Ed Brown assumed the leadership of Restaurant Associates in January of 2022 as Chief Executive Officer, a promotion from President of Restaurant Services. Brown has taken the reins from the legendary and recently retired Dick Cattani. Brown brings a “food-first” vision to the new post. In addition, the company is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.
With an eye towards the challenges of the “New Normal”, Brown has assembled an all-star management team of industry professionals to guide Restaurant Associates. Michael Gallagher, a European-trained chef with more than 25 years of experience in culinary and operations, will assume the role of Chief Operating Officer. Dean Martinus is serving as President, Catering Services. Rounding out the team is Einav Gefen, a new face at RA who assumes the role of Chef/Innovator.
Restaurant Associates is widely considered as the pre-eminent onsite dining management company in the industry. Restaurant Associates delivers hospitality excellence to premiere clients in some of country’s top cultural centers, corporate accounts, educational facilities and off-premise catering events. The list is well over 175 accounts.
Headquartered in New York City, Restaurant Associates operates a premier portfolio of corporate accounts, including Condé Nast, WarnerMedia, Sony, Google, Amazon, Tiffany & Co., Tapestry, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Capital One, as well as prestigious law firms and educational facilities, such as Harvard Business School and The Culinary Institute of America. RA’s portfolio also included many of the top museums and cultural centers including the American Museum of Natural History, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City as well as the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the GA Aquarium in Atlanta, Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA and the many Smithsonian Museums in Washington, DC.
With Ed Brown’s mantra of “Once a chef, always a chef”, Total Food Service wanted to share the vision of Restaurant Associates’ management team as they celebrate this unique accomplishment.
As we look at RA’s 75th Anniversary, what is it that we’re celebrating?
I think we’re celebrating quality and our people who have made it that way. It’s a testament to all the great businesses that are still with us, that have been with us so long, and I think we’re celebrating the fact that we’re still a premium company serving premium clients, and we continue to grow.
Can you share some of the highlights and history of this incredible company?
There are really so many highlights in the 75 years of Restaurant Associates. From the establishment of Restaurant Associates in 1947, until the hiring of culinary icons Julia Child and James Beard in 1956, to all of our work with The Four Seasons, the US Open, Lincoln Center, and Harvard, across the decades, Restaurant Associates has been an industry leader from the start.
As Compass Group USA takes the reins of Restaurant Associates, what is the legacy of Dick Cattani, “The Gentleman’s Gentleman”?
We continue his legacy by emulating the way that he operated — with that amazing style and grace. Gentleman really is the first word that comes to mind. He would always choose to do things right, do right by people, be ethical, be accommodating, and be hospitable. It is not the norm for a lot of businesses, but it is for us. He had these two wonderful signs in his office: “Work hard and be nice to people” and “Start With Yes”. And that’s what we’ll be continuing.
The last two years have changed how we live and how we dine. What do you see in terms of corporate dining? What kind of ‘new normal’ are you projecting as offices transition?
We’re projecting for it to be somewhat of a hybrid. We do know that at a minimum, we’re going to see two- or three-day work weeks, which is going to change the way that people eat. I find it’s more about quality of life than being concerned about COVID, because restaurants in New York City, they’re packed. I think, more than ever, the food that is served in those places is about the amenity. Our clients are asking us to step up the game and do an even more special job. They’re asking us to do more: more choice, more upscale.
There must have been some very interesting and challenging conversations with your corporate client base. What’s the template for everybody to win in that scenario?
The template to win is to know that everybody has to give, be reasonable, and be fair. It’s got to be livable on both sides. Everybody has to win, or more importantly, nobody should lose.
What role does good food play on campus and where is on-campus food headed?
I can speak to that from firsthand experience. I have a son who just finished college, and, you know, young people are very food savvy. A lot of kids who are in college, they’re used to eating good food coming from big cities, like my kid coming from New York. They’re looking for interesting, delicious food.
There isn’t a company more dedicated to clean and safe than Restaurant Associates. You guys hired a dedicated, cleanliness czar position very early on. What’s the message to the marketplace?
The message is that safety is not an afterthought. We were always big on food safety. You know, COVID has put safety at a different, a totally different level for us. And as COVID starts to wind down, it just reinforces our commitment and dedication to food safety. It put us into the mindset that people’s lives are at stake with food safety. Coming off of COVID, we’re so much more aware. I think it’s a big advantage for us to really set ourselves apart from our competition in that regard.
Restaurant Associates has long been synonymous with great food, talk about your commitment to building and growing a great culinary team?
We understand that the core of the customer begins with great food. Customers are hungry for new, interesting, and ethnic. It’s about education. Worldwide travel exploded and then people came back to America and said, how about real Italian food, real Spanish food, real Middle Eastern food? That increase in knowledge from diners wanting better food has pushed us 10 decades ahead in the span of a couple of decades. As a cook, I learned the basics, and then I went from classic to wanting to break out of that. I’d ask, how do I make it interesting? Today, it’s: How can I take something off the plate and cook less? If I’m cooking striped bass, who caught it? Did I get it fresh? Did I leave well enough alone? Am I supporting the fisheries? That’s very far from where I started. In addition, many chefs look at RA as a great place to build a career because, with our corporate and cultural accounts, there is scheduling flexibility to balance their lives.
You’ve been entrusted to build the company’s restaurant portfolio. Can you share your crystal ball for that?
Yeah, it’s pretty simple: build outstanding, not-modest restaurants. Our restaurants need to be the ones that are over-the-top and get attention, but we do them in partnership. We develop our restaurants with partners who have an agenda bigger than just having a restaurant. Everywhere where we’re building restaurants, our client partner has a bigger vision than just making money.
What’s your blueprint on ongoing operational success? Obviously, there are supply chain issues right now. Do you see that as a short-term problem and what are you doing to get through that?
So, being part of Compass, there are many sectors and one of the sectors is called Food Buy. Food Buy does all the procurement for all the sectors across the nation and because of their buying power, the supply chain issues have affected us less. Certainly they have affected us, but much less than the average company for sure.
But I will say that between the increased cost of goods, supply chain issues, and inflation the challenge will be to be sure that our clients are with us on price increases.
We find ourselves now in a business with a $17 an hour dishwasher in some cases. What’s your read on the future of the labor force and how you’re going to work your way through that?
I think the problem is a little bit exaggerated and a little bit out of control. We can’t assume that somebody is going to be able to be a porter for us, washing dishes and surviving on $11 or $12 an hour — they just can’t. We have to be much more conscious of these people’s lives outside of the eight or ten hours a day that they spend with us.
Do you ever see a day in which technology could be handling some of those types of positions, or are you committed to having it be a people solution?
Now, we’re a really hands-on type of business. I’m not opposed to entertaining high-tech solutions, and some of our sister companies have them. I think it’s more cool than it is money-saving. There are a lot of opportunities there to reduce labor by way of outsourcing certain parts of your work. There’s just no reason for a dishwasher at $17 or $20 an hour to spend three hours peeling onions. I can buy onions peeled correctly from my produce company now. If I’m able to purchase some of those things, I can cut down labor, I can reduce waste. There are sustainability issues upside there. A lot of pluses. We need to think differently.
Can you speak to the relationship with the communities that you serve?
We are all about employing people and giving opportunities, and we put a lot of our efforts into our common pantry, City Harvest, and a couple of other organizations. That’s really where we focus the most of our charitable efforts.
The last two years, of all the areas that took a big hit, catering was at the top of that list. And yet, I heard that there’s a projected 2.5 million weddings for this year. Talk a little bit about the rebuild of the catering business and what you’re looking to bring to that marketplace?
You’re absolutely right. Catering took the biggest hit. The good news is that more than 60% of my venues across the country, and that includes Wolfgang Puck’s catering, pace reports to be more than 80% full. I think there’s a pent-up demand to want to have celebrations and the natural pent-up obligations of weddings, mitzvahs, etc.
You recently hired Einav Gefen as chef and innovator. What are your hopes for her and Restaurant Associates in the future?
When I returned to the company after working with Restaurant 81, I came back to Restaurant Associates and created the Chef/Innovator position for myself. And when I became CEO, we literally spent two years talking to many people, Einav included, to be sure that we found the right person. What is most right about her is that she is nothing like who I am. That’s exactly why we hired her. She has a different point of view and if there’s anything that I know, as a good leader with a 30-year relationship in this company, is that doing the same thing isn’t the best idea. She has a great point of view. She has a great palette, she’s very involved in sustainability and wellness, and she comes from Israel, so she’s a natural when it comes to plant-forward wellness.
Restaurant Associates partnered with a company called Reframe, to maximize the company, the customer experience with the latest technology. Talk a little bit about your goal for that program.
Much of the customer experience is really aimed at a transformational journey between us and the people working in our RA family. Let’s be sure that we are aware of what our people are thinking and what they’re feeling. We’ve learned that there is a massive amount of unconscious bias out there. We’ve done so much work and many exercises to bring it to the forefront. It was, in some cases, almost embarrassing, or humbling more, to learn. And then just to say it’s okay. Those things exist in your head. Let’s talk about them, let’s get them out, and let’s work against that. It’s been a terrific experience. We had the time during COVID to dive deep into it and we’ve seen good results.
Five years from now, 10 years from now, what do you see for Restaurant Associates?
My first mission is ‘back to a billion and beyond.’ I remember when we celebrated $200 million in revenue many years ago and this company, pre-COVID, we hit $1 billion. My mission is to go beyond that. I want that in the next 18 months and within five years, I want this company at $2 billion.
How do you accomplish that goal?
We’re definitely in acquisition mode as well as organic growth. We also grow a lot with our clients. There’s that growth, but certainly acquisition. Acquisition gets you that $30, $40, $50 million in one deal, growth which you need when you start to be over a billion to grow at 10% a year. You need to act; you need to acquire.
Let’s talk about the rumored acquisition of Meridian Marquis. Is that the type of opportunity that you see going forward?
I think it’s one of the ways we’ll go forward. Take the Marriott acquisition as an example. I think that they learned that they just couldn’t make money. There is enough of that pie for everybody to work out. You can pay the labor, you can handle the food, you can do everything, and there’s money for both parties to be left with some.
• • • • •
After chatting with Ed Brown, TFS wanted to get the perspectives from the key members of the new RA management team. Here are their thoughts on a
variety of topics:
MICHAEL GALLAGHER, Chief Operating Officer:
What are the keys to operational success as we prepare to venture into a “new normal”?
People! Hire the right people who are passionate, enthusiastic, and with an entrepreneurial spirit. Then give them the appropriate training, show them what success looks like, support them along the way, and inspire them to continuously raise the bar. We are constantly looking for and hiring candidates with innate hospitality and a creative mindset for problem solving and continuous improvement. Standard Operating Procedures are another important factor– they need to be constantly updated, communicated and enforced.
What are your thoughts about the on-going chatter about the challenges of the industry’s “supply chain”?
We are going to continue to experiences challenges in the supply chain for the foreseeable future with price increases and inflation. This is an opportunity for us to continue to promote local sourcing and support our local vendors.
We benefit tremendously from our relationship with Foodbuy, our parent company’s purchasing arm. Their industry knowledge, expertise and resources set us up for successfully forecasting needs and collaborating with vendors and distributors to ensure ample supply or appropriate substitutions.
Let’s go back to your comments about the importance of people. Can you expand on that some more?
Labor will continue to be a challenge in this industry and it’s our responsibility to make being in the industry a desired long-term career versus a stop gap or a temporary job. Pay, benefits, a great workplace experience, a robust onboarding and training program, a clear path of career growth and frequent employee recognition and rewards. We need to focus on the talent we have as much as the one we need to attract.
What are your thoughts on building on the “Cattani legacy” of commitments to a number of causes in the communities that RA serves?
As part of our commitment to be a home for talent of all kinds, we are making inclusive recruitment a priority. To date, we are one of the top employers for graduates from Hot Bread Kitchen, Job Path’s Consortium for Customized Employment, Fedcap Rehabilitation Services Inc., C-CAP, Best Buddies and others.
We continue to bring women and minority-owned suppliers into the fold, consistently running pilot programs and full-scale launches with their one-of-a-kind products. Brands we work with include the likes of:
- Matriark Foods: women-owned upcycler of fresh-from-the-farm produce that would have otherwise gone to waste
- Atlantic Sea Farms: women-run, sustainable kelp aquaculture business
- Lekka Burger: women-owned, chef-created vegan burgers
Our long-standing relationship with New York Common Pantry will continue to be a core initiative. We support food rescue efforts that benefit hungry New Yorkers. In the past three years, R/A has provided New York Common Pantry with more than 37,000 meals to help feed those in need.
EINAV GEFEN, Chef/Innovator:
Einav, in this new position, is this about listening to what people want to eat or is this about challenging and stimulating them with new flavor and texture profiles?
It is all about balance. Like anything in the food world (and what makes this industry so fascinating), it is never just one thing. It is about making the everyday food delicious while introducing something new to diners who want to experience the latest trends. It is about offering a variety of flavors to those who dine with us every day in a workplace setting and serving enticing options to those who may visit a cultural center once a year. It is also about keeping up with the fast-evolving technology in both back and front of house, remembering that we are serving a multi-generational and diverse clientele. At the end of the day, it is about listening to what our guests and clients want, anticipating what they may need, and making sure we meet and exceed those expectations in the most efficient way while keeping our eyes on the quality, because we all know that taste is king.
What are your thoughts on long term trends for what we will be eating?
In the next 5 years, we will see the evolution of the food industry in reaction to the aftermath of the pandemic. With a lot of money being poured into food tech, we will see immersion of more affordable solutions that will promote efficiency, but the adoption will be slow. Many companies, small and large, will need to re-evaluate their culture and ways of working in order to attract talent back into the industry. Rising operating costs will drive innovation and may change the way business looks or runs today. Consumer influence will grow as they will be more selective on where they want to spend their money. In essence, the next 5 years will be the path to the new equilibrium of the industry. We are hoping to be a guiding light.
Longer term, let’s say 10 years out, I see a food service industry that is very dynamic and with more variables to deal with. We hope to see a more sustainable, resilient industry starting with a more transparent supply chain that will allow small, local, diverse suppliers a way to grow. Sustainability (food waste, plastic reduction, water use) will be a common place driven from both consumers and industry leaders. Chefs will lead the way in creating dishes and menus that reflects a more diverse way of eating relying less on animal protein. In addition, Chefs will continue to use their influence to connect people and communities. Food tech and Agri tech will drive a more efficient, technology-driven industry serving a new generation that is used to having it all at their fingertips.
DEAN MARTINUS, President, Catering Services:
The good news is a project of 2.5 million weddings in 2022. Clearly catering is headed for a dramatic rebirth?
We are keeping with our CxRA recipe of Values: Quality Ingredients and Outstanding Hospitality Service. We are focused on our people: cultivating talent, empowering innovation and rebuilding relationships with clients to establish confidence in having a safe event for everyone starting with our own team. Flexibility is key as we reimagine what the new possible is for event catering: innovative menus and presentations, variety of service styles, and an inherent sense of comfort and safety in stye. There has been remarkable shifts in the marketplace from clients expectations, venue guidelines, to supply chain issues and more. We pride ourselves on having tremendous resources to pull it all together from all our catering companies: CxRA, Occasions, Max Ultimate Food and Mazzone Hospitality. Our combined “Lessons Learned” and sharing of best practices makes us stronger as we emerge from the pandemic.
All photos by Eric Vitale Photography
