet, you know, we're, we're always
• 18:44
  together on a talking basis. I think these two
• 18:46
  might be married because these guys talk. I call
• 18:50
  one of them and say, wait a minute, I got, I
• 18:51
  got Cleve on the phone. And then I'm like, I
• 18:53
  call Cleve, wait a minute, I got Scott on the
• 18:54
  phone. That's so funny you said that. Oh, they're
• 18:57
  married for sure. It's going to roll into a game
• 19:00
  I have later on. There's no sex. No sex. Not
• 19:04
  with each other. So you said Blackbird. So I
• 19:08
  actually, I've been to Shipwrecks. That's what
• 19:11
  it's called, right? And I've been to Blackbird
• 19:13
  so many times because it's actually that corner
• 19:16
  that you're speaking about, Tequesta, that's
• 19:18
  like my spot. Like, remember people are like,
• 19:20
  oh, let's go out to dinner. Where do you want
• 19:21
  to go? My brain just immediately goes to Blackbird,
• 19:25
  Ara, Lila. That's my little. Well, I'm talking
• 19:30
  about like night. Yeah. But like, yeah. So like
• 19:33
  that's like where that's my corner. Like, yes,
• 19:36
  probably. That's literally my corner. And that's
• 19:40
  where people usually find me. They're always
• 19:41
  like, you're always at these same restaurants
• 19:43
  because I like it's my home. It's my happy place,
• 19:46
  you know. So but you also have one that I also
• 19:49
  frequent, which is down in Delray. So tell me,
• 19:53
  that particular one has been there a while now,
• 19:56
  right? Yeah, 25 years. Dada. We're talking about
• 20:00
  Dada in Delray. 25 years. Yeah, we opened in
• 20:03
  2000. Wow. Wait, 2000 was 25 years ago? 26. We're
• 20:08
  going on this week. Oh, no. 26 years. That's
• 20:11
  terrible news. You're doing the math wrong. I
• 20:14
  can't believe that for a second. So Dada, I love.
• 20:19
  There's those dates you have there. Yeah, the
• 20:21
  bacon wrap dates. Those are like the most delicious
• 20:24
  things in the world. Thank you. Do you have a
• 20:29
  favorite dish on that menu? I mean, that's probably
• 20:33
  one of them. Yeah, it's a good one. We changed
• 20:37
  the menu a lot. One of my favorites just came
• 20:41
  off the Wahoo Crudo, which I loved. Why'd you
• 20:45
  let it come off if you loved it? During the summer,
• 20:46
  we were trying to shorten the menu a little.
• 20:50
  Man, don't take those dates off. No, no. The
• 20:52
  dates have been on for probably 20 years. We're
• 20:55
  not taking those off. I think it's so cool that
• 20:59
  you guys have all these different concepts, right?
• 21:02
  Like Dada, Blackbird, Lynora's. climatic social
• 21:07
  they're all so different like there's no like
• 21:09
  real crossover in any of them that i can see
• 21:12
  right as far as like menu items or no vibe or
• 21:15
  anything not really no and when you first took
• 21:17
  blackbird well took shipwreck turn to blackbird
• 21:20
  that that like that was very It was so interesting
• 21:26
  because I know it was a big chatter around town.
• 21:28
  I know there was a few names that were up for
• 21:30
  debate there. But the fact that you turned it
• 21:33
  into what you did, like when I walk in there,
• 21:35
  it's like this. Obviously the Buddha, the tree,
• 21:39
  like you really gave people something to look
• 21:42
  at, talk about. It's, it's a hopping spot. Like
• 21:45
  it's, it's a cool spot. It's a vibe. It's a vibe.
• 21:47
  Yeah. It's great. Like, you know, to see the
• 21:51
  amount of, and I'll turn to his Rolodex, but
• 21:54
  the amount of celebrities and the come in. Quarterbacks.
• 21:58
  Quarterbacks that are. I mean, it's just great.
• 22:02
  I mean, we, it's a vibe, you know, and everybody
• 22:05
  kind of like throws out the same word. It's that,
• 22:07
  you know, it's that New York feel in Jupiter,
• 22:11
  Florida. You know, it's like, you know, you get
• 22:14
  that, you get that feel over, you know, that,
• 22:17
  that sexiness. But it's in Jupiter, right? It
• 22:19
  is sexy. That's a very good definition for Blackbird.
• 22:21
  So it's a great date night. It's my go -to spot
• 22:26
  when I do an event with my family. We're always
• 22:28
  there. But Lynora's is a little sexy, too, because
• 22:32
  you've got that girl on the billboard with her
• 22:34
  leg. It's a little sexy there, too. That was
• 22:37
  a great campaign, to be honest. My marketing
• 22:40
  brain, it's like, take me to Lynora's. Take me
• 22:42
  to Lynora's. I'm like, okay, we're going to Lynora's.
• 22:44
  Did you guys see? I'm speaking of billboards.
• 22:47
  Did you see? that one for um oh was it rachel's
• 22:50
  was it was it rachel's monroe's with all the
• 22:52
  cats yes i did was that not genius great i don't
• 22:56
  even know except my six -year -old daughter is
• 22:58
  like what is all the cats i'm hysterical laughing
• 23:01
  because i'm going when they first went up i was
• 23:04
  like You know, like we all know what it is. But
• 23:06
  like if somebody is like a tourist and they're
• 23:09
  just driving up 95, they might have thought it
• 23:11
  was no mansion. They might have thought it was
• 23:12
  an animal shelter. Yeah. Imagine. And they show
• 23:15
  up. Go find some. Go find some. Did you imagine?
• 23:21
  I bet you. I wonder if that happened. Because
• 23:23
  I feel like it like could have. I thought that
• 23:26
  was amazing. Yeah, that is great marketing. So
• 23:29
  marketing, I think you guys do a fantastic job.
• 23:31
  So to your billboard, I know I see you a lot
• 23:34
  on social media. And even with Blackbird, I feel
• 23:38
  like you're a lot in PR and the news. Naples
• 23:41
  opened. I saw that a lot popping up. That's one
• 23:43
  thing that I think a lot of people overlook when
• 23:45
  opening restaurants is the marketing capacity
• 23:47
  of it and how many angles you can take and how
• 23:49
  good it can be. Yeah, I have to give credit to
• 23:54
  my wife. She handles all the marketing for Blackbird.
• 23:57
  She has a social media marketing company. She
• 24:00
  does, yeah. She's kind of shrinked down a little
• 24:02
  bit, so she has a smaller. And she does the social
• 24:04
  media for Blackbird? She does, and PapiChulo
• 24:07
  And PapiChulo. Cool. Yeah, shout her company
• 24:10
  out. Essentials Group. There you go. So if you
• 24:13
  need social media marketing, Melissa's the girl.
• 24:16
  At Essentials Group. So I have a funny story.
• 24:20
  Well, actually, I'll start with your funny story.
• 24:22
  Should I tell them on air? Okay. So one time
• 24:26
  I'm driving and I was talk texting. Oh, yes.
• 24:31
  And this is one way I'm apologizing publicly
• 24:34
  to your wife because I was mortified. And I'm
• 24:39
  talking next to you and I said something and
• 24:40
  I don't know how. I don't know what it was. It
• 24:42
  was kissy face. And so when I texted him like
• 24:45
  a normal question, it was like all the words
• 24:48
  and then it says. kissy face. And there's like
• 24:50
  all these kissy faces, emojis. So now it's like
• 24:56
  a joke I have in my head all the time. Like,
• 24:57
  you know, with the kissy face, cause I was, it
• 25:00
  was so embarrassed. It was embarrassing. Actually.
• 25:02
  I was like with my girlfriend in the car and
• 25:03
  I'm like, how do I send this? I just put kissy
• 25:06
  faces to Scott. And you know, it's not like that.
• 25:09
  That was terrible. So that's my funny story with
• 25:14
  you, Angelo, you and I have to create a funny
• 25:16
  story, but Are you ready for ours? Sure. Do you
• 25:19
  know when we met? I do not. I'll tell you. I'll
• 25:22
  tell you exactly when we met. Ooh, I want to
• 25:23
  hear this one. This episode is sponsored by Altima
• 25:27
  Caviar. Experience exceptional. Visit them at
• 25:31
  Altimacaviar .com. It's not that bad. We met
• 25:35
  May 5th, 2020. Do you want to know where we met?
• 25:39
  Well, it's Cinco de Mayo. I'm going to say probably
• 25:42
  PapiChulo 2020. May 5th, 2020. Where were
• 25:49
  you? Because I was there too. No, you weren't
• 25:55
  open. There was one restaurant open. We were
• 25:57
  open May 20th. We were open back then. During
• 26:01
  COVID? Yeah, it was during COVID. Jupiter was
• 26:03
  open. I met you at Blue Point. I would say that
• 26:08
  was on the other side of the... That was that
• 26:10
  big. The other side of the county. Yep, that's
• 26:13
  where I met you. We were doing takeout. Back
• 26:15
  then. That's why I was thinking about that. That
• 26:17
  was, I think, the year that you guys destroyed
• 26:19
  us at PapiChulo's with that taco box to go shit.
