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Frank Brusco: Inside the Restaurant Business with Gabriella’s Owner · 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
0:14
to 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 Altima
0:38
Caviar. Visit them at Altimacaviar .com. Today
0:44
we're joined by Frank Brusco, entrepreneur and
0:46
owner of eight restaurants throughout Florida
0:48
and New Jersey. Frank's journey to the restaurant
0:51
business is anything but traditional, driven
0:53
by a passion for hospitality, family, and creating
0:56
unforgettable dining experiences. Today we'll
0:59
dive into his entrepreneurial journey, and we
1:01
are so excited to welcome him to the show. Thank
1:04
you. Hey, Frank. How are you? Thanks for having
1:06
me. You're awesome, man. So happy you're here.
1:08
Appreciate it. You have a funny story. I just
1:11
have to open with the funny story. of how I started.
1:15
Yeah. It's a wild one. It is. It's a lot different
1:18
than norm. So I was in the commercial printing
1:20
space my whole life. I still actually do it a
1:23
little bit, but I was with my kids coaching a
1:27
soccer practice and they were hungry. So I went
1:30
to a local pizzeria just to grab some food. And
1:33
I actually ordered it before I got there. By
1:35
the time I got there, not that I expected my
1:36
food to be on the table, but 10, 15, 20 minutes
1:39
later, I'm like, where's my food? My kids are
1:41
going crazy. My daughter wanted pizza and my
1:43
son wanted a dish of pasta with no green stuff
1:46
in it. And I ordered a chicken dish. Long story
1:48
short, the owner came by, how's everything? I
1:50
said, horrible. I'm still waiting here for my
1:52
food. Came back 20 minutes later. We just started
1:56
talking work. I said, you know, how long is your
1:58
lease here? You know, how much business do you
2:00
do here? You know, how many square feet, you
2:02
know, is the space? Asking just questions about
2:05
the space itself. And then the following week
2:07
had the same miserable experience. And he looked
2:09
at me and said, what do you want to buy the place?
2:11
So I gave him an offer that apparently he couldn't,
2:13
you know, refuse. We shook hands and I never
2:15
saw him again. That's so crazy. That was my first
2:19
restaurant. And that was it. We opened up in
2:22
October of 2015. That one's Patricia's of Holmdel.
2:26
That was my first baby and still one of my favorites.
2:28
And since then we've expanded it. It was about
2:30
4 ,500 square feet. Now it's closer to 10 ,000
2:32
square feet. So you were like, you looked at
2:35
him, you're like, dude, I can do better. I can
2:37
do a better job than what you're doing here.
2:39
And I said, this is crazy. I was like, I got
2:41
to be able to do better than this. And I was
2:42
never in the restaurant business. Nobody in my
2:44
family, nobody. I didn't know anything about
2:46
the restaurant business. But can you cook? The
2:48
only thing I can make really well are reservations.
2:50
Same, same. No, I'm an okay cook. I appreciate
2:55
cooking, but not at the pace that my staff is
2:59
great. My kitchen guys and all the restaurants
3:00
are unbelievable. But you're Italian. Yes. So,
3:04
I mean, I feel like you should be able to cook.
3:06
I can make tomato sauce. I used to do it every
3:09
single summer. I can boil water. I can cook a
3:12
nice extra pasta, chicken cutlets. That's easy.
3:14
Okay. The intricate parts, yeah, it gets in there.
3:18
So you have a lot of inspiration from your dad
3:20
and your uncle. My mom for food and my uncle
3:25
and my dad, obviously, growing up in that entrepreneurship
3:28
or that leadership role that I feel like I take
3:31
place with all my employees. What was your favorite
3:34
thing your mom made when you were growing up?
3:36
Eggplant. Eggplant was phenomenal. Rollatini
3:39
or like? It was, rollatini was a little more
3:42
work for her. So I had two younger brothers and
3:44
we ate like animals. We had a backyard that was
3:46
no pool. There was no lawn chairs. It was strictly
3:49
vegetables. It was five rows of string beans,
3:52
two or three rows of tomatoes, eggplant, long
3:55
squash, everything. Everything was back there.
3:58
Peaches, figs. So we would get fresh vegetables
4:00
every day. And the big thing that she made was
4:02
vegetables. It was a plant. We loved it. And
4:03
zucchini blossoms. That was another one. We had
4:06
them all the time at the house. Zucchini blossoms.
4:10
This was in Jersey? This was on Staten Island.
4:13
Oh, you had a whole garden in Staten Island?
4:16
Yes. Wow. 100 % garden. You can garden there?
4:20
Yeah, of course. Of course. Wait, I'm not picturing
4:23
growing peaches in Staten Island, though. Oh,
4:25
it's crazy. What? Yep. So my parents were both
4:28
born in Italy, in Calabria, Italy. So Calabria
4:30
is 100%. So I'm first generation. I mean, I speak
4:33
it fluently, but I was born in Brooklyn. I grew
4:35
up on Staten Island, New York, and then moved
4:37
to beautiful New Jersey. And that's where I live
4:39
now. Okay. What area are you in Jersey? In Monmouth
4:42
County. Monmouth County. Yeah. And how many restaurants
4:44
do you have in Jersey now? So I have seven restaurants
4:46
in New Jersey and one right here in Delray Beach,
4:50
which I love. So I love it too. I love it too.
4:53
Gabriella's in Delray. It's a jam, man. It's
4:55
always a good time. We'll dive into that specific
4:58
property in a minute. So seven. Restaurants in
5:01
New Jersey. Yes. Where are they location -wise
5:04
and concept -wise? First one is Patricia's of
5:07
Holmdel. It's a straight -up Italian restaurant,
5:08
traditional. It's a BYOB because New Jersey is
5:11
a little difficult with liquor licenses. Oh,
5:13
yeah? You can't get one. It's very, very difficult.
5:15
There's only so many per town. So this town in
5:17
Holmdel only has four, and we're not fortunate
5:19
to get one of them. All the chain restaurants
5:21
have them. What? Yeah, it's really different.
5:24
It's really, really different. But - Wait, I'm
5:26
like mind blown. There's four in the whole town?
5:28
Four restaurants you can get liquor at in the
5:30
whole town? The whole town of Holmdel, New Jersey.
5:32
Yep. That's really weird. Houlihan's, Texas Roadhouse.
5:36
Oh, come on. That's it. Come on. Yeah, these
5:38
chain restaurants and they're not going out of
5:40
business. You let customers bring their own alcohol
5:42
in? Do they - Do they charge? Are you charging
5:45
a corkage fee? I can just bring in a bottle of
5:47
liquor and just pour it? Correct. That's it.
5:50
I'll supply the wine glasses. If they break,
5:52
I'll buy you new wine glasses. We'll recycle
5:54
all the bottles. It's crazy. It's really, really
5:56
different. Wow. But we made a real great name
5:59
for ourselves. The restaurant is amazing. You
6:02
have to actually... Do little things differently.
6:04
You can't have live music at a restaurant. This
6:06
is BYOB. No one will ever get up. They'll sit
6:08
there all night long pouring their own wine.
6:10
And the restaurants, you know, can't flip a table.
6:12
Right, yeah. So there's a lot of different characteristics
6:13
of having a BYOB versus a restaurant that has
6:16
a liquor license. So one block, one traffic light
6:18
away is another town called Middletown. Yeah.
