Latest / Forking Around with Flavor South Florida / Max Lennon and Andy O’Connell: From Australia to Delray Beach - Going Behind the Bar

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Max Lennon and Andy O’Connell: From Australia to Delray Beach - Going Behind the Bar · Forking Around with Flavor South Florida

0:04
Welcome to Forking Around with Flavor South Florida.
0:07
I'm Keri Paisley, CEO of Flavor South Florida.
0:10
We are sitting down with entrepreneurs, business
0:12
owners, and influential community partners to
0:14
talk growth, trials, tribulations, and more.
0:17
These conversations lead into Flavor South Florida,
0:20
the region's largest restaurant month, happening
0:22
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 Ultima
0:38
Caviar. Visit them at ultimacaviar .com. Today,
0:44
we're heading into one of the hottest restaurant
0:46
seas in South Florida, Delray Beach. Joining
0:50
me today are Max Lennon and Andy O 'Connell.
0:53
They're the general managers of three amazing
0:55
restaurants that I know you've been to, Avalon,
0:58
Lulu's, and Campy. We're going to talk about
1:01
restaurant success, growth, trials. and more
1:06
in this episode. Thanks for coming on, guys.
1:08
Thank you. Thank you, Carrie. So introduce yourselves.
1:11
Let's go individually one by one. Tell the crowd.
1:15
Max, we'll start with you. Who you are? What
1:18
do you do? Where do you work? My name is Max.
1:22
I'm the general manager of Avalon and Campy.
1:26
So I kind of float back and forth and predominantly
1:29
oversee both restaurants. You know, curate the
1:34
menus, curate the cocktails, kind of make sure
1:37
everything's in line with what we want to be
1:40
showcasing in the restaurants. So that's basically
1:42
my job description. How long have you been there?
1:45
I've been at Avalon since the beginning, since
1:48
it was first opened about five years ago. And
1:51
we've just kind of gone over and taken over the
1:55
operation at Campy one year ago. Okay. And so
1:58
you did rebrand Avalon at some point along the
2:01
way, right? We did. Okay, we're going to touch
2:03
on that in a second. Andy, tell me, what do you
2:06
do? And tell me about you. Where do you work?
2:08
What do you do? I'm the GM of Lulu's. And Lulu's
2:12
also in Delray Beach, yeah? Yeah. This is the
2:14
stone's throw from Campy. So Max helps me out
2:17
with a lot of stuff. I pop over, I help him out.
2:20
So we kind of have a good relationship. Avalon's
2:23
also like a stone's throw up the street. So everything's
2:26
close. So it helps us work good as a team, you
2:28
know? So you're all, are they all three on Atlantic
2:31
Avenue? We're doing Pineapple Grove, Lulu's in
2:34
Campy, and Avalon is on the Ave front and center.
2:39
So tell me about each concept. They're not the
2:43
same at all, right? No. So Lulu's open all day
2:49
from 8 a .m. to 2 a .m. essentially. Really good
2:52
breakfast, really good lunch, really good late
2:55
night, good fun, live music on the weekends.
2:59
Avalon kind of has a little bit of everything.
3:01
So we're open for brunch at 10 a .m. We have
3:04
a really good happy hour every day and you can
3:06
get it at all the tables in the whole restaurant,
3:08
which is kind of not a lot of restaurants do.
3:11
They usually just do it at the bar, but we've
3:13
opened it up to the entire restaurant. Really
3:16
good dinner. We actually have the chef of Can't
3:19
Be Italian, the fine dining restaurant, overseeing
3:21
Avalon, curating the menu. So you're really getting
3:24
that nice curated, you know. really good, you
3:29
know, farm to table kind of experience at Avalon
3:31
with his expertise. And then we have probably
3:35
the best late night on Atlantic Avenue. We do
3:38
DJs in the restaurant and in the speakeasy in
3:41
the back and we have private parties. So Avalon
3:43
kind of has a little bit of everything. So it's
3:45
really fun, really good to, you know, you can
3:48
do brunch, you can do dinner, you can do a late
3:50
night. So you can kind of, you know, you can
3:53
go there multiple times a week and find something
3:55
different to do every time you go there. And
3:58
Campi is kind of like your traditional fine dining
4:01
dinner. The restaurant Campagnolo in New York
4:03
City, which probably, you know, most of the people
4:06
are familiar with, you know, has been there for
4:08
30, 40 years. Upper East Side, fantastic old
4:12
school Italian. And we kind of tried to, we've
4:14
opened Campi Italian as it's like sexy, sister,
4:18
you know, a little bit more fine dining. We make
4:22
all the pastas in -house. We make all the sauces
4:24
there. It's kind of just a little... more of
4:27
a tweak, kind of more specialized to South Florida
4:31
and Delray Beach. It's kind of a modern Campagnolo,
4:33
isn't it? Modern Campagnolo, exactly. Which is
4:35
your favorite one? Avalon, by far. Oh, you answered!
4:40
What's your favorite? You let his hair down over
4:42
at Avalon. You said that fast. You said that
4:44
fast. That was funny. Usually people go, oh,
4:47
I can't pick a favorite. But you did it. I mean,
4:50
I've been to all three, and I think it's cool
4:52
that they're all different, so vastly different
4:55
concepts. I am a sucker for good Italian food,
4:58
so I like campy. Lula's is like chill. And then
5:02
like Avalon, I've spent the most time at Avalon.
5:05
I've done brunch there. I've done dinner there
5:08
and the speakeasy vibe. And it depends on exactly
5:12
like your mood. Like you can actually go for
5:14
any and all of it depending on what you're doing
5:17
that day. Like if I'm going to the beach, then
5:20
I'm going to come for brunch, right? And so that's
5:23
fun. Speaking of the speakeasy, Andy, I met you
5:29
in the speakeasy. I just remembered this because
5:33
you were my bartender. A couple of times. A couple
5:36
of times. Yes, a couple of times. Just a few.
5:40
Who's telling on me? Just a few shots. What did
5:44
I drink, though, that you made? I know exactly
5:47
what I drank because it was amazing. You made
5:50
me. An espresso martini. So previous to you being
5:55
a GM, which congratulations on your promotion.
5:58
When did that happen? September was the last
6:01
year. Okay. Coming up after summer will be a
6:05
year. Awesome. Awesome. So we'll talk about general
6:09
manager and all the fun stuff that comes along
6:12
with that. But let's talk about the bartender
6:14
life for a minute. Yeah. Just for a minute. It's
6:17
like night and day really, isn't it? Isn't it?
6:19
Isn't it now? So tell me first, like, what's
6:23
your secret to your espresso martini? Because
6:26
I've had some real shitty ones along the way.
6:28
I think you've got to shake the life out of it,
6:30
don't you? I'm like a snob when it comes to espresso
6:33
martinis. So you've got to shake it. What else?
6:35
What are we putting in it? Give me a recipe.
6:37
No, it's Jesus. Going back, it's been so long
6:39
since I've made one. I had two last night, actually,
6:43
I think. Where did you have them? Only two. Where
6:46
did I have them? Avalon. One was Avalon. I think
6:51
we've got two ounces of vodka, if I'm going back
6:55
off the spec sheet there. Hayden's espresso liqueur,
6:58
a little drop for them. And fresh espresso. That's
7:03
it, just shake it. And obviously some vanilla
7:06
and simple syrup in there as well. Just make
7:08
it nice and sweet for you, Carrie, you know.