• 26:24
  That was insane. I got those taco boxes during
• 26:27
  COVID. All right, so let's finish my funny story.
• 26:30
  Let's not get sidetracked. Okay. That is hilarious.
• 26:34
  Tying into marketing, restaurants above. So I
• 26:37
  was doing the marketing for Blue Point at the
• 26:38
  time, and COVID happened. And so I read every
• 26:43
  state, What are they like the state orders, right?
• 26:47
  I combed through them and I found every loophole
• 26:50
  possible. So the weird loophole about this that
• 26:54
  particular day, Cinco de Mayo, there were 600
• 26:58
  people at Blue Point that night. That's crazy.
• 27:00
  I'll tell you why. Because according to the law,
• 27:04
  you are allowed to have 50 % of your max capacity
• 27:07
  outside at that time in Martin County. Now, don't
• 27:13
  forget they're in Martin County. And their max
• 27:16
  capacity was 3 ,000, which was marina capacity.
• 27:19
  So we were allowed 1 ,500 people. And you didn't
• 27:23
  have to wear a mask if you were eating or drinking.
• 27:25
  So now let's remember, they were all drinking.
• 27:28
  Yeah. Right? Yeah. That's when I met you. Wow.
• 27:31
  That night. And I remember you out of like 700
• 27:34
  people. I remember going there. And I remember
• 27:37
  like thinking how crazy this time is. And like
• 27:41
  how crazy that literally. Just half a mile down
• 27:47
  the road, the whole world's closed. Wild. And
• 27:51
  I remember going on, I remember fighting at my
• 27:54
  club when they allowed restaurants to open partially
• 27:57
  when you could have food. And they wouldn't let
• 28:00
  bars open because they said, well, you don't
• 28:03
  have food. And I remember I was on Fox News and
• 28:07
  I did a bunch of interviews, but I brought in
• 28:10
  a pizza oven. Like you said. Yeah, you find a
• 28:13
  loophole. And I found a loophole. And they came
• 28:15
  in and shut me down. And I remember being there
• 28:17
  with the guy from the state, the county. And
• 28:19
  I'm like, they were saying I'm not selling enough
• 28:22
  food. Yeah. And I was like, I asked the guy from
• 28:25
  the city of West Palm Beach, the captain. I'm
• 28:27
  like, you know, do you have an issue with me
• 28:30
  opening? He goes, you're allowed to open in our
• 28:33
  city. I asked the state guy, do you have an issue?
• 28:37
  He goes, you're in compliance. I said, so I'm
• 28:40
  failing to understand. He goes, we're not selling
• 28:42
  enough food. I go, I just opened my kitchen.
• 28:45
  Where does it say I have to sell a certain amount
• 28:48
  of food? I said, there's got to be some type
• 28:50
  of grace period. I said, you guys need to go
• 28:52
  back and write the laws or write some ordinances.
• 28:55
  But right now I can be open. And if you want
• 28:58
  to go, do you want to shut me down? That's okay.
• 29:01
  I said, I'll be on the news and you can explain
• 29:04
  it as you're shutting me down. And he kind of
• 29:07
  just looked at me and then said, you know what?
• 29:10
  Stay open tonight and I'll get back to you. Fast
• 29:12
  forward. He actually came back and apologized.
• 29:15
  It was really nice after the fact, you know,
• 29:17
  but I think it was just a crazy time. I kind
• 29:19
  of remember you being interviewed at that time.
• 29:21
  People were just kind of doing things. They just
• 29:23
  didn't understand why they were doing it. They
• 29:25
  were just being told to go out there to do it.
• 29:27
  Yeah. And I don't think they were trying to hurt
• 29:29
  individual restaurants or bars or. But that's
• 29:33
  just what they were being told. Everybody was
• 29:34
  scared. It was just a crazy time. And to think
• 29:37
  that we all were able to survive. And I think
• 29:41
  to Angelo's testament of what he said is we didn't
• 29:45
  panic. Like we talked every day. We would call
• 29:49
  our friends. You panicked? Let me correct that.
• 29:56
  Angelo, I didn't panic. We calm Scott down every
• 29:58
  day. You guys aren't usually into this stuff,
• 30:01
  but I just have to know real fast. When's your
• 30:03
  birthday? You want the date? Yeah, yeah, date.
• 30:05
  Not just the date, like day date. January 24th.
• 30:07
  Okay, and you? June 26th. Oh, okay. March 8th.
• 30:11
  You're a Pisces and you panic? I'm so disappointed.
• 30:14
  I'm a Pisces and I do not. Pisces are very emotional.
• 30:18
  You're right. We are emotional people. That's
• 30:21
  so funny. I think you're the same as my son.
• 30:23
  You're the same as every guy I've ever dated.
• 30:25
  Those damn cancers, man. What's Melissa's birthday?
• 30:30
  She is August 26th. Oh, so she's a Virgo. That's
• 30:34
  good. That's good compatibility. Yeah, that's
• 30:36
  what they say. I'm into all that stuff. Anyway,
• 30:38
  I love games. I love analyzing crazy things.
• 30:41
  Yeah, Virgo and Pisces. When I met you, did we
• 30:44
  talk about COVID? Yeah, briefly, I think. Yeah.
• 30:47
  I mean, that was a topic. All of us were. If
• 30:50
  you were working there and we were, I was like
• 30:52
  probably quizzing you on how you're open and
• 30:55
  like, how's this happening? Yeah, you know what?
• 30:57
  We did have that conversation. Because I would
• 30:59
  want to educate myself. You know, that's the.
• 31:02
  The thing about us is we're all constantly, like
• 31:05
  he said, everywhere we go, we're constantly trying
• 31:07
  to educate ourselves. Like if you formerly, I
• 31:10
  think you had in here David Burke. I think all
• 31:12
  of us would love to sit down. The guy's got a
• 31:14
  lot of stories. Oh, he has so many stories. We
• 31:16
  would love to talk with him to pick his brain
• 31:19
  because he's seen a lot of different things that
• 31:22
  we haven't seen. And you asked us earlier, you
• 31:26
  know, having the 18 or 19. bars that I've opened,
• 31:30
  nightclubs, Angelo's experience, Scott's experience,
• 31:34
  that combined knowledge of things that worked,
• 31:36
  didn't work, the mistakes we made. I made a ton
• 31:39
  of mistakes. Making those mistakes, I learned
• 31:43
  a lot more by doing those. But hearing Angelo's
• 31:47
  mistakes and hearing Scott's mistakes. I make
• 31:48
  them all the time. I'm always making mistakes.
• 31:51
  You learn from them though. You do. It's important,
• 31:54
  I think, to make mistakes. Yeah. So I always
• 31:56
  feel like you're constantly, when you're out
• 31:58
  places, You should always be asking questions
• 32:01
  and always trying to learn from other people.
• 32:05
  I agree 100%. I say that a lot to my son and
• 32:08
  my friends and anyone who's asking me advice.
• 32:10
  I'm always like, just don't be the smartest person
• 32:12
  in the room. Just always be able to learn from
• 32:15
  somebody else and take the advice and just don't
• 32:19
  be that person. I feel like I'm always asking
• 32:21
  questions because... I love to learn and build
• 32:25
  and grow. And yeah, you're gonna make mistakes.
• 32:27
  Everybody's gonna make mistakes. Like that's
• 32:29
  just how it goes. And I think that honestly,
• 32:32
  and I always bring it back, but that's what makes
• 32:34
  us three, I think so unique and cool. Like we
• 32:37
  will make mistakes, but one of us will catch
• 32:41
  it. You know, that's the cool part about it.
• 32:42
  Like we're all, you know, we've all done it,
• 32:46
  right? We've all opened up. But I'll tell you,
• 32:47
  man, we'll catch each other. And then we'll...
• 32:51
  You know, Scott would be like, hey, what do you
• 32:52
  think about that? And I was like, I don't know,
• 32:54
  man. Like, you answer. But, okay, and then I'll,
• 32:57
  next day I'll be like, Scott, you're right. Scott's
• 33:01
  right a lot. Scott's right a lot. I give him
• 33:05
  props. The best thing about having three partners
• 33:11
  is that he always wins. I'm going to tell you
• 33:14
  right now, Scott's number one of being right
• 33:17
  the most. Angelo's number two and I'm number
• 33:20
  three. Really? And generally these two, I think
• 33:23
  they talk on the phone before we have the conversation,
• 33:25
  but they usually outvote me. So I'm always like,
• 33:29
  did you guys talk? I'll tell you that - We vote
• 33:31
  on everything. It's kind of cool. Like going
• 33:33
  back to like how the three amigos, like we had
• 33:36
  just started and I'll go back to the story because
• 33:37
  I love this story. Like, so we had just started,
• 33:40
  we had just opened PapiChulo and Jupiter.
