Octopus!

It has been far too long since my last posting, but in large part that has been due to some of the great progress that we have been making on many different fronts. One of the areas in which we have made some of our greatest strides is culinary innovation. After a recent trip to New York City to check out some of the new foodie hot spots that I read so much about through different trade magazines and dining reviews, I was inspired to try one spot that had been hailed as the best spot in the city for Octopus by the New York Times food critic, Frank Bruni. After tasting this large, extremely tender tentacle of the octopus, I couldn't help but think that there was something missing. Although the octopus was definitely the star of the show, from a flavor perspective it came across a bit bland. I knew that there was room to improve here, and that we could take this ingredient to another level.

After returning home from my trip, I sat down with my father to discuss the new item. As it happens so many times, once his mind starts racing with an ingredient or preparation, his passion for food takes the dish to another level. In this particular case, we discussed the idea of bringing something familiar to an ingredient that is very unfamiliar to the suburbs of Atlanta. In a short period of time the dish was complete, and I have to say that it definitely exceeded my expectations.

The dish, grilled Barbecue Octopus, is lightly charred and dressed with a unique barbecue sauce recipe that according to many of our customers, "should be bottled." We serve it atop caramelized fennel and shallots with crunchy potatoes that are dressed with a touch of Pecorino Romano cheese. Since we created this dish, I have to say that we were a bit skeptical that people would be averse to trying it. However, in the few short weeks that we have been offering the special, it sells out almost every night and we have trouble keeping it in stock.

This particular dish has renewed my faith that Atlanta is becoming a foodie city where people are not afraid to try some the delicacies that are so popular around the world. Octopus is an ingredient that is almost ubiquitous in countries like Italy, Greece, Spain, and Japan. There is no reason that we should not be enjoying this fantastic ingredient like so many others around the world.

In preparation of New Year's Eve

It is about that time of year now, where the holiday parties have come and gone, and in our business we begin to prepare for New Year's eve. For most of us in the restaurant business, New Year's eve is our super bowl. It is one of the busiest days of the year, and with that unusually high demand comes the onslaught of price gouging restaurants with their expensive pre-fixe menus featuring their same old food. What is particularly bothering about these menus is that much of the time, the kitchen par-cooks everything because they know exactly what the guest is going to order. The result is essentially airplane food in a somewhat more enjoyable atmosphere.

In my opinion, if the kitchen cannot handle a busy night where your restaurant is filled to capacity, you have more things to worry about than just New Year's eve. Therefore, we have decided to run our normal menu with the addition of some carefully designed specials for the night.

I also believe that the guests going out on New Year's Eve want to visit their favorite restaurant, and enjoy a meal as they normally do without having to worry about astronomical prices and fewer choices. After taking many reservations already for New Year's Eve, I have found that many of our customers are relieved to hear that we will not be doing an over-priced pre fixe menu. Again, the formula in our business still hasn't changed; if you offer the customer a great food and service experience at the right price, you will be successful.

It has been quite a ride

It has been too long since my last post, and I have a few things to reflect on after the past two months of insanity. First, much of my hard work is beginning to pay off in our Duluth location. It is getting busier by the day, and the customers seem to be connecting with the brand and concept more than ever before in this location. It has been a long and grueling road to get here, and I believe that the difficulties are not yet over, but there is much to be proud of. The great thing about being a restaurateur is that you have an idea of how well you are doing simply by the reaction of the customers. By being in contact and building relationships with the people who enjoy my restaurant, I get a greater sense of our overall execution level. On a daily basis we hear comments such as, "this is the best Italian restaurant we have ever been to" or "this is as good as anything we have had in Italy." And although these comments give you perspective as well as an ego boost, you can never become too comfortable with your current position. I think that this is a trait of great restaurateurs. It is a blessing, but it is also a curse. You can never be happy, but you will always being inching towards greatness, something that is only achievable in the minds of others. You as the restaurateur and creator will never believe that you have finished the race, because the race is never over. You can always get better, and you can always challenge yourself to do things that you never thought were possible.

Why it is all worth it...

I have copied below an excerpt from a recent customer email. This was written by a father from Detroit, whose son lives in Alpharetta and celebrated his 30th birthday with us last night.

Here is the email:

"Thanks to you and Sugo, my son Jason's birthday dinner was an absolute triumph. He was blown away by the wine, the food, the service and the friendliness. He could not get over the fantastic finish of the CastelGiocondo Brunello di Montalcino. He is relatively new to the world of wine - about the last five years - but both he and Cas were exclaiming that it was the best wine they had ever tasted. But aside from the wine, he will always remember the overall experience - a triumph of true Italian hospitality. I was dismayed to read in your blog that the Johns Creek location was presenting you with a challenge. I sincerely hope that you succeed in turning it around. Your philosophy is right on. Earlier in my newspaper career (like 35 years ago), I used to review top level restaurants, and, unfortunately, only a few had chefs de cuisine with your passion. It is an emotion very much missing in most of today's restaurant scene. It may be a year or so before I get back to Atlanta, but the first place we'll head for is the Johns Creek Sugo. Feel free to excerpt and share this message any way you want. And again, thank you for taking a personal interest and making my son feel special and treating him like a guest rather than a customer. Considering that we have never met, it was an incredibly generous gesture for you to take such a personal interest -- mille grazie -- Matt Fiorito"

When you work morning till night, six days a week in your business, these are the kind of comments that keep you going, and give you renewed energy to continue the pursuit of excellence.