7:10
So, it's so good. I think that might be the secret.
7:12
It is so good. It's made with love. So, what
7:16
is your favorite drink to make? Probably that
7:18
one. Yeah? Yeah. What's your least favorite drink
7:21
to make? Like the worst drink request. That's
7:25
a good question. Maybe like six different martinis
7:29
at a time. When I was bartending in Campy there,
7:32
you get crushed on that service well. Yeah. Like
7:35
Gavin, Gavin is in there at the minute. Yeah.
7:37
When you're on that service well, oh my God,
7:39
forget about it. I feel like. You're doing the
7:41
whole restaurant. Right. And you're just in one
7:43
station. Yeah, it can be a massive restaurant.
7:46
You get a ticket for it. It'll be like 25 drinks.
7:48
Every one of them is different. How long does
7:51
it take you to make one martini? Jesus, it depends
7:54
how good you are. Gavin's pretty fast. He's a
7:57
lot faster than I was. That's the reason I'm
7:59
not doing it anymore. All right, so here's another
8:03
question. I have 21 years old to 21 to 28. What
8:10
are they ordering? What are they drinking? Depends
8:13
what time of the night it is really, isn't it?
8:15
It's late. It's 11 o 'clock. 21 years old. Coming
8:18
in the bar. Where do they order? They're still
8:19
making life difficult for you. Porn star martinis.
8:22
All sorts of shaking going on. They don't go
8:25
easy on you anyway. All right. In your 30s, where
8:28
are they ordering? I always think they might
8:31
have old fashions or something like that. Oh,
8:34
I love old fashions. Or maybe they'll be drinking
8:36
stuff on the rocks. Straight liquor on the rocks.
8:40
They ain't messing around, these 30 -year -olds.
8:42
Yeah, yeah. It's experience. They know what they're
8:44
doing. It gets a bit later, they want to get
8:46
a little buzz off it. I thought the 21 -year
8:48
-old would be like a vodka cranberry. Yeah, something
8:51
like that. Right? Sorry, the younger ones, they're
8:54
definitely on the... Do you know what they want?
8:56
Something that looks nice at the start of the
8:58
night because they want to take a picture of
9:00
it. Because they want to Instagram it. Yeah,
9:02
that's what it is, yeah. Isn't that crazy? How
9:04
long have you both been in the food industry?
9:07
Five years now. And you're in longer. I've been
9:11
in for a while. Maybe I'd say 16, 17 years. Yeah.
9:15
And isn't it so crazy now? It's like this whole
9:17
Instagram world where it's like the drink has
9:19
to be pretty and the plate has to be pretty.
9:21
And it's like, that's like a whole nother level
9:23
of pressure. We're on the Instagrams all the
9:26
time for the restaurants and the venues, checking,
9:28
making sure everything's good, like resharing
9:32
posts. Someone puts up an Instagram and a drink
9:35
doesn't look right. they get straight into the
9:37
group chat. It's going to be like, they'll be
9:39
on the show. They're going to screenshot that,
9:42
put it in the group, in the Slack, and be like,
9:45
look at this terrible drink. Oh my God, yeah.
9:48
We can't have that. We don't have that terrible
9:50
drinks that everyone knows. So, okay, wait, I
9:52
have to go back to my 30s, 40s. Somebody's 45.
9:56
What are they ordering? Oh, they're going martini.
9:59
Oh, yeah. That's a martini. Especially a campy.
10:04
And I'm just going to jump up to like 65. What
10:06
are they drinking? I feel like they've got to
10:09
be real serious. They're like, give me the bottle
10:11
at this point. If they're at dinner, they're
10:13
definitely having, they might have wine, right?
10:16
Bottles of wine. It can't be definitely. Yeah,
10:17
it can't be definitely. They've got some great
10:19
wine there. But we get them in the lounge too,
10:22
in the speakeasy. Yeah. They can go hard still.
10:25
Yeah. They'll drink martinis as well. How many
10:28
wines do you have at Campy? Different kinds,
10:31
like 100 or something? Yeah, we have hundreds
10:33
on the list. Yeah, I mean, mostly curated towards
10:35
Italians, but we have a really, really good curated
10:39
by the glass list. And yeah, our bottle list
10:42
goes on and on and on and on. Have you ever been
10:44
to Italy or France? I have not had the pleasure
10:48
of going to Italy or France yet. Or have you
10:51
been to like Sonoma or Napa? I honestly have
10:53
not, no. Max, we've got to get you out of the
10:55
house. I know. Max, we've got to book your trip.
10:57
They invite us all the time to go. Andy, where
10:58
are you from? I'm Irish. Where are you from?
11:02
Cork. Cork. In Ireland, yeah. Down the south
11:04
coast. You need to just go get on the plane and
11:06
go to Cork. Maybe I'll go with you next week.
11:09
I'll go next week. I mean, are we all invited?
11:12
Because I'm down. I'm there. I'm always ready
11:15
to travel. And really, it's for research purposes.
11:17
Yeah. Because you want to see what food they're
11:20
making over in Cork. So you have to go. Guinness
11:23
and oysters, I think. See? That's going to be
11:26
my stable day. You could do like a little Ireland
11:29
-themed day. Yeah. And then do Guinness and oysters.
11:32
But you can't do it without going to Cork first,
11:35
Max. No, that sounds lovely. Checking it out
11:37
there. What did you do when you lived in Ireland?
11:42
I actually lived in Australia before I came over
11:45
here for a year and a half. When I came out of
11:47
school, I played soccer until I was probably
11:49
23 or 24. Then I came over here and then met
11:52
the lads in Jackdaw, so our partners in New York.
11:57
They have how many restaurants up there now?
11:58
10 or 11, 12? 10, 11, 12, yeah. They just opened
12:01
a new one. Yeah. Keeps seem to be opening so
12:05
many. Killing it. But I met Paul and Paul McDade
12:11
and Ronan Carter in Jackdaw. And I've been working
12:15
for them since. It's about five years ago now
12:18
at this stage. So there's 10 restaurants in New
12:20
York under the concept? Yeah, under the host
12:23
hospitality. Where are they? Are they in the
12:26
city? They're all over. He's mentioned Campagnolo,
12:29
obviously. It's a legendary place on the Upper
12:31
East Side. There's Sefton across the street from
12:34
that. There's a cocktail bar. The East Village,
12:38
Jackdaw, where I just mentioned, is the East
12:40
Village. The two newest concepts or venues are
12:43
Café Maud. One's on St. Mark's and 2nd. The other's
12:49
on, is it 84th and 2nd Ave, I think? Yeah. There's
12:52
two. to those places that if I'm going to the
12:57
city they're probably my go -to spots now to
12:58
go and check out like kind of got every I'll
13:01
have to check them out I'm going to New York
13:02
this summer and I really have to get with you
13:07
guys and check those out because I love going
13:09
to places that I know and support down here whenever
13:13
I travel. I usually try to seek out those restaurants
13:16
and other places. And I do a pretty good job
13:19
at it most of the time. They get you out of the
13:20
house as well. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So. Oh, so you
13:25
mentioned Australia. Have you ever tried kangaroo?
13:29
Yes. And? Yeah, I did. Oh, man. It's meant to
13:33
be like. Don't tell me it tastes like chicken.
13:35
No, it's really good. It's like steak. But I
13:39
don't think it's kind of frowned upon. Do you
13:42
cook it with a temperature? Do you have to order
13:43
it medium or something or no? I can't really
13:45
remember too much about it, but I remember I
13:47
was going to a gig in Melbourne at the MCG that
13:49
night and it was just on the menu. I think it
13:52
was one of the first days I was there. And then
13:54
all the lads were like, oh, it's kind of a bit
13:56
frowned upon to eat that. It's pretty nice. They're
14:00
like, they kind of scare me, kangaroos. Got a
14:03
lot of big wine scene over there as well. Well.
14:05
We're going on a world tour. I thought they were
14:07
really cute at first. I've always liked them.
14:10
And because they're cute, they have a little
14:12
pouch and they're cute and they hop. And then
14:15
I saw these big red ones, right? They look, have
14:18
you seen these things? No. They're massive. Oh
14:20
my gosh. Kangaroos are massive. No, I've never
14:24
seen them. They can like. They're called like
14:26
what? They're in the outback. I'm going to pull
14:29
a picture up. The regular kangaroos are. Big
14:30
red kangaroo. I mean, oh, it's so scary. This
14:35
isn't even a good picture, but they're like muscular.
14:41
Look at this guy. Oh, that's frightening. We'll
14:43
put this up on the screen. I will share this
14:45
with the folks at home. But if you look, Google
14:49
red kangaroo, and he'll be scared too. It's pretty
14:53
scary. Oh, my God. It's unreal. So, yeah. Well.
14:58
Because I'm traumatized from kangaroos. So what's
15:01
the weirdest thing you've ever eaten? Have you
15:03
tried alligator? Because that's a thing. I've
15:06
never had an alligator before. When I went to
15:08
Norway a couple years ago, we had whale. Whale?
15:12
What kind of whale? Oh, I cannot remember. Oh,
15:16
I like whales. I think that's one of the only
15:22
countries you can actually eat it in. But it
15:24
was good. Interesting. It's so funny. My son
15:28
just started eating fish recently because he
15:32
watched Finding Nemo. And I'm like, oh, we're
15:35
going to have fish for dinner. And he's like,
15:36
I'm not eating Nemo. I'm like, no, we're not
15:39
eating Nemo. We're eating the random fish that
15:42
came out of the ocean and doesn't even have a
15:43
name. And he was like, he's 14 now, and I think
15:47
he just tried fish for the first time a year
15:49
ago because he was like, so upset about finding
15:53
Nemo. And I'm like, man, come on. I had to bribe
15:58
him. I made him try caviar recently. I was kind
16:02
of thinking fish fingers. Right, right. That's
16:06
why I started off with him. No, he didn't want
16:09
any of it. But yeah, so I tried to make him try
16:12
caviar. I love caviar. Do you like caviar? I
16:14
love it, yeah. What kind? I have no clue. All
16:18
of them? I wouldn't know the difference. Black
16:20
one, orange one. Oh, black. The one I had was
16:24
black. Yeah. Caviar is so good. And I love it.
16:27
I feel like it's like trending right now. I feel
16:29
like it's on a lot of menus. It is. It's trending
16:31
in the caviar bumps and stuff like that. People
16:34
love it. What do you find is trending right now?
16:36
I always find like trending foods fun. I feel
16:40
like truffle has a trending moment. Truffle has
16:43
a trending moment. It's starting to get out of
16:45
season now. That's a good question. I see Bronzino
16:47
on every menu now. Bronzino? Yeah, that's a good
16:50
one. That's definitely one. Smash burgers are
16:52
pretty hot. I feel like they come in waves, all
16:56
these items, right? Oh, you know what else I
16:59
keep seeing everywhere? Crispy, what is it called?
17:02
Crispy rice and tuna. Yes. It's everywhere. It's
17:05
literally. I've got to give that a plug. I think
17:07
they're almost killer. You go to any restaurant.
17:11
You go to an Italian restaurant. You go to Japanese.
17:13
Anywhere. They just have it now. They do, yeah.
17:15
To some form. I'm exaggerating a little bit,
17:18
but not really. I want to give that one a rest.
17:21
I've seen it at an Italian restaurant. Crispy
17:23
tuna? Yeah. See, this is out of control. It's
17:25
a little odd, but. This is out of control. I'm
17:27
canceling it. We're canceling it right now. I
17:29
can't anymore. What other foods would you cancel?
17:33
Oh. You're like, I'm over it. I just don't want
17:35
to look at it. Actually, I kind of feel this
17:37
way about mushrooms. Oh, okay. I love beets,
17:40
but I can understand that statement. Yeah, I'm
17:41
sick of the beets. Everyone has a beet salad
17:43
or a beet this, beet that. True. Yeah, probably
17:46
that as well. I love everything. I love beans.
17:49
I'd eat for Ireland. I'd eat everything you put
17:51
in front of me, you know what I mean? Oh, I'm
17:53
going to tell you, my over it food is mushrooms.
17:55
I'm over the mushrooms. Mushrooms are everything.
17:58
I can see that. But yeah, I like mushrooms. I'm
18:01
just like over it. I'm like, okay, there's mushrooms
18:04
in the pizza and there's mushrooms in the pasta
18:05
and there's mushrooms everywhere. And I'm like,
18:07
kind of like just over that. I went to London
18:10
like a couple months ago. I just have to share
18:15
the story because now I'm sitting here salivating
18:17
thinking about this. So I got trout at this restaurant
18:22
and apparently they flew it in from Ireland.
18:26
Then I got these oysters and that also came from
18:28
Ireland. And then I went to the little cheese
18:30
shop next door from my hotel and all the cheese
18:34
I loved came from Ireland. And I'm like, well,
18:37
here's my problem. Those oysters are like. I
18:42
don't even know. They're like a different level
18:44
of anything from here. Yeah, they're amazing.
18:48
Right? Like, I don't know how they make them.
18:49
Irish food is super underrated. Yeah, you don't
18:51
think of oysters when you think about Irish food.
18:53
I was talking about the beans. I was talking
18:55
to my buddy Alan there, Alan Fahey and Ryan last
18:59
week, and they're talking about going to the
19:01
oyster festival in Gotham in the summer. I was
19:03
like, just die and go to heaven. I just, I can't
19:08
even explain to people here. Because, like, I
19:11
eat oysters frequently enough, but these were
19:13
the most plump, delicious -looking oysters that
19:17
I've ever had in my life. And now I have to go
19:21
back there just to, well, back there, anywhere
19:23
over there, just to eat the oysters. Because
19:26
I feel like people think of Ireland as what,
19:29
like, bangers and mash and stuff. Yeah, like
19:33
Rory McIlroy got in trouble last week, I think,
19:34
didn't he? He said something about his master's
19:36
dinner that he has to do the menu up. Uh -huh.
19:40
And he said something about, and it didn't really
19:42
shed Irish food in good light, but super underrated.
19:46
Like everything's so fresh. Yeah. Seafood, obviously.
19:50
Like all the stuff comes straight from the farms.
19:54
Like, it's amazing. Like I'm going back next
19:57
week and like I can't wait to just eat and drink
19:59
for the week. Oh, I'm so jealous of you right
20:01
now. Like so jealous. What is your favorite,
20:04
Max, what is your favorite food item on each
20:07
of your menus? For campy, it definitely has to
20:11
be one of the homemade pastas that we make in
20:15
-house. It's probably that short rib pasta, the
20:18
short rib angiolotti. We make the short rib in
20:21
-house and then we roll out the pasta. And then
20:25
we have somebody in the back kind of making these
20:28
little, they're kind of like dumpling -esque.
20:32
Oh, I know what you're talking about. And then
20:35
it's served with such a good sauce and like a
20:37
little touch of like, Red wine reduction sauce
20:40
and finish with some crispy horseradish. It's
20:43
absolutely phenomenal. That sounds amazing. I
20:46
haven't tried that. Yeah, it's great. The lasagna
20:49
is killer. The lasagna is killer too. They do
20:52
like a lasagna. It's called lasagna rotolo. So
20:54
they roll it and then they put a little bit of
20:56
the meat and cheese in the sauce and roll it
20:58
and then they slice it and then they flip it.
21:00
So it's like standing up and then three in the
21:03
dish and then they bake it in the oven. It's
21:05
absolutely unreal. Greg does an amazing job with
21:08
all that stuff. Yeah, our head chef, our executive
21:09
chef is fantastic. He oversees all three menus?
21:12
He oversees Campy and Avalon. Okay. So what's
21:17
your favorite dish on Lulu's? Lulu's, it'd have
21:19
to be the, man, that teriyaki bowl is insane.
21:24
Yeah, that's really good. All the breakfast stuff,
21:27
really. the bowls and stuff I'd probably go with
21:30
that teriyaki bowl as well yeah it's insane yeah
21:32
you know like people like a lot of people come
21:34
in like girls or whatever just after working
21:36
out or or that run club they come by and stuff
21:40
they want something light and full of protein
21:42
whatever they'll have that you know what I mean
21:44
one of the bowls buddha bowls or teriyaki bowls
21:46
even the breakfast stuff it's really good like
21:50
I get steak and eggs there most days whenever
21:52
I go in the morning that's great you live in
21:54
you both live in Dalray uh yeah oh no sorry You
21:58
actually told me you live closer than you did.
22:00
I had to pick him up. Did you go to Palm Beach
22:03
to pick him up this morning? It's 10 minutes
22:04
now. 10 minutes on your watch. Is somebody always
22:09
late or are you guys both pretty on time people?
22:12
You can answer that one Andy. I get a bad rap
22:16
for that. Five minutes late for my own funeral,
22:18
I think. Yeah, friends tell me. Me too. You gotta
22:22
tell Andy it's 20 minutes before the time you
22:24
want him to pick you up to get you on time. Hey,
22:26
what time did we get here today? I don't know
22:29
because I'm always late. Oh, I was driving. So
22:31
I wasn't, I wasn't straight. I'm not a pro. I'm
22:34
like, I had to, I understand. I appreciate like.
22:39
I try to be, I really try to be on time. I really
22:42
do. But everybody that's listening that knows
22:44
me is laughing at me right now because they're
22:45
like, yeah, but you're literally never on time.
22:47
Fashionably late. It's not that. Let's keep people
22:50
on their toes. But here's the crazy part. And
22:53
I know it's like, I'm like a five to 10 minute
22:55
later person, not too, too late. Unless it's
22:59
an unstructured, it's like an event. Like I'm
23:01
just going to pop in whenever, probably a half
23:03
hour in, you know, I don't want to be the first
23:05
person. And so. It's like I had one person once,
23:10
like really one time, thank goodness only one
23:12
time, called me out like hard. And I felt really
23:15
bad. Like they were like, you're six minutes
23:18
late. Like it was a big, because I was meeting
23:20
with a client or something like that. And I was
23:24
like, I was a little like mortified in that moment
23:27
where I was like, oh, this is not cool. Yeah,
23:31
it's definitely, it's not the best habit to be
23:33
five or five minutes late. It's not the worst
23:35
thing in the world. Yes, I don't know. You probably
23:38
came in here like, you know, six minutes late,
23:40
which is on time to me. It's the parking in Delray
23:43
right now. Parking in Delray is wild. I got to
23:49
park in the secret garage one time under Avalon.
23:53
Oh, yeah. Don't say that. Yeah, don't tell anyone.
23:56
You can't get in there. The building manager
23:58
up our ass. I'm telling everybody, but you can't
24:02
get in there. She's got a security guard on the
24:04
door. You have to have a code. There's a gate.
24:06
It's a whole situation. You've got to know a
24:07
password. Knock, knock, I'm here. I think she
24:11
got me towed out of there one day, that woman.
24:13
Oh, yeah. Somebody got towed there? She got me
24:16
towed out of there last year. I think it was
24:17
St. Patrick's Day. Oh, yeah, both the bartenders.
24:20
You and Dylan. You and Dylan, yeah. Looking out
24:23
back at you, the car is like, they're gone. Oh,
24:27
man. That's terrible. I think Max ran in. We
24:28
were in the weeds, but I didn't mean to shake
24:30
and everything. Max comes in, where's your cars?
24:33
I was like, they're not there anymore. Surprise!
24:38
So, wait, do we cover everything? No. What's
24:41
your favorite dish at Avalon? Oh, Avalon. Oh,
24:43
I know mine. I just got it. It just came to me.
24:45
What's yours? I don't want to like, I don't want
24:47
to like sway you. Okay. Well, mine's easy. Mine's
24:50
the 100 % the smash burger. Oh, okay. Oh, it's
24:54
unreal. That's great. Actually, going back to
24:56
what you said there, Lulu's burger and Lulu's
24:59
cheeseburger as well is unbelievable. Yeah, it
25:01
is unbelievable. I think they're two of the best
25:03
burgers, right? I'm not like, I know obviously
25:04
we might be a bit biased, but they're amazing
25:07
burgers. In Avalon and Campy, this might sound
25:12
so like. It's like trivial or whatever. The Caesar
25:15
salad in two of those places. No, a good Caesar
25:18
salad is a thing. 100%. It's made with the egg
25:23
yolk. It has to be fresh and good. The dressing
25:26
is everything with that. So that's your favorite?
25:30
Is Caesar the Caesar? That's your final answer?
25:33
Can I give a Caesar as the final answer for favorite
25:35
dish? Yeah, you totally can. Absolutely. Let's
25:37
run with it then. Mine is the... All right. Well,
25:43
I really, really like the whipped ricotta because
25:45
it's like different and it's just fun to eat.
25:48
And I always, I will order it every single time.
25:50
But my favorite entree is the chicken Milanese.
25:56
Oh, yeah. The chicken piccata. No, not the chicken
25:58
piccata. It's chicken Milanese. It's like breaded.
26:02
It's like Milanese style, but we call it chicken
26:04
piccata. Oh, well, what's the difference between
26:06
piccata and Milanese? Very technical here. You
26:10
better run, Greg. I think the piccata is a little
26:13
bit thicker. Is it? Yeah, the Milanese is like
26:16
pounded and breaded and, you know, crispy. Yeah.
26:19
Like the one we do. Yeah. We just call it piccata.
26:22
Call it whatever you want. That's my chicken.
