Ford Fry And The Future Of Food

Today we're talking with Ford Fry, Chef and Restauranteur, whose many Atlanta restaurants have been favorites of ours for years. As he continues to open new concepts across the country, we talk with him about his love of creating dining experiences, how he's kept his businesses going during the pandemic, and his vision of the future of food and dining out from his perspective as an eternal Optimist.

Mentioned In The Episode

Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival

Bob Amick

Ford Fry Restaurants - See all of Ford’s concepts.

Georgia Organics

Guntar Seegar

The Hill Saint Louis

New England Culinary Institute - Where Ford Fry studied the culinary arts.

Smith Hanes Designs - Smith Hanes has designed many of Ford’s restaurants in addition to The Optimist, linked here.

Transcript

Monica Olsen (1s):
Hey guys, it's Monica here. I wanted to tell you about a new podcast that I've started with my very good friend, Jennifer Walsh called Biophilic Solutions. Our last season of Serenbe Stories, Building a Biophilic Movement, was so popular that we decided to dedicate an entire podcast to it. Every other week Jennifer and I will sit down with leaders in the growing field of biophilia. We'll talk about local and global solutions to help nurture the living, social, and economic systems that we all need to sustain future generations. More often than not, nature has the answers. You can find Biophilic Solutions on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and follow us today so you don't miss an episode.

Monica Olsen (41s):
All right, now let's get back to Serenbe Stories. Serenbe is a place where people live, work, learn, and play in celebration of life's beauty. And we're here to share the stories that connect residents and guests to each other and to nature. This is Serenbe Stories.

Monica Olsen (1m 22s):
Today we're talking with Ford Fry, chef and restaurateur who's many Atlanta restaurants have been favorites of ours for years. As he continues to open new concepts across the country, we talk with him about his love of creating dining experiences, how he's kept his businesses going during the pandemic, and his vision for the future of food and dining out, all from his perspective as an eternal optimist.

Monica Olsen (1m 46s):
But first, Serenbe Stories is brought to you by The Inn at Serenbe. The Inn is nestled in the rolling countryside of bucolic Serenbe, where guests can walk on the 15 miles of trails through preserved forest land, the wildflower meadow, and the animal village. You can relax by the pool, hot tub, or in rocking chairs on the wraparound porch. Play on the croquet lawn, swings, and in-ground trampolines. Connect with nature and each other all while staying in luxurious rooms on The Inn grounds or within the community of Serenbe. Book your stay today at serenbeinn.com.

Monica Olsen (2m 15s):
All right, so I want to welcome everybody back today. Today we have a really exciting guest. We have Ford Fry, who is a chef and owner of a many, many beloved Atlanta restaurants, Ford can tell us exactly how many but many of you know, JCT kitchen, The Optimist, Marcel, Number 246, Superica is one of our favorite that has now expanded to multiple cities. And I believe he even has, that I have not eaten at, one in Texas.

Monica Olsen (2m 42s):
And Ford has lived all over the country, grew up in Texas, I believe. And then did the New York, sorry, new England culinary school in Vermont, did fine dining in multiple states, did a little bit of a corporate stint, didn't really fit your world, and in 2007 you decided to stay in Atlanta and bring us all this fabulous food. So Ford, welcome.

Ford Fry (3m 5s):
Hey. Thanks for having me.

Steve Nygren (3m 6s):
Hey Ford, welcome. I'm looking forward to the conversation this afternoon.

Ford Fry (3m 10s):
Yeah. Hey Steve.

Monica Olsen (3m 12s):
How long have you guys known each other?

Ford Fry (3m 14s):
Oh, gosh.

Steve Nygren (3m 14s):
Gosh, I don't know. I mean, I think one Of those, I can't remember a critical moment, you know, you know, Ford arrived on the scene and suddenly I started hearing these names, I think, did Smith Hanes, he did your, he did one of your first restaurants right?

