Post #332907 by Bongo Bungalow on Mon, Sep 17, 2007 2:01 AM

Thanks Rattiki.

I understand the difficulty in buying out family businesses. And really, I'm not interested in their volume, their locations, nor their brand names. It is the expertise with the food that I'm after. (This is, for us, more critical than acquiring drink expertise, which we flatter ourselves to believe we already have.)

A case can be made that the food will be perceived as more authentic, if we have an all-Asian kitchen. How important that is to the guests, I'm not yet sure.

Subletting the restaurant kitchen is not an option for me. I can't give up that much control going forward. I have considered working a deal where our people work in their kitchens for several months to learn the prep, the equipment, the sauces and the variety of dishes. I would likely choose a restaurant outside of one of our markets.

Then, of course, we'll need lots and lots of custom TIKI MUGS! That part's gonna be fun project!