6:21
Red Bank area. That's where I have Gabriella's
6:24
Steakhouse. Oh, Gabrielle's is a steakhouse?
6:27
My restaurant in Jersey. Yeah, it's Gabrielle's
6:29
Italian Steakhouse. Oh, wow. It's, you know,
6:31
I'm not going to toot my own horn. It's definitely
6:33
one of the best restaurants. Toot it, toot away.
6:34
Best restaurant in New Jersey. There's no question
6:36
about it. Food's phenomenal. That's been seven
6:38
years in the making. So that's working out really,
6:41
really well. That also has about 250 seats, also
6:43
10 ,000 square feet. Okay. Then from there, we
6:46
have a breakfast, brunch, lunch concept called
6:48
Over Easy Kitchen. That's open every day from
6:51
8 o 'clock to 3 o 'clock. Really bougie inside.
6:53
Also BYOB. So you can bring your own champagne
6:56
there. You can make your own Little Bloody Mary
6:58
mixes. But again, I can't serve alcohol. Not
7:01
even beer and wine. Nope. In Appatricia's, if
7:05
you have, I could get a Jersey wine license if
7:09
the grapes are grown in New Jersey, which is
7:12
really crazy. Huh. So, and again, and it's limited
7:15
of how much money you could charge for the bottle.
7:17
It's a convenience factor. You're not making
7:20
money on it. Not like you would be in a traditional
7:22
liquor license restaurant. Now, the restaurants
7:25
that do have a liquor license, they cost anywhere
7:27
from $700 to $1 .2 million just to buy a license.
7:30
And they have to do a tremendous, great big background
7:33
check on you to make sure that you're clean.
7:35
No DUIs, no arrests, all of that fun stuff. So
7:38
you need to make sure you're an upright citizen.
7:41
I'm so mind blown about this right now. Remind
7:44
me never to go drinking in Jersey. Listen, women
7:48
really control where they want to eat. So again,
7:50
if there's a liquor license there, yeah, that's
7:51
where you're going to end up going. The last
7:53
restaurant I just opened up right at the same
7:55
time as Gabrielle's Modern Italian in Delray
7:57
is Madison Modern Social. That one is in Old
8:00
Bridge, New Jersey, definitely off the beaten
8:02
path from where I currently have all my restaurants.
8:05
That restaurant is beautiful. It's a hotel -looking
8:08
concept. It's a gorgeous space, also shy of 10
8:10
,000 square feet. It's beautiful. It's state
8:13
-of -the -art. It's sushi, pasta, steak, and
8:15
fish. That one does have a liquor license, obviously.
8:18
And attached to it, we just recently opened up
8:21
a space called OLS. That stands for Our Little
8:24
Secret. It's an adult lounge. It may be membership.
8:27
We're not really sure how we want to really approach
8:29
it, but that's fairly new as well. It's a beautiful
8:32
build -out, which you see that one. That's great.
8:34
That's very cool. Yeah, so I got a lot on my
8:36
plate. So Old Bridge, that's a random. Yeah.
8:39
So I was... Was I born there? No, I wasn't born
8:42
there. I was born in New York. Raised? I was
8:45
raised. I wouldn't even say raised. I lived there
8:47
when I was like two to five years old. Okay.
8:50
But all my dad's side still lives there. That's
8:52
odd. Oh, gosh. I can almost think of the street
8:56
name right now, and I'll tell you in a minute.
8:57
Route 9, 516. Oh, yeah. Off of Route 9. Yeah.
9:01
And so I spent a lot of my young years. Going
9:05
to Jersey, going to Old Bridge, visiting my cousins,
9:08
my aunts and my uncles. But I don't remember
9:10
it being like a bustling town. I mean, I feel
9:13
like it was a little town, right? It's big now.
9:15
There's a lot of transplants from New York and,
9:17
you know, from New York actually moving into
9:19
Old Bridge. It's saturated. It's a busy town.
9:22
It's a really busy town. It really, really is.
9:24
A lot of people. Say hello to my cousins and
9:27
stuff. So Old Bridge also is where Jon Bon Jovi
9:32
grew up. He's my boyfriend. He doesn't know that,
9:35
but I have to just ask everyone that comes on
9:38
two very important questions. Yes. One, Bon Jovi
9:42
or Bruce Springsteen? Bon Jovi. Okay, good man.
9:45
Yankees or Mets? Yankees. You can stay. You're
9:48
here. Stay for a stay. Stay for three hours.
9:51
This is going to be the longest episode ever.
9:52
I love it. So those are my boys, Jon Bon Jovi
9:56
and the Yankees. Die hard. When the Yankees went
9:59
to the World Series two years ago. I flew up,
10:02
went to game four. It was the only game they
10:04
won. Wow. And I wound up somehow in the Audi
10:07
suite. I didn't have tickets for the suite. I
10:09
was like, I somehow made a phone call. I made
10:11
a friend of a friend was like, come on, let's
10:13
go into the suite. I'm like, okay. And they won.
10:16
Yeah, that was the only game they won. Lucky
10:18
Trump. I was. And a lot of my friends were like,
10:20
yo, you should stay. Go to game five because
10:22
now they might win. And I had on my Yankee lucky
10:26
socks that day. I kid you not. And they were
10:28
like, you have to go to game five. I'm like,
10:30
I can't. I had the best experience of my life.
10:32
I cannot top it. I have to go home. I went home
10:35
and they lost. Of course. Like what happened?
10:38
I mean, maybe a little. So Jon Bon Jovi is. I've
10:43
seen him 28 times in concert. Wow. Most recently
10:46
at Madison Square Garden, sixth row. Have you
10:49
ever met him? I have, actually. He's a really
10:51
good customer. His entire family come to Patricia's
10:53
of Holmdel, believe it or not. His parents lived
10:56
in the same town. His mom, unfortunately, just
10:58
recently passed away. Yes, she did. But yeah,
11:00
I'm very close with John, his brother, his whole
11:02
family, the kids, the nephews. I met them all.
11:05
They come to the restaurant often. They've actually
11:07
been to, his father's been to the restaurant
11:09
here in Florida as well. Oh, I love him. Yeah,
11:11
good people. Do you have his phone number? I
11:14
may. Can we call him? Call him right now. That's
11:18
great. So, okay. Patricia's, Gabriela's, Madison.
11:24
I'm sensing a pattern here. People think they're
11:27
all ex -girlfriends. No, I hope not. They all
11:31
have a story behind them. Tell me it's your grandmother.
11:34
Patricia's great -grandmother. Gabriela's was
11:37
a... girl who's working for me at Patricia's
11:39
that really inspired me to open up Gabriella.
11:41
So that's my partner out there in the restaurant
11:43
in New Jersey. And Madison is what Old Bridge
11:48
used to be known as before it became Old Bridge,
11:51
was called Madison, New Jersey. So that's the
11:53
story behind that one. But the real truth is,
11:55
people do think they're ex -girlfriends, children,
11:57
whatever it may be, but that's the real story.
12:00
That's pretty funny. You heard it first. I'm
12:01
happy they're not ex -girlfriends. Over easy,
12:04
I got over that one easy. So that's why she got
12:06
that name. Stop at that. It's almost like as
12:11
bad as like if you tattooed their names. Correct.
12:14
You know, because rebrand, because like how much
12:16
does a rebrand cost? A lot of money to rebrand.