The Beauty of Brunello

Last week I had a customer of ours, Jim Curnyn stop into the restaurant with his wife and order my favorite wine on the menu, the 2002 CastelGiocondo Brunello di Montalcino. As we began talking about Brunello, where it comes from, and my upcoming trip to Montalcino (the small commune in Tuscany where the wine is created), he started talking about his daughter's most recent trip to Italy. He mentioned that she couldn't stop talking about Brunello, which is ultimately why he purchased the bottle of wine that night. His wife chided him on purchasing the expensive bottle of wine, but he retorted, "if its good enough for our daughter, then it's good enough for me." My sentiments exactly! Everyone should be able to enjoy a good Brunello at least one time in his or her life.

Realizing that it was Jim's first time enjoying a bottle of Brunello, I had to figure out a way to augment the experience for him. Great Sangiovese wines like Brunello di Montalcino are created for food. Missing out on the fantastic experience of pairing the wine with a great Italian cheese is almost a crime. Therefore, I went back to the kitchen and made up a small plate of Ragusano cheese, a hard cow's milk cheese from Sicily, dressed with an amazing Qaratum estate bottled extra virgin olive oil. The pairing of hard cheese and Sangiovese wine is a classic. As I approached the table with the small plate, I instructed him to first taste the wine, then taste the cheese and olive oil, and finally wash the cheese down with a sip of Brunello. Following the little experiment, Jim was blown away. He exclaimed, "This is Italy! I feel like I am sitting in a Trattoria in Tuscany." It also didn't hurt that his server had a European accent as well.

The beauty of Sangiovese wines, and especially Brunello is that the tannins and natural acidity of the grape make for such a pleasurable experience when paired with hard cheeses and olive oil. The natural oils in the cheeses interact with the wine's acidity to cleanse your palate, making the wine feel softer and less acidic while still accentuating the flavors of the wine. This, in my opinion is the essence of food and wine pairing.

Sorry for the delay in posting, I have been working tirelessly in our Johns Creek location to build customer satisfaction and loyalty. Although, all signs are pointing up, which is good. I guess there is no substitute for hard work; however, something tells me that this is not breaking news.

The Art of Food and Wine Pairing

I have always wondered why so few restaurants or restaurant servers attempt to make wine pairing suggestions for their guests. The only times I have seen this done is in convoluted menus where the wine pairing is listed just below the dish. This effort, in my opinion is always a failure. For one, rarely does anyone sit down at a restaurant and decide what they are going to order for dinner and then choose a bottle of wine. This is counter intuitive. Furthermore, no one wants to sift through the entire menu of food and wine pairings trying to find a wine that they like. To complicate matters more, these lists usually do not have any varietal or region categorization.

There are also other issues that limit the ability of restaurants to offer legitimate wine pairings. Overall wine knowledge is a big one. Many servers and even restaurateurs have little knowledge of how to pair food with wine. Usually the only person in the restaurant that has any food and wine pairing knowledge is the chef. This puts another wrench in the mix because there is usually little communication between that occurs between the chef and the servers, and when it does occur it is very brief and rushed.

In addition, there are many restaurateurs that see their wine list as an afterthought. The resulting list is a perplexing mixture of wines that you could easily find at the end cap in a super market. Furthermore, little thought is given to how these wines will pair with the food.

Ultimately, my major initiative with my wine program as a young restaurateur is to create a place where interesting, reasonably priced wines can be enjoyed with our dishes, and our guests can learn something about food and wine in the process. The truly fantastic thing about food and wine pairing is that the combination of the two forces when done correctly is always better than the two elements individually.

For me, my epiphany with food and wine pairing occurred while I was at Cornell taking of all things, a food and wine pairing class. On my plate, I had two things: a beef tenderloin cooked medium rare and the same tenderloin cooked well done. In front of me, I also had seven different Cabernet Sauvignons from all different regions of the world. After pairing the beef tenderloin with each of these wines, I was astounded by the ability of the wine to pair so differently with the same food cooked in two different ways. Effectively, I was opened up to a whole new world of complexity and intricacy within a subject matter where I had previously felt comfortable. I also realized that when executed well, food and wine together can create a sublime and eye opening experience. My goal is to be able to provide my customers with that moment of epiphany on a nightly basis. Now the only challenge is to figure out ways to do that. And I can tell you now, I am already thinking about it.

A Unique Approach

The other day I was discussing the concept of service and hospitality with a friend of mine. Inevitably we started comparing the different brands of service that existed in the marketplace, whether it be chain restaurants or independents. I was then reminded of a recent dinner meeting that I had with the head of one of the top chain restaurant companies in the country. I think it is also important to note that this chain is renowned for their service standards and overall excellence. When I was talking with this gentleman, we started discussing what he felt was one of their major keys to service success: execution. As we talked about their style of execution, we ultimately began discussing their mystery shop system that allows them to test their servers on their ability to meet the company's very high standards. Following our dinner, I was able to see a copy of this mystery shop, and I can tell you that I was definitely not prepared for what I was about to see.

This company's mystery shop focused almost only on the timing of service throughout the meal. For instance, if the appetizers were not on the table within six minutes, points would be deducted. There was a timing standard for every single part of the dining experience. Ultimately, I was impressed but found the system limiting. For instance, if you were served your entree in exactly 12 minutes, but the server was rude there is no way of communicating this information.

In my opinion that is the difference between quantitative and qualitative service. As I see our brand of service, we definitely focus on the more qualitative tenets of service. What I mean by this is that we exert a tremendous effort to try to make the guest feel more important, valued, and happy while they are with us, and doing so through personal touches. I believe that an owner of a great restaurant should be constantly developing personal relationships with his or her customers. I think that the bond that a customer builds with a restaurant is much stronger if there is a personal connection that develops as opposed to mechanical execution of service. To me, this is difference between great independent restaurants and great chain restaurants.