Herman School of Business
Rebounding is tough.
This time last year my son got “the call” from people he admired and respected in the hotel/culinary world. At the time this call came, asking him to move half-way around the world, our family owned and operated “Baltimore’s Best” restaurant and Bed and Breakfast, the Abacrombie.
Almost five years earlier we had taken over a popular boutique hotel with only twelve rooms, and an 80 seat fine dining restaurant. Sonny left his job with the Ritz Carlton hotel in Naples, Florida and we renovated the restaurant and four members of our family became full time workers at a business in the cultural district of the city. The Symphony Center was across the street…the Opera House down two blocks…colleges and hospitals all nearby. Within two years we were in Bon Apetit magazine, Wine Spectator, Saveur, Baltimore magazine, and Food Network star Rachael Ray even did one her television shows from our restaurant. In short, Sonny had created a unique dining experience that brought winemakers from around the world to host parties as they introduced new products to patrons from Washington and Baltimore who dined with us.
After the initial losses associated with any start-up, the place actually made Sonny a living and turned a nice profit. In brief, Sonny had accomplished his goals in owning his first restaurant. As the property owner I was making a nice return on my real estate investment as they always paid their rent. And “the call” was an offer to head up a restaurant at a beautifully renovated castle in Austria. Not a Hollywood movie set castle, a real 1,000 year old castle with almost three hundred million dollars of renovation. It was staggering to see. Sonny would be the Head Chef with many people under him at a resort hosting the richest travelers in Europe on a gorgeous Lake which looked like a picture postcard setting. Sonny took the job, we put the Abacrombie up for sale, and he went to Austria. We sold in April just before the big real estate collapse and got more then we ever could now, so our timing was perfect, and the profit from the venture much appreciated.
Once in Austria, Sonny was not disappointed in the property…it is more beautiful in person than even the pictures showed. I can attest to that as I visited there last Fall. Millions invested in a summer resort, and when it opened in May the crowds flocked in to stay there. Full occupancy every night. The struggles of speaking German were surely difficult, but the idyllic setting for his wife and daughter made it bearable for Sonny, the “English only” speaking American. And then came the Fall, and empty rooms. And an empty restaurant. Every day after the summer season ended was a disaster. There were many straight days when the property took in less than ten thousand dollars in revenue with a debt service of millions per month to meet. Gulp. Battles raged between management and staff. Were the people not coming in because of bad service or food…or were they not coming in because management didn’t have any events planned and no one goes to the Lake when it is cold…they go to the mountains to ski. In any event after four months of no business and no diners in the restaurant, Sonny and the management made a mutual decision…he would head back to America, and they could try a cheaper, local Chef to save pennies, when millions were going down the drain.
Sonny is sitting in the other room now…contemplating his next move.. Does he go back to cooking at a major property in America? Does he start his own place up again? Is this the time to totally change directions and do something different? The next few days will be tough for him. Finding your way when a dream has gone sour is always hard. I have some ideas for him, but it is his call in the final analysis isn’t it.
- Posted: 16 January 2008
- Comments: 0
- Category: Business failure
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