Ford Fry (3m 35s):
Yeah,

Monica Olsen (3m 36s):
He did JCT right?

Ford Fry (3m 37s):
Yeah, he did JCT. Yeah and I think he had just done a lot in some stuff in Serenbe. So I think we must've met at JCT

Steve Nygren (3m 43s):
Probably because I

Ford Fry (3m 45s):
That had to be it.

Steve Nygren (3m 46s):
Well we opened the Blue-Eyed Daisy in 2005 which he did, and then he was doing some other stuff. When did you start designing JCT?

Ford Fry (3m 55s):
Yeah, probably 2006.

Steve Nygren (3m 57s):
Yeah, so that rolls right in.

Ford Fry (3m 58s):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So it's going back a while.

Monica Olsen (4m 2s):
I know, right. That was when we moved here from Los Angeles for like 20 years ago and JCT was one of the first, that whole area, that star provisions area was sort of just coming together and was from, coming from San Francisco was sort of a savior for us, that area. Yeah. But Smith did your first place, all of your restaurants are beautiful. Have you used different designers at different times or how have you sort of chosen those people?

Ford Fry (4m 29s):
Yeah, Smith did the first three. So he did JCT, 246, and The Optimist. And then at that point we tried some others and they're all just kind of different, you know, and then we tried in-house and that was difficult because we were doing, like, I think that one year we did like five restaurants in that, in like a year span. So that was very taxing on Elizabeth, who did it in house. So she did an amazing job of what she could, you know, pretty much solo for five restaurants like that. So, and then, you know, Smith and I have just kept up and, you know, and he's just one of those that I really just trust him.

Ford Fry (5m 12s):
So it's like, I don't have to worry if he makes a decision or whatever, you know, sometimes the price gets a little bit higher or whatever, but I mean, overall, he's pretty good with that and, and he understands us and, and you know, I just, I trust his design, I trust his aesthetic. So, and he really works with us really well. So, you know, cause we're very collaborative. We have a lot of people on our staff and team. And so we'll go through, you know, I mean, you know, a lot of us have worked in restaurants before where, you know, you may be either the chef or whatever, but you don't really have any say in what your kitchen is. And it's like, okay, you know what I mean? So we try to have everyone have a say. So Smith, it's kind of difficult for him because he knows everybody. He knows all our operations people, but he works well with them.

Steve Nygren (5m 53s):
So, how many restaurants do you have Ford?

Ford Fry (5m 57s):
Well, I would say 20 with the Nashville ones, but those were right about to open, there's three there, they were right about to open. They're kind of in the same building. So we were in day one of orientation when all this came about. So we had to just stop and put, send everybody home. So we've got a Atlanta. Yeah so Atlanta, Houston, there's three in Houston, one in Nashville right now, one in Charlotte and the rest in Atlanta.

Steve Nygren (6m 30s):
So how are you dealing with the pandemic with the various cities?

Ford Fry (6m 34s):
I would say in this, this area over here, Texas, I feel like the guests are, you know, for me it was really about, I mean, I am the biggest optimistic person there is. So, but it, it really didn't do us any good if we, if we were just going to open up or whatever and the guests and the city wasn't ready to come out, that just wouldn't make sense. So I would say Texas is a little bit more, I'm not worrying about it quite as much. They seem to be ready to come out a little bit earlier, even though their state opened up lighter than Georgia did, but it's kind of along the same line, but it seems like from a guest perspective, they, they don't seem to be as nervous about it as, as the east coast is.

Ford Fry (7m 18s):
So here to me, it's just like let's, to me, I'm just kind of listening to the city and listening to what people are saying and their comfort level and just kind of just easing our way through in stages. So like starting with to go and then working into dining, outdoor dining. I think people are, I think we've noticed in the city it's traffic has really picked up. People want to sit outside, I see them sitting outside. There's still some people staying at home and that's good too. So, so we're just kinda trying to take it in phases and kind of slowly work our way through, through June to kind of get fully, fully opened again.

