Restaurant Startup Recap: A Star is Born

 

restaurant startupRestaurant Startup is better than Shark Tank, because you actually get to see whether the business can work; we love the follow through. Last night’s episode was a departure from last week’s. Think the opposite of Room 55, the Queens neighborhood joint with a lot of heart and killer food. The first couple we met were Chris and Erica Rains, a husband and wife team from Tennesee, who own The Chef and I, a Nashville interactive experience restaurant where the chef cooks at your table. The place had been open seven years, and they were looking to scale it up. Investors Tim Love and Joe Bastianich loved their duck and waffles dish, but were concerned about how expensive it is. The nature of the restaurant required a ton of space and chefs. They were also concerned by the fact that people probably don’t want to go to a restaurant like The Chef and I all the time. It’s not how people generally eat at restaurants, and asking people to change their behavior is always a tricky business model.

The ask: $500,000 for 20% stake in The Chef and I.

restaurant startup subdus

Next, we meet Frank & Lillian Brunacci, another husband and wife team from Florida. Frank is a Michelin starred chef with a passion for truffles, so much so that he left restaurants to start selling them. He’s looking to get back to cooking with a fine dining tasting menu only truffle themed restaurant called Subdus. Their food is excellent too, but Tim & Joe are concerned that the place would be stuffy. And, Chicago real estate is expensive. To top it off, tasting menus get boring; they should add something to a restaurant, but not he the only offering. They suggest that they do a dining room with the Brunacci’s original concept, but attach a cool no reservations bar with an a la carte menu.

The ask: $750,000 for 75% stake. Once the investor makes $1.5million, he will have 25% control.

The Investors Choose: Subdus

With $7,500 and 36 hours, Frank and Lillian get to work. They want the dining room to be incredibly romantic and pick out furniture and other decor. Unfortunately, the price tag for everything they want is upwards of $12,000, so they need a plan b, which is good, because Frank has a Roladex of people happy to do him favors, which he’s mentioned several times. They go to Mélisse, where chef-owner Josiah Citrin gives them permission to, as he puts it ” scavenger the restaurant.” All I could think about was how he was going to open that day without all of his furniture and flatware?! He’s a good friend.

Antonia Lofaso comes to taste the menu and is impressed with the food for the dining room, calling it “beautiful,” which seems to be her mantra- it’s exactly what she said about Room 55’s food. She says that, while the food for the bar menu is delicious as well, it’s way too fussy. Chicken liver paté with truffle sticks is dated, and it isn’t exactly fun. Frank is extremely reluctant to change the menu, because he’s not interested in the bar menu, and because it’s “not him,” which seems like an effective strategy when you’re trying to get someone to give you almost $1million. Eventually, because it’s a TV show, he changes the menu, adding truffle burgers, truffle fries, and truffle shrimp tempura.

Service goes relatively well, save for Tim having to run an order to the bar. 100% of diners liked the food. And, the revenue for the day was $6,300 which is the highest they’ve ever had on the show. 15% of diners thought the restaurant was stuffy, and unfortunately for Frank and Linda, one of those people is Tim. Joe is disappointed in Frank’s seemingly blasé attitude toward the bar and Frank admits he didn’t put effort into it. Another great move by Frank, flagrantly flying in the face of what a potential investor asks him to do. Joe decides not to invest, because the restaurant is too “elitist.”

Tim’s Offer:

$750,000 for 100% initial equity. When he makes back $1.5million, plus 6%, they will switch to a 65%/35% split, with Tim’s stake being the 35%

Offer Accepted.

restaurant startup

Currently: They are still importing and selling truffles while looking for a space in Chicago.

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