Valuetainment - Episode 175： What it Costs to Run a Restaurant by Celebrity Chef Curtis Stone

00:00:00.000 30 seconds, one time for the underdog, ignition sequence start, let me see you put em up, reach

00:00:09.240 the sky, touch the stars up above, cause it's one time for the underdog, one time for the

00:00:16.220 underdog.

00:00:17.200 Look, I don't know about you, but I love food.

00:00:19.200 I love me some real good food, and today I had a chance to sit down with celebrity chef

00:00:23.880 Curtis Stone, who's had his many, many different reality TV shows, even one time he was with

00:00:28.440 Donald Trump on The Apprentice, and we got a little technical today about the restaurant

00:00:32.520 side, I asked him, I said, is there any madness behind chefs, is that true, is it just a myth,

00:00:37.440 what does it cost to run a business like yours, cause he's got multiple restaurants in Beverly

00:00:41.680 Hills, LA, super, super successful, so he breaks down the business side, as well as some stories

00:00:46.520 about chefs that may not shock you, or, but will entertain you.

00:00:50.740 Curtis Stone brother, thank you for making the time to get together with us, aka the quiet

00:00:56.920 Terminator, is what you're known for, right?

00:00:59.900 So, I'm always looking at restaurants that I go to, I pay attention to how they treat you,

00:01:04.160 menus, how they set it up, different, like, Seasons 52 in Dallas, they do, you know, every

00:01:09.620 three months they change, as the season changes, the menu changes, and then you have the typical

00:01:13.680 ones that you go to, so I want to go into customer service, customer experience, but before,

00:01:17.440 before doing that, why don't you first tell us about the two restaurants you have right now

00:01:21.760 in LA, with Maud and Gwyn and the story behind it.

00:01:24.100 Sure, so Maud was the first one I opened, it's about nearly five years ago now, I took

00:01:28.700 a little break from restaurants actually, I worked my whole life as a young chef in great

00:01:33.080 restaurants, I moved to Europe and worked there for 10 years or so, and then I got asked to

00:01:37.880 do a TV show, and then write a book, and then another TV show, and it just got too crazy to

00:01:42.820 do restaurants and that as well, so I sort of, I took five years off, and I missed it, you know,

00:01:48.740 restaurants are scrappy professions, you know, like the, to run a restaurant is a really

00:01:53.340 difficult, I bet, it's a difficult job, and it's also very hard to stay afloat, it's hard

00:01:58.420 to make money, it's hard to break even in the restaurant world, but there was something

00:02:01.560 I loved about it, and something I craved it, you know, just as a part of my life, I missed

00:02:05.940 it, so I decided to open my first one, which was Maud, five years ago, and it was a tiny little

00:02:11.540 place, and I thought if I'm going to spend that much time in one little building, I want it

00:02:15.820 to feel special to me, so I sort of started thinking about all the things that were special

00:02:19.220 in my life, and my grandma was one of those things, she, she was one of the first people

00:02:23.520 that ever got me interested in food.

00:02:25.180 Your grandma did?

00:02:26.020 My grandma did, yeah.

00:02:26.840 How old were you at the time when you were interested?

00:02:28.380 I was probably five, yeah, I was young.

00:02:29.980 Wow, that early?

00:02:30.820 Yeah, yeah, really young.

00:02:32.460 She was from Yorkshire, the northern part of England, and she used to make this delicious

00:02:36.340 sugary fudge, all kids like something sweet, right, and I was no exception, so I used to

00:02:41.360 go to her house, and I'd be like, Grandma, is there fudge in the fridge?

00:02:44.040 And if there wasn't, we'd make it together, so that was sort of my very first time in

00:02:48.420 the kitchen was with her, and she was a good old duck, my granny, she taught me how to play 0.99

00:02:52.360 tennis, she taught me how to play cards, she was, she was very funny, and she was a big

00:02:56.520 influence on me, so.

00:02:57.760 Grandma?

00:02:58.340 Yeah.

00:02:59.420 So I decided to name the restaurant after her, she was also the most religious one in our

00:03:03.180 family, so I thought if anyone can help me from up there, it's her, so I named it

00:03:08.020 after her, and then.

00:03:09.260 Now, she moved from UK to Australia? 0.93

00:03:11.820 She did, yeah, yeah, she moved when she was young, five or six years old, so she grew

00:03:16.960 up as an Aussie, but she always had like a tiny bit of an English accent, which was fun.

00:03:21.360 And then we're sitting in Gwen right now, this is the second restaurant, this is a joint

00:03:25.340 venture with my brother, actually, so we sort of had spoken about doing something together

00:03:29.680 for a long time, and we decided we'd eventually do something, I convinced him to move his family

00:03:34.500 over here to Los Angeles, and we said, well, you know, what's something we love, and we

00:03:39.720 sort of got talking about that, and we wanted to open a European-style butcher shop with

00:03:44.440 a fine dining restaurant off the back of it.

00:03:46.340 And we were talking and talking, and we were like, you know, we can't only represent one

00:03:51.100 side of the family, we have to do both, so Gwen was my other, she was my nan, my other

00:03:55.840 granny, and yeah, so here we are.

00:03:57.940 So no one's upset, but both sides, you're representing somebody.

00:04:00.540 That's right.

00:04:01.300 That's interesting.

00:04:02.180 Okay, so now, having said that, your brother is now partners with you on this one, you got

00:04:06.880 Mott going on as well.

00:04:08.440 So, Celebrity Apprentice, when you did that, how was that entire experience for you?

00:04:12.480 Was that the first time when it was kind of coming up for you, were you making a name

00:04:16.540 for yourself nationally, or had you already been established prior to that?

00:04:20.440 It was a funny time for me, to be honest with you, it was just after the GFC, I moved to

00:04:26.660 America to do a TV show, I did a few of them, I wrote a few books, and then I'd sort of built

00:04:33.340 a business, I had half a dozen employees, well not half a dozen, but three or four.

00:04:37.180 Here or?

00:04:37.800 Here in the US, yeah, and then the GFC hit, and all my commercial partners disappeared,

00:04:43.040 and I didn't have a TV show at that time, I'd just finished a show, and they were about

00:04:46.980 to commission a new one, and then that sort of got put on the back burner, so I was suddenly

00:04:50.580 unemployed, but with a staff, right?

00:04:52.920 It's the worst way to be unemployed, no customers, no revenue, and right, you've got to pay

00:04:59.600 everyone, and I got asked to do Celebrity Apprentice the year prior, and I turned it

00:05:04.120 down, because I, you know, I'm a chef, you know, why would I be on The Apprentice?

00:05:07.800 But the next time I got asked, I was like, you know what, I've got to do something, you

00:05:12.140 know, business is bad, I've got to try and rekindle things a little bit, so I decided

00:05:17.020 to do it, but I was very sceptical, I wasn't looking forward to it.

00:05:20.340 I got up there to New York, and I found out who the other people were, and they're all

00:05:24.380 mad, Britt Michael, Cindy Lauper, Sharon Osbourne, Bogoyevich, the governor who's now in prison

00:05:32.920 from Illinois, you know, and I walked into this room, and I thought to myself, I'm the

00:05:38.100 only normal person in here, and I was thinking, what a mistake, but you know, we started the

00:05:44.280 show, and then of course you meet Trump, and you start the show, and he literally gives

00:05:48.820 you a, he gives you a game, right, and as adults, I didn't have kids at that time, when

00:05:52.720 you have kids, you get to play again, but as adults, you don't get to play games very

00:05:56.360 often, interesting, right, yeah, so we played a game with a bunch of nut jobs every single 0.85

00:06:01.220 day, and it was so fun, I was there for over a month, and I really enjoyed it, you know,

00:06:07.040 it was, it was, you know, the way these people's brains work, very creative, and it was very

00:06:11.720 interesting, so.

