You should know our concept: The Executive Summary

The Opportunity
If you ask Angelenos where to get good Spanish food in the city, they will send you to the temple of molecular gastronomy in LA, The Bazaar, or trendy wine bars that include so-called “tapas” as an afterthought, or worse yet, shoddily-run smaller businesses with little ambiance and low-quality food. Ración will address the gap of high-quality, affordable, and casual Spanish-cuisine dining in Los Angeles. Specifically, it will provide sustainably-sourced, unique preparations of traditional Spanish cuisine in a design-forward, modern setting with a European feel and casual, hospitable, and knowledgeable service.

The Concept
Ración seeks to combine the dining traditions and flavors of Spain with the consciousness of a modern Californian dining experience. Ración will introduce a new level of sustainability to the food services industry, one that extends beyond food sourcing and energy efficiency to include sustainability in preparing and serving food. Ración will be an inventory-driven restaurant that creates from what is available rather than allowing a pre-set menu to dictate what it orders, prepares, and inevitably wastes. In addition, Ración will creatively use every part of whole animals to avoid the wastefulness of cooking with “prime” cuts, and reduce hierarchy in its service structure so that employees are empowered to be more productive. Ultimately, Ración hopes to introduce an ever-evolving concept of sustainability to restaurant operations, one that ultimately brings financial benefits to staff and customers.

The Market
Ración’s target market will be customers in Los Angeles who consider themselves “foodies” on two levels: 1) culinarily adventurous and 2) those who are interested in Ración’s sustainability element. Additionally, because Ración aims to realize financial savings through reduction of wastefulness, Ración’s target market includes individuals who are working and value-driven.

The selected location for Ración is in the Eastern Columbia retail space in the Broadway Theater District downtown, at 847 S. Broadway, Los Angeles 90014. The area is in walking distance to dense populations of local loft dwellers, commuting office workers, and the entertainment centers of LA Live and the Staples Center. The area has also received significant media attention as the focus of Councilman Jose Huizar’s economic development effort “Bringing Back Broadway.” As part of the revitalization effort, plans are in place to bring a streetcar connecting the Broadway corridor, the Financial District, and the Historic Core by 2014. RCH Studios, whose client list includes Shutters on the Beach and the W Hotels, has been selected as the architect for the project.

The Competition
Ración’s competition will exist in Downtown LA food-forward restaurants and Spanish-inspired restaurants throughout Los Angeles. There are currently no restaurants in LA that combine moderate prices, sustainable sourcing, and food-forward Spanish cuisine.

The Management
Teresa and Loretta have launched several projects jointly: the Border Grill Truck in LA, COLORS Restaurant in NYC, and COLORS Café, also in NYC. Together, they have determined the strategic directions of multiple concepts, created dynamic and successful teams, and received unprecedented, positive reviews for both food and service. Teresa and Loretta will act as chef and general manager, respectively, through Ración’s first phase of growth.

Loretta Peng: Loretta is an experienced restaurant operator who has launched three restaurants for Le Pain Quotidien in Los Angeles and a mobile catering operation for Border Grill, also in Los Angeles. Most recently, she rebranded COLORS, a struggling fine dining restaurant in New York City around themes of sustainability and launched a more casual outpost, COLORS Café at the NYU Wagner School of Public Service. Prior to her foray into management, Loretta held a Chef de Partie position at the two-Michelin starred Bouley in NYC. She graduated in May 2009 with an MBA from Columbia Business School and holds undergraduate degrees in Economics and American Literature from UCLA.

Teresa Montaño: Teresa is an experienced chef who has led several high-performing culinary teams to rave food reviews both in LA and NYC. She is driven by sustainability in farming and cooking, and has held positions at the Vital Zuman Organic Farm in Malibu and at Tender Greens, the casual organic restaurant. As Sous Chef for Food Network stars Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken, Teresa led the start-up of the Border Grill Truck and earned an internship at the pioneering organic restaurant Nora in Washington DC. She then went on to serve as Executive Chef for COLORS in NYC and conceptualized a locally-sourced menu of global small plates, leading the kitchen to its best reviews since the restaurant launched. She attended the Art Institute of California, Los Angeles for Culinary Management.

The Financials
The amount of equity and debt capital required to launch Ración and cover operating expenses until the restaurant is profitable is $485,282 ($282,700 in start-up expenses, and $202,582 in operating expenses). Financial projections expect revenues to be $1,500,300 at the end of Year 2, with EBIT of $150,400.

Want More?
Check out our history, track record, philosophical musings, and launch process on our blog at www.loloandtere.blogspot.com.

Contact Information
Loretta Peng
310.429.8742
loretta@racionrestaurant.com

Teresa Montaño
323.877.4901
teresa@racionrestaurant.com

Perhaps this post is better suited for my journal

Right on schedule, we finished this morning. We took 3 weeks to write the first draft of our feasibility study, which contains 8 parts: The Opportunity, The Concept, The Market, The Competition, Management Profiles, Key Risks, Timing, and Financials (Projections, B/E Analysis). In sum, the restaurant will be a Spanish-inspired, artisanal restaurant that pushes traditional notions of sustainability (i.e. local-sourcing, composting, etc.) to the next level by examining whether we can make other areas of restaurant operations - such as service, food purchasing, and inventory - more streamlined and less wasteful.

