Boxerbrand | Recipe for Success

Just last week the Duck Confit with Utah Nectarines was a big hit on the menu. So too were the Beef Wellington and Lobster Club at the sumptuous French restaurant Vincent on Camelback. The 35-year-old jewel of the Arizona culinary scene, which once served Julia Child in its charming dining room, took only two days to pivot from indoor dining to takeout service. And while challenged by mandated shutdowns like most restaurants and hospitality businesses, Vincent on Camelback has kept…

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Nestled alongside the Kennebunk River in Maine, the famous Hurricane Restaurant is weathering the storms of the times with old-fashioned ingenuity and the support of the town. Serving patrons in the quaint New England site, where restaurants have stood since the 1800s, new owner Taylor Benenti had only taken over the reins of Hurricane Restaurant in January 2019 and had outdoor expansion plans when the coronavirus lockdown occurred. As luck would have it, the restaurant had already been approved for…

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The Sushi Bar in Edmond, Okla. re-opened its indoor dining over a month ago. So far, so good. The desire for fresh seafood in the landlocked community near Oklahoma City has remained steady and strong. And despite a few hiccups in exotic fish availability from Japan and Dallas, the beat goes on. In this week’s Q&A with Boxerbrand’s blog Recipe for Success, The Sushi Bar—Edmond’s GM Janet Lim shares a few insights about how her restaurant has survived the government…

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The Olde Bryan Inn of Saratoga Springs has hung tough over these past few months through a combination of staff grit, customer loyalty and by keeping a positive attitude. Like every other hospitality business shuttered during the Coronavirus, the doors of the 40-year-old landmark restaurant were shut by orders of the state on March 16; at which point, the management and staff of the legendary restaurant —which makes its home in a historic property that has existed since the Revolutionary…

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In the midst of a move to a larger, better space, and just as the national business lockdowns hit like a tsunami, the team at Sip Downtown Brasserie in West Virginia put their shoulders to the wheel and pulled their company through. Job titles flew out the window as staff and friends grabbed paint brushes and dust pails to chip in, helping to complete a long-planned move from to a larger, better equipped space at 311 9th St., in Huntington,…

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Chef Anna Maria Santorelli had such a huge fan following that by the time she opened her new wine bar in Rye, NY on Jan. 4, she drew overflow crowds. “The moment I walked in the door, the place was packed! Says Santorelli, the former head chef at Gracie Mansion in NYC under Mayor Giuliani, and entrepreneur restaurant owner. “I was so excited to see my new vision for a wine bar become reality. Coming off selling my restaurant in…

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UConn Women’s Basketball coach Geno Auriemma had just opened the doors to his gorgeous Manchester, Conn. restaurant Café Aura when all of a sudden, it all changed and his restaurant was closed. Just like that, the beautiful upscale Italian steakhouse that opened for business in an iconic downtown building, was shuttered by the government order, due to the Coronavirus pandemic. “We were only open 14 weeks before the shutdown,” says Café Aura manager Randy McNamara. “We had just opened up…

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Elvin Jin was on a path to becoming a medical doctor when he decided to end his work as a physician’s assistant in pediatrics, travel to Japan, and pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a chef. Working at the foot of the masters in the Japanese food scene, Jin spent a “humbling” eight months doing nothing more than cleaning rice. “I wasn’t allowed to do anything else,” Jin recalls. “There were many days I had had my doubts over my…

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Ryan Hudson waited wearily in line and thought, “This could be sensational.” Instead of long lines funneling into dreary spaces at a San Francisco dispensary back then, he imagined something different. An upscale experience in an architecturally beautiful space staffed by helpful, knowledgeable professionals. Years later, Hudson and his partners brought the concept to life. An idea sparked by his “lightbulb moment”  in line that day, and years of work bore fruit in 2011, when the  The Apothecarium opened its…

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The 15-story, glass-and-chrome atrium of Conrad NY Downtown with its massive mural by Sol LeWitt, may feel quite modern, but it is traditional concepts that draw the customers through the front doors. The view; the food; the service. That’s what pulls people in, says senior food and beverage manager Joseph Mirsky. “We have a great advantage in terms of our location and our international and continental brand,” Mirsky says. “We’re one of the more upscale hotels in Lower Manhattan and…

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