00:06:12.580 Who was the most interesting character?

00:06:13.760 I mean, Brent Michaels was just a fascinating dude, and I got along really well with him,

00:06:18.240 and I didn't really expect to, you know, Bill Goldberg was another guy, he was, he was

00:06:23.000 in there, the ex-wrestler, we got along well, I worked out with him, he'd slap me around

00:06:27.440 here and there, so.

00:06:28.100 And how big is he, is he actually, like, really, is he as big as.

00:06:30.760 He's a big dude, yeah, he's a big dude, and he's strong, you know, like, we'd go into

00:06:34.220 the gym together, and he'd lift four times what I could lift, it was fun working out with

00:06:38.640 him.

00:06:38.760 And then how was Trump with that whole experience?

00:06:40.760 Because this is pre-presidency, there's no politics, it's just regular celebrity Trump.

00:06:45.080 Trump was, like, a very interesting character, right?

00:06:48.560 Even then, so it doesn't matter, yeah.

00:06:50.140 Yeah, I mean, when someone's not saying I want to be the president of the country, then

00:06:54.520 you have no, you know, like, you don't mind having crazy people in your world, you don't

00:06:58.260 mind having someone that's, you know, loose and this big personality like he is.

00:07:02.460 So I enjoyed him while I was on the show.

00:07:04.320 I don't know if he should have put his hand up to become the president of the country,

00:07:08.100 but hey, he did.

00:07:09.040 But, you know, while on the show, I didn't have a lot to do with him, to be honest, but

00:07:12.700 he likes things done his way, and he's, you know, he's got opinions on stuff, but yeah,

00:07:17.300 it was a fascinating experience.

00:07:19.300 I can see him being a control guy, like, everything's got to be under control the way he wants it.

00:07:23.360 Okay, when you start a restaurant, you've done two of them, and one of the things I like

00:07:28.080 about where you're at, you've had experience, you said in Europe, you worked there for five

00:07:31.380 years, I think some number you said, well, you service, so you know the customers in

00:07:34.840 Europe are different than the customers in America, than the customers in Australia.

00:07:38.840 Some of the culture is different.

00:07:41.200 The treatment I get in South America, or if I go to Colombia, or if I go to, you know,

00:07:45.420 Middle East, Qatar, or Dubai, I'm going to get different than I do in U.S. or Europe, for

00:07:50.180 whatever reason.

00:07:51.100 Right.

00:07:51.280 There's a different approach to it.

00:07:52.380 But when you look at customer service and customer experience, and you have worked as

00:07:58.480 a person behind closed doors, and you have worked as your own restaurant that's representing

00:08:02.620 your grandmother, I mean, these are people that mean a lot to you, so you want to protect

00:08:06.180 those names.

00:08:06.960 What is on your mind to give me, the customer, whoever that's coming in, a good customer service

00:08:11.640 and a good customer experience?

00:08:13.060 The thing I say to everyone is, when you open the doors to your restaurant, you're really

00:08:17.320 opening up an extension of your home and inviting people in.

00:08:20.560 So you have to treat them like they're coming into your home.

00:08:23.640 Because in a way, they are.

00:08:24.780 And in a way, you get to know your team members so well, you really do become a family.

00:08:29.720 We sit down every day and we eat dinner together.

00:08:32.100 We call it family meal.

00:08:33.220 Really?

00:08:33.620 Yeah.

00:08:33.940 Every day?

00:08:34.520 Every day.

00:08:35.240 Well, they're here all day.

00:08:36.120 The cooks get here in the morning and they're here until midnight.

00:08:38.940 You know, the least we can do is cook them dinner.

00:08:41.020 And we eat just before the guests arrive.

00:08:42.900 So we eat at like four o'clock.

00:08:44.340 They'll be downstairs now, probably having their dinner before.

00:08:47.720 You know, because we then cook until midnight, right?

00:08:49.560 But when you open your doors, you really need to greet people the same way that you would

00:08:55.220 greet them in your home.

00:08:56.460 And so it wouldn't be stiff.

00:08:57.920 It wouldn't be awkward.

00:08:58.740 It wouldn't be like, good evening.

00:09:00.140 You know, it wouldn't be unnatural.

00:09:03.120 You'd welcome them, right?

00:09:04.440 And then as they come in, you try and imagine that they're your friends and you take care

00:09:09.100 of them in the best way that you can.

00:09:11.400 Where it gets tricky is guests come in and they all want something different.

00:09:15.120 Some people want you to talk to them a lot and entertain them a little bit and tell them

00:09:19.540 the story of the dishes.

00:09:21.100 And other people really want to be left alone so they can enjoy the company of their companions.

00:09:26.080 So sometimes it's romance happening.

00:09:28.500 Sometimes it's a business meeting.

00:09:29.960 So you then have to be a good reader of someone, right?

00:09:33.660 You need to be able to quickly tap into what these customers want and then to be able to

00:09:37.860 try and communicate that to the rest of your team so that we're all on the same page.

00:09:42.140 Interesting.

00:09:42.240 And sometimes you get it wrong.

00:09:44.020 Most of the time, hopefully, we get it right.

00:09:45.960 But occasionally, you'll read someone and you'll think, okay, they want us to leave them

00:09:50.120 alone.

00:09:50.500 They don't want us to interrupt them all night long.

00:09:52.780 But then, you know, you'll read a Yelp review or occasionally you'll get an email that sort

00:09:56.640 of says, you know, we didn't get the same service that we were seeing other tables get.

00:10:00.760 So once in a while, you get it wrong.

00:10:02.280 But I think for the most part, if you're good at your job, you can get it pretty right.

00:10:06.320 So the four o'clock dinner that you guys do, what are you talking about?

00:10:10.040 Are you talking about the day or are you talking to them or are you talking about preparation?

00:10:13.620 Are you talking about mindset?

00:10:14.700 Are you re-reminding about what we stand for?

00:10:17.540 It's just relationship thing.

00:10:18.660 What is that about?

00:10:19.820 We actually, we don't do any work during our dinner.

00:10:22.460 So what we do is we put it out.

00:10:24.480 Everyone comes and gets a plate.

00:10:25.820 It doesn't matter who you are.

00:10:26.760 If you're a dishwasher or you're a chef or we all sit down together.

00:10:31.140 That's just a time to connect with one another.

00:10:33.020 And I love seeing the cooks sitting with the front of house and the kitchen porters working 0.54

00:10:37.780 with, you know, the maitre d's.

00:10:39.740 And I like to see mixed tables because then you're all connecting with one another.

00:10:42.940 Because if you care about each other, you'll back each other up, right?

00:10:45.640 You'll become a really good teammate.

00:10:47.680 Then what we do is we have what we call a pre-service or a pre-shift.

00:10:51.680 So just before the guests arrive, we then all, we come up into this room actually and we

00:10:55.680 stand together and then we run through our night.

00:10:58.440 So we talk about what guests are coming in.

00:11:00.580 We keep notes on our guests so when guests dine with us, we'll keep a history on them.

00:11:05.060 Like a B-back. 1.00

00:11:05.640 If a B-back's coming back. 1.00

00:11:06.900 Right, exactly.

00:11:07.420 So what do you say about that?

00:11:08.580 Like you say, tonight we have the Johnson family coming here.

00:11:10.960 Exactly.