Before I continue work on this project, I feel compelled to put out a disclaimer. Perhaps this post is better suited for my journal. We aren't out to revolutionize the industry, show anyone up (esp. not one of the many famous Spanish chefs out there currently), wag our finger in disdain at any other restaurant or restaurant owner, or even say that we are doing something no one else is doing. Indeed, we plan to launch an artisanal Spanish restaurant and neither of us is fluent in Spanish, we can't bake a loaf of bread to save our lives, and we have only just started to read about butchery.

None of the ideas put forth in our plan haven't been done by others before. Doubtless, hundreds of restaurateurs are more qualified to do what we have set out to do. I know for myself, that there is nothing about restaurants or restaurant operations in which I consider myself an expert. I certainly have not received that designation from any of the many certifying institutions out there.

What I do know, however, is that between the two of us, we do know a little about a lot of different things in this industry. We have good palates for food and wine, good cooking skills, culinary creativity, a working knowledge of hospitality, solid management skills, a pretty good understanding of business, and more than anything else, a heck of a lot of passion for what we do. We might not be James Beard Award winners or Master Sommeliers, experts in the realm of sustainability, or Six Sigma Black Belts, but we are open to learning more and perhaps most importantly, not afraid to admit it when we don't know very much at all.

This is(n't) a post about food

Since 2002, I have moved between NYC and LA 8 times:

• 2002: To NYC for my NYU PhD program in Literature
• 2003: Back to LA on a leave from my program to reevaluate my career
• 2004: To NYC with a new perspective, if not a new career in restaurants
• 2005: Back to LA after getting a nice beating in NYC restaurants
• 2008: To NYC for my Columbia MBA
• 2009: Back to LA with no career prospects from my MBA
• 2010: To NYC to work for the NPO, Restaurant Opportunities Center
• 2010: Back to LA to do my own thing

In that same span of time, I've had 13 different residences: Williamsburg, Bushwick, Arcadia, E. 19th St, Jersey City, Robertson, Los Feliz, Santa Monica, 182nd St, Hollywood, E. 22nd St, E. 29th St, and finally Corralitas Drive. Each time, I've been extraordinarily lucky to have had family in both places to support me (i.e. store my stuff) when I move, but ultimately, I have learned to live with the possessions that fit within two suitcases.

I've never been wedded to my material possessions and have almost always chosen to discard household necessities and start fresh in each new living situation. A caveat is, I've never owned anything I've wanted to keep all that badly (except my books and my knives, which remind me of how much of a badass I once was within academia and the kitchen, respectively). Because I've developed a mindset that all things are replaceable and will eventually be replaced, I don't often seek permanence, material or otherwise. Given all this, it is somewhat ironic that what has made me reconsider my approach to permanence are some material objects, antiques that have been left me by my grandfather.

Initially, these pieces simply planted me in LA (they won't fit in two suitcases or my mom's closet), but eventually they led to our first substantial furniture purchase - very fittingly, a dining room table. It isn't a fancy table, or one that cost an extraordinary amount of money. It is a sturdy, thick, mango-wood table, and has seated 1 and 10 with the same ease. It is the center of our home, and gives me pride in ownership and craftsmanship, and I want the table to last our lifetimes.

In a recent Dwell interview of a vintage furniture shop owner, the interviewee argues for a house free of "shit [you] don't need," and instead, for a few quality pieces: "the stuff that costs more [because someone was paid a living wage to make it], that you have to think hard about, and that you're not going to get rid of." His approach to investing in quality as opposed to quantity made me think about my own approach to permanence: 1) how easily I have discarded or donated past possessions (do I really know that x will be taken care of in its second life) 2) how my pride (in ownership, craftsmanship, etc.) has satiated my drive for more/something else, and 3) whether what is permanent is necessarily more expensive.

Obviously, this post is about our restaurant. So to bring it back, I guess I would begin by asking, what is so immutable about the industry that you cannot offer both quality and affordability? Why has the drive for affordability chosen the path of separating the grower of the food from the preparer of the food from the eater of the food so much so that there are trucks, distribution centers, kitchen doors all in your line of sight as you sit in a restaurant dining room just trying to understand where your food came from? Who gave us the idea that more food is better than good food, so much so that we will waste food (on the plate or in our refrigerator) to support those restaurants that pile thousands of low-quality calories on plates in an effort to draw more customers?

Obviously, I have no answers beside this idea of permanence. That if you understand waste is permanent, that it cannot be recycled or even composted away, that to truly reduce waste you must "think hard" about what you purchase or consume to begin with, it will help you reevaluate how you choose to eat. As hopeful restaurant operators, Teresa and I have the potential to make an even greater impact - our choice of responsible vendors, ability to realize the greatest product yield, management of an efficient inventory, maintenance of a clean and organized facility, and ultimately production of a superior dish will all determine how other people realize waste individually. At the end of the day we won't be perfect, but if we continually examine - and allow others to examine - our practices, perhaps we will be one step closer to understanding what moves us each to behave differently.