Steve Nygren (7m 58s):
Are all of your restaurants open in one form or another now? Are any still closed?

Ford Fry (8m 3s):
No, I think we still have some closed that are right about to open. So we, we have, we have a process all the way through mid June, which will get all of them opened in some form or fashion.

Monica Olsen (8m 19s):
And are you seeing a difference with say, I don't know if Marcel or like King and Duke or St. Cecilia are open yet, but that versus sort of Superica that you can, feels like a little bit of an easier to take out. I mean, are people getting steaks and burgers from Marcel or has that not opened yet?

Ford Fry (8m 34s):
Yeah, no, Marcel just did. I think you're right. Your point, I mean, it's, it's the Little Rey Superica and 246, and those are the ones that we kind of stuck withl 246 is home stuff, you know, pastas and pizza and things like that. People are used to doing that. You know, the ones like JCT, St. Cecelia, King and Duke, Marcel, that's, you know, it just didn't quite make sense, you know? So we are opening those slowly and starting with takeout just to kind of get used to it because we do anticipate that that's going to be a percentage of our business going forward, at least for the next few months or so. Or maybe even, shoot, there's a lot of people who are saying, Hey, I'm not really going to go out until there's a, there's a vaccine.

Ford Fry (9m 19s):
So I'm like, okay, you know, so that means a lot more takeout for us. So we, we need to get good at it. So, you know, so that'll be, I think that's just going to increase this part of our business and then our in, in room dining is going to decrease, so.

Monica Olsen (9m 34s):
Yeah. I, I don't, I don't know what the regular numbers are they 25% of or 50, or was it based on square foot? I can't remember. It's changed a little bit.

Ford Fry (9m 43s):
I think it's by square foot. I mean, it kind of roughly comes out to about 50% as far as spacing our tables, you know, it's, it's, it's so tough for me because experience is so critical for me, you know, and just gloves and mask and people spread out and it just goes against the whole experience. So, you know.

Monica Olsen (10m 8s):
I know. Well and if you have fixed furniture too, it's like you can't, what, do you unbolt it to? You know, there's all these sorts of logistics that I think that we're recognizing that some things can't change. I read an article, I don't know if it was in the Times, but that a lot of restaurants are starting to do pantry items. And I thought that was sort of interesting. Have you guys discussed that at all, like specialty olive oils or anything that might be specific,  tobascos, hot sauces or is that just too complicated?

Ford Fry (10m 36s):
You know, we thought about that. And then we just started noticing that, that, you know, we're assuming that the cases are going to start declining and everyone's going to get better. So my, my logic was like, I don't know that I want to start another thing. So for me it was more about, for me, it was more about, you know, getting everyone excited. Like we, we kind of have to look at our business in a whole different way. Like, all right, how do we, how do we run this business on half the sales we normally would do? So we really had to really rethink our menus, our staffing, all of it. So that was to me, like I was trying to turn that into a positive saying, Hey, let's just wipe the slate clean.

Ford Fry (11m 19s):
Let's come back, let's come back simple and let's come back very hyper-local. Like as far as like, let's just, let's get the best ingredients we can and let's prepare them the way they're supposed to be prepared that we're not trying to do anything fancy, you know, that way we're utilizing all the farmers who, you know, a lot of the farmers have been doing pretty well quite honestly, but some of them there's about 25% who haven't. So, you know, there's some of that. So to me, I'm just, I'm kind of using this as an opportunity to get a little bit more simple. As I get older I just want to be, less is more for me, you know, I don't know what that is.

Monica Olsen (11m 56s):
Yeah. Are there any innovations that you're bringing to the restaurant? A lot of people are talking about contactless pay or menus on your phones, or what do you do with menus? It seems so wasteful to throw them away after each use. Like what, what are you guys thinking?

Ford Fry (12m 13s):
Yeah, I mean, I think we've kