Boxerbrand | Recipe for Success

Soon after hanging a shingle outside his commercial real estate office, Randy Gruber got an uncomfortable feeling. “I felt like a used-car salesman, and didn’t like it,” he recalls. Daring to reinvent himself after earning a college career that pointed him away from the restaurant biz and family tradition, Gruber returned to his roots. Following in the footsteps of his famous restauranteur grandfather Walter Shapiro, who cofounded the famous Cooky’s Steak Pubs, an 11-unit restaurant and catering chain begun in…

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Steps away from the beach, shops and art galleries of Cape Cod stands an inn so special it was ranked by Trip Advisor as the number 1 most romantic hotel in New England. The 1830s structure, renovated in creamy tones and modern coastal décor, has consistently attracted customers to its doors since husband-wife hoteliers Jeff and Kayla Ippoliti took over the property four years ago. Their dream was to “go big” in the quaint, seaside town they loved. “My wife…

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When Steve Reynolds was a boy, the notion of selling wine for a living was just not done. “Back then, being a doctor or a lawyer was considered a suitable profession. People who sold booze were kind of considered losers,” says Reynolds, proprietor of Reynolds Family Winery of Napa Valley. “So, I went to dental school, and opened a practice.” In the course of navigating his professional path, he and his wife Suzie purchased an old chicken farm in Napa…

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Over 30 years ago, Robert Gladchuk walked from his job in Boston’s Financial District to his home in the Charlestown Navy Yard with the feeling he was destined for other things. Passing bakeries and restaurants along the way, he would glance enviously at the “earthy production lines” of restauranteurs and bakers loading up supplies in readiness for a hard day’s work. And he thought of his two brothers, Steve and John, who were busy building a successful baking franchise in…

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Nearly 20 years ago, with bulldozers nearly at the ready to clear 500 acres for an 80-home development in Groton, Massachusetts, Steve and Nancy Webber stood up at a town meeting and offered a different plan. Instead of homes, they proposed a farm-to-table restaurant featuring produce grown and raised on site. Instead of cul-de-sacs and driveways, they argued to preserve the land where Gibbet Hill Farm once raised Black Angus beef cattle. “There was a major developer who proposed building…

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Tavern 4&5 in Minnesota leverages opportunity for success by doing a “really weird thing.” Even its name has a funny story, says General Manager Dave Guistolise, who has presided over the Eden Prairie neighborhood restaurant since it first flung open its doors five years ago. The longtime restauranteur and Boxerbrand customer explains the name, the concept, the “weird thing” in this week’s Q&A with Recipe for Success @ Boxerbrand. Q: How did Tavern 4&5 get its name? It’s kind of…

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Sofia Italian Steakhouse, 10, and Amelia’s Restaurant, 4, are rustic Italian “sisters” bringing sublime small plates and casual charm to neighborhoods in Massachusetts. Both restaurants flourish under the guidance of owner Marios Michalakis, a seasoned restaurant veteran who cut his chops working for a restaurant in Quincy, Mass., before opening Sofia Italian Steakhouse in West Roxbury, Mass. 10 years ago.  And four years ago, his success inspired him to open “little sister” Amelia’s in Stoughton. Serving small plates so beautiful…

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A championship par 72 golf course in Georgia has teed up fine dining. Last month, after decades spent successfully attracting athletes to its fine, bentgrass greens and first-class conditions, the operators of the Woodmont Golf & Country Club threw open the doors to The Summit, a destination restaurant open to everyone. “The decision was made because we wanted to improve the level of service and the quality and variety of food we offered,” says Food and Beverage Director Robert Gilbreath….

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Luis Arce Mota arrived in New York City in the early 1990s with love in his heart and a burning desire to make it in the City of Dreams. “I started from the ground up,” says Mota, owner of La Contenta Restaurant, which boasts fine Mexican with French influences at two Manhattan locations. “As soon as I arrived in New York, I was drawn to the restaurant business because I knew I wouldn’t go hungry, and that workers like me…

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Thirty-nine years ago, Rusty Romo opened Harry Browne’s Restaurant in the heart of Annapolis as a tribute to his uncle. He and uncle Harry had dreamed of opening their own place once Harry was retired from a career in New Jersey and Romo had graduated college. “My uncle and I were always very close, and we planned to do a restaurant venture when he retired because he was a real foodie,” Romo says. “In my junior year at the University…

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