Sunday Supper 01

Before I take the liberty to use this space as a forum to voice sweeping generalizations and my philosophies on food culture, the act of eating, the act of killing and preparing food, hospitality, people management, money management, and how all these experiences and thoughts resolve themselves in our first concept, I should post a few thoughts on this tradition-turned-experiment of our Sunday Supper. In the past, our Sunday supper was a party; we would invite a group of our friends to our home and cook what we fancied. When TM and I decided that this would be the year we launch our restaurant - which if you cannot tell from my last post, will be Spanish-inspired - we decided not only to feed our friends, but to use them for feedback, support, and general discussion on menu items intended for our restaurant. Hence, our first Sunday Supper happened on 01.02.11, partly to welcome in the new year and partly to involve our best friend visiting beautiful Los Angeles from NYC.

In attendance were Ayla, Sam, Raul, Nephresha, Lesley, Gabe, Reyna, Justin, Kersu, and of course us, the instigators. We started the night with a Sparking Shiraz, which admittedly wasn't Spanish or even intended for that night, but was nonetheless delicious and a befittingly bodied bubbly beginning the bash. We must have something similar on our menu, simply because it makes sense. It was richly colored, bold, risky, well-balanced, tasteful, tasty, playful, and serious, all adjectives I imagine will describe our first restaurant.

To start the feast, we plated Stuffed Piquillo Peppers - kumquat jam, caramelized onions, piquillo peppers, fried shallots, lemon zest, and LOWFAT CREAM CHEESE only because we intended to make a sardine terrine with piquillo peppers and kumquat jam but were foiled by water-logged sardines. Plan B was literally made from scraps we had on hand in the garden, in the fridge, behind the fridge. They came out surprisingly well, and were quite a hit!

Very fittingly, this Plan B dish partly inspired Part B of our restaurant concept (Part A is obviously the Spanish-inspired element), which is an extension of sustainability, something that TM and I hold close to our hearts. I know I said I would try to hold back on my philosophical banter, but I cannot. Modern food culture extols everything that is "prime," i.e. prime cuts, perfectly portioned vegetables, the most rare ingredients. This is all wonderful, until you work in the BOH and come to understand the level of waste produced in cooking this way. Something that I have learned from TM is to shop for and cook with what is in season, what is fresh, what is discounted because of an inconsequential blemish or the end of a sales day. Though you walk away with sometimes an odd assortment of items, you learn to be creative when you cook and resourceful when you reach the end of your provisions for the week. One of the first times TM cooked for me, I gave her a challenge by purchasing a random basket of foods for her to prepare several dishes. The first thing she said to me when she saw what I had purchased was, "oh, you took it easy on me." I thought I was providing her with a challenge, but now I know she needs more. So, what if our restaurant concept was not only Spanish-inspired cuisine, but also included an element of resourceful sustainability (I need a better catch-phrase)? What if we could use whole animals in their entirety to produce an assortment of dishes that are not immediately identified as "peasant food" or sub-par? What if we could demand superiority AND creativity to change the way restaurants ordered, prepared, and eventually wasted (or not) their food when it reached the consumer? What if, what if? But I digress. Let's talk about Sunday Supper 01, item no. 2: Braised Lamb Shoulder with Lentils and Grapes.

Mmmm...rich, gamey lamb braised until it separated with a fork, TM's specialty. Al dente lentils and grapes that matched the sherry braise. Very Spanish, and very much a hit. TM wants to use a fattier cut. I don't mind experimenting if it means that the lentils will gain natural fat. I'm not a fan of beans or legumes, but I agree that the dish could be made into a homerun with a little tweaking.

Chorizo and Littleneck Clams. These clams are not for the faint of heart, cook or eater. They overcook quickly to become tough, big morsels, which was a small problem the first time TM made these for just us. But when cooked just right, they are tender and so much more flavorful than the smaller, stingy Manilas. I liked the chorizo in the dish, but the broth needs tinkering. Not as full and luxurious as I would have liked. I would have also liked more bite from the fennel. Overall, however, this is easily one of my favorite menu items so far.

The last item of note was the Pan Con Tomato, which was so unexpectedly delightful, I'm just pleased with everyone involved. We grated the tomato and then rolled cubes of bread in the puree before baking. The result: crispy, tomato-y outsides and soft centers. Not only does this dish inspire me to bake my own bread, it makes me want to grow heirloom tomatoes, and learn about fine olive oils. It is the epitome of simple, healthful, delightful eating. And so, for me, this Sunday Supper 01 was not only an inspiration for the Part B of our concept, but it also summed up what we have always hoped to do with our food and our hospitality: serve delicious, artisanal, healthful foods in the comfort of our own home and in the company of our friends.