Three industry trailblazers who turned their restaurant dreams into reality, an inspirational poet, and an innovative mixologist took the stage at CREATE: The Event for Emerging Restaurateurs on Wednesday to close out the three-day conference with a bang.
The program agenda called it “The Closing Toast — A Grand Finale Brunch & Spotlight Session,” and attendees were greeted at the door with a mimosa to set the tone. Then the morning kicked off with Tucker Bryant, poet, artist, and ex-Silicon Valley leader who revved up the crowd “to do things differently.” His outside-the-box presentation inspired the operators and suppliers in attendance to “stop improving and start evolving.”
Through real-life examples and visuals, Bryant shared several positive ways to put that directive into action:
• Write by erasing; what can you remove from your business to make room for new ideas, he asked. You cannot change anything without risking destroying what was there before
• Aim for the trash can to get in touch with your best ideas. Know you will make mistakes; you don’t have to be perfect to succeed
• Be who you aren’t and be flexible about how you lead
The audience continued to be inspired as Nation’s Restaurant News’ Editor-in-Chief Sam Oches brought Ike Shehadeh to the stage to share how he persevered to start Ike’s Love & Sandwiches, a concept that now numbers 110 locations. The conversation was set up talk show-style to add to the more relaxed vibe.
Shehadeh opened his first restaurant in San Francisco without all the permits he needed because of the city’s tangled web of red tape. He put 46 sandwiches on the menu, layered with ingredients not seen in every sandwich shop. Ike’s got a lot of media attention and rose to No. 1 on Yelp. “The restaurant was doing so well, but I still couldn’t get the permits,” Shehadeh said. Eventually he had to close the location and start over.
What kept him going was the “love” part of the restaurant’s name. “I asked myself why I was doing this, and it was to eat, cook, and create memories. Bigger than fighting with the city was the promise I made to myself that I would never quit,” said Shehadeh. “This is what I love and I won’t stop.”
Eventually, he opened again and grew his idea into the successful concept it is today. “I sell what I want to sell; this is what inspires me,” he said.
Beignet Box was a similar labor of love for co-founders Christina Milian and Elizabeth Morris, next up as Oches’ guests on the CREATE talk show set. The two friends started the concept by bringing the New Orleans taste and spirit of beignets to Los Angeles, catering events like weddings, brunches, and film production sets. “My background as a musician and actress helped us to develop an ‘experience’ around beignets,” said Milian. Having more than 7 million Instagram followers helped, too.
Eventually the pair leased a food truck, that was in an accident before it was even put into action. Once it was repaired, the Beignet Box truck parked around LA, selling the pillowy, sugary beignets at various stops. Now the duo has launched branded cold brew that’s selling in groceries and convenience stores and they are beginning to franchise Beignet Box, moving the business to New Orleans, Morris’ hometown as well as the birthplace of that style of beignet.
Sal Capek, co-founder of Fat Sal’s, was the third operator to share his origin story. He started with the idea to build an East Coast-style deli concept with overstuffed sandwiches made with elevated ingredients. “My pet peeve is not getting every part of the sandwich filling in each bite,” Capek said. Fat Sal’s over-the-top sandwiches start with fresh baked bread that may be piled with chicken tenders, onion rings, and mozzarella sticks, to name one example. French fries are another possibility, layered on thinly sliced roast beef with brown gravy.
Even in diet-conscious Los Angeles, the unique sandwich menu caught on when the first location opened in 2010, and now Fat Sal’s has several outposts, including LAX airport. Capek credits his background as an engineer for developing systems that supported the slow but steady growth.
In between these operator “guest appearances” the CREATE audience was treated to cocktail crafting demos by Phil Wills, partner and owner of The Spirits in Motion. Live from the stage, he shook up a French Toast Cold Brew that was handed out for sampling. Wills encouraged attendees to smell the drink before tasting; it was a smooth blend of coffee, maple syrup, half-and-half, a Spanish spirit called Licor 43, and a drop of almond extract with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. Leave out the Licor 43, and it makes a great nonalcoholic option, he suggested.
Later in the program, Wills created a pineapple-based cocktail with coconut water and rum — another that’s easy to adapt for a spirit-free version. “Look to the culinary side to highlight flavors for cocktails,” he told the restaurateurs. Wills has come up with a Caprese drink with mozzarella and tomatoes and is playing around with mushrooms at the bar.
Adding to the party atmosphere of CREATE’s final day was the restaurant trivia game designed by Informa’s own Chris Keating, executive vice president of conferences. The interactive game was played on our phones, with questions like “Where did McDonald’s founders lay out the model for the first McDonald’s? Answer: A tennis court!
Two attendees got the most answers right, and two tied for third—resulting in a sudden death playoff. Ultimately, the answer of “Central Perk” for the name of the restaurant in the TV series “Friends” crowned a third winner. All three received a gift basket of goodies as a prize.
CREATE: The Event for Emerging Restaurateurs was held July 19-22 at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palo Verdes, California outside Los Angeles.