00:11:11.200 Then what do you say after that?

00:11:12.440 We'll say what they drank last time they were in.

00:11:14.600 You know, maybe she was a lover of white burgundy or talk about what water preferences they 0.98

00:11:18.980 have.

00:11:19.400 They preferred still or sparkling.

00:11:21.760 Just so we're sort of-

00:11:22.280 Specific details.

00:11:22.920 Specific details about the guests.

00:11:24.320 Do you adjust your waiter or waitress to the customer or it doesn't matter?

00:11:28.840 If I'm sectioned off, this is section A, B, C, D. No matter what, if I sit in A, I'm

00:11:34.380 getting A, which is Christine.

00:11:35.880 Or if I am always good with Larry, you give me Larry even if I'm sitting in section A.

00:11:40.860 We'll have certain regular guests that we know what they like.

00:11:44.700 They might like to sit in a certain section of the restaurant or they might like a particular

00:11:48.500 server that they've had in the past.

00:11:50.520 So we will try and tailor back it.

00:11:51.200 So even that detail.

00:11:52.300 Yeah.

00:11:52.660 Interesting.

00:11:53.020 And then we run through a variety of things.

00:11:55.020 Like, you know, on certain nights you'll have guests arrive in a big pack.

00:11:59.240 So between 7 and 7.15, you might have 30 guests coming through the front door.

00:12:04.440 So we'll sort of help prepare our team for that.

00:12:06.900 When that's coming, this is how we're going to handle it.

00:12:09.200 We've got to get some of those checks in as quickly as we can so that they don't come

00:12:13.220 all at once to the kitchen because everyone's waiting for their food.

00:12:15.640 So we try and structure the evening in as best way as we can.

00:12:20.060 You always get caught out.

00:12:21.240 You know, you've got to be ready because sometimes you'll plan it out.

00:12:25.620 You'll stagger the night.

00:12:26.580 So everyone's arriving at different times.

00:12:28.240 And then the first 10 guests all arrive late.

00:12:30.680 And the 10 guests after, the 10 guests in the middle arrive early.

00:12:34.020 And suddenly you've got 30 people through the door again.

00:12:36.400 So, you know, there's ways that you can try and mitigate that.

00:12:39.700 You know, because if you do the math, it's quite a difficult task, right?

00:12:43.920 Let's say 30 people get ordered into the kitchen within five minutes, which can happen.

00:12:48.400 And that's only four or five tables, right?

00:12:51.860 There's a server up here.

00:12:52.960 There's a server down there.

00:12:53.820 There's a couple downstairs.

00:12:55.020 They're not all seeing what everybody else is doing.

00:12:57.240 And then they all hit the computer at the same time and put the checks in.

00:13:00.540 So I get 30 covers at once in the kitchen.

00:13:03.380 If it takes me 30 seconds per plate, and it doesn't, it takes me longer.

00:13:07.900 But if it took me, that means that the last person waits 15 minutes for his starter, for his appetizer.

00:13:13.340 Wow.

00:13:13.800 It's too long.

00:13:14.440 Yeah.

00:13:14.720 Right?

00:13:15.000 So we've got to somehow figure out how those checks come into the kitchen, how quickly we can move.

00:13:19.440 How do you do that?

00:13:20.180 What is the, you know, secret behind that, the secret sauce?

00:13:23.540 It's communication.

00:13:24.800 It's no different than playing a sport.

00:13:26.340 And I say this to everyone all the time.

00:13:28.140 If you look at a good soccer player, he's running down the field and he's got control of the ball, but he's looking at what's going on.

00:13:34.100 He's not looking at the ball as he kicks it, right?

00:13:36.460 Because you have to be a part of a team.

00:13:37.940 It's the exact same thing in a restaurant.

00:13:39.480 If you're a captain or if you're the one taking the order, you need to be doing your job, but also keeping your peripheral vision totally open and seeing what he's doing and seeing what he's doing.

00:13:47.860 And asking a quick question, run downstairs and just, you know, I noticed a bunch of people came in at once up here.

00:13:53.280 I wonder if it's the same down there.

00:13:54.600 So you sort of, those lines of communication need to be really wide open.

00:13:59.440 Interesting.

00:14:00.300 So what is the, and by the way, we're going to come back to the soccer point you made, analogy you made.

00:14:04.720 So the difference between Maud and the difference between Gwynn.

00:14:08.460 Yep.

00:14:08.800 Because that's not the same product base, the philosophy's different, the story's different, right?

00:14:15.180 So what is the biggest difference between those two restaurants?

00:14:18.900 So Maud is, I hate saying it's a special occasion restaurant because I want people to feel like they can come regularly.

00:14:25.320 And we do have a bunch of regulars down there.

00:14:27.580 But it's a type of experience.

00:14:29.760 We serve nine or ten courses per menu.

00:14:32.680 We change the menu four times a year.

00:14:34.700 It always revolves around a wine region.

00:14:36.920 Four times a year.

00:14:37.540 And I heard you used to do it once a month for five years.

00:14:40.160 That's right, yeah.

00:14:40.760 Which is insanity.

00:14:41.600 It really was crazy.

00:14:42.720 But it was good fun because we're constantly having to develop and challenge ourself.

00:14:47.100 And imagine on the first of the month you implement a new menu, right?

00:14:50.580 It takes a few days to get everybody knowing exactly what they're supposed to be doing.

00:14:54.120 And then you've got a couple of weeks to develop the new menu because you've got to present it to the wine team so they can taste it and then choose the wine.

00:15:01.320 They've got a special order wine and buy stuff at auction and get it all together in time for the new menu, which starts on the first of the next one.

00:15:07.680 The pressure is insane.

00:15:09.180 It was crazy, yeah.

00:15:10.360 And now I'm taking the whole team to the wine region.

00:15:13.360 We went, we learned, we ate, we drank, we examined the culture, and then we sort of try and bring all those influences back and make a cohesive ten course tasting menu.

00:15:22.260 So, yeah, it's good fun, you know, like the guys that work down there really love it.

00:15:26.040 It's detailed.

00:15:26.860 So the food's really detailed.

00:15:28.200 It's elevated.

00:15:28.960 We put lots of effort into each plate that we do.

00:15:32.140 It sounds easy, right, a 24-seat restaurant.

00:15:35.020 We turn those tables.

00:15:36.160 So we actually do 48 covers a night.

00:15:39.060 And because we serve ten courses, it means that that 48 covers by the ten dishes, that's 480 plates of food that have to leave the kitchen within a three- or four-hour window.

00:15:48.820 And we also pour wines to pair.

00:15:51.580 So it also means that we pour 480 wines that night, which means that we wash 480 glasses, we polish 480 glasses, we restock those 480 glasses back into the shelf so that they can be marked.

00:16:02.520 Different shaped flutes, different shaped stemware for every single wine that we pour.

00:16:08.080 That detail is something that you're either attracted to or you think it's too fussy.

00:16:11.980 You know, like we try and keep it as light and we call it fine dining without all the fluff because we try not to talk down to our guests.

00:16:19.600 We try to make it a fun experience.

00:16:21.000 But it is still, you know, people will sit down, they're there for a few hours.

00:16:24.920 So that's that.

00:16:25.540 And then this model here with Gwen?

00:16:27.220 This model here is built solely around the butcher shop.

00:16:30.120 So we have the best protein from anywhere in the world.

00:16:33.500 We buy Wagyu beef from Australia.

00:16:35.200 We have grass-fed lamb coming from Northern California.

00:16:38.780 We buy grain-fed beef from the middle of the country.