26:24
Yeah. It's so good. It's unreal. It's so like
26:27
thin. I love like a thin chicken that's like
26:30
has that nice, like it's nice and like. how do
26:35
I even describe it? It's just so good. It's like,
26:38
you have to like, when you're cooking chicken,
26:40
like, it's easy to overcook it. And I feel like
26:43
a lot of restaurants overcook chicken. I very
26:44
rarely order chicken out because they dry it
26:47
out. It's like, yours is just like, it's fantastic.
26:51
That chicken parm, kind of similar. Yeah. Kind
26:54
of dish or whatever. Chicken parm at Campy. Oh
26:57
my God. It's incredible as well. It's incredible,
26:59
yeah. Chicken parm at Campy. Okay. Even like
27:02
our roast chicken dish at Campy is like, the
27:05
best I've ever had. It's like, it comes in this,
27:07
this like stab, like cast iron dish. And they
27:11
do like a rosemary butter in there with a little
27:15
bit of potatoes and vegetable. And then they
27:17
have the nice crispy chicken in there. We'll
27:19
call it the brick chicken. And then they throw
27:21
it in the salamander up top to get it super hot.
27:24
The dish comes with the bubbling hot butter to
27:27
the table and the aroma of like the rosemary
27:29
and everything is just insane. It stays so moist
27:32
because it sits in the butter. That sounds so
27:33
good. Oh, my God. It's the best chicken I've
27:35
ever had. Oh, my gosh. That sounds amazing. Yeah,
27:38
it's fantastic. You just described it perfectly.
27:40
So tell me like a crazy story. Tell me a wild
27:44
story. Delray Beach, late at night. He's got
27:47
a good one. He's got a couple good ones, I bet.
27:49
Give me a good one. Give me any one. I don't
27:52
know what's doing. What's the R rating on this?
27:56
We could just go for it. We can edit if we have
27:58
to. God. Like, you're working. Okay, you're at
28:02
your job. You're a bartender, right? You're a
28:04
GM of a restaurant. Like, the things you guys
28:07
see and encounter are, like, not the normal thing
28:13
that a person that works in an office 9 to 5
28:14
is going to see or encounter, right? You wouldn't,
28:17
like, nothing would surprise you after a while,
28:19
really. Right. I agree. I mean, I've been in
28:22
the restaurant industry my whole life and I agree.
28:24
Not much surprises me because people, the way
28:28
they talk or act in a restaurant, it's just like,
28:32
or a bar or whatever. It's kind of crazy. So
28:36
I loved, I always love to hear. Trying to think
28:40
that I'm surrounding really mad. Just people
28:43
falling asleep in the corridor or something.
28:46
You know what I mean? It happened in Avalon last
28:47
week. Guys just asleep in the corner. Yeah. Yeah,
28:52
some people come and they don't, you think they
28:55
know how to behave and they really don't know
28:56
how to behave. And then you end up, you know,
28:58
you just want to have like a fun night and a
29:02
good, you know, you got a good crowd in the restaurant.
29:05
The staff's all fun and happy. And then you have
29:07
just this like, sometimes you just get these
29:09
one or two people that just want to ruin it for
29:10
everybody. It's like a weird request you've had
29:13
of somebody. Like, weirder than, can you turn
29:18
the music down? Like, weirder than that. Because
29:21
you're general manager, so you're going to get
29:22
all of the things, right? Oh, we get them all
29:23
the time. What's a good one? This episode is
29:27
sponsored by Ultima Caviar. Experience exceptional.
29:31
Visit them at ultimacaviar .com. Oh, it's the
29:36
gluten -free thing for me. It's when people come
29:38
in and say they're gluten -free and they're not.
29:41
And then they're like, that has some breadcrumbs
29:43
on it. They're like, but the breadcrumbs are
29:44
fine. Don't worry about it. And everything else
29:47
has to be gluten -free in the dish. So it's the
29:49
fake gluten -free people. It's the fake gluten
29:51
-free people. Yeah, that drives me mad. You have
29:54
people coming in and they're like, oh, they're
29:55
allergic to everything. You know what I mean?
30:00
Black pepper. Yeah. It's like, do you know what
30:03
do you have? What can I have? I'm like, Jesus.
30:08
better off staying in the house you know what
30:10
I mean when you're like that making your own
30:11
food yeah but then like how many people are allergic
30:15
to all this stuff the allergies obviously it's
30:17
a serious thing you're trying to take everything
30:19
into consideration and we do and then oh absolutely
30:22
always and they're trying to think like Jesus
30:24
what well that's the thing it's like you have
30:26
to you obviously in hospitality you have to accommodate
30:29
and yeah But it's like I feel like people are
30:32
very – it's just more available like to get your
30:35
allergies tested these days, I think. Like you
30:37
could like do a little swab kit so everyone finds
30:41
that they're allergic or sensitive to something.
30:45
I think the gluten is more – see, I try not to
30:50
– that's probably partially a lie. I try not
30:55
to like eat a lot of gluten because I think it's
30:57
probably bad for my body and it's an inflammatory
30:59
whatever I've read. But I'm never going to say
31:03
like I'm allergic to it because I'm not. I just
31:05
don't. But at the end of the day, it's like a
31:09
good pasta. I feel like I've had gluten -free
31:11
pasta and I'm personally not a fan. I don't think
31:13
so. But like the thing is like people think that
31:16
as well. But like when we get all our flour and
31:19
like our derm and stuff from. Italy. Yeah. Where
31:22
it's, like, not bleached and it's all organic
31:24
and it's all healthy. And, like, they don't have
31:26
those issues in Europe. Like, they don't have
31:28
all these gluten -free people. Like, it's basically,
31:30
like, a product of, like, the bleached flour
31:33
in America. So, like, all of our stuff that we
31:36
get to make our breads and everything is all
31:38
imported from Italy. So you don't have that bleached
31:42
flour, right? No. Is that what we're saying?
31:45
Yeah. I think it's good. I would assume. For
31:50
campy especially, you probably have a good amount
31:53
of imported goods. Yeah, tons, yeah. And mainly
31:56
from Italy? A lot from Italy, yeah. And I mean,
31:59
we try to get as much local and fresh produce
32:02
and organic as possible. Did you notice a price
32:06
change when they implemented the tariffs with
32:09
imported goods for food? With imported goods?
32:13
And yes, we got... Yeah, like a lot of the tequilas
32:18
went up. All the wines from Europe went up. Oh,
32:21
wow. It's things you wouldn't even think of like
32:23
that. We got furniture, like different chairs.
32:26
The furniture went up and the tariffs. It ended
32:30
up being a lot more than what it was. Yeah, a
32:34
lot more than what it was and a lot longer to
32:35
get it. Interesting. Yeah, I think a lot of people
32:39
don't think of those things, like how it all
32:43
trickles down, like even... A lot of things go
32:49
up. We go through obviously a lot of eggs at
32:51
Lulu's. When the price of eggs went crazy there.
32:54
Why eggs? I can't remember what it was. There
33:00
was like a bird flu going around with the chickens.
33:04
So then they couldn't make as many eggs. There's
33:07
always something. The price nearly doubled, nearly
33:10
tripled. We have eggs in most dishes there. It's
33:13
predominantly, like, a brunch spot. Like, everything
33:16
has eggs in it in the morning. I don't even know
33:19
how much eggs are right now at Publix. Like,
33:20
do we know? Is it $6 or something? Probably close
33:23
to $4, $5, $6, yeah. Something like that. Have
33:27
you had quail eggs? I've never had them. Oh,
33:31
my gosh. This is my new. I haven't had, like.
33:34
It takes you a long time to crack up them to
33:36
do some scrambled eggs. It does take you a long
33:38
time. No, they're not for scrambled eggs. They're
33:41
for snacks. And they're so delicious. And you
33:45
can get them at like Whole Foods or the Green
33:48
Market probably has them too. Yeah, there's somebody
33:50
there with them. And I don't know why, but I
33:53
like them better than chicken eggs. So yeah,
33:55
they take you a little while. You have to peel
33:56
them. Have patience. Have patience. It's worth
33:59
it. Highly recommend trying quail eggs because
34:02
it's like my new obsession and my little protein
34:05
puppers. Maybe we'll pick some up on the way
34:07
home. Do it. Boil them up in three minutes. It's
34:10
so easy. It's so delicious. And I am just a big
34:15
fan. You're putting us on. Yeah, you're putting
34:17
us on to the boil. Maybe you'll see them on a
34:19
menu soon. Oysters. Irish oysters from Max. Oh,
34:22
man. Can you get Irish oysters over here? No.
34:26
Why not? Most of them come from North East, right?
34:29
Yeah, most of them come from North East. Irish
34:33
oysters, though. Pretty good. That's me next
34:36
week. Please just go with him to Ireland next
34:39
week. Yeah. Just to eat an oyster. Just go for
34:42
two days. In and out. Eat an oyster. Come home.
34:45
I haven't got an oyster to half lately. Oh, yeah?
34:47
Oh, my God. I can't get enough of them. Oh, man.
34:50
So, do you want to play some games? Come on,
34:53
then. Yeah, shoot. They're not scary games. Well,
34:59
we have a couple. We have a few. We'll start
35:02
with this. What's your go -to? late night food
35:07
after a slammed busy night at the restaurant?
35:13
Um, maybe cheeseburger at Lulu's. Yeah. All right.
35:18
Okay. It was like a comfort. Yeah. Yeah. After
35:21
you get, after you get it pushed in and then
35:23
you're just like, oh, I'm done. Yeah. That does
35:26
me, cheers me up a bit. Yeah. For me, I mean,
35:31
Like it's midnight. You just got your ass kicked.
35:33
It's busy. It's crazy. Something I normally wouldn't
35:36
eat normally would be the truffle fries. But
35:38
like at the end of the night, like get some truffle
35:40
fries and like just eat the whole thing. I get
35:43
enough of them. Yeah, you just be happy. And
35:45
a drink. What's your drink with the truffle fries?
35:48
So for the drink is definitely, we have this
35:50
cocktail at Avalon and actually at Lulu's. We
35:54
kind of stole it from Lulu's. It's called the
35:55
Run the Paradise. Okay. It's a Kiwi cocktail.
35:58
It's absolutely, it's probably the best cocktail
36:00
in Delray. Yeah, I love it. What's in it? It's
36:04
kiwi. We juice kiwis. There's aloe, reposado
36:11
tequila. And then we make the syrup. It's like
36:15
this kiwi syrup in the back of house. I feel
36:20
like that's really healthy for me. Yeah. It's
36:23
amazing. I mean, aloe and kiwi. It's really good.
36:28
We serve it on like a big rock. It's just so
36:30
smooth to drink. Yeah. It's dangerous. Drink
36:33
a couple of them. Okay. I'm definitely down to
36:35
try that. It's like, and it's at Lulu's and Avalon.
36:39
So this is a problem. So here I am thinking about
36:43
the campy lasagna or the pasta. And now I have
36:48
to then go get that there and then go get the
36:51
Kiwi drink at Avalon or Campy. We're trying to
36:53
cover all the bases. And the best thing is you
36:55
can walk to all three within five minutes. Is
36:59
there one dish on all three menus? One common
37:03
dish? Probably not, right? No. No. Campy and
37:08
Avalon have a couple. Lulu's and Avalon have
37:12
a couple. Lulu's and Avalon have a couple, yeah.
37:13
But I don't think there's one that's on all three.
37:17
Hmm. I feel like you should do a signature cocktail
37:21
all three. We should, yeah. Just do one and call
37:23
it. Could be that one. You do? Could be that
37:26
Run to Paradise. Yeah, it should be that one.
37:28
Yeah, it could be that Run to Paradise. I'm really
37:29
just saying this for selfish reasons because
37:31
when I go next week to Campy, then I can order
37:34
that drink. We do make the espresso martini the
37:36
same. Yeah. At all three. I don't think that's
37:40
what I'm talking about. No. Well, we could do
37:43
a signature. Yeah. Have to be that Kiwi one.
37:46
Yeah, that Kiwi one. It can't be. Yeah, it's
37:48
something you can't get anywhere else. I love
37:52
that. That's a good one. So do you, on your day
37:56
-to -day jobs, you have to like deal with the
38:00
staff, deal with the customers, deal with the
38:03
kitchen, kind of deal with everybody, right?
38:06
So like. Where are you most hands -on? What does
38:11
your day -to -day look like? Like when you're,
38:14
like Chef does a menu, are you involved in creating
38:17
that menu? Yeah, you're involved in everything.
38:19
You're involved in everything. Yeah, you basically
38:22
have like, I wouldn't say the final say in everything,
38:27
but you kind of have. You know, you have your
38:30
two bits in every single thing that goes on.
38:33
So with the staff who you hire, how the schedule's
38:35
made, how the cocktails are being made, how everything's
38:38
set up, kind of like what alcohol you're buying,
38:41
you know, what the lights are going to be like,
38:44
what the sound's going to be like, what music
38:46
you're playing, what staff is taking care of
38:50
what guests, you know. That's when you get there.
38:53
Yeah. You know what I mean? You're on your phone
38:56
all day and when you wake up in the morning,
38:57
there's just emails about parties. dealing with
39:00
all sorts all day of phones going I think Jamie
39:02
rings me about 8 .01 every morning yeah he does
39:04
so you're going Jamie Jamie's the owner yeah
39:10
Jamie's our partner as well yeah he's a bit shy
39:13
to come on here today yeah so you mentioned music
39:16
in a restaurant which I I'm a big music person
39:19
so you gotta think about this though because
39:22
it's it's kind of a tricky question if Lulu's
39:27
had a soundtrack, what kind of soundtrack would
39:30
it be? Or if Lulu's was a band or an artist,
39:36
which band artist would they be? Like, is Lulu's
39:40
the Backstreet Boys or is Lulu's like Taylor
39:43
Swift? I think during the day and at night it's
39:47
different, right? For breakfast, brunch, it's
39:51
kind of more light and kind of airy vibe to it,
39:53
you know what I mean? At night I'd go with Rufus
39:55
Dussault. Nice, okay. Australian EDM band, they're
39:59
amazing. In the morning, I couldn't put one on
40:02
it. It's got a lot of different things to it,
40:04
right? Yeah. Brunch vibes, different kind of
40:08
artists, nothing too... Okay, what artist is
40:10
Avalon? I was going to say Rufus as well, didn't
40:14
I? We have a little bit of country music on in
40:19
the morning as well. Yeah. Okay. I think it's
40:21
nice where people kind of... A little Morgan
40:22
Whalen. A little Morgan Whalen. Jason Aldean.
40:24
Jason Aldean. Lulu starting the day. Morgan Whalen,
40:28
Jason Aldean. Yeah, sometimes we put the country
40:31
on and people are vibing. Yeah, they love it.
40:33
They love it, yeah. Avalon's giving me like Madonna.
40:36
Madonna. It's just like fun and spunky and classic
40:40
and like... Yeah. I could see that, yeah. I mean,
40:44
that's what I feel like if Avalon was a person.
40:47
And like Campy would be like, let's see, I have
40:52
to think about this one's a tougher one, I think.
40:58
It's hard to put a finger on that. It's hard.
41:00
That one's harder. Yeah, you go in there, you've
41:04
got a bit of everything, don't you? You've got
41:05
Bella Ciao and you go in there all the time.
41:08
But you do my best Italian accent. Oh, man. Not
41:12
necessarily Italian, but like think of the vibe.
41:16
Campy's like, it's sexy, right? It's like Mediterranean.
41:20
It's kind of like all New York kind of Italian
41:22
kind of vibes, isn't it? Yeah. So I don't know.
41:26
What musician would that be? That's so hard.
41:29
I was going to say like Doja Cat. Who's Doja
41:33
Cat? Come on. I don't know. Do you know who Doja
41:37
Cat is? I've heard of her. I think she might
41:39
be too young for us. I'm older than both of you.
41:44
I just stay versed on my top trending nonsense
41:49
online. Oh, man. Do you know who the Beatles
41:53
are? We know the Beatles. Who's your favorite
41:58
band? I don't know. I like growing up, I always
42:03
listened to like Red Hot Chili Peppers, but I'm
42:05
sort of going into like more of the, I like the
42:07
country now. Yeah. I like the Morgan Wayland.
42:10
Country's great. Yeah. It's gone so big. Yeah,
42:13
the country's getting so good now. We're going
42:15
to play a game and that's exactly what it is.
42:18
It's this or that. So I'm going to ask you a
42:21
question. If you're hiding and it's a busy night
42:26
and you're trying to kind of hide from everybody
42:28
and just need a minute, are you hiding in the
42:31
front of the house or the back of the house?
42:33
Everybody in the restaurant industry has a hiding
42:38
spot. Mine was the walk -in cooler, but okay,
42:42
let's see where you're hiding. Back of the house.
42:46
Back of the house. By the AC. That's quite specific.
42:53
I don't have anywhere to go and it was so small,
42:56
so compact. Brunch rush or dinner rush? Oh, God.
43:01
What was our favorite or the one we don't like?
43:04
That you like, that you prefer. Oh, that I prefer?
43:08
Dinner, definitely. Really? Okay, okay. I wasn't
43:12
really expecting that. A brunch can be brutal.
43:15
It's harder, those damn eggs. It's like rapid
43:18
fire. It's like boom, boom, boom. People want
43:22
to be in and out. Do they? Yeah. All right. Got
43:25
places to be. At least they're relaxing at dinner.
43:27
Yeah. You get a bit more time. Your brunch is
43:30
all cart, right? Yeah. Okay. Fine dining or casual
43:35
dining? Just what's your personal preference?
43:39
Personal preference. Like when you're going out.
43:41
Oh, when we're going out? Yeah. All right. Fine
43:47
dining for me. You got Max with fine dining,
43:48
Andy with casual. Yeah, I'm a sucker for like,
43:51
you know. Kind of getting up and going out and,
43:55
you know, staying for a couple hours and trying
43:58
everything and going to like a place that's like
44:01
I want to see like the like chef driven restaurants
44:04
and things like that. I kind of feel the same
44:08
way most of the time, but I'm also always down
44:13
for casual. Like I really like like barbecue
44:17
food. I really like. I mean, shit, sometimes
44:20
I'll even have some Taco Bell. Don't tell anybody
44:23
that. I always laugh because when I'm home, I
44:27
usually just boil some pasta and make myself
44:31
and my son some pasta or red sauce. Something
44:34
like so... Like I'm like a college student, like
44:38
with like no job, you know, in my dorm. Right.
44:41
But people are like, oh, you own restaurant.
44:44
I was like, what do you eat? And some nights
44:46
I want to, I should start posting like pictures
44:48
of like, this is what I'm actually eating. Like,
44:52
like I eat some weird, not weird, but like, it's
44:56
so funny to me. If they could only see me now.
45:01
What I'm eating. I'm going to do a post. Next
45:04
time I'm eating something pathetic, it's like
45:06
a piece of toast with some avocado on it. It's
45:10
mainly because there's no food in my house. You
45:13
know it every night. Why do I need to keep food
45:15
in my house? All right. Yelp reviews. Yelp reviews.
45:22
I'll just leave it right there. Yelp reviews
45:24
or food influencer reviews. What do we like more?
45:29
Yeah. We're writing this down now. That would
45:32
be important too. Yeah. 100%. I agree. Because
45:36
they're more personal, right? Yeah. A lot of
45:39
influencers, like, you know, they probably get
45:40
a bad rap today, influencers. Yeah. Sometimes.
45:44
Like, most of the time I've seen them with the
45:47
people that come into us. It's been so nice.
45:49
They're all real. Our local ones are awesome
45:52
people. A lot of them are my friends. And there's
45:55
a handful out there that are like, eh. Yeah.
45:58
I think that's their niche though, right? Like
46:01
some people go and they might look to cause a
46:03
bit of controversy and that's how they get their,
46:05
their views or whatever. Most of the time, the
46:08
influencers that come into us, like we had one
46:10
there last week. Amazing. Bought a boyfriend
46:12
and they had dinner. Who was it? Oh my God. Top
46:19
of my head. I can't remember. I mean, here's
46:21
the thing. Everyone's entitled to opinion. I
46:23
just feel like restaurants take the brunt of
46:25
it. Like. Yeah. All the time. Like Google reviews,
46:29
Yelp reviews, all that. And it's like, I had
46:32
a negative experience at a restaurant not too
46:33
long ago. And that rarely happens because I usually,
46:37
I'm not a very picky diner at the end of the
46:40
day. And I didn't go on Google or Yelp. I emailed
46:44
the general manager and he brought me back. And
46:46
I don't know this guy or this restaurant from
46:49
hole in the wall. Shocking, I know. You know,
46:52
it was you I would text you, like, oh, Max, my
46:53
dinner came out cold, you know, whatever. But
46:55
I didn't know this guy at all. And I felt like
46:57
I almost wasn't going to, but they're fairly
46:59
new restaurant. And I was like, no, let me. And
47:01
that's exactly what I wrote. I said, I'm telling
47:04
you this to help you, not to blast you on. You
47:08
probably appreciate it as well. I hope, I think
47:11
so. I hope so. Yeah. Well, that's the rough thing.
47:14
Like when you get them, when you get them reviews,
47:15
like sometimes you want to be like, you want
47:18
to be defensive and like, you want to be like.
47:21
Can you also just dissect it and take it for
47:26
what it's worth? It's a good and a bad thing
47:28
because it's a good thing because when you get
47:30
them reviews, then you may think that everything's
47:34
going perfectly. And then you have a chance to
47:36
go fix what may be the issue. Maybe they were
47:40
right. And maybe you have a chance now to go
47:42
fix it. And then you come out more on top. And
47:47
you're more aware of what's going on in your
47:49
venue. So I look at it as a good thing, getting
47:53
them reviews. I think that perspective makes
47:55
you a good manager and leader. Thank you. So
47:59
I just had a funny thought. What is the craziest
48:04
call -out that you've got? Like a server's calling
48:09
out or a bartender, whoever. Somebody's calling
48:11
out sick. What excuse are they giving? Give me
48:14
the best one. You must have got a lot of good
48:17
ones. I remember texting you a few times. I was
48:27
probably somewhere else. Maybe missed flights.
48:31
And they missed a flight? Some people missed
48:33
flights. Some people missed flights. There's
48:35
definitely some good ones. They're not coming
48:36
to mind right now, though. Some of them are like
48:39
crazy stuff. Like, I don't know if I can even
48:42
say this. I remember last week there, there was
48:44
a guy called out and it was like... five or six
48:48
things happened in like one day and it was just
48:51
a mess for him. And he was like, I just don't
48:52
have space to come in. Yeah. So you're just going,
48:55
that's just life. You know what I mean? You have
48:58
like your staff, they have problems like anyone
49:03
else. You know what I mean? So you might think
49:04
someone's, oh, they just don't fancy coming in.
49:07
But a lot of the time, especially our staff are
49:09
really good. Like, aren't they? I had two bad
49:12
ones once. Okay. One was, This guy called out
49:16
because he said his grandma died. Grandma came
49:19
to the restaurant two weeks later. Oh, man. Grandma
49:23
did not die. So that was awkward. That's rough.
49:27
Yeah, that's bad. Yeah, and then what do you
49:29
do? When you talk to them, like, what is this?
49:31
And then there was another one. This is crazy.
49:37
This girl said she was pregnant and that she
49:41
miscarried and she couldn't come in because she
49:43
miscarried. And later that night, I saw her out
49:47
at a – she never – to this day, she didn't see
49:50
me because I didn't call her out because I told
49:53
the person above me at the time. And she was
49:56
out of the bar drinking. Then I find out from
50:00
her boyfriend two weeks later, she was never
50:03
pregnant. Oh, Jesus. It was a whole story. It
50:06
was a whole thing. We have weird things like
50:09
that happen to us. Dude, if you just don't want
50:12
to go into work one day, just – say that yeah
50:14
why are you making up crazy stories a grandma
50:17
died and you're pregnant you know no it happens
50:20
to us like you get somebody to call and you're
50:22
like oh man like all right fine if you can't
50:24
come in like it's fine but we're busy and like
50:27
maybe there's like a special concert going on
50:29
that night and then you see on the instagram
50:31
you know that on somebody else's story and you
50:33
see them in the background jumping yeah doing
50:37
something you're like Or they put it up themselves
50:40
sometimes. Yeah, they do. Some people don't even
50:43
care. They're just like, oh, my boss isn't looking
50:46
on here. I think whoever does your social media
50:49
looks at my stuff and always like, I don't, my
50:53
personal page, I don't really put tremendous
50:56
thought into it. I'm just like, here's a picture
50:59
of a flower and whatever. And I'm like, people
51:03
are following me. That's cool. They're like,
51:05
oh, you're doing this and that. And I'm like,
51:08
Yeah, but it's just, I have fun with Flavor's
51:11
Instagram page because I like to feature the
51:15
food and I like to help the restaurants grow
51:17
and especially during September. Yeah. So actually
51:20
we'll wrap with that. So you guys are doing Flavor,
51:22
South Florida, Restaurant Month this September.
51:26
You have done it in the past few years and you
51:30
do quite well with it. We do amazing. It's been
51:32
great for us. Specifically, that you brought
51:36
a three -course menu back now a couple months
51:40
ago. We did. We brought it back a couple months
51:42
ago. We wanted to kind of give back to all the
51:45
people, all the locals, and give them more of
51:47
a reason to come out during the week. What was
51:50
the menu price? $45. $45 for three courses. Three
51:55
courses, yeah. It's a hell of a deal. You get
51:57
that bangin' Caesar salad. Yeah. Or you get my
52:00
whipped ricotta. Or the whipped ricotta, yeah.
52:02
Or my chicken. The chicken's on there as well,
52:04
yeah. And the desserts are also really good.
52:06
The steak, an amazing dessert there. Yeah, $45.
52:10
How are you going to get that? I'm excited to
52:12
see Campy and Lulu's menus this season. Oh, they're
52:14
going to be phenomenal. I can't wait. Yeah, we're
52:17
going to put some good effort into them. We're
52:18
going to sit down, right? Probably next. Week
52:21
or two. Yeah. No, but it's great, the flavor.
52:24
Like, we did thousands and thousands of dinners
52:27
last year. I think we were top couple, top three,
52:31
top four. And it absolutely drove business for
52:35
us. And it gave people a reason to come out.
52:36
And, like, not just come out for dinner, but
52:39
they get to come out and, you know, kind of come
52:41
out for an experience. Whereas, like, they're
52:44
just coming out and getting an entree and going
52:46
home. Like, they get to come out and experience
52:48
multiple different things. get a little bit more
52:51
of an elevated dinner as they come and get them
52:54
three courses. So something really fun we like
52:57
to do. It's a chance to show off what you have
52:59
as well. You know what I mean? Like people mightn't
53:01
come out, they mightn't have the three courses
53:03
or even have so many cocktails on the side or
53:06
whatever. Yeah. So it's good for them to get
53:09
a feel for everything that we have to offer in
53:11
our venues. Yeah. No, I mean, you know, the diners
53:15
love it. I think it's really awesome, especially
53:18
in September. It's so slow. And, you know, we
53:22
love working with you guys. I'm so fortunate
53:24
I get to eat all the good food. But I am coming
53:27
in next week for sure. Lovely. Because I have
53:31
to have this kiwi drink. There's so much for
53:32
me to like. I might have to do like a little
53:35
little bar crawl. Yeah, definitely. I'll start
53:38
at Lulu's, have a kiwi drink, go to Campy, have
53:41
the pasta and the lasagna. I'm a sucker for lasagna.
53:46
Yeah, we did revamp all the cocktails a couple
53:47
months ago. And then I'm going to have to go
53:49
to Avalon and have an espresso martini and a
53:52
Caesar salad. I'll call in and make sure to shake
53:55
it up proper for you. Yeah. You better tell them,
53:57
be like, 23 seconds, no less. That's it. We've
54:02
got a new young player there, Finbar. Finbar
54:05
Kelly, he can shake them up well. I'll make sure
54:09
he's on your drink, your espresso martini. Yay!
54:13
Well, we'll close out with that. Thank you guys
54:16
for coming. Thanks for shaking my martinis. Thank
54:19
you for having us. Yeah, and we will go visit
54:23
them in Delray Beach at all three locations if
54:27
you want to eat some great food. I highly recommend
54:30
doing that. Thanks, Gary. Thanks for joining
54:34
me on Forking Around with Flavor South Florida.
54:36
If you're in the industry, a business owner,
54:39
or just want a better understanding of what goes
54:40
into keeping restaurants alive and thriving,
54:42
make sure you subscribe and share this episode
54:45
with someone who should hear it. Flavor South
54:47
Florida takes place every September from the
54:49
1st through the 30th between Palm Beach County
54:51
and the Treasure Coast. You can find all the
54:54
amazing dining deals and participating restaurants
54:55
at flavorsouthflorida .com. Until next time,
54:59
keep supporting local and keep forking around.