• 33:43
  And you know, we're all - We're all like smart
• 33:48
  individuals. We know what we want, but we're
• 33:51
  strong. What year was that again? Smart? No,
• 33:53
  what year? What year were you smart? That just
• 33:54
  happened. What year was Spock and Shula's open?
• 33:57
  When did we open? 18 or 19? No. 19. 17. So you're
• 34:02
  almost 10 years now. No, we've been open eight
• 34:03
  years. 18. 18. That's crazy. 2018. 2018. Okay.
• 34:10
  Yeah. You know, and I just remember the first
• 34:13
  weekend we opened. And it's like, you know, I
• 34:17
  want the music like this. Cleve wants the music
• 34:19
  like that. Scott's like, what the heck are you
• 34:22
  two doing? What does it matter? Like, look at
• 34:25
  this place. Like, and it's like, we all have
• 34:27
  this thing. And I remember him telling, and I
• 34:30
  don't know if you said it between all three of
• 34:32
  us. I don't remember how you said it, but you're
• 34:33
  like, guys, look what we've created. And then
• 34:36
  at that moment, I think we all looked at each
• 34:39
  other and we're just like, just vote and make
• 34:42
  a decision. And ever since that day, I don't
• 34:45
  know if you remember, but I don't think we've
• 34:47
  ever argued once. You know, listen, you've been
• 34:51
  wrong. We've all been wrong. But like the choices
• 34:53
  of like, hey, two to one, that's the law. Okay.
• 34:56
  And it's been great. All right, that's cool.
• 34:58
  That was the original setup. That really happened.
• 35:01
  That was supposed to be the original setup. That's
• 35:04
  why we brought Scott in. Yeah. You know, but
• 35:06
  like he said, like, you know. I'm a peacemaker.
• 35:08
  You have strong, you have strong minded, you
• 35:12
  know, I've always been my own owner. I've been,
• 35:14
  you know, and Angelo started Lynora's by himself.
• 35:16
  Right. You know, he's got family. We got a lot
• 35:19
  of personalities and we have a lot of opinions
• 35:21
  and stuff like that. Not that one is better than
• 35:23
  the other, but the thing at the end of the day
• 35:25
  is like, hey, we're friends first. Scott says
• 35:27
  all the time, we're friends first. We're business
• 35:29
  partners too. And as long as we stay on that
• 35:33
  model and we look at each other and make the
• 35:35
  right decision and we're true to each other and
• 35:37
  we're honest to each other. And honestly, this
• 35:40
  has been the best partnership I've ever had.
• 35:43
  We want to prove wrong to the saying that never
• 35:45
  go in business with your friends. Yeah. Yeah.
• 35:48
  And I think you guys do a really fantastic job
• 35:51
  of that. You're actually making me think I should
• 35:53
  bring my game up. But while I'm getting set up
• 35:56
  here, It's going to be a doozy. I want to know,
• 36:01
  do you, when you're opening a new restaurant,
• 36:04
  do you like find the property first and then
• 36:10
  does the property, as I'm holding three Sharpie
• 36:12
  markers, does the property define what the concept
• 36:16
  is going to be? Or I guess let's use Blackbird
• 36:19
  as an example. You saw the building. Were you
• 36:21
  like, oh, we want this to be... So... Oh, boy.
• 36:25
  Oh, boy. Okay, let's see how Scott's going to
• 36:28
  answer this one. Did you know the... Were you
• 36:31
  actively seeking for an Asian space? No. Okay.
• 36:34
  No, because I already had a couple Asian restaurants
• 36:37
  that I was a partner in. So Cleve was presented
• 36:41
  the space first. He presented it to me. I think
• 36:45
  his first original idea was to do a nightclub.
• 36:49
  That wasn't true. I thought it was. I just wanted
• 36:52
  the space. He wanted the space. I just wanted
• 36:55
  the space. But I think his first idea was like
• 36:56
  a nightclub live music. He was throwing ideas
• 36:58
  around. Right. And I really didn't have, like,
• 37:01
  I opened several nightclubs. I have Honey and
• 37:03
  Delray. And I feel like I was aging out. I really
• 37:06
  was like looking to go more restaurant than nightclub.
• 37:08
  So I wasn't really that interested. And then
• 37:11
  I do remember the owner of the building. has
• 37:14
  like a lot of history with jupiter and he was
• 37:16
  like what about bringing back the original concept
• 37:18
  which was jupiter crab company okay and i was
• 37:21
  like i really just i realized like you got love
• 37:23
  street everything on the water beautiful views
• 37:25
  and how do you compete like being on the corner
• 37:28
  of a1a and us1 with no views so i was like i
• 37:32
  really didn't have interest in doing a crab restaurant
• 37:34
  so we brought Angelo was like, I have no interest.
• 37:38
  And then the three of us went there. We ended
• 37:41
  up going into where the keyhole room is now.
• 37:42
  And we sat there and had a beer. And Angelo,
• 37:45
  I remember his voice going, this is terrible.
• 37:50
  But it was. It kind of was. Just imagine we bring
• 37:54
  back the Jupiter Crab Company, and I was like,
• 37:56
  I can see people with bibs cracking crabs. I'm
• 37:59
  like, that's just not sexy to me. I was just
• 38:01
  like, how are you going to pull people off of
• 38:03
  Love Street? Are you going to go look at the
• 38:05
  beautiful views of the water, or are you going
• 38:06
  to go watch traffic go by behind a gas station?
• 38:09
  Yeah. And I really didn't have that interest.
• 38:12
  Cleve kept trying to present different concepts.
• 38:14
  To finish his statement, it got to a point where
• 38:19
  they were like, we're not doing it. There were
• 38:22
  sharks in there. I know, I remember. It was a
• 38:25
  giant. But now there's a giant Buddha. You should
• 38:30
  have seen that day. We had to take the entire
• 38:32
  window out, the side window, and we removed the
• 38:35
  16 -foot shark and brought in a 14 -foot Buddha.
• 38:39
  I remember that day, actually, when the Buddha
• 38:42
  was coming in. I don't know why I knew that.
• 38:43
  I think you posted it or something. But I have
• 38:45
  to tell you the amount of money I've given that
• 38:47
  Zoltar machine. Because Zoltar is now determining
• 38:50
  all of my life decisions. He's pretty spot on.
• 38:54
  Is that bad? That and the fortune cookie fortunes.
• 38:57
  And that espresso martini, which is like the
• 39:00
  most amazing thing in the world. Yeah, that's
• 39:03
  bad. I shouldn't let Zoltar determine my life
• 39:05
  decisions, right, you guys? You should. Okay,
• 39:08
  good. Thank you. You should. I'm going to give
• 39:09
  everybody a Sharpie marker. And we're going to
• 39:13
  play a little game. Oh, boy. I love games. Here
• 39:17
  we go. Yeah. Okay. So we've got, I think everyone
• 39:22
  needs a couple cards. I'll give you more if you
• 39:24
  need more. But here's some cards for you to write
• 39:26
  on. You guys are like, what is happening? This
• 39:30
  is terrible. Here's some cards for you. Here
• 39:33
  are some cards for you. All right. Boys and girls.
• 39:37
  Boys. So let me find it. I had another game,
• 39:41
  but I think this one's going to be way more fun.
• 39:44
  Here we go. Oh, I've got some good questions
• 39:48
  to end with. No peeking. We're going to play
• 39:51
  the newlywed game. Oh, boy. You said earlier
• 39:55
  that you are married to each other. They are
• 39:58
  married to each other. We're all married to each
• 40:01
  other. All right. So you have to don't show everybody
• 40:05
  else your answer. Okay. Okay. So I'm going to
• 40:08
  ask you a question and you just have to write
• 40:10
  down who's the answers. It's easy. So the first
• 40:13
  question is, who is the most likely to lose their
• 40:16
  temper during service? Like heated night, middle
• 40:20
  of the night, on the floor, who's losing their
• 40:22
  temper? All right. Let's see if, let's see. I'm
• 40:27
  going to see if you all agree because I think
• 40:28
  that's, this is going to be great. Ready? Angelo,
• 40:32
  Angelo, Angelo. All right, all right, all right.
• 40:35
  There we go. There we go. Next up. That wasn't
• 40:41
  even like a... That wasn't even, that wasn't
• 40:43
  even hard. I'm just getting to know you guys.
• 40:45
  Yeah, yeah. Okay, who's the best cook at home?
• 40:48
  At home? Yeah, like, who's the best cook? Whose
• 40:51
  house do you want to go to for dinner? I already
• 40:55
  know the answer to number three. Okay, best cook?
• 40:59
  Let's see it. Angelo. Angelo again. What are
• 41:02
  you cooking? Pizza. Really? Everything. Oh, you're
• 41:06
  the best cook. You're Italian. Yeah, but I've
• 41:08
  been doing a lot of steaks lately. What kind?
• 41:13
  Wagyu is like all the trend right now. No, Wagyu
• 41:16
  is too fatty. It's so trendy. I think I can only
• 41:20
  eat that like once every like month. It's just...
• 41:24
  Good filet. Yeah. Good filet. It's always the
• 41:27
  answer. Wagyu is... I don't know. My son is 14
• 41:31
  and he will only eat filet. I mean, you could
• 41:34
  try to give him another steak, but he's straight
• 41:35
  up like, nope. All right. Next one. Who is more
• 41:38
  of a perfectionist? I think I know that one.
• 41:43
  It's easy to. You think? Yeah. Yeah, I think
• 41:49
  so. Okay. Show the answers. Scott. Scott. Scott
• 41:54
  is what I thought too. That's what I was going
• 41:56
  with. Okay. We haven't gotten one wrong. I mean,
• 42:01
  this is great. I've enjoyed this. Where are we
• 42:02
  going on vacation together? Don't we want a vacation?
• 42:05
  You do. If you get them all right. It's 10 questions.
• 42:08
  If you get them all right, you go on vacation
• 42:09
  together. To Europe. All right. They're going
• 42:12
  without me. Who is the one who always wants to
• 42:15
  open up the next restaurant? Okay. Ready? One.
• 42:30
  Where are you going? It's one word. Okay. So
• 42:35
  Angelo said Cleve. Cleve said Cleve slash Angelo.
• 42:39
  If we're by the building. Oh, if you're by the
• 42:41
  building. Scott said Cleve. And let me tell you.
• 42:48
  If there's a building. We're in. We're in. But
• 42:52
  every week there's a new spot right now. There
• 42:56
  really is. There is. It's nuts. I know a few
• 42:59
  for sale right now. You want me to tell you?
• 43:00
  I can't tell you right now. No, I don't want
• 43:01
  to know anything. I don't want to know. Don't
• 43:04
  tempt me with a good time. You know what's funny?
• 43:06
  I do actually get a lot of restaurant owners
• 43:08
  that call me or text me asking me if they know
• 43:10
  something for sale that's not listed yet. And
• 43:12
  I usually do know the answer. Yeah. But I can't
• 43:14
  say that on air. So who's the biggest risk taker?
• 43:19
  And this could be in business, in life in general.
• 43:28
  Easy. Okay, which we got? Angelo. Angelo. Angelo,
• 43:32
  we got to change these up. Who's the least risky?
• 43:37
  That's an easy one. That's an easy one, too.
• 43:41
  Who's the most easygoing with the staff? Oh,
• 43:44
  we got that easy, too. Oh, the next one's good.
• 43:50
  All right, what do we got? Scott. Scott. Scott.
• 43:53
  Scott for the win. You guys are all, like, this
• 43:56
  is, you really are married, by the way. Because
• 43:59
  you haven't missed one yet. Who is the most likely
• 44:02
  to change their mind at the last second on a
• 44:06
  menu item? Oh, that's a good one. Like, you're
• 44:07
  putting a menu together. It's rolling out tomorrow.
• 44:11
  It's still pretty easy. Okay. This is a tough
• 44:21
  one. Scott. I put Angelo. Oh, yeah. I had one
• 44:25
  that didn't align. I love it. I'm always second
• 44:28
  guessing myself. The only reason why I say that
• 44:32
  is that generally by the time we get to the end,
• 44:36
  you've already done the second guessing. Once
• 44:38
  we print. Once we print, then Angelo will like
• 44:41
  send an email and like, you know what? I had
• 44:43
  a great idea. We should change this. That's where
• 44:46
  I was coming from was that you'll get it done.
• 44:48
  Yeah. And then he'll write an email going. What
• 44:50
  are we doing this for $25? Before we came here,
• 44:53
  we actually, we've been trying to change the
• 44:55
  menu for months and we just had another, like
• 44:58
  our eighth tasting at Blackbird before we came
• 45:00
  here. But I think we nailed it. But I think we
• 45:03
  did. We did nail it. We did some changes last
• 45:05
  minute too. Yeah. That was you. That was a tough
• 45:07
  one because your second guessing is way before
• 45:08
  we missed the end. Yeah. I love winning. I love
• 45:13
  it. All right. So last one. Who picks up the
• 45:18
  bill when you go out to dinner together? The
• 45:20
  three of you are at dinner together. This is
• 45:22
  definitely. I mean, it's hard because. I know
• 45:27
  who doesn't pick up the bill. That's the question.
• 45:30
  Who doesn't pick up the bill? You should rephrase
• 45:34
  that. What are you saying? Who does pick up?
• 45:40
  Who picks up? It might be Angelo or Cleve. Mostly
• 45:46
  Cleve. Scott's wallet seems to always be in the
• 45:49
  car. He doesn't carry his wallet with him. It's
• 45:53
  the skinny juice. I can't put it in my pocket.
• 45:56
  Scott, Scott. There's this thing now. There's
• 45:59
  this thing now. I would say Cleve. It's called
• 46:00
  Apple Pay. Yeah. Cleve picks up the check. Cleve
• 46:03
  picks up the check. Cleve always picks up the
• 46:05
  check. You guys always want to play. Yeah, yeah,
• 46:06
  yeah. Let me see your cards. Did you write Cleve?
• 46:08
  No, I didn't. But it's Cleve. Okay, okay. We
• 46:13
  did pretty good there. Oh, gosh. You're like
• 46:14
  winning. You're winning all over the place. Not
• 46:17
  bad. Not bad. You want to play another game or
• 46:19
  do you want me to ask you a question? I have
• 46:21
  another game. It's a quick one. All right. Let's
• 46:23
  do it. Quick one? Yeah. All right. Smash or pass
• 46:25
  ingredients. Truffle oil. Okay. Let's back it
• 46:32
  up. Are we talking personal to eat or restaurant?
• 46:35
  Restaurant. To put on the menu? Yep. Are we each
• 46:40
  making this question? Yeah. You can just say
• 46:42
  smash or pass. Truffle oil. Pass. Smash. Unfortunately,
• 46:46
  it's tired, but I love it. All right. Fog raw.
• 46:51
  Pass. Pass. Absolutely pass. Caviar. It's becoming
• 46:56
  a hype. Pass. Smash. Smash. I like caviar. Uni.
• 47:03
  Uni. That's a good one. Are you smashing that?
• 47:07
  I'm going to smash that one. All right. Yeah.
• 47:09
  I'm going to pass. Smash. Okay. Bone marrow.
• 47:13
  Oh, yeah. I'm smashing that. Smash. Smash. Wow.
• 47:18
  Yeah. Wow. That's good. You know, beef tallow's
• 47:21
  trending right now, too. Yeah. That's a whole
• 47:23
  thing. Wagyu. What's the next one? No. Wagyu,
• 47:27
  I smash. Yeah. I mean, I'm smashing that. Not
• 47:30
  my cut of choice. Let's put it like that. Okay.
• 47:33
  Smash. I love Wagyu. Smash. All right. Octopus.
• 47:38
  Smash. Smash. Pass. Pass that one, huh, Scott?
• 47:44
  Octopus. Wow. Gold leaf, like on food, like edible,
• 47:48
  edible. Glitter and gold. If I could pass that
• 47:51
  twice, I'll pass on that one twice. Pass it twice.
• 47:54
  Maybe dessert. Okay. I like that. You can midway,
• 47:59
  smash fast, maybe a little bit. Every time I
• 48:02
  think of that, I think of like the $1 ,000 potato.
• 48:07
  Yeah. With the gold. With the gold flavor. Cheesesteak.
• 48:10
  Yeah. $100 cheesesteak. Yes, you just did that
• 48:13
  right now. All right. We got pineapple on pizza
• 48:16
  for the win. beyond, beyond smashing. Okay. Smashing
• 48:25
  because you want it. No, it was a joke. Yeah,
• 48:28
  I'm traditional. Yeah. So I can never, I can't
• 48:32
  even, that shouldn't even be a question. It shouldn't
• 48:33
  even be a, shouldn't even be on a question. You
• 48:36
  didn't know what pineapple on pizza was. No.
• 48:38
  So folks, that's a hard no on the pineapple on
• 48:40
  pizza. What do we put on pizza? What's like the
• 48:43
  best ingredient? Obviously not pepperoni. It's
• 48:46
  very simple. I'm a margarita. I'm not going to
• 48:48
  tell you, but I like a little oregano, good marinara,
• 48:51
  right balance with cheese. Some fresh pepperoni
• 48:55
  sometimes or sausage. It's all about the crust.
• 48:58
  We should have brought some pizza here today.
• 49:00
  That is a fail. We have to have an episode two
• 49:03
  to eat pizza. Actually, we can hit all the spots.
• 49:08
  I think it would be pretty awesome. I like that.
• 49:10
  International buffet. Asia to Italy to Mexico.
• 49:15
  All right, guys. What separates the place that
• 49:18
  lasts from the ones that fade in the hype? This
• 49:24
  is a hard one. I hate using this word because
• 49:27
  it gets used a lot. I would say the vibe of everything
• 49:30
  from how well you can perform hospitality to
• 49:36
  the cleanliness to the beauty of the room to
• 49:39
  the food to the service. I think you put it all
• 49:41
  together. Has to be a really good vibe. You go
• 49:45
  to Joe's Stone Crab and there's always such a
• 49:47
  great vibe in there. That's why they've been
• 49:48
  there a hundred years. That's why you guys have
• 49:51
  such longstanding properties and restaurants.
• 49:54
  And like, I think it's so, so interesting that
• 49:59
  these, like, like I said, these new operators
• 50:01
  don't, don't get that. Like there's like this
• 50:04
  little secret recipe. I feel like that you can
• 50:06
  actually like just hit it, get it and make it
• 50:10
  magical. You guys have that recipe, which is
• 50:13
  really awesome. I would love to say it's a recipe,
• 50:16
  but you've got to do everything. Like Angelo
• 50:20
  was saying, we all divide and conquer, but you've
• 50:22
  got to do everything. All aspects of the restaurant
• 50:26
  business, marketing. I mean, it's not just one
• 50:30
  thing. And I think that's what a lot of these
• 50:33
  other restaurateurs, maybe that struggle. fail
• 50:37
  to understand, like even like the connection,
• 50:39
  like our staff, how important it is to have a
• 50:42
  staff that cares. How important it is to know
• 50:44
  that the staff knows how much we care and know
• 50:47
  that we're there talking to tables. We're there
• 50:50
  shaking hands. We're getting up in the morning,
• 50:52
  working, trying to make sure that the restaurant
• 50:54
  is, you know, looking good or the maintenance
• 50:56
  of it, it's fixed. And, you know, them seeing
• 51:00
  us involved and them understanding that, you
• 51:02
  know, there's at different times, Angelo grew
• 51:04
  up at his parents' restaurant sleeping under
• 51:06
  the counter. You know, Scott, you know, has been
• 51:09
  working in the restaurant business. He worked
• 51:11
  at Burger King when he was in like 15 years old,
• 51:14
  16 years old. I was scooping ice cream at Hagenau's
• 51:16
  at 15. And we've all kind of come up through
• 51:19
  the hospitality doing so many different jobs
• 51:23
  that we can relate. to our, our staff. And then
• 51:26
  like, we understand. So we, we, when we talk
• 51:30
  into them and we're encouraging them is because
• 51:32
  we've done it. Yeah. And, and, you know, and
• 51:34
  so I think that goes, it's like, if there was
• 51:36
  a secret sauce, I'd say it's having the right
• 51:38
  staff that, that kind of buys into the culture.
• 51:41
  Right. And buys into like what we believe we're
• 51:44
  so passionate. I think they feed off of it. We
• 51:46
  hit the community. Well, yeah. You do. I think
• 51:50
  one of the things that we talk about, you know,
• 51:52
  like when me and Scott really mess with these
• 51:54
  menus, we're like value, right? Like, no, you
• 51:57
  can't go up a dollar. Like, but we need to. And
• 51:59
  Scott's like, listen, you can't do it. Like,
• 52:01
  it's just, you just can't do it. Like, we sometimes
• 52:04
  sacrifice the bottom line. on our end, to give
• 52:08
  the value to the customer. I think one of the
• 52:10
  things that we've done great in all our restaurants
• 52:13
  together is the specials that we offer. Blackbird,
• 52:17
  a perfect example, Mondays, we have happy hour
• 52:20
  all day long. Tuesdays at Blackbird, we have
• 52:23
  Tomahawk Tuesday. I mean, it's great, $99 for
• 52:27
  Wagyu. Your happy hour crushes. Yeah. So, so
• 52:32
  you have that, you know, Lynora's, you know,
• 52:34
  same thing. We have happy hour, you know, you
• 52:36
  know, till six o 'clock and we, and we have great
• 52:37
  menu prices. So I think, I think that's part
• 52:40
  of it. Obviously what Cleve said, you know, connecting
• 52:42
  with the staff and everything, but it's, it's
• 52:44
  a big circle, right? It starts here and you got
• 52:47
  to finish it. And educating the guests to know,
• 52:49
  I think it's frustrating sometimes that the perception
• 52:53
  is we're charging a lot. They don't know what
• 52:57
  goes into that dish. And they don't realize that
• 53:00
  dish costs, you know, $38. And we're, you know,
• 53:05
  we're only making $2 on that dish because of
• 53:08
  the price of commodities. Like, you know, like
• 53:11
  in America, we've had the lowest number of cattle
• 53:14
  being produced in record, the record of America's
• 53:17
  history. This is the lowest number of cattle.
• 53:20
  because of droughts, because of wildfires, and
• 53:24
  because of the fact that we were just trying
• 53:25
  to - You're depressing me. Yeah, that's crazy.
• 53:27
  I didn't realize that. You're depressing me.
• 53:29
  I mean, I try to stay pretty on top of things.
• 53:32
  But you're not wrong. When the tariffs went in
• 53:35
  place, I noticed the price of certain items,
• 53:38
  like avocados went up. And I think people don't
• 53:41
  take into consideration - Tomatoes. Tomatoes.
• 53:43
  Limes. Limes are ridiculous. Two weeks ago. $68
• 53:46
  for a case of limes. Insane. So what do you do?
• 53:50
  Don't give them wine. You have to like outsource
• 53:54
  to like, well, you got to look to Brazil for
• 53:56
  steaks or you have to figure out what can we
• 53:59
  do to bring in the price and the quality. And
• 54:02
  then, you know, that's another reason why crab
• 54:04
  right now, king crab, the Bering Strait, Russia,
• 54:07
  we can no longer supplement our crab in Alaska
• 54:11
  with Russian crab. So that's killed the market.
• 54:16
  Now crab is $120. $25 a pound. Is it? It's crazy.
• 54:22
  I think I saw it. That's so depressing. I think
• 54:26
  I saw it at Whole Foods. One of you guys sent
• 54:28
  it to me. $129 a pound for King Crab. So I think
• 54:32
  we text each other probably 27 times a day. I
• 54:37
  literally said, what? It's crazy. It's not getting
• 54:39
  better. Yeah, it's not getting better. We just
• 54:41
  took it off our menu. You took off the crab?
• 54:44
  We haven't yet, but we're going to actually change
• 54:46
  it to lobster. Garlic crab noodles is going to
• 54:49
  be garlic lobster noodles. You heard it here
• 54:50
  first, people, and I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for
• 54:53
  myself. Yeah, it's just gotten, it's just, we
• 54:57
  can't do it. The price has gotten. So perfect
• 54:59
  example. So if we had to, if we had to price
• 55:02
  that dish, it would have to be $72. Like I would
• 55:07
  feel. What is it now? 52 now, yeah, because we
• 55:11
  raised it. Yeah, that's rough. So, I mean, our
• 55:14
  cost on that, I believe, was - And the guests
• 55:16
  don't want to know. Right. No, that's the problem.
• 55:18
  They don't care. No, but that's, like, so interesting.
• 55:21
  It's just, like, how do you go from 48 to 52
• 55:24
  to 75? That's all they see. They don't worry.
• 55:27
  You know, they're not, you know, know that the
• 55:29
  market and what we have to struggle with. Yeah,
• 55:31
  so, basically, that dish would cost us, I think
• 55:34
  it was, like, what did we price it at? Like,
• 55:35
  $58? Yeah. $58 our cost. Like, so - It's like,
• 55:39
  and it goes back to that quality. So we'll find
• 55:42
  things, now we found the lobster and we can keep
• 55:45
  the price good, but the quality will still stay
• 55:47
  the same. The flavors will still stay the same.
• 55:49
  It's just, so I think that's what we do that
• 55:54
  takes us to the next level is that we're always
• 55:56
  looking, feeling, touching. We're ahead of the
• 56:00
  trends. I mean, we eat, sleep, drink. And as
• 56:03
  soon as something opens up or there's anything,
• 56:05
  we're on a plane and we're there. We're like,
• 56:07
  we've researched everything. And it's funny,
• 56:09
  I was in New York and I heard so much about Ding
• 56:12
  Taofeng and I was like, couldn't get a reservation.
• 56:14
  I told my wife, I was like, I'm sorry, honey,
• 56:17
  but we got to go by there. She's like, you're
• 56:19
  kidding me. I'm like, oh, come on. So I like
• 56:21
  went inside and we just spent like an hour there.
• 56:23
  I was just in awe, like just taking it all in.
• 56:26
  She was touching tables. I was like, oh, the
• 56:28
  tables, I'm looking at food. The managers were
• 56:31
  like, who is this guy? We need to hire him. And
• 56:34
  finally, she's like, we've been here an hour.
• 56:35
  I'm starving. Can we please go? I was like, all
• 56:37
  right, all right. I think I got my fix. I got
• 56:39
  to see it all. So it's just, you know, that's
• 56:42
  kind of the three of us, I think, are the same
• 56:43
  way. I walked in the back of the house, remember?
• 56:47
  We're in Chicago. It's right through the back.