00:16:41.060 So we spend it, we buy game from Scotland when it's in season.

00:16:44.080 So we really try and focus on this incredible protein.

00:16:48.880 And then our attitude towards it is fire.

00:16:52.580 So we sort of, we sat around and we're like, what do we want this to be?

00:16:56.680 And what we came up with was primitive elegance.

00:16:59.900 And primitive is the way we cook it, right?

00:17:03.220 So, but we want to serve it with real elegance.

00:17:06.180 And to me, you can think about all the technology that you can use in a kitchen.

00:17:10.300 But if you cook a steak over a fire and the embers are just right and you've cooked it over the right kind of wood and you've got that hint of smokiness.

00:17:18.180 I know we've been doing it for centuries, but it's so incredible when you get it right.

00:17:22.600 And that's, that's what we try to do.

00:17:24.500 Well, I agree with you on my end as the eater, you know, I want to make sure you get it right.

00:17:28.120 So, okay.

00:17:29.080 So now let's talk a little bit more about, you know, team, team base.

00:17:33.140 Okay.

00:17:34.020 So when I look at, you said soccer, right?

00:17:36.200 Okay.

00:17:36.580 So a good team that wins a championship, you know, they won the world cup.

00:17:41.680 You got a coach, you got offense, you got defense, you got a goalie in the restaurant world.

00:17:48.300 If, and I know the typical answer is, well, it's a team environment.

00:17:51.720 This is who's the most important.

00:17:53.380 Everybody's important.

00:17:54.220 And I know that's the political, politically right answer to give.

00:17:56.960 Right.

00:17:57.120 You want to not undermine anybody in the restaurant.

00:17:58.980 But if I am an investor and I'm saying, look, I want to like the other day, I'm talking

00:18:04.120 to a restaurant in Dallas, it's called Texas to Brazil and it's Brazilian steakhouse, but

00:18:08.940 Texas, they do a great job.

00:18:10.100 And I asked the owner, what does it cost to do something with you?

00:18:12.920 He says, we just did one in Houston, $7 million.

00:18:14.960 This is how it is.

00:18:15.900 Here's how the investors come.

00:18:16.840 This is how much it costs.

00:18:17.580 He showed me the entire math behind it.

00:18:19.000 Right.

00:18:19.260 Great.

00:18:20.100 But if I have the money and you and I team up together and it's your money and my money,

00:18:25.160 and you're not thinking like the chef right now, you're thinking like the business person

00:18:28.760 because you've been all over it.

00:18:30.640 Who plays the most important role to put my money around?

00:18:34.940 In basketball, you could say you got to build around a center.

00:18:37.660 You got to build around a shooting guard, a point guard.

00:18:40.220 You got to build a team around a solid goalie or a coach and to attract the players.

00:18:44.080 I want to play for a coach.

00:18:45.260 In the restaurant world, from your experience, who's number one?

00:18:49.860 And I don't want the politically correct answer.

00:18:52.680 I'm really curious to know who is the most important thing to put your money behind.

00:18:57.860 I've just got to check my brother's downstairs because he's my older brother and he's the

00:19:01.780 maitre d', right?

00:19:02.520 So he runs the front of house.

00:19:03.640 I run the back of house.

00:19:05.460 Look, in my humble opinion, and it's not because I'm a chef, but it's because I've been in the

00:19:10.680 industry for as long as I've been in it.

00:19:13.100 The chef is the most important person because at the end of the day, the service is super

00:19:18.020 important.

00:19:18.900 And the answer to the question is there's a variety of ways to do it.

00:19:22.140 But in my opinion, if the chef doesn't really believe in what he's doing, then the food

00:19:28.040 won't taste great.

00:19:29.400 And do you go out for dinner for service or do you go out for dinner for food?

00:19:32.940 The answer's both, right?

00:19:35.080 But you will go somewhere where the food's incredible, even if the service isn't great.

00:19:40.640 But if the food's horrible and the service is amazing, you won't go because you're like,

00:19:46.260 well, I love you guys and I like being here and the atmosphere, the ambience is all right,

00:19:50.960 but the food's disgusting.

00:19:52.180 You're not going to keep coming back.

00:19:53.660 I also come from a culture of chef-driven restaurants where the chef is always the center of the

00:19:59.280 restaurant.

00:20:00.380 And if the chef suddenly isn't that person, if the chef's just an employee, I've only ever

00:20:05.960 worked for an owner-operator and I'm one myself, you know, and I often talk about Australian

00:20:11.440 rules football because we have, you know, the old school of Aussie rules, AFL, the coach

00:20:17.600 played.

00:20:18.480 He was a captain coach and he was a playing coach, right?

00:20:21.960 So it's an interesting thing because, you know, you don't see it very often.

00:20:26.520 I love it because tonight I'll be down there and I won't be wandering around the dining

00:20:31.460 room.

00:20:31.820 I'll be on a section, which in some ways I'm sure the guests would rather.

00:20:35.960 They came and touched each table and spoke to everyone and took some photos and signed

00:20:39.600 some cookbooks and whatever.

00:20:41.220 But I would rather them see me behind the grill sweating my ass off and working really

00:20:45.680 hard because I know what it does for my team.

00:20:48.440 My team, I always say your job's only as good as how you can describe it to your mate while

00:20:54.540 you're in the pub having a beer, all right?

00:20:56.720 And if my team are in the pub having a beer with a friend of theirs and they're like, what's

00:21:00.040 it like working for Curtis?

00:21:01.220 And they're like, you know what?

00:21:02.040 He's in the kitchen.

00:21:03.740 He works a section.

00:21:05.400 He's faster than anyone else.

00:21:07.020 He's clean.

00:21:07.820 He's this.

00:21:08.340 He's that.

00:21:09.000 The person opposite of them is like, are you kidding me?

00:21:11.060 He's in the kitchen.

00:21:12.000 You know, like that's, to me, that's really important.

00:21:14.240 Very interesting point you're making there. 0.57

00:21:15.860 Of course, it means that you can't have 10 restaurants because otherwise you're screwed.

00:21:19.120 That's what I'm thinking.

00:21:19.900 Especially like, so what I'm thinking about the two different types of restaurant, like it's

00:21:23.900 almost like you have two different philosophies.

00:21:25.600 Like you have to be able to go in and treat that one in a little bit different way than

00:21:29.660 this, yet it's the same thing.

00:21:31.440 Okay.

00:21:32.040 So I run an insurance company.

00:21:34.260 Yeah.

00:21:34.400 And we have 5,500 insurance agents in 49 states, and we sell life insurance and orders

00:21:40.280 and retirement products.

00:21:41.700 We started off with one office in Northridge.

00:21:43.660 Now we're nationwide in 49 states.

00:21:47.040 My processing initially when I was growing from being a sales guy to a sales manager, to

00:21:53.420 a business owner, to a CEO was who is number one?

00:21:56.520 Is the customer number one or is the agent number one?

00:21:59.420 We agree that for us, the agent who sells insurance policies late at night, at midnight,

00:22:03.340 like you're cooking until midnight, just chef, your priority.

00:22:06.060 So I'm in agreement with chef being number one.

00:22:08.800 Then number two for me, it comes to the clients, then it becomes partners and all that other

00:22:12.600 stuff.

00:22:13.180 If number one is the chef, who's two, who's three in your world?

00:22:16.500 I think the interesting thing about a team is it only, because when I analyze my philosophy

00:22:22.100 a little deeper, right?

00:22:23.980 Is it really for me?

00:22:25.460 Am I so good that I'm so important to the restaurant?

