Executive Briefing
New rules for the restaurant business
It’s time to think beyond being chefs and hosts and more like merchants, publishers, creators, and community leaders.
By Dan Frommer on Wednesday, March 10, 2021 at 8:00 am
Here’s something that’s been driving me crazy for the past year: Seeing some of my favorite restaurants — popular, successful ones — go out of business because of a lease. Because a contract someone signed years ago — which tied their fate to a specific room in a building — went south during the pandemic.
This bothers me — as someone who spends an inordinate amount of time contemplating the value of intellectual property, brand “world” creation, and audience — because restaurants are so much more than kitchens and dining rooms.
Chefs and restaurateurs have built many of the world’s most beloved and influential brands, but they haven’t captured nearly a proportionate amount of value.
Restaurants provide sustenance and hospitality, yes, but also entertainment, education, identity, culture, and community. This has been dramatically magnified over the past decade by social media, global travel, and the popular rise of food culture.
Yet for most restaurants, their enterprise value is still tied primarily to a room full of tables — and a rigid, unimaginative, now-outdated idea of their business.
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