• 56:51
  I get the same way whenever I'm in a restaurant.
• 56:54
  Like, I'm very comfortable just walking in the
• 56:55
  kitchen. They're like, you can't go back here.
• 56:57
  Like, if I know the owner, obviously, I'm just
• 56:58
  walking into kitchens. But I'm, like, used to,
• 57:01
  like, I'm used to people running behind me, you
• 57:04
  know, behind. Corner. Yeah, corner and all that
• 57:08
  stuff. So, like, for me, it's natural. Like,
• 57:10
  they're like, oh, you know, just be careful.
• 57:12
  I'm like, I got it, I got it, I got it, you know.
• 57:14
  What's the most popular dish at Lynora's? I think
• 57:18
  we have a few. Obviously, I think our meatballs
• 57:20
  are basically our staple for, like, the appetizer.
• 57:23
  But our number one seller is chicken parm. And
• 57:26
  what is your most popular? Peking duck is probably
• 57:30
  our, we only have limited supply, so it's not
• 57:33
  our best seller. I'd say that the three top are
• 57:35
  the Mongolian brisket buns, the bao buns. Oh,
• 57:38
  the bao buns. Probably orange chicken and our
• 57:41
  brisket fried rice are probably the three bigger
• 57:44
  sellers. And Cleve, we're Clematis Social, like
• 57:48
  what's your top? We don't have food. No, but
• 57:50
  what's like your top drink? Well, we're more
• 57:53
  of a younger bar, so I'm going to say it's probably
• 57:54
  something a little simple. Yeah. So is it probably
• 57:57
  like Long Island? Green tea shots. We're actually,
• 58:03
  again, another thing he did, like, so we came,
• 58:06
  we're doing our drink menus, right? And, you
• 58:08
  know, spotted, so back to this Long Island iced
• 58:11
  tea. Yeah. So I think we're bringing in, is it
• 58:14
  on this menu, Scott? Yeah, we're doing our own
• 58:15
  version, but it's all instead of like, Long Island
• 58:17
  iced tea is basically all of your liquors in
• 58:18
  your well. Yeah, I don't drink those anymore.
• 58:20
  So we're doing our. Japanese Long Island, which
• 58:22
  is all Japanese liquors. Honestly, it was amazing.
• 58:28
  You drink two of those and you're going to be
• 58:31
  Ubering home. We'll drink two before we do the
• 58:35
  next podcast. I had some wine. You didn't join
• 58:37
  me on the wine on this one. I feel like the younger
• 58:40
  people are I would probably say like a white
• 58:43
  wine or like a vodka crayon or something. Or
• 58:46
  like a high noons. Right? I would bet you. Yeah,
• 58:49
  they're into a lot of the cans. The seltzers,
• 58:51
  right? Yeah, they're into the seltzers now. You
• 58:53
  know, you just see like, you know, to see the
• 58:56
  evolution of like my club, right? Yeah. From
• 59:01
  1997 to where I'm at now, to see that the people
• 59:07
  that were coming in my club, I'm now seeing their
• 59:10
  kids. Right. That's crazy. And to know that,
• 59:13
  you know, how many people you used to meet. How
• 59:17
  many people come up to me and tell me in my restaurant
• 59:20
  now or they see me out and they're like, I met
• 59:22
  my wife at Monkey Club. I met my wife at Dr.
• 59:26
  Feelgood's. It makes you feel good because that
• 59:29
  generation is gone. You know, and back then we
• 59:32
  used to do more like socializing together than
• 59:37
  we do now. And so when I go to my club now, I
• 59:39
  see the phones are out. I see everybody on their
• 59:41
  phones texting. It's just, it's not the same.
• 59:44
  It's changed. I have to tell you something. I
• 59:47
  went to Las Vegas a few months ago to see the
• 59:49
  Backstreet Boys at the Sphere. Don't judge me.
• 59:51
  Moving on. It's an amazing show. It was an amazing
• 59:54
  show. So I also went to Bruno Mars' nightclub
• 59:58
  called the Pinky Ring inside of Caesar's Palace.
• 1:00:03
  And there, neurotically, signs everywhere, no
• 1:00:08
  phones. That's great. That's a new thing now.
• 1:00:11
  The bouncers inside of the club were literally
• 1:00:14
  standing there waiting for somebody. I couldn't
• 1:00:17
  even answer a text because I'm like, I don't
• 1:00:19
  want to get kicked out. This is a cool place.
• 1:00:20
  They had a band, like a seven, eight piece band
• 1:00:22
  with horns. I'm okay with that. I'm really, really
• 1:00:26
  okay with that. And I'm pretty addicted to my
• 1:00:28
  phone. I do a lot of my work on my phone and
• 1:00:30
  all that. But to have it put down and away for
• 1:00:33
  like three hours was actually pretty cool. A
• 1:00:37
  new trend in New York and it's coming to Miami,
• 1:00:39
  obviously, is they have bags made. Yeah, I've
• 1:00:42
  seen those. And you put your phone in the bag,
• 1:00:43
  you zip it up, and you can't use your phone.
• 1:00:45
  I don't love that so much. I like the fact that
• 1:00:47
  they let me keep my phone. Right. They just don't
• 1:00:49
  want it out. Yeah. And I'm like, okay, I'm going
• 1:00:51
  to be a grown up. Everybody's just recording.
• 1:00:54
  What are you going to do with that? Yeah, exactly.
• 1:00:56
  Well, I'll tell you what you're going to do with
• 1:00:57
  it. Post it on social media. If you post it on
• 1:00:59
  Instagram, you might get 3 million views on a
• 1:01:01
  Backstreet Boys reel. Maybe I did that. Maybe.
• 1:01:05
  All right. I'm not condoning it. I'm just saying.
• 1:01:08
  No, but the whole trend of like that has, I mean,
• 1:01:11
  I opened up Stanza like three months ago and
• 1:01:14
  I, you know, it's all about small music and the
• 1:01:17
  venues and it's just, I think it's just changed.
• 1:01:20
  Like people are done with the, with that, I think,
• 1:01:23
  and they want live entertainment or they want
• 1:01:26
  a small little venue. And I think it's, it's
• 1:01:28
  like the, it's changing. I, you know, I think
• 1:01:31
  the young kids don't even go to clubs anymore.
• 1:01:34
  Not as much. They don't. I don't think they go
• 1:01:36
  to like lounges. I think like they like a loungy
• 1:01:39
  vibe, a speakeasy vibe I think is good for them.
• 1:01:42
  And I think I, if I read correctly, this was
• 1:01:45
  a couple of weeks ago. Alcohol sales are nationally
• 1:01:48
  down 56 % because that next generation is not
• 1:01:53
  – they're drinking – if they are drinking, they're
• 1:01:55
  drinking CBD or they're microdosing mushrooms
• 1:01:59
  or whatever. What is the number one market for
• 1:02:01
  alcohol in the United States? It can't be that
• 1:02:04
  age group. Florida. Oh, Florida. And you know
• 1:02:07
  what? There's only one from what I've read was
• 1:02:09
  only one brand. In the entire liquor portfolio,
• 1:02:13
  that actually was up. This is the last 12 months.
• 1:02:16
  Everybody else was down. Who was it? Aperol.
• 1:02:19
  See? Yeah. Really? That Aperol spritz. Yeah.
• 1:02:22
  I don't like that. It's a hangover. I'm a tequila
• 1:02:26
  drinker. Me too. I'm a tequila drinker too. Otherwise,
• 1:02:29
  I'm not even interested. Same with me. That's
• 1:02:32
  just it. I used to do the bourbon, but now I'm
• 1:02:35
  just doing tequila. I don't mind a bourbon. I
• 1:02:38
  just like... I love, I guess I'm old. I drink
• 1:02:42
  liquor, you know, like, I don't know. I did.
• 1:02:44
  Oh, I did drink that CBD drink once. Did you
• 1:02:47
  guys try that? Yeah, I've never tried it. I was
• 1:02:49
  in a different state. I haven't had it. Okay.
• 1:02:53
  So I had it here. Oh, I had one outside of the
• 1:02:57
  state where it was real. It was in the gas station
• 1:03:00
  and it said THC. I don't know. It was real weed.
• 1:03:03
  It was real weed in there. It was. Let me tell
• 1:03:04
  you, it was really good. Well, no, I drank one.
• 1:03:08
  And it had 10 milligrams of THC or CBD. I don't
• 1:03:12
  know, whatever. So I drank one and I was like,
• 1:03:13
  oh, this is nothing. I'm not feeling anything.
• 1:03:16
  And then I drank another one. That was a terrible
• 1:03:19
  idea because, you know, an hour later, I was
• 1:03:23
  feeling it. And I'm like, whoa, this is crazy.
• 1:03:27
  Was it a good feeling or was it? Yeah, it was
• 1:03:29
  a little like, it's like I smoked a joint or
• 1:03:32
  something, which I don't do that. So the fact
• 1:03:34
  that I drank it was like. It got me. It got me
• 1:03:37
  pretty good. But it's so funny because like I
• 1:03:40
  think the transitioning of that, like we're saying,
• 1:03:42
  the transition of the times into the canned beverages
• 1:03:44
  and this and that. It's like all these alternatives.
• 1:03:46
  Right. Whoa. It's like it's a lot. Yeah. So you
• 1:03:48
  guys. OK, so stanza I have to get to like yesterday
• 1:03:51
  because I literally I have a list in my phone
• 1:03:55
  of like where I want to go and it's on my list.
• 1:03:57
  And I'm like, all right, I just have to get it
• 1:03:59
  on the calendar. So you have this a new place
• 1:04:02
  that you've just acquired. I know it's been around
• 1:04:05
  for a long, long time. Which which place did
• 1:04:08
  you take over? We are going to be taking over
• 1:04:10
  Ralph's stand up bar. Ralph's. That's like iconic.
• 1:04:13
  It is. And I think the three of us have all owned
• 1:04:16
  our own dive bars over the time. So we've kind
• 1:04:19
  of we started as bar guys. So we definitely know
• 1:04:22
  the bar business and opportunity came up. We
• 1:04:25
  bought the building years ago and now we're going
• 1:04:28
  to be taking over the actual business. operations
• 1:04:31
  party that that's so fun because like it's so
• 1:04:34
  it's been there forever right so yeah and so
• 1:04:37
  that's just that's like right around the corner
• 1:04:39
  right somewhere at september october right you
• 1:04:41
  could stumble there from blackbird oh that's
• 1:04:44
  a terrible idea although when i get those drinks
• 1:04:48
  or i could stumble from any of them but if you
• 1:04:51
  get those drinks and the ones with the little
• 1:04:53
  um It looks like a little, what is it called?
• 1:04:58
  Totem pole, right? A totem pole? Oh, the tiki
• 1:05:00
  drinks? Yeah, the tiki drinks. If you drink enough
• 1:05:03
  of those, I'm going to stumble over to Ralph's
• 1:05:05
  Little Problem. That's going to be fun. Are you
• 1:05:07
  changing anything with the concept or it's just
• 1:05:09
  going to be Ralph's? It's going to stay Ralph's.
• 1:05:12
  I was kind of raised in Palmy's Garden, so I
• 1:05:15
  used to go to Ralph's even when I had a fake
• 1:05:17
  ID going back in the days. Imagine. So I go way
• 1:05:20
  back to Ralph's, but it's obviously been such
• 1:05:22
  a... you know, a staple of the Jupiter community.
• 1:05:25
  Yeah. And like, you know, in a sense that, you
• 1:05:28
  know, it was established in 1947, but before
• 1:05:30
  that it was Ralph's fish camp and it was on the
• 1:05:32
  water where the bridge is, the A1A bridge. And
• 1:05:36
  so like our, you know, we have our ideas with
• 1:05:40
  Ralph's are just kind of to, to preserve it.
• 1:05:44
  Yeah. You know, the history of it. And I think,
• 1:05:46
  you know, when we caught wind of, of the fact
• 1:05:50
  that Ralph's building was available, you know,
• 1:05:53
  the reason why we jumped on it was we love the,
• 1:05:56
  we want to keep the character of Jupiter. We
• 1:05:58
  love Jupiter. And so that was the same reason
• 1:06:01
  why we have Blackbird at the old, you know, company.
• 1:06:06
  You can't duplicate that. You really did. Yeah.
• 1:06:09
  You can't duplicate that kind of building. Yeah.
• 1:06:11
  And so that was what was important to us, you
• 1:06:14
  know, and it's important to the community. So
• 1:06:16
  we've got a lot of, a lot of feedback from a
• 1:06:20
  lot of people. how much they care about Ralph's.
• 1:06:23
  And, you know, for us, it's been kind of funny.
• 1:06:27
  It's going to be a cool little project. Who was
• 1:06:29
  Ralph? Do you know? Ralph was the original owner
• 1:06:33
  that owned it. And he was that Ralph's fish camp
• 1:06:38
  that was on the water. I haven't done enough
• 1:06:41
  backdrop to be able to say to you, but I've been
• 1:06:44
  reading up on the history of Ralph's and, you
• 1:06:48
  know, why he moved it. And so, and there's only
• 1:06:52
  been five owners. I think we'll be the sixth
• 1:06:54
  owner of Rouse. And it's, you know, that's almost,
• 1:06:57
  we're coming up almost on a hundred years. Yeah.
• 1:07:00
  Wow. That's insane. That's amazing. And I love
• 1:07:04
  that you. are like preserving Jupiter and the
• 1:07:08
  history of it. And even with Blackbird, I actually
• 1:07:12
  just recall that I did a write up when I was
• 1:07:15
  freelancing with Jupiter magazine. When you guys
• 1:07:17
  first opened, I did your article for you. I wrote
• 1:07:20
  the article. So I actually at that time did a
• 1:07:23
  lot of research on Blackbird and the building.
• 1:07:25
  And I remember that you had, yeah, you had things
• 1:07:28
  shipped in from. From other parts of the world
• 1:07:32
  or something, right? Am I saying that right?
• 1:07:34
  And then there was something with the wood carvings
• 1:07:37
  that you kept. And I remembered all of that.
• 1:07:41
  You were keeping the history of it, which was
• 1:07:43
  so, so neat. It's not historic, but the building
• 1:07:46
  was built in the 40s. It was originally a truck
• 1:07:50
  stop. It was a truck car wash. And here's a fun
• 1:07:53
  fact. I valeted cars there in high school. Jupiter
• 1:07:56
  Crab Company. You did? Yes. Wow. That is a fun
• 1:07:59
  fact. Did you know that? I did not. I knew that.
• 1:08:02
  Yeah, I didn't know that. Oh, that's so good.
• 1:08:04
  Scott and I valeted cars together. I was at,
• 1:08:07
  we're not together, but I was at Charles Crab
• 1:08:09
  and he was at Jupiter Crab. Yeah. But I used
• 1:08:11
  to go there when I was in high school. Which
• 1:08:13
  one? Jupiter Crab. Yeah, I went there once or
• 1:08:16
  twice. It was, you know, if you think about it,
• 1:08:17
  like back then. Jupiter was like so far away.
• 1:08:20
  Yeah. But that was the only place to go. It was
• 1:08:23
  there and then maybe Charlie's crowd. There was
• 1:08:25
  nothing fancy about Jupiter. Yeah, there wasn't
• 1:08:26
  Love Street. Yeah, there was nothing fancy about
• 1:08:28
  Jupiter. Yeah, but I think going back to that,
• 1:08:31
  I think we kept a lot of the woods that were
• 1:08:32
  in there. They were generally. Well, it's kind
• 1:08:34
  of crazy how we, like Andrew and I really weren't
• 1:08:38
  on board and then we just kept brainstorming
• 1:08:40
  and then one day the three of us were in there
• 1:08:42
  and Cleve was relentless. He wanted the space
• 1:08:44
  and we somehow. I was like, how are we going
• 1:08:47
  to be different than love street? And it just,
• 1:08:49
  it has a lot of feel like an Asian restaurant,
• 1:08:51
  like all the, like the, the metal work and the
• 1:08:54
  railings and the wood. And I was like, just really
• 1:08:57
  reminds me of like some of these big Asian spots
• 1:09:00
  in New York. And then it just, the three of us,
• 1:09:03
  like a light bulb went off. And then we were
• 1:09:04
  like, Asian, that's the way we're going to be
• 1:09:07
  able to survive here. Not competing with love
• 1:09:09
  street. And then right away, I worked with one
• 1:09:11
  of the most amazing chefs that did Chinese cuisine
• 1:09:14
  better than anyone I know. It was Tim Nicky.
• 1:09:17
  So I think I called him in the parking lot, and
• 1:09:20
  he was at Lucky Shuck. And I was like, we need
• 1:09:23
  to meet. He's like, all right. And I was like,
• 1:09:25
  I got a project I might be working on. And I
• 1:09:28
  think Cleve and I met him first. And I was like,
• 1:09:31
  you know. He's great. And Denise also, though.
• 1:09:33
  Your pastries there are incredible. Like there's
• 1:09:36
  no, there's. Yeah. Our team is just really. There's
• 1:09:39
  no other. Dwayne or sous chef. And it's like,
• 1:09:40
  we got such a like rockstar kitchen staff. Going
• 1:09:43
  back to the dynamic. Yeah. You know, the three
• 1:09:45
  of us, I had to push, right? I saw the, I saw
• 1:09:49
  the value of the lease and he's right. I was
• 1:09:51
  like, I'll do a country bar. I just saw the value
• 1:09:54
  of the lease knowing that it's a great corner.
• 1:09:56
  And Enzo was opening up another Lynora's and
• 1:09:59
  he's like, I got a lot going on. And, you know,
• 1:10:01
  really had to convince one of the two. Right?
• 1:10:03
  I think we made a pack. If two of us decide to
• 1:10:07
  do something, the other one has to do it. That's
• 1:10:10
  all I needed. So I just kept working on Scott.
• 1:10:14
  I was the easier target. I already know him.
• 1:10:19
  I don't care. I'm not doing it. I was like, I'm
• 1:10:24
  not doing it. I just went to work on Scott. And
• 1:10:26
  finally, I'm like, I don't really care what we
• 1:10:28
  do. I said, dude, this is a great lease. It's
• 1:10:30
  a great corner. I said, I just think we should
• 1:10:32
  have this building. And then he was like, if
• 1:10:36
  I can do Asian, I will consider it. And I was
• 1:10:40
  like, and then he went to work. As soon as he
• 1:10:42
  had the idea, I was like, yes, I got Scott on
• 1:10:45
  board. And it's great. And once you're in there,
• 1:10:47
  and once you're in there, and you get us three
• 1:10:49
  together, it's like, all right. I think that's
• 1:10:52
  kind of what happened when we opened up Naples.
• 1:10:54
  Yeah. I was actually the one again that was like,
• 1:10:57
  what is this? And then he brings me aside. He
• 1:11:02
  goes, so relax. He goes, let's walk this one
• 1:11:04
  more time. Your first words were, this is terrible.
• 1:11:09
  Terrible. Everything out of my head. It was on.
• 1:11:10
  It was a straight, long restaurant, gutted. It
• 1:11:13
  was damaged from the storm, but it was right.
• 1:11:15
  And I'm looking around. I'm like, Angelo. Every
• 1:11:17
  seat in this restaurant has a view of the water.
• 1:11:20
  I was like, there's nowhere you can sit where
• 1:11:22
  you're not looking at the water. In that situation,
• 1:11:24
  Scott was 100 % committed. I was in the middle
• 1:11:29
  and Angelo was just awful. Yeah. That's always
• 1:11:33
  the case. You walk into a space and I think that,
• 1:11:37
  again, bring it back. There's three of us, right?
• 1:11:40
  You bring a space. And one of us will have a
• 1:11:45
  vision, right? Faster than the other. And that's
• 1:11:47
  really what it is. He had the vision with Blackbird
• 1:11:50
  first. You know, he's like, he saw, he knew.
• 1:11:51
  It was like. All right. And you get it. And then
• 1:11:54
  once we get in there, I think our magic really
• 1:11:57
  comes out. And that's one of our highest grossing
• 1:12:00
  restaurants. I am so excited. So Blackbird and
• 1:12:04
  Dada do Flavor South Florida Restaurant Month
• 1:12:07
  every year. You participate. And you actually
• 1:12:09
  do really well with it. You crush it, if I'm
• 1:12:12
  going to say so. I don't want to tell everybody
• 1:12:14
  your sales. You do well with it. You do great
• 1:12:16
  with it. And the community, when I'm on my website,
• 1:12:18
  I can look at the backside and see who's clicking
• 1:12:20
  on what. And they're clicking, clicking, clicking.
• 1:12:22
  And I just got wind that Lynora's is doing Flavor
• 1:12:25
  South harder this year, too. Is that true? A
• 1:12:27
  hundred percent. Oh, smash. Smash. You were in
• 1:12:31
  here first. Yes. No, I really do. I love working
• 1:12:35
  with local restaurants, especially people that
• 1:12:37
  I've become friends with. And it's because I
• 1:12:39
  really, truly do want everybody to succeed. There's
• 1:12:45
  so many, I'll call it mom and pops because that's
• 1:12:47
  what we are. We're not big corporate trees. We're
• 1:12:49
  not big corporate entities. Those are the people
• 1:12:53
  that I will support. all day long and like i'm
• 1:12:56
  the crazy person in the facebook group just on
• 1:12:59
  my spare time while i'm drinking my coffee in
• 1:13:00
  the morning where can i get a good italian food
• 1:13:03
  where can i get this and i'm like i'm the one
• 1:13:05
  writing like as a crazy person like you know
• 1:13:08
  blackbird lenora go here for a private event
• 1:13:10
  go here if you want drinks like right and it's
• 1:13:12
  like because i'm i'm honestly giving that feedback
• 1:13:14
  because people don't know you know you're happy
• 1:13:16
  to give it to them i'm happy to give it to them
• 1:13:18
  because i'm not like when i enjoy a meal number
• 1:13:21
  one i enjoy the service i enjoy the owner i enjoy
• 1:13:24
  what what you're doing. Like I want to tell everybody,
• 1:13:26
  hence, hence why we have a podcast now. All right.
• 1:13:30
  Well, we're going to wrap up with this really
• 1:13:31
  quick question. I'm going to show you a picture
• 1:13:34
  of this guy. And then if you have to tell me,
• 1:13:38
  give me like, what advice would you give this
• 1:13:41
  guy? You can take a look, take a little closer
• 1:13:48
  look. I think the one on top needs a new sweater.
• 1:13:52
  Oh, boy. That's wild, right? Who are we looking
• 1:13:54
  at? They all need it. Wow. That's great. All
• 1:14:01
  right, for listeners, we pulled up a picture.
• 1:14:02
  We'll pop that up on YouTube for you. Well, Scott,
• 1:14:07
  I think. Look at that sweater. Scott, were you
• 1:14:08
  modeling back then? We're about 10, 15 years
• 1:14:11
  back. Boy, man. Yeah. That looks like Scott was
• 1:14:14
  a model back then. It does look like the Backstreet
• 1:14:17
  Boys. Well, what would you tell him? I would
• 1:14:19
  say, get some sleeves. You're telling yourself
• 1:14:21
  something. Showing off the guns. Scott, 15, 20
• 1:14:25
  years ago, what are you telling him? Scott, you
• 1:14:27
  need a new sweater. Wow, where did you find that?
• 1:14:33
  That's great. That's great. Those are old school.
• 1:14:36
  Just say you need a new sweater. One word of
• 1:14:38
  business advice. Oh, wow, you put me on the spot.
• 1:14:42
  I don't remember if that was, but that was definitely
• 1:14:46
  one driven 20 -year -old. I was focused on, I
• 1:14:52
  think Cleve and I at that time were determined
• 1:14:54
  to own the world. What are you telling those
• 1:15:00
  guys? Oh, man, put your tongue away. Doesn't
• 1:15:06
  even look like you, Angelo. I had to double check
• 1:15:09
  that that was you. I was like, is that actually
• 1:15:11
  him? That was, I wouldn't say, I was like, I
• 1:15:14
  must've been 22 there, 23 there. No, maybe even
• 1:15:18
  older, 24, but right around there. Yeah, put
• 1:15:21
  your tongue away and get off the boat. I was
• 1:15:24
  going probably to Peanut Island for sure. I always
• 1:15:27
  tell myself just to slow down, enjoy. You are,
• 1:15:30
  that picture is showing you, you are slowing
• 1:15:32
  down. You know, she's saying that time period
• 1:15:35
  of your life. Oh, yeah, yeah. Like, you know,
• 1:15:36
  you're just going. So to enjoy everything, enjoy
• 1:15:39
  the moments. That's great, by the way. I think
• 1:15:41
  we all were enjoying the moments back then. Yeah.
• 1:15:43
  I was doing them too much. Yeah. I love that
• 1:15:45
  you're all in vehicles. You're in a car. You're
• 1:15:47
  in a car or a Jeep or something. You're on a
• 1:15:49
  boat. I'm in a Razor. Is that what it is? Yeah,
• 1:15:51
  I'm off -roading. Yeah. You're all, like, going
• 1:15:54
  somewhere. Oh, that's great. I was with Chris
• 1:15:56
  Klein at his ranch. Oh, wow. It was a good time.
• 1:16:00
  Well, thank you guys so much for coming on the
• 1:16:03
  show. Thanks for having us. And congratulations
• 1:16:05
  on the new ventures. I know there's new ventures
• 1:16:08
  every which way we turn with you. So we'll keep
• 1:16:11
  an eye out. And, you know, I had a great time.
• 1:16:14
  Thank you. Everyone support your local restaurants.
• 1:16:17
  If there's some cuisine you like, I promise you
• 1:16:19
  these guys are giving it to you. Thank you so
• 1:16:22
  much, by the way. Thanks for having us. Thank
• 1:16:24
  you. Thanks for joining me on Forking Around
• 1:16:26
  with Flavor South Florida. If you're in the industry,
• 1:16:29
  a business owner, or just want a better understanding
• 1:16:31
  of what goes into keeping restaurants alive and
• 1:16:33
  thriving, make sure you subscribe and share this
• 1:16:36
  episode with someone who should hear it. Flavor
• 1:16:38
  South Florida takes place every September from
• 1:16:40
  the 1st through the 30th between Palm Beach County
• 1:16:43
  and the Treasure Coast. You can find all the
• 1:16:45
  amazing dining deals and participating restaurants
• 1:16:47
  at flavorsouthflorida .com. Until next time,
• 1:16:50
  keep supporting local and keep forking around.