00:22:28.320 And I don't think the answer is yes.

00:22:29.760 I think the answer is if I behave like that, then my chef de cuisine will behave like that

00:22:34.960 or my executive chef down at Maud will behave like that, which means their sous chef will

00:22:38.780 also behave like that.

00:22:40.160 And then you build that culture.

00:22:41.920 So to me, the culture is the most important thing.

00:22:44.120 Is it built around a person or is it something unto itself?

00:22:48.020 Interesting.

00:22:48.240 So the environment and the culture.

00:22:49.560 The environment and the culture is so important because, you know, we have another saying in

00:22:54.320 our business that together we're limitless.

00:22:56.260 But if we're not together, we don't get the result.

00:22:58.960 Sure, you need teamwork.

00:22:59.640 You need that teamwork.

00:23:00.920 And it's like a chain.

00:23:02.280 As soon as there's a link broken, you're finished.

00:23:04.980 The customer in the restaurant business is absolutely always right in their own mind.

00:23:11.280 But we have to make sure that we do what we can for it because the system of the restaurant

00:23:16.780 doesn't always agree with that, right?

00:23:18.720 You come in for dinner tonight and you're like, I want my steak well done, please.

00:23:22.500 I don't want to cook your steak well done because I know it's going to dry your steak out.

00:23:26.140 It's not going to be the best eating experience.

00:23:28.800 But how do I tell you I can't do that?

00:23:31.220 Because then you say, but that's how I like it.

00:23:33.040 And then I have to say through a server or a captain or a waiter, whoever it is, they have to say to you, we disagree with you.

00:23:40.260 Or we're just not prepared to do it.

00:23:42.360 You actually would say that?

00:23:43.380 We do.

00:23:43.940 Really?

00:23:44.260 Yeah, we do.

00:23:44.940 So how do you say it to me?

00:23:45.840 Like if I say, you know, chef's preference, our chef's preference is medium rare.

00:23:50.440 I say, I like it well done.

00:23:52.060 Right.

00:23:52.400 So what would your waiter say to me?

00:23:54.480 We say, look, the way we like to cook the steak because we buy it from a certain farm.

00:24:00.180 It's been served a certain thing, it's been, you know, it's this kind of breed, it's this kind of feed, it's been aged for a certain amount of time.

00:24:06.760 We dry age our beef as well, which means that it's not as juicy, but it has way more flavor, which again is another choice that you make.

00:24:14.480 So we sort of explain a little bit about the steak and we say, chef really likes to cook the steak medium rare because that's the best eating quality.

00:24:21.440 Nine times out of ten, people go on that journey.

00:24:24.080 But if someone's like, I don't want it that way, we'll then suggest something else.

00:24:27.320 You know what's, you know, if you like that kind of steak, what we do really well, what we can do really well for you is this, this, this, this.

00:24:33.380 So you may make me a recommendation on a different route.

00:24:35.640 That's right.

00:24:36.140 To get what, so you're still, so you're not disagreeing.

00:24:38.440 You're maybe saying, you may want to consider doing this instead of this.

00:24:41.240 That's right.

00:24:41.660 That's fair enough.

00:24:42.340 Yeah, that's, that's fine.

00:24:43.280 I mean, obviously you can't please everybody.

00:24:44.980 You can't.

00:24:45.460 And that, you know, like that's the thing.

00:24:46.760 And like I said before, everybody wants something a little bit differently, right?

00:24:49.880 Like some people, some people love a boisterous, loud restaurant and a really friendly waiter and other people don't want that.

00:24:56.960 They want it to be quiet and romantic and they also want the waiter to be, you know, they want their water filled up but they don't want to see the guy pour it.

00:25:03.020 And that's okay.

00:25:03.740 Like everybody's entitled to their own opinion and we've.

00:25:06.000 So many sensitivities, you know.

00:25:07.500 We've got to dance that dance. 0.88

00:25:08.660 Yeah, so Mario would tell you if I go to a restaurant, I am extremely sensitive and I pay attention to so many details.

00:25:14.080 So if I go to a cheesecake and I'm going there because my kids want to go for a cheesecake, my expectation of service is zero.

00:25:20.740 Just the food, boom, gone.

00:25:22.440 $80 for four people, I'm good to go, right?

00:25:24.380 Sure.

00:25:24.700 But if I'm going to a legit restaurant, I have high expectations, right?

00:25:28.740 And that's how I am.

00:25:29.920 And I think some of the customers may, may be that, you know, if I'm coming with money, I'm a successful guy.

00:25:36.020 I make a lot of money.

00:25:36.800 I'm not coming here for you.

00:25:38.100 So is the expectation that high always?

00:25:41.560 It has to be.

00:25:42.260 It has to be.

00:25:42.900 It has to be for us.

00:25:44.380 Now, whether everybody wants it or even understands it or appreciates it, it doesn't matter.

00:25:48.920 We just have to be, we have to have our standards super high.

00:25:51.960 So that another thing we say in here is never be ashamed of having high standards.

00:25:55.740 You know, there's nothing wrong with it.

00:25:56.780 You should be proud of it.

00:25:57.720 You see our guys over there, we have towels that come into the kitchen.

00:26:01.540 They come in a big bag and we could just empty them into a towel bin and grab one.

00:26:05.120 But we don't.

00:26:05.920 We fold them.

00:26:06.480 We fold the towels.

00:26:07.540 Everybody gets a little stack of towels before we start service.

00:26:10.360 Yeah.

00:26:10.640 Okay.

00:26:10.860 Because I think if you have a system in place for everything, then you get used to there

00:26:15.900 being a system in place.

00:26:17.120 The system can't be, I don't know, I'm not sure.

00:26:19.820 It's over there.

00:26:20.780 You know, like there has to be a system.

00:26:22.360 Yeah.

00:26:22.740 So then when somebody asks you a question like, where does the salt go?

00:26:27.480 There's an answer to that.

00:26:28.500 Not just chuck it down there or I don't know, just put it in the corner.

00:26:31.300 No, there's a place for it.

00:26:33.040 It has to live somewhere.

00:26:33.880 So we all know where to go to get salt.

00:26:35.340 So I got a follow-up question for you.

00:26:37.240 So movies have done a very great job presenting chefs as very normal, nice people behind closed

00:26:45.040 doors.

00:26:45.460 Obviously, I'm being very sarcastic, right?

00:26:48.240 What was the name of the movie with Bradley Cooper, which was absolutely...

00:26:51.200 Burnt.

00:26:51.900 Burnt.

00:26:52.520 Okay, and then you have the other one with Jon Favreau, the chef, right?

00:26:55.260 Where the critic comes and eventually they become partners.

00:26:57.780 So, you know, you're in front of the camera.

00:27:00.960 If we turn the cameras around and you're behind the camera, is Curtis Stone in the kitchen or

00:27:06.160 behind closed doors or maybe some other ones?

00:27:08.760 Is there an element of craziness behind the creativity of a chef?

00:27:13.520 Oh, there has to be.

00:27:14.400 Okay.

00:27:14.820 Yeah, if there's not, you're not good at your job.

00:27:16.300 I'm with you.

00:27:16.940 Yeah, I'm agreeing with you.

00:27:17.880 By the way, in a crazy way, I want to believe there is.

00:27:21.700 Yeah.

00:27:22.300 You know what I'm saying?

00:27:22.920 I want to believe there is.

00:27:23.980 I want to believe that the guy running the show behind the whole thing is such a perfectionist,

00:27:28.680 you know, high expectation that delivers a great product for me.

00:27:31.620 But you're saying, yes, there is.

00:27:32.880 Yeah, no, there is.

00:27:33.820 I mean, I worked for a guy named Marco Pierre White.

00:27:36.020 That's who Gordon Ramsay spent a lot of time with as a young chef.

00:27:39.380 And Marco was probably, you know, he's famous for being the most intense, one of the craziest,

00:27:45.000 the loudest.

00:27:45.600 He just drove and drove and drove.

00:27:47.640 And, you know, people would tell stories about Marco and they'd be like, how could he do

00:27:51.500 that?

00:27:51.960 Or, you know, were you there when all this stuff went on?

00:27:54.520 And I was like, I loved it.

00:27:55.980 I thrived in it.

00:27:56.840 Because to me, that passion and that energy was exactly, that's why I went.

00:28:01.840 You know, you don't go to play for Manchester United and they don't say, excuse me, do you

00:28:08.040 mind?

00:28:08.520 Would you do five push-ups for me, please?

00:28:10.520 They're like, get down and do that.

00:28:11.800 You know, like they push you hard, they train you hard and they make you good, you know?

00:28:15.340 So there's a reason for everything, right?

00:28:17.680 There's a reason to work in a great restaurant.

00:28:19.520 There's also a reason to go up the road and work in a cafe.

00:28:21.780 And maybe that reasons the conditions or the easy life or the lack, you know, not too intense.

00:28:28.060 You can't work somewhere intense because you want intensity, you know?

00:28:30.560 And that's what we are.

00:28:32.160 So now you're married, right?

00:28:33.920 So you married a person that we used to watch from 90210, is it Lindsay Price?

00:28:38.800 That's right, yeah.

00:28:39.340 Because to us, it's 90210.

00:28:40.920 And I grew up in that era, you know?

00:28:42.300 We grew up watching 90210.

00:28:43.740 I remember.

00:28:44.340 What was the other one?

00:28:44.800 90210, Melrose Place, right?

00:28:46.460 Melrose Place came after 90210.

00:28:48.760 So now you're married and you said you have kids, right?

00:28:52.180 So you have kids, you have family.

00:28:53.420 At one point you were doing this and you weren't married, you don't have kids.

00:28:57.080 And you said, you're going to be till 12 o'clock tonight.

00:28:59.020 Right.

00:29:00.080 So I run a business and I work some crazy hours, right?

00:29:03.460 So what did you and your wife have to talk about for there to be understanding to know,

00:29:08.100 look, this is my life.

00:29:09.300 Like, this is what I do.

00:29:10.740 Right.

00:29:10.940 Was that a conversation you guys had prior to, you know, wanting to build a family together

00:29:15.840 for her to know that your life's going to be a little bit of craziness?

00:29:18.540 Absolutely.

00:29:19.200 And it has to be an agreement.

00:29:20.700 You know, it has to be, it has to be a decision that you come to together.

00:29:24.540 And I don't think you can have an ego in it, you know?

00:29:27.500 Because I wasn't in the restaurant business.

00:29:30.020 I met her before I was in the restaurant business.

00:29:32.600 I mean, obviously I'd worked my whole life in restaurants, but I met her in that break 0.77

00:29:36.740 when I was doing television and whatever.

00:29:39.620 You know, I sat down with her and I was like, look, I want to do it, but here's what it

00:29:43.760 means.

00:29:44.480 You know, like it's, it's not like I'm going to do an appearance somewhere and I won't

00:29:47.760 be home till tomorrow.

00:29:48.680 It's like night after night after night.

00:29:50.720 It's, it's a different lifestyle.

00:29:52.940 And she was really supportive of it.

00:29:54.580 And she sort of said, you know, look, she's an artist and she, she's an actor.

00:29:58.180 And she, she said, I couldn't, I couldn't live with myself if I told you, you couldn't

00:30:02.740 do what you want to do because I want to do what I want to do too, artistically.

00:30:06.440 And I want you to support me as well.

00:30:08.460 So, um, we walked into it together and, you know, under the understanding that it wouldn't

00:30:13.620 be forever.

00:30:14.400 I'm not going to be in the restaurant business when I was 70 years old.

00:30:17.100 I, you know, like I've got a finite amount of time to do it and I want to do it and I

00:30:21.380 want to do it to the best of my ability.

00:30:23.100 And we, we remind each other often of that conversation.

00:30:28.760 When I say we remind each other, I occasionally remind each other of that conversation.

00:30:33.620 That's cool.

00:30:34.260 Well, that's at least you're being sincere and authentic about it.

00:30:36.440 You know, but you know what, when she calls me and she says, Hey, listen, there's a pilot.

00:30:40.280 I'm going for it.

00:30:41.440 If you say yes, but if I get the job, I shoot in Austin.

00:30:45.500 Are you in?

00:30:46.560 And I've never said no.

00:30:48.120 And I don't know how we do it.

00:30:49.720 And, you know, and she's like, but how?

00:30:51.280 And I'm like, don't worry about how we'll figure it out.

00:30:53.400 We'll do it.

00:30:54.320 You know, you want to, you want to take that job in Toronto?

00:30:56.780 I'm in.

00:30:57.380 And meanwhile, I'm like, please take the job in Toronto.

00:31:01.040 So it's a two way highway.

00:31:02.320 Both of you guys are working with each other on that.

00:31:04.140 Okay.

00:31:04.300 So let's talk about the money part.

00:31:07.480 Like, I'm always curious.

00:31:09.380 I did a video the other day.

00:31:10.660 I said, why we pay $60 for a $10 steak, right?

00:31:15.700 So, you know, and I make my point behind why we pay $60 for a $10 steak.

00:31:19.940 I can buy it from the same place and they get it from here.

00:31:22.520 And I have a friend who owns Rafi's Place.

00:31:24.520 And I don't know if you're familiar with Rafi's Place in Glendale, the Mediterranean, you know,

00:31:27.980 Middle Eastern restaurant.

00:31:28.800 And they do very well.

00:31:30.760 And so I'm just fascinated by everything with the business aspect of restaurants.

00:31:34.740 Not that I'm trying to get into it.

00:31:35.860 I'm just really curious about it.

00:31:38.240 So on the business side of it, how do you figure out pricing?

00:31:42.020 Like, you know, you sit there and you say, is it something where it's, we paid $25 for this, whatever it is.

00:31:50.520 Okay, so our margins have to be 40%.

00:31:53.860 So if this is $25, I have to sell it for $75.

00:31:58.480 And that $50 I have in here, out of that $50, $35 of it is going to cover our entire cost.

00:32:05.340 $15 is going to be profit.

00:32:06.360 Is there a whole math behind the score footage?

00:32:09.820 This is what I'm paying.

00:32:10.500 So there is a math behind it as well.

00:32:12.200 Yeah, for sure.

00:32:12.980 So, you know, and it's real simple.

00:32:15.000 Your food cost should be somewhere in the vicinity of 30%, meaning your GP is 70, right?

00:32:20.800 So your food cost should be there.

00:32:22.640 Your labor should be somewhere around 35 to 40.

00:32:25.880 You're quickly at 70.

00:32:27.380 Your cam costs are going to be somewhere around 15%.

00:32:30.220 Wow, your dinner would have 15%.

00:32:31.600 15% cam cost. 1.00

00:32:33.080 Holy shit. 0.99

00:32:33.220 You know, it depends where you are, right? 0.99

00:32:34.740 Like we have one restaurant in Beverly Hills and the other one's on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

00:32:38.340 You've got expensive rent.

00:32:39.720 And you also have to try and figure out how much you're going to spend and then how you amortize those costs back.

00:32:46.460 So if you, you know, you spend $5 million, you mentioned $7 million before about your friend's restaurant.

00:32:50.720 If you spend $7 million on something, you have to figure out, well, what's the lifespan of this restaurant, you know, conservatively?

00:32:57.860 Is it 10 years?

00:32:59.240 Is it 30 years?

00:33:00.220 Is it 5 years?

00:33:01.240 You know, like I don't want to invest in something that I think is going to be around 30 years because there aren't many of them that make it.

00:33:06.680 So 10 years is good.

00:33:08.000 How do you think?

00:33:09.500 Because as an investor, a guy came up to me the other day and he says, Ezekiel Elliott, the running back of Cowboys.

00:33:16.440 I'm in Dallas.

00:33:17.020 He wants to open up a restaurant and they're looking for this deal.

00:33:19.420 It's $6 million.

00:33:20.440 Do you want to come in for $2 million?

00:33:22.160 So I'm like, okay.

00:33:23.660 Then in my mind, before I even said yes, no, or let me look at the numbers.

00:33:27.200 First thing I said, I said, you know what?

00:33:30.880 How many specialty restaurants are around?

00:33:33.320 I'm not talking about Capital Grill.

00:33:35.020 I'm not talking about Ruth Chris.

00:33:36.760 I'm not talking about, you know, like even a Crustaceans that's a on family and the story they have behind it or Maestros.

00:33:45.100 I'm talking about how many restaurants you see that's a one-off comes and gone in four years.

00:33:48.720 What happened to my $6 million or $2 million I put in?

00:33:50.940 So the math behind it, are investors going in knowing, like, do you sell it as this is going to be a five-year restaurant?

00:33:59.200 In the next five years, your $2 million is going to probably make you $3.5 million.

00:34:03.200 So I'm giving you a 75% return in five years if we do this.

00:34:07.580 Does it go into count like that?

00:34:10.080 It usually does.

00:34:11.660 Restaurants are way too personal for me.

00:34:13.340 So I don't have any investors.

00:34:14.760 It's all my money.

00:34:15.680 I made that decision early on and we took a small bite with a small restaurant.

00:34:19.520 It's 1,200 square feet more.

00:34:20.660 By the way, few people do that.

00:34:22.240 Very few.

00:34:22.760 So you're not common.

00:34:23.900 No, you'd be surprised.

00:34:25.280 Virtually none.

00:34:26.280 For a good reason.

00:34:27.280 Yeah.

00:34:27.580 It's not easy.

00:34:28.500 You know, to me, it was so important to get it right and to give such a great product.

00:34:32.800 I never wanted to have to sit at a table with a bunch of people and say, I promised you something and now I'm going to renege on it.

00:34:39.360 You know, so to me, it was always, it was way more personal.

00:34:42.500 Different businesses, sure, I'd take on partners.

00:34:44.620 But for the restaurant business, no.

00:34:46.360 So you make me, just so you know, when I come here, you make me, in my mind, think about that.

00:34:54.020 How important is it going to be for you to come through 100%?

00:34:56.560 Because this is your name on the line, your money on the line.

00:34:58.960 Right.

00:34:59.340 This isn't, if I just lost $600,000, you're going to lose a lot of it.

00:35:02.800 Okay.

00:35:03.460 And restaurants turn over a fair bit of money.

00:35:05.540 You know, we turn over a lot of money.

00:35:07.080 But like I just went through it with you, and that's the optimum goal.

00:35:12.300 Fine dining restaurants, they can get to 35, 37% food cost.

00:35:17.020 Your labor can get to 45, 50% labor.

00:35:20.480 And then you quickly say, you ain't got a lot left.

00:35:24.080 Right.

00:35:24.600 So then you have your camp costs.

00:35:26.020 They're always going to be around 15%.

00:35:27.560 As long as you did your deals properly.

00:35:29.340 And you keep your revenue strong.

00:35:30.800 So like, you know, there's nothing left.

00:35:34.040 You know, so you've got to be crafty.

00:35:37.580 You've got to be scrappy in this business, or you don't make it.

00:35:39.700 Are you counting that as well?

00:35:40.940 Are you counting the bar part of it as well?

00:35:42.480 Oh, yeah.

00:35:42.560 So that's part of the whole 30, 35, and 15.

00:35:45.420 Interesting.

00:35:46.000 Okay.

00:35:46.460 So last but not least, a couple of fun questions here for you.

00:35:49.520 Yourself with restaurants, I'm assuming you don't just eat here, right?

00:35:52.920 You're going to go to other places.

00:35:53.920 Oh, for sure.

00:35:54.160 Okay.

00:35:54.480 Yeah.

00:35:54.800 So a couple of things.

00:35:55.840 One, what do you look for?

00:35:57.680 Two, who do you like today?

00:35:59.700 So let's start off with what do you look for?

00:36:01.120 You go into a restaurant.

00:36:01.980 You've got to be very critical.

00:36:02.940 The other day, I'm in Breckenridge last week.

00:36:05.120 We're snowing and snowboarding.

00:36:06.580 I'm trying to snowboard.

00:36:07.420 My wife is skiing.

00:36:08.960 And this lady sitting next to us with her husband, I start talking to them. 0.99

00:36:12.380 And I said, what do you do?

00:36:13.260 She says, I'm a dentist.

00:36:14.980 Okay.

00:36:15.220 I said, that's cool.

00:36:15.740 I said, do you look at everybody?

00:36:17.580 And when you look at them, do you automatically go like this?

00:36:19.340 She says, I hate to say it, I do.

00:36:21.060 I said, so what do you look for?

00:36:21.940 Do you look for it being off?

00:36:23.000 She says, no, I just look for it to see the color of it.

00:36:25.480 Is that right?

00:36:25.980 Yeah, that's what she said.

00:36:26.700 I'm like, that's interesting.

00:36:27.740 So you look at the color of the teeth as a dentist.

00:36:30.260 Yourself, you go to a restaurant, you've been on the front end, back end, finance,

00:36:34.220 and what are you looking for?

00:36:35.620 Look, it depends where I am.

00:36:36.820 We went skiing in Mammoth with our kids.

00:36:39.020 And I don't know anyone up there.

00:36:40.220 I don't know any of the chefs.

00:36:41.320 I don't know any of the restaurants.

00:36:42.420 So you sort of, you do, you wander around.

00:36:44.800 In some ways, I sort of think, okay, I'm in a ski resort.

00:36:47.740 What kind of chefs, like it's hard for me to get great chefs here in LA that want to

00:36:51.420 come work for me.

00:36:52.360 I have no idea how hard it is to be up in a ski field where you do very little business

00:36:56.960 for nine months of the year or six months of the year, and then you get slammed.

00:37:00.420 Not a point.

00:37:01.000 You know, like that to me is going to be really difficult to run that operation.

00:37:05.100 So I sort of look for something that is a little foolproof.

00:37:09.060 You know, like a steakhouse is a good example.

00:37:10.760 It's not that hard to fry some potatoes and cook a nice steak.

00:37:13.880 But if you go somewhere that's doing a slowly cooked rabbit with a blah, blah, blah, you

00:37:18.300 know, because us as chefs, we get a little above ourselves sometimes, and we try and do

00:37:22.880 more than we should.

00:37:24.100 So I always try and pull it back.

00:37:26.300 And, you know, even in a place, you can go to a restaurant, they can have all this stuff,

00:37:30.600 some of it exotic.

00:37:31.680 If I look around and I'm like, yeah, this is a pretty simple joint.

00:37:34.280 I'm going to have a steak and a couple of sides.

00:37:36.500 So do you find yourself being more understanding?

00:37:39.120 Like, let's just say your wife says, I cannot believe they took such a long time and this

00:37:42.800 doesn't take, do you find yourself being more understanding?

00:37:45.200 Babe, listen, you don't know what happened.

00:37:46.700 Maybe it, or are you more critical?

00:37:48.440 So where do you find yourself being?

00:37:50.400 No, I'm pretty easy going.

00:37:51.680 Okay.

00:37:52.020 Yeah.

00:37:52.300 Like, I understand the business.

00:37:54.740 I'm like, you know, someone asked me, your table's not quite ready.

00:37:57.600 It's going to be 10 minutes.

00:37:58.420 I'm like, sweet.

00:37:59.020 We'll get a drink at the bar.

00:38:00.120 Wow.

00:38:00.320 So you're more understanding than you are on the opposite side.

00:38:03.180 For sure.

00:38:03.600 That's amazing because Armand from Rafi's place is the same way.

00:38:07.160 Yeah.

00:38:07.400 And he over tips always.

00:38:09.260 He never tips 20%.

00:38:10.780 You know, he says, you don't know what these guys go through.

00:38:12.880 I'm always a 30% to 50% tip guy.

00:38:15.100 Wow.

00:38:15.460 That he gives.

00:38:15.920 I can't even believe him.

00:38:16.860 He says, because I...

00:38:17.280 Send him in here.

00:38:18.100 I...

00:38:18.460 Yeah.

00:38:19.260 Just send him over here.

00:38:20.940 Armand, if you're watching this, you got to come and eat over here at Mott and at Quinn's.

00:38:25.640 So last but not least, your restaurants.

00:38:27.860 What do you look for?

00:38:28.680 You know, you go to a restaurant.

00:38:30.040 What's your favorite restaurants right now that maybe you've been to today?

00:38:32.640 You say, these guys deliver.

00:38:33.480 You know, I was just in San Francisco.

00:38:36.540 I went to Dominique Crenn's restaurant, Atelier Crenn.

00:38:38.980 And I've got to say, I think it's the best restaurant in the country.

00:38:42.460 Really?

00:38:42.760 She's such a talented chef. 0.99

00:38:44.220 Beautiful food.

00:38:45.280 Very feminine. 0.90

00:38:46.380 The way she plates is amazing.

00:38:48.300 Everything tasted fantastic.

00:38:50.020 I was really blown away.

00:38:51.360 There's experimental chefs like Grant Atchett's in Chicago that just blow my mind with their

00:38:56.440 creativity.

00:38:57.420 Daniel Hume from 11 Madison Park.

00:39:00.020 You know, again, they're all chef-driven restaurants.

00:39:02.300 They're chefs that have toiled away in the kitchen for most of their life.

00:39:05.360 And they love it.

00:39:06.300 Their craft is to turn ingredients into something that just tastes fantastic.

00:39:11.440 So do you trust the Michelin?

00:39:12.780 Like, do you go and you...

00:39:13.800 I do.

00:39:14.280 You do trust Michelin?

00:39:15.260 I think it's a very, very well put together guide.

00:39:19.160 It has real credibility in the way that they inspect the restaurants.

00:39:22.320 So if the Michelin guides are looking at something that's in contention for two or three stars,

00:39:26.920 they'll visit it five times over a 12-month period by different inspectors.

00:39:31.220 They'll all write a paper on it.

00:39:32.560 And then at the end of the year, they sit around.

00:39:34.840 The inspectors sit around.

00:39:36.680 They read the papers.

00:39:38.360 And they talk about how it should be rated.

00:39:40.880 To me, that's very fair.

00:39:41.980 You know, if you're totally determined, your fate's totally determined by one critic,

00:39:47.840 that critic might have a little thing about this or that that he likes or dislikes or she likes or dislikes.

00:39:53.040 And through my experience of traveling the world and eating in different restaurants,

00:39:56.960 usually if it has a Michelin star, it's good.

00:39:58.960 If it has two Michelin stars, it's really good.

00:40:00.940 So you trust it.

00:40:01.520 That's good to know that you, even in your world, you're banking on that as well.

00:40:04.980 And what project are you working on right now?

00:40:07.040 If people want to see what project you're on, you know, what shows you're working on,

00:40:10.940 what next things that are coming up, what are some things you're working on right now?

00:40:13.600 I've got a show called Top Chef Junior, which is the Top Chef, of course, that we all know and love from Bravo.

00:40:19.540 We've done a new one for Universal Kids, so that's there on Universal Kids.

00:40:23.780 I've got a line of kitchenware that we developed, you know, great pots and pans.

00:40:27.520 And, you know, interesting stuff that make your life a bit easier in the kitchen.

00:40:30.840 What's it called?

00:40:31.600 It's called DuraPan is the name of the cookware, and then the Curtis Stone line is the rest of it.

00:40:37.040 And we sell that at HSN, so you can go and check out the whole assortment there.

00:40:41.020 Nice.

00:40:41.660 Very cool.

00:40:42.280 Well, brother, appreciate you letting us come here.

00:40:44.260 Nice hanging out with you, mate.

00:40:45.060 Getting an experience on the behind the scenes.

00:40:46.740 You've got to stick around now and have dinner.

00:40:48.000 I would love to.

00:40:48.860 I came earlier.

00:40:49.760 I said, I want to try the food before I talk to Curtis.

00:40:52.240 And I talked to your hostess.

00:40:53.300 I said, listen, can I order from the dinner menu?

00:40:56.680 He says, no, sir, we can't do that.

00:40:58.080 We have luck with the fires.

00:40:59.800 I'm like, come on.

00:41:00.000 I'm looking at the meat.

00:41:01.180 I said, give me that bone and ribeye right there. 1.00

00:41:03.960 I was in love with it, right?

00:41:05.640 I said, I'll come back and do it another time.

00:41:07.660 I'll respect the restaurant.

00:41:09.300 I'm sorry.

00:41:09.960 Maybe another time.

00:41:10.440 It takes us a couple of hours to light the fires.

00:41:12.240 That's exactly why I said I'm not even going to push it.

00:41:14.260 I said, I'm coming back because I want to go to Maude because she was telling me about

00:41:18.140 how Maude is set up.

00:41:18.940 I'm really curious about that.

00:41:20.020 And this.

00:41:20.720 So I'm giving you a commitment.

00:41:21.920 I'm in LA all the time.

00:41:22.720 I'm going to come back.

00:41:23.400 And I'll let you know.

00:41:24.040 I'm in time.

00:41:24.320 Hopefully, I'll get a chance to come by and say hello.

00:41:26.360 Again, brother, appreciate you.

00:41:27.340 Thank you.

00:41:27.640 Thanks, everybody, for listening.

00:41:29.020 And by the way, if you haven't already subscribed to Valuetainment on iTunes, please do so.

00:41:33.760 Give us a five-star.

00:41:35.060 Write a review if you haven't already.

00:41:36.660 And if you have any questions for me that you may have, you can always find me on Snapchat,

00:41:40.720 Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.

00:41:42.700 Just search my name, Patrick VidDavid.

00:41:44.600 And I actually do respond back when you snap me or send me a message on Instagram.

00:41:49.580 With that being said, have a great day today.

00:41:51.320 Take care, everybody.

00:41:52.040 Bye-bye.

00:41:57.640 Bye-bye.

Valuetainment - September 26, 2018

Episode 175： What it Costs to Run a Restaurant by Celebrity Chef Curtis Stone

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript