Boxerbrand | Recipe for Success

Rena Frost, was plugging away at a career in accounting when 10 years in, she decided to return to her roots. Walking away from what college prepared her for, and toward her lifelong love of cooking, Frost went to work for restauranteur Mike McMahan in the early 90s at his Texas landmark eatery Mac’s Bar and Grill. She never looked back. Managing all aspects of the 30-year-old business in Arlington, Texas, Frost was McMahan’s right-hand-woman. She oversaw everything from personnel…

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From the time Jasper Mirabile Jr. was 6 years old, he knew where he belonged. And it wasn’t the T-ball field along with all the other kids, but in the kitchen practicing culinary arts alongside his mother and grandmother. “I would watch my Mom take six ingredients and make a complete dinner,” says the chef who has overseen a family restaurant dynasty and been honored three times by James Beard. “I think I knew back then that restaurants would be…

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Gilbert’s Lodge in St. Claire Shores, Michigan has earned a place in the heart of a rock star, who got his start in its kitchen, and many others who have a soft spot for the unassuming lodge. Rock singer Eminem worked as a cook in Gilbert’s before he was famous. By day, the “very quiet, very nice kid” made burgers and other comfort food. And at night, often very late, he recorded at a nearby music studio, creating his Slim…

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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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