12:19
You don't want to name your restaurant after
12:21
your girlfriend. No, never. Maybe not even after
12:24
your wife either. Never. What are the hardest
12:26
pieces of the restaurant industry? I think that
12:28
the people wouldn't even recognize or think about.
12:31
Making a customer happy is the goal. It's hard
12:34
to get these employees to all mesh with each
12:36
other. And I have at least 600 employees, I believe,
12:38
is the last time I found out. And 80 % of them,
12:42
90 % of them are 32 years old and under. So you
12:45
have a lot of personalities with a lot of these,
12:47
I don't want to call them kids. These are grown
12:48
adults. So to have them all blend together is
12:51
really a challenge. It's not that easy. Getting
12:54
a chef is not going to be that easy. Different
12:56
towns, different cities. The wealthier the area,
12:58
the more difficult. The kids don't want to work
13:00
in those areas. Having transportation is really,
13:03
really important. So there's a lot to it. That's
13:05
the difficult part. The hours are what they are.
13:07
Some of my restaurants that have no liquor, a
13:09
lot easier. The ones that do have liquor, having
13:12
that last call, watching that person who's drinking
13:14
and drinking and drinking that does not want
13:16
to leave, making sure they don't drive home.
13:18
It's all responsibility of a restaurant owner.
13:20
So it becomes pretty challenging. So Gabriela's
13:25
in Delray Beach. Yes. is phenomenal. And every
13:29
time I go, it's, it's packed. Like you got to
13:32
try to even, you got to name drop. Even when
13:34
I name drop you, it doesn't even, it doesn't
13:37
even work. Like I can't even get to, no, I can
13:39
get a table, but, but yeah, it's so busy there.
13:42
No matter what time of year you go, it's busy.
13:45
It's busy. And there's a reason so many restaurants
13:48
are struggling. I hear left and right, right
13:50
now. And what is the secret to success? What
13:54
are you doing to make that magic happen? Listen,
13:56
we have, you know, my policy is I don't want
13:58
to be a stuffy restaurant. Gabrielle's in Delray,
14:00
it's a place where a lot of pretty people are
14:02
coming. Guys, girls, there's a great vibe there.
14:05
We're very natural. We're very calm. We're very
14:08
inviting. Hospitality is my number one priority.
14:11
You know, the place is beautiful. The vibe is
14:13
great. The space is. Inside, outside, there's
14:16
different parts of the restaurant. Again, it's
14:18
not the biggest restaurant. It's still 165 seats
14:20
or so. It is a lot for a Delray restaurant in
14:23
South Florida because there are seasons here.
14:25
But, you know, we are rocking. I'm loving it.
14:27
I mean, I love every bit of it. People do come
14:29
in. People are making reservations. You know,
14:31
my phone does blow up. You know, people coming
14:33
off an airplane thinking they're just going to
14:34
jump on, you know, get a table in 10 minutes.
14:36
But it is difficult. And I appreciate anybody
14:38
who can make a reservation. We'll honor it. But
14:40
the walk -ins are a little tough sometimes. So
14:43
it's a good problem to have. Yeah, yeah. I mean,
14:45
you are in a great spot. And what year are you
14:48
in with that restaurant? We're a year and a half
14:50
into it. Is that all? That's all. See? Holy crap.
14:54
I feel like you've been there, I would have said,
14:55
at least two, maybe three years. Because it's
14:59
talked about. And it's a buzz. It's a buzz. It's
15:02
a place to be seen. And people are like, it's
15:06
cool. It's almost like Carbone in New York City.
15:08
There you go. Have you eaten at Carbone? Of course.
15:10
I have not. Yeah. How do I get in there? I don't
15:14
know. That's another story for another day. There's
15:16
a lot of great restaurants. Manhattan's beautiful.
15:17
There's a lot of great restaurants, even out
15:19
here. Well, so, you know, I've heard you call
15:23
Delray Beach the sixth borough of Manhattan.
15:25
Yes. What point were you, like, what was the
15:30
thought process in your brain to come open a
15:34
restaurant in Florida? Because you have all these
15:37
successful concepts in New Jersey. It was pretty
15:40
gutsy. I would like to say that a lot of my customers
15:43
throughout the year were saying, hey, Frankie,
15:45
we're leaving for a couple of months. We're going
15:47
to go head down to Florida. I'm like, where are
15:48
you going? Delray Beach. A couple hours later,
15:52
another couple would say the same thing. They
15:53
said, where are you going? Boca Raton, Highland
15:55
Beach, Boynton Beach, Jupiter, all coming down
15:59
here, really more so on the East Coast. There
16:00
was a couple of Naples here and there. But I
16:02
was like, this is pretty interesting. I always
16:04
remembered that. So growing up, I came down here
16:07
a few times. I drove here first time ever. I
16:09
came to Delray Beach. My uncle lived in Delray,
16:11
still does. And it was very desolate. Atlantic
16:13
Avenue was beat up looking. And to be honest
16:17
with you, even at this point now, you walk around,
16:19
you can't touch the real estate here. It's amazing.
16:21
It's unbelievable. It is very, very pricey, but
16:24
it is packed with a million plus customers year
16:28
in and year out. And the building hotels, which
16:30
shows that there's a lot of... You know, people
16:32
still coming to this town. I jumped on an airplane
16:34
this week, last week. Anytime I'm on, it's packed.
16:37
There's not a seat to be had. So that's a good
16:39
sign. What airline? I'm a United guy. Oh, all
16:43
right. You know, the hub in Newark is United.
16:45
So you really have a lot of clout that way. People
16:47
do love JetBlue, but I'm a United guy. So I'm
16:50
a Delta girl. Delta. The only problem. And I
16:53
usually go like PBI to LaGuardia. LaGuardia,
16:56
yeah. So you grew up in Long Island. Uh -huh.
16:58
Makes sense. But. It's funny because I sometimes
17:02
have to like stop in Atlanta. Delta does that.
17:06
Really? That's annoying. And I always laugh because
17:08
I'm like, well, I do want to take Delta and I
17:11
do want to use my points and I want to go in
17:13
the lounge. I want to do all the things, but
17:14
I'm like, but I have to stop in Atlanta, but
17:17
not to LaGuardia. It's direct. That's easy. And
17:20
if I fly out to Long Island, I usually have to
17:23
do like Southwest or JetBlue to Islip. Really?
17:27
Yeah. Would you ever open out? I feel like you
17:30
need a concept in the Hamptons. I'd rather go
17:32
to the Hamptons. I want to enjoy my life out
17:34
there. It's different. It's very, very seasonal
17:36
there. We all know that. And again, hard to get
17:38
that support, that help. You would have to really
17:40
transport a lot of people from your current restaurants
17:42
out there. There's not just an arsenal of people
17:45
waiting to get a job out in the Hamptons. A lot
17:47
of people do go party there. A lot of bucks up
17:49
there. A lot of fun. Where would you open your
17:52
next restaurant? I may be doing another one in
17:54
Delray. Really? Yeah, I may do something else.
17:57
Another concept here in Florida. But do I want
18:00
to do one in New York? Probably not. It's difficult.
18:05
Miami? I think there's a group out there that's
18:09
killing it in Miami. Let them do what they do
18:10
best. And, yeah, the build -outs there are very,
18:13
very expensive. And, again, that's seasonal.
18:16
But if you're good, you're good. If you're not,
18:19
it would be a waste of your money. Yeah, true.
18:22
Fort Lauderdale has a great little, you know,
18:24
happening spot. Everyone's telling me West Palm,
18:25
West Palm, West Palm. West Palm is blowing up.
18:29
It's good and bad. I think that the nightlife
18:30
is not as aggressive as Delray or that Boca area.
18:37
There's a lot more people going out. I think
18:39
there's a lot more money in Palm Beach. But I
18:41
think at nighttime, it shuts down a little bit
18:42
on the earlier side. There's a couple of clubs.
18:44
There's nightlife, but not day -to -day restaurants
18:47
like they are in Delray. I think there's 144
18:48
restaurants, someone told me, in Delray. In Delray?
18:51
In Delray, just on Atlantic Avenue, between bars
18:53
and restaurants. Really? It's crazy. That many?
18:56
Yeah. So try to find 144 great chefs and servers
18:59
and hostesses and managers. It's not easy. No,
19:04
that's true. Is that one of the bigger struggles
19:07
is finding good staff? Delray more than any other
19:10
places. But again, if these servers are making
19:13
money and bartenders are making money, they'll
19:15
come. We have valet parking right outside our
19:19
restaurant, which is really helpful for our customers.
19:21
No one really wants to park and drive and walk.
19:23
The weather's usually nice here, but valet helps
19:26
out. Having a parking garage under the building
19:27
helps out. Those are great characteristics of
19:30
opening up a restaurant. There's a lot of things
19:32
to look into. Location, location, location is
19:34
very, very true. Have you looked into the Treasure
19:37
Coast at all? I know a lot of restaurants for
19:39
West Palm are moving north to, giving you some
19:43
insider tips. Let me hear it. Palm City. They
19:46
haven't. No one's told me yet. I'm telling you.
19:49
Pompano. Pompano is a big one right now. No,
19:50
forget Pompano. Yeah. Moving, everybody's going
19:53
up north. You heard it here first. I want 1 %
19:56
if you open up in Palm City. That's right. Really,
19:59
Palm City. Mark my words. Interesting. Three
20:01
years. Very interesting. This is recorded, so
20:05
we'll refer back to this. You'll see. I promise
20:10
you 1 % if I open up. The people are moving up
20:13
there and they're starting to really appreciate
20:17
the restaurant scene more. So like, yeah, a lot
20:20
of West Palm and Jupiter are going north because
20:23
there's space there. It's a little more affordable
20:25
to do a build out up there. Like Lenora's. You
20:30
know Lenora's? Yeah, of course. So they have
20:32
multiple restaurants. They were here on the podcast
20:34
as well. And they just opened up in Palm City.
20:37
And they're crushing Palm City. I was in there.
20:41
I went to that location on a Wednesday night.
20:44
And I waited 20 minutes on a Wednesday night
20:46
in Palm City in the summer. That's beautiful.
20:50
Yeah. So I don't know for certain that it's outpacing
20:54
West Palm. Wouldn't shock me at one point. If
20:56
you're a great operator, it doesn't matter where
20:58
you go. People will follow. They're great people
21:00
as well. Yeah, people will follow. But yeah,
21:01
there's a lot. Listen, there's a lot to it. It's
21:03
not as easy as people think. Everyone, that's
21:05
so glamorous. Are you killing it? You're doing
21:06
great. There's a lot of work behind it. They're
21:08
always working. It's seven days a week. It's
21:10
morning to night. There's always something going
21:12
on for sure. No, it's definitely not glamorous.
21:15
And I think a lot of people have this indication
21:17
that it is. And I speak about this a lot, that
21:20
it's not glamorous. Like, I worked for 15, 20
21:23
years in restaurants myself. So, yeah, I started
21:28
as a hostess in New York on Long Island at a
21:31
steakhouse. And we did 600 dinners every Saturday
21:35
night. So you could appreciate what we go through.
21:37
It was a huge space. I wish I remembered how
21:38
many seats we had. But it was always busy. And
21:41
people were hangry. And, you know, it's a lot.
21:45
But it teaches you. Oh, yeah. You get thick skin.
21:47
There's not much for me nowadays that really
21:51
gets under my skin. Right. But I think a lot
21:54
of that was ingrained in me when I was younger
21:57
in the hospitality industry. Hostess, bartender.
21:59
I love my hostesses. My hostesses, I mean, they
22:00
have to deal with all of it. They're the first
22:02
face you see. They have to be pleasant. They're
22:04
the youngest. employees I have of the restaurant,
22:07
but they are really, truly just as important
22:09
as the dishwasher, you know, as the chef. Can
22:12
I vent for a second? I thank you so much for
22:14
saying that because I spent a lot of my years
22:15
as the head hostess in this restaurant. And so
22:18
it's like my, it's like this sticking point for
22:20
me. This episode is sponsored by Altima Caviar.
22:25
Experience exceptional. Visit them at Altima caviar
22:29
.com. When I walk into a restaurant, especially
22:32
a higher end one, and the hostess has her head
22:35
in the phone, or she's chewing gum, or she's
22:37
flat, I kind of want to lose my shit in that
22:40
moment. Because I'm like, but that's not her
22:43
fault. That's the management's fault at that
22:45
point. 100%. You want to go there, but go. Let's
22:47
go. Yeah. And I'm just looking, because I'm like,
22:49
are you maximizing seating? Are you answering?
22:51
Like, literally, they'll be like this. Like,
22:53
this is their phone, right? And I'm like, hi,
22:56
we're going to party for two. And she's looking.
22:59
She's like. Do you have a reservation? And I'm
23:02
like, I'm happy to see you too. That was so important.
23:07
It's the first reaction. It's your first reaction.
23:10
And she's also setting the pace and the tone
23:14
for the night. Correct. Because if you're going
23:16
to double seat your servers, like it's just going
23:19
to – Love an educated customer. I love that.
23:21
The dominoes are going to fall down, right? Because
23:24
now you're double seating. You're putting them
23:26
in the weeds. Now guess what? The kitchen's getting
23:29
clobbered. You got to pace. You got to pace and
23:31
strategically. Look, I want to be a hostess in
23:35
my retirement days. Any time you want to come
23:36
back. I love it. You work every day? Or you have
23:40
Saturday and Sundays? I work like eight days
23:42
a week. All right. But I'll make time to come
23:44
hostess at Gabriella's. Come and train. In season.
23:47
I'm not cheap, though. That's fine. Because I'm
23:49
going to maximize your seating. I'm going to
23:50
sit there with a smile. I got you. But it's like
23:53
a thing for me. I feel like every little... piece
23:57
of the puzzle is important in a restaurant right
24:00
as you just mentioned the dishwasher guess what
24:02
guess what happens if the dishwasher is not there
24:05
you got no dishes imagine right that's a problem
24:08
people don't realize that no and it's so important
24:11
to just treat every person in life with kindness
24:15
and the respect It's a very, very difficult.
24:19
Yeah, I love that. When a customer is rude to
24:21
a staff member, it's like, come on, put yourself
24:24
in their shoes. Put yourself in their shoes for
24:26
one day, a couple hours. It's tough. So you're
24:30
old school Italian like my boss was at the owner
24:33
in the steakhouse. And it was a Saturday night
24:36
and we're slammed. And this woman was so nasty
24:38
to me. And I looked, I was 16 years old. And
24:41
I looked at one of the other girls and I said,
24:44
go get Richie. And she was like, okay. Richie
24:47
comes up to the host and he looks at me because
24:48
I've got 100 people surrounding me. You can't
24:52
walk. They're just there, right? Standing there.
24:54
I was like, whoa. And Richie came up and he said,
24:57
what's the matter? I said, blue shirt. I'm like,
24:58
I can't with her. I just can't. I can't handle
25:01
her, please. He walked up to her. He said, are
25:03
you being mean to my girls? And she's like, our
25:06
reservation, we were supposed to sit 15 minutes
25:08
ago because she was just, but she was nasty.
25:11
And he looks at her and he goes. Get out. And
25:16
she said, you can't. What? Get out of my restaurant.
25:19
You can't kick me out of my restaurant. I have
25:21
this restaurant. And he goes, I own this place.
25:23
And you're being mean to my girl. Get out. Wow.
25:27
And he kicked her out because there was a four
25:29
-top waiting right behind her anyway. Correct.
25:31
And not that I'm saying that's the right way
25:32
to go about hospitality, but it was a good moment
25:34
for me. And again, I'll play crowd control. You
25:37
go up to those guests and say, listen, take it
25:39
easy. It's 15 minutes. Look around. There's always
25:42
a customer that's in a wheelchair off a bed.
25:45
And there's going to be some character. There's
25:48
going to be times when you have to. Make accommodations
25:50
for other people. Somebody doesn't want to get
25:51
up from the table yet. Someone's running late.
25:53
It happens. So as long as these guests are spoken
25:56
to as soon as they get in and they're treated
25:58
and greeted by a maitre d' or a manager or an
26:00
owner, I think it would be a lot better just
26:02
to walk in, not have that type of experience.
26:04
I want all my places. I want you to enjoy yourself
26:06
when you come in there. You're not just eating.
26:08
You're there for the night. You may be grabbing
26:09
a drink afterwards. I want you to have a great
26:11
experience because you could go to a million
26:13
restaurants, like I said, a hundred plus. Why
26:15
am I going to have you come to mine? So it's
26:19
important. I won't name the restaurant, but like
26:21
I was at a restaurant on Palm Beach Island and
26:24
they were busy and we had a 7 .30 reservation,
26:30
8 o 'clock. Like I'm giving them grace every
26:35
time. Right. So we got a drink. We spent money
26:37
at the bar, right? We probably spent $100 on
26:39
a round or two, whatever. So that was a couple
26:42
of bucks more in their pocket. That's fine. I
26:44
was like. after it was after eight and I was
26:46
like 805 and I'm like so I'm like hey just checking
26:49
on our reservation she was like well it's not
26:51
ready yet I'm like okay can you give me a gauge
26:53
so if I can figure out how many more drinks I'm
26:55
having here right she's like I'll just let you
26:58
know when it's ready you don't have to come back
26:59
up here terrible like literally just don't come
27:02
back up here and I'm like all right 8 .15, 8
27:06
.20, 8 .30 for a 7 .30 res. And I'm just like,
27:10
whoa. No attempt to buy us drinks. No attempt
27:14
from, no word from the manager. Nothing. Now
27:18
we didn't get to eat till 9 o 'clock. Like is
27:21
when, I think we placed our order at 8 .50. Wow.
27:23
So now we would have if we sat closer to time.
27:28
You'd be getting out at 9 .30. No, we would have
27:30
got a bottle of wine at the table. We would have
27:33
ordered apps. But at that point, I'm like, now
27:36
I wasn't pissed and I'm annoyed. And I just looked
27:39
at the server. He's like, oh, can I start you
27:41
with any apps or bottle of wine? So now you're
27:44
talking about another $200 really at least in
27:48
that particular restaurant. And I looked at him.
27:51
I said, now it's 9 o 'clock and I just want to
27:53
eat my dinner. So we skipped. They lost money
27:56
is my point. You know what I mean? It wasn't.
27:59
Done properly. And I emailed the general manager
28:02
and I didn't Yelp review. I'm not one of those
28:03
people. And I emailed them the next day and I
28:04
said, hey, I'm just giving you a heads up of
28:06
what went down and how it went down and that
28:09
you lost money. You know? If you overbook that
28:12
way, listen, Jeff, they just run that restaurant
28:13
the right way. Again, it's just how a manager
28:16
and owner wants to run the place. We don't double
28:17
book. You can't do it. You're going to have an
28:19
experience like you're just saying. And now you're
28:21
just going to order entrees. No appetizers. Forget
28:24
the money. Forget the money. Now it's a fire
28:26
ticket. Now I'm just hungry. Now it's going to
28:27
take an extra 40 minutes for you to get that
28:29
meal. Yep. So. And now, and then, you know, I
28:32
think maybe we split a dessert, but it could
28:34
have gone a little, it could have gone a lot
28:36
differently. Right. And now I'm like, kind of
28:38
like. People are like, oh, do you want to go
28:40
here for dinner? I'm like, not really. It's one
28:42
strike and you're out. Sometimes you get that
28:44
second strike. I really try not to be like that.
28:46
I know. A lot of people try not to be. But if
28:47
you don't get spoken to, if no one called you
28:49
back, did anybody respond back to your email?
28:51
He did. He did. He did. So you may go back. I
28:54
may go back, but I'm not in a rush. Correct.
28:56
And I politely said, thank you. I said, thank
28:59
you for your reply. I will revisit once. maybe
29:06
once you've got kinks worked out a little better.
29:08
Get your shit together. Because they're fairly
29:10
new. So I was, like I said, trying to give them
29:13
grace, but I'm also not looking for anything
29:15
for free. So it's like, I'm not, I don't want
29:17
that to go about that way either. I was really
29:19
just trying to be constructive for them. Gotcha.
29:22
That was nice of you. You tried. I try, I try.
29:25
What do you find is the biggest difference in
29:27
New York restaurant ownership versus Florida
29:31
restaurant ownership? I'm pretty fortunate that
29:34
the people that come down to my restaurant here
29:35
are a lot of New Yorkers. There's definitely
29:38
a lot of transplants from New York down here.
29:40
And because we have a great name up in New Jersey,
29:42
it ties into what we have going on here in Florida.
29:45
But the entitlement is probably... probably a
29:50
little, I can't even say, is it more here or
29:52
less here? It's, you know, in New York, there's
29:54
a lot of it. It's a bigger restaurant where people
29:56
will come in without a reservation saying, hey,
29:58
what about that table over there? What about
29:59
that table over there? Until they get that respect
30:02
that the restaurants are busy and people do make
30:03
reservations. But when they come in Florida and
30:06
they see empty tables, there's a reason why.
30:08
There's a flow chart. There's a pattern to it.
30:10
There's a reason why there's an empty table for
30:12
even five minutes. Every minute makes a difference.
30:14
When you call up, the first thing people say
30:16
is, hi, I'd like to make a reservation. Two people,
30:18
four people, what time? 7 o 'clock. That's everybody's
30:21
first time they've mentioned it in their mouth.
30:23
With that being said, you can't get a flip before
30:26
or even after, usually, unless you have a hot
30:28
restaurant at 9 o 'clock, 9 .30, so you're getting
30:30
reservations. But the normal restaurant, the
30:33
everyday restaurant, is not getting that turn.
30:35
So 7 o 'clock, as a tip to everybody, don't ever
30:37
take it. Make it 6 .30, make it 7 .30. You'll
30:40
get an extra turn every single night. I would
30:44
say entitlement's probably the biggest thing.
30:45
People do come in thinking they could just sit
30:47
anywhere they want, whenever they want without
30:48
a reservation because they know the owner or
30:50
they know somebody or they know the bartender
30:52
or they know a hostess. We really run it the
30:54
right way and you have to. I don't want an angry
30:56
customer like yourself or golf a bit of Cameron
30:59
shows up and drives us crazy. So we don't want
31:01
that. I literally, I eat out about every night
31:07
of the week. There you go. And if I have one
31:09
complaint out of a hundred, I think it's not
31:13
so bad, right? Good. When are you coming in?
31:17
Actually, I am coming in soon. I'm coming in
31:20
there next week, I think. Okay. I mean for another
31:24
week or so, if not more. I'm going to look at
31:25
my calendar. But I do have it in there. Good.
31:29
The Delray popped in there somewhere in my mess
31:32
of a calendar. I can imagine. Yeah, I mean, those
31:36
Yelp reviews, though, are you talking about the
31:38
Karens? Like, do you, did you get, what's like
31:40
the, do you have a crazy Yelp? We get, we get,
31:42
we get everything. It's, they're relentless.
31:46
People are getting mad about some restaurants
31:49
are adding on a 3 % service fee, a chart, whatever
31:52
you want to call it, for the credit card. Or
31:56
gratuity is like becoming a thing that people
31:59
are more likely to be adding on nowadays. I'm
32:02
seeing more. I'm fine with it personally. Like
32:05
it says like cash discount if you pay this, if
32:09
you pay credit card, it's this. Nobody's carrying
32:11
cash, whatever. So I'm paying with my card and
32:13
that's that. And then people are getting mad
32:15
about this gratuity thing. And I'm like, I don't
32:18
see the problem. I'll give you my take on it.
32:20
Now you're doing the math for me. Thank you.
32:23
Gratuity of a party of eight or more, I'm okay
32:26
with. A lot of people like to. Hey, can we split
32:28
it three ways, four ways, five ways sometimes,
32:30
which it gets a little annoying for a server.
32:32
And then they mess up the tip. So doing a party
32:34
of that big and adding the gratuity, I'm okay
32:36
with. The 3 % credit card processing fee, I know
32:40
it gets tricky, but I'm not going to lie to you.
32:42
You go to the bank with cash to go deposit. They
32:45
want to charge you 3%. Don't get all 3 % when
32:50
you use a credit card. So if you charge $100,
32:52
we get $97. That's what we're getting. So that
32:55
fee is just a pass along. If you have cash, hey,
32:57
it'll be a savings. If not, it affects the customers.
33:00
It affects the server. It affects the restaurant
33:02
owner. So it's like getting gas for all our life.
33:06
If you pay cash, it's a different price than
33:08
if you pay credit card. So I hate to hear it.
33:10
I hate doing it. I feel terrible doing it. But
33:13
I get affected when I go out to a restaurant
33:14
as well. So I know the rules. It's just the way
33:17
the world works right now. And they're going
33:18
to change it. So you have that black Amex card,
33:21
you may be paying five plus percent. Where if
33:23
you have a Chase or Discover card, you may be
33:26
paying a lot less. But if you have a debit card,
33:28
there's no fee. Right. Okay. Okay. Really? There's
33:33
no fee on the debit card? Huh. Yeah. And that's
33:37
the thing. I think a lot of people don't notice
33:38
with restaurants are these little itty bitty
33:40
fees that add up. And even like, I can't imagine
33:43
what your insurance is in a restaurant. It's
33:46
got to be so high. Just like the license in New
33:49
Jersey is a million dollars. So think about that.
33:51
Do you pay when you get your hair done? Do you
33:54
pay a fee? Yeah. See? Looks like you just got
33:56
it done. Looks great. I pay 6%, not 3%. I don't
34:02
even, I mean, I don't know. Maybe I'm not the
34:04
norm. I can't pay attention to that stuff. And
34:06
I got to always go back to. The business can
34:10
charge whatever they want. It's their business.
34:13
I don't know why restaurants often get so scrutinized.
34:16
Like if you're paying an attorney and they're
34:21
charging that percent, nobody's going to say
34:23
a word about it. If you're paying a restaurant
34:25
and you're getting charged that same percent.
34:28
People are getting mad. I mean, you get a doctor
34:30
bill. There's an admin fee on it. There's a processing
34:33
fee. There's all these fees all over the place.
34:35
But restaurants are always in a spot. Do you
34:37
know how many fees you paid for Jon Bon Jovi's
34:38
tickets? Forget it. Oh, freaking forget it. Ticketmaster
34:41
took like half the freaking price. Times 28?
34:44
Yeah, exactly. 28 times. I've given Ticketmaster
34:49
a lot of money. I also got money back when they
34:52
had a class action a couple years ago. That's
34:54
how much money I've given Ticketmaster over the
34:56
years. But yeah, that's a great example. I mean,
35:02
you don't necessarily like it, but this is their
35:05
business. You're in their house. They can do
35:09
whatever they want. I know. Period. We try not
35:12
to take advantage of it, but it's the truth.
35:13
It's crazy. It really is. It's expensive. It
35:16
really does. I know. It adds up. Am I correct
35:20
to say I feel like restaurants are mostly running
35:23
on a 20 % or so profit margin? I feel lucky.
35:27
Yeah. If you're really good. So the reality is
35:30
probably, what, a 10 % profit margin? For a lot
35:32
of places, yeah. Especially, it depends what
35:34
the rent is. And here in Delray, whew. Yeah.
35:37
It's triple New Jersey. Really? Really, really
35:40
is. Wow. But again, when you're in season, every
35:43
day is a Saturday night here. So that's what
35:45
I love about the Delray location. But yeah, it's
35:49
definitely not as easy as people think, I'm telling
35:51
you. I have my breakfast place, eggs were $10
35:54
a dozen. We do 30 ,000 eggs a week. We were getting
35:57
killed. Right now, it's back down to $1 .50 a
36:01
dozen. So think about that influx. Steak prices
36:03
right now are through the roof, the highest ever
36:05
in our lifetime. And you still have to cope with
36:08
it. Skirt steak, growing up, we would eat that
36:11
as if it was the easiest thing in the world.
36:13
Now, you can't get it for $30 a pound just to
36:16
get skirt steak. It used to be $5 a pound. Wow.
36:19
A scallop, one scallop, a U10, $4 .97 for me
36:24
to buy it. So there's some items that we'll always
36:27
look at. That's the beauty of the challenge.
36:29
So figure five bucks a scallop, right? And let's
36:33
call it four scallops in a dish. So now we're
36:36
at 20 bucks cost for you. So how much are you
36:40
putting that dish on your menu? In the perfect
36:42
world, you want to be at 25 % food cost. You
36:44
want to be at 30 % food cost. You can't be at
36:46
a 50 % food cost. So you're talking 60 bucks
36:49
minimum. 58, 52, 62, and hope they buy a glass
36:54
of wine to offset it. The restaurants that have
36:57
a BYOB, you just don't even put it on the menu
37:00
because you really, it's a loss leader. And I'd
37:03
rather not have any loss leaders on my menu if
37:05
I don't need to. Right, right. So you'll be really
37:07
strategic how you do that. So you're always watching
37:09
those menu. You're updating your pricing all
37:11
the time. Sometimes you go down, sometimes you
37:13
go up. but you want to make it great to where
37:14
the customer does come, not come in and say,
37:16
Oh my God, your prices are through the roof.
37:18
We really, really try to be where we're supposed
37:21
to be. But my brain goes, okay, so if the scallop
37:24
dish is now at that price, but now you also have
37:28
to take into consideration your labor because
37:31
now you still have to pay the. the chef to cook
37:34
said scallop, right? So that really also has
37:37
to get calculated, I think, into the cost of
37:39
that dish. Correct. So you put your fixed cost,
37:42
which is your electric, your rent, your phones,
37:45
everything, your music. There's the, hey, the
37:49
3%. Look at that. Look what happened. 3 % plays
37:51
a big role in that as well. Broken glassware,
37:54
missing forks, who's stealing this, the bathroom
37:57
attendant. Oh, fun question. Forget it. It gets
38:00
crazy. Fun question. Craziest thing somebody
38:02
stole from your restaurant. The air freshener
38:05
in the bathrooms. A big air freshener. The whole
38:09
thing. The women's bathroom, of course. They
38:10
threw it in their pocketbook. And a really random
38:13
one. And listen, I'd love to get some feedback
38:15
on this one. Toilet bowl seats are missing. What?
38:19
We've had this happen. That's gross. Tell me
38:21
about it. In the woman's room. And we don't even
38:24
have a ceiling for it to drop. It happened three
38:27
weekends in a row. It was like the craziest thing
38:29
going on. It was in the garbage pail. It just
38:31
happened in Delray the other day. Wait, stop
38:33
right now. I'm not sure what the hell is going
38:34
on. People just steal the bottom level. Yeah,
38:38
the seat that you sit on. Crazy. That's disgusting,
38:41
first of all. Second, are they bringing screwdrivers
38:45
with them? I have no idea. Is this a planned
38:47
attack? What is this? Glassware will walk out
38:50
of here. We have the name Gabriella's on our...
38:53
Glasses, you know, Madison. People will ask.
38:56
But knives, they'll take. Anything they get their
38:59
hands on. There's some cereal thieves out there.
39:01
I'm dead. I've only stolen a glass once from
39:05
a restaurant my whole life. Okay. Just ask. I'll
39:08
give it to you. Just ask. Not your glass. No.
39:10
I stole a glass from the River House in Palm
39:12
Beach Gardens because they were closing. It's
39:15
a whole story. Okay. They were closing. They've
39:18
since reopened and kind of rebranded, but I was
39:20
the OG River House. And my grandfather used to
39:24
take me there all the time when I was young.
39:26
And he has since passed away. And then the restaurant's
39:29
closing. So I stole a glass from them. But I
39:32
had a real reason for it. B -Y -O -G. Next time
39:35
you go, bring your own glass. So yeah, I definitely
39:38
did that. But normally I don't, I won't steal
39:40
things. But like, I have friends that will literally,
39:44
they're these people. They steal. Like the spoon,
39:47
like the cappuccino spoon. I'm not saying specifically
39:50
from your restaurant. Like, oh, this is a cute
39:51
spoon. And now, my friends, we can buy our own
39:54
freaking spoon. It doesn't matter. There's a
39:56
funny story. And the guy who did this knows who
39:59
he is. But every Christmas, he would come to
40:02
me with a bag. And inside of it is... someone
40:07
else or a lot of other restaurants, their salt
40:08
shakers, their glasses. Yeah, salt shakers, a
40:11
big thing. They'll take everything. They'll hand
40:12
it to me. I'm like, you're an idiot. Don't do
40:13
that. And I'd have to go around and give it back
40:15
to all the restaurateurs that are out there.
40:17
It's like someone stole your salt shakers, your
40:19
glasses. I would see the names on the actual
40:21
pieces itself. It's crazy. People are nuts. But
40:24
they get off on that. So actually, you're making
40:27
me think now, but I'm not actually stealing the
40:29
items because I'm letting the owners know. I'm
40:30
texting them. I've stole a little dropper thing
40:33
from the Butcher's Club in Palm Beach Gardens.
40:35
It held like the vinaigrette or something on
40:38
the side. And I sent a picture of it to the chef
40:40
and the owner. I was like, hey, P .S., I just
40:42
stole this from you. So I told them. Someone
40:44
just recently stole the, or tried to, the lamp
40:47
on the front that turns the, just your night
40:49
lamp, your table lamp. That's a hard thing to
40:52
steal. It was. It's big. They were really strategic.
40:55
That's $12 on Amazon. Well, not yours, but you
40:58
can buy a $12 version on Amazon. If you don't
40:59
have the charger for it, it's a waste. to see
41:01
them look in both ways. We have them on cameras.
41:03
It's crazy. That was fun. That was an interesting
41:06
one. That is so funny. A lot of crazy stuff goes
41:10
on in a restaurant. Tell me. No, I can't tell.
41:13
It's rated R. That's okay. You can tell. We can't
41:18
do triple X. We can teeter on rated R, but we
41:20
can't do triple X. My child watches these podcasts.
41:24
So we can't go too crazy here. I can't get into
41:27
it. It's terrible. I had a guy once steal the
41:30
knives, like right in front of me. He put them
41:32
in his coat. This is up in New York. And he looks
41:34
at him because he was getting to go food. So
41:38
he just spent $300 on takeout steaks, you know.
41:41
And so he says, I said, sorry, you can't take
41:45
the knife. I think he tried to take the fork,
41:48
though. And he looks at me and goes, I didn't
41:50
take anything. I said, yeah, you did. I just
41:52
watched you take it. And he's like, I didn't.
41:55
And he's holding it. It's about to fall out of
41:57
his jacket. It was hilarious. And I'm like, sir,
41:59
please, like, stop being weird. Like, put the
42:02
fork back with the knife back. Just bring it
42:03
back tomorrow, please. Well, I need silverware.
42:06
I said, yeah, it's in the bag. It's plasticware,
42:08
you know? Correct. And he got so mad. He takes
42:11
it out of his jacket. He slams it down. He says,
42:13
fine. And he walked out. He was so mad at me.
42:16
I'm like, you can't steal the things, bro. Entitlement.
42:19
I told you, entitlement. So crazy. I couldn't.
42:22
I couldn't. All right. Well, if you're not going
42:25
to tell me the rated R stories, we'll just play
42:27
a little game. Okay. Okay. So you just answer
42:30
these real fast. And, ooh, first one's kind of
42:35
a hard one, I think. And we'll just go from there.
42:38
Okay. What is one restaurant you'll always recommend
42:42
that's not yours? What type of cuisine or which
42:47
restaurant? One restaurant. What's your favorite
42:49
restaurant? Wow. Let's skip it. I'll answer that
42:53
one. I'll answer that one. Wine or bourbon? Wine.
42:59
One menu item at Gabriella's that every first
43:02
-time guest must order? Garganelli here in Florida.
43:07
What is Garganelli? Garganelli is the best pasta
43:10
dish we have on the menu. I haven't had it. What?
43:13
What is it? Tell me more. It's Garganelli pasta,
43:17
so it's a special shape to it. There's peas,
43:19
pancetta, and truffle. It is. Oh, I definitely
43:23
ate that. That's like right up my alley. Oh,
43:25
it's delicious. I just didn't know the name was
43:26
Garganelli. I did eat that. That's a must have
43:28
at Gabrielle's Modern Italian. Yes. I was like,
43:31
you just named three of my favorite things. So
43:33
yeah, I absolutely ordered that. In New Jersey,
43:34
Gabrielle's New Jersey is a spicy rake. Oh. You
43:37
mentioned the restaurant earlier. We crush it.
43:41
I like that. I love that. Pursuit, love truffle.
43:45
What is more important in a restaurant? Incredible
43:48
food or unforgettable service? I'm going to go
43:54
with unforgettable service. I think I'm with
43:58
you on that. What's one business book or person
44:02
that has influenced you in life or changed the
44:05
way you think? I would have to say my uncle.
44:09
We all have an Uncle Tony. My Uncle Tony on a
44:12
business level, 100%. On so many different levels,
44:15
yeah. and he's the uncle that lives in Delray.
44:18
So again, props for letting me open up out here,
44:20
or at least thinking about opening up out here.
44:22
Still alive, still great. We still talk all the
44:24
time. You must be your biggest fan. Yes, he really
44:27
is. What's your biggest pet peeve in a restaurant
44:31
as a diner? Bright lights, no music. Bothers
44:39
me. Get your shit together. Yeah, I'm on board
44:44
with that. It plays a big role. It really does.
44:46
That whole vibe makes a big difference when you
44:47
go into a restaurant, for sure. The lighting,
44:50
man. Yeah. Just dim them. Just dim them. Just
44:53
dim them down. I'm with you. Actually, funny
44:57
story. I was kind of, I don't want to say bar
45:01
hopping. I was restaurant hopping last weekend
45:04
in the first restaurant. It was very bright.
45:07
And we actually left because we had my, you know,
45:10
I had a drink or two there. And we're like, all
45:13
right, where's the next stop? And I literally
45:15
looked at my friends. I go, somewhere darker.
45:17
I just, yeah, I actually said that. And that's
45:21
when we went to the next restaurant was darker,
45:23
moodier. I'm like, I can't right now with this.
45:25
This is too much for me. That's funny. That's
45:29
very funny. If you weren't in hospitality, what
45:32
would you be doing? I mean, like I said earlier,
45:36
I was in the commercial printing space and I
45:38
did love it. But at the end of the day, as long
45:40
as it's something to do with selling and being
45:41
around people, I love it, whatever it may be.
45:44
I'll sell forks, knives, printing, food, and
45:47
experience. But I do love that. We have to come
45:51
up with a stolen goods line and top stolen items
45:57
from restaurants and create a line for it. And
46:00
then we'd sell them. Sell them. You don't have
46:02
to steal them anymore. Here you go. That's crazy.
46:05
Salt and pepper shakers to your heart's content.
46:08
Forks and knives. Forks and knives. Try to think
46:11
what else gets stolen. I'm still like on that
46:13
because I think it's hilarious. No forking around,
46:15
right? I mean, I need a fork. I need a forking
46:20
around fork. Yeah. Like to look like this, like
46:23
a little. Go for it. Oh, you know what I'm doing
46:25
this year? So we're doing the best of flavor
46:30
competition. You'll hear about it soon. So people
46:36
will have to vote. This season, their best flavor
46:40
menu and their flavor dines and deals. And the
46:42
winner is going to get a trophy shaped like this
46:46
guy right here. Here it is. I love it. The fork
46:48
with the palm tree. I'll clear a little spot
46:52
for my trophy. Gabriella's got to come in hard
46:54
for that one. What's the best compliment you've
46:58
ever received from a guest? We do get them often,
47:05
and I think it's the same one every time. When
47:07
someone literally leaves with a smile on their
47:09
face and said, hey, the food was great and I
47:13
had a great experience. There was nothing wrong
47:14
with this place at all. I love it. You're crushing
47:15
it. And I see them back a couple days later or
47:19
a week later. It's the best. It really is. It's
47:21
what you strive for as a hospitality or a restaurateur,
47:23
and I love that feeling. That's a good one. Yeah,
47:28
it really is. Well, can I say one other thing?
47:30
Yeah. That bus boy, he was great. I love that.
47:34
A kid who's making the least amount, just working
47:37
on tips. And he goes that extra mile and someone
47:39
really recognizes it. That's a great feeling.
47:42
I always tip the bus boys. Like when they're
47:44
good, when they're exceptional and go out of
47:46
the way. All right. Just two more questions.
47:48
Ready? Go for it. Okay. I'm ready. Finish this
47:51
sentence. Success isn't measured by money. It's
47:54
measured by? Happiness. You're scoring. You're
48:00
10 out of 10 on this. I love this. These answers
48:03
are the best ones. And then my favorite and final
48:08
question. What would you say to your younger
48:15
self today? This is an easy one for me because
48:21
I have a lot of young employees and they do look
48:23
up to me and I love being a role model or a mentor
48:26
to them. If they have it in them, and you could
48:29
read someone. When you're on this side, you could
48:33
look at someone and say, hey, these kids have
48:34
it or they don't have it. But if they do, I love
48:37
pushing them, saying, guys, you got this. You
48:39
can do it. Smile. I know there's a party every
48:42
day somewhere. You can't be at every party every
48:44
day. But put your head down, work, because mommy
48:47
and daddy aren't going to give you the money.
48:48
You want that nice car? Work. You can make as
48:51
much money as you want in the restaurant business.
48:53
If you only work three days a week, that's all
48:55
you're going to make. But you can make money
48:56
every single day in this restaurant business
48:57
as a server, bus server, any employee. So if
49:02
you have it in you, I look at them and say, guys,
49:04
go for it, whatever the business may be, even
49:06
if it's not the restaurant business. And I'll
49:08
tell them, this isn't for you. I love that. And
49:11
I'm sure that you're younger. You would be so
49:13
proud of you today. I'd love to start all over.
49:16
Imagine a little time machine action. Well, we
49:20
can close this episode with your favorite restaurant
49:22
or we can just table it for a part two. Maybe
49:26
you have to leave the people guessing. I'll tell
49:32
you. So if I'm not eating Italian steak or the
49:36
modern food that I have at Madison, I just love
49:38
an Asian flair. Asian fusion is like my next
49:42
thing in my head. And I think the best restaurant
49:43
that I love going to is it's in Miami. There's
49:46
one in Vegas. It's called Komodo. I'm not sure
49:48
if you've ever been. It's phenomenal. For me,
49:50
that's a great experience from the minute you're
49:52
walking through the door until the minute you
49:53
walk out. The nightlife, the food, the vibe,
49:55
the look and feel. These guys got that down to
49:59
a science. That's a bold statement. Yeah. Hope
50:02
you guys, I don't find those guys. Remember me.
50:06
Well, thank you so much for coming on. And I
50:08
encourage everyone to check out one of Frank's
50:10
eight locations between New Jersey and Florida.
50:14
And really, the food is fantastic. And I have
50:18
to check out the Old Bridge one. That's next
50:19
on my list. Next when you come into Jersey. But
50:21
thank you. I really appreciate it. Thanks for
50:22
your time. Cheers. Cheers to us. Thank you again.
50:25
Cheers to you. Thanks for joining me on Forking
50:30
Around with Flavor South Florida. If you're in
50:32
the industry, a business owner, or just want
50:34
a better understanding of what goes into keeping
50:36
restaurants alive and thriving, make sure you
50:39
subscribe and share this episode with someone
50:41
who should hear it. Flavor South Florida takes
50:43
place every September from the 1st through the
50:45
30th between Palm Beach County and the Treasure
50:47
Coast. You can find all the amazing dining deals
50:50
and participating restaurants at flavorsouthflorida
50:52
.com. Until next time, keep supporting local
50:55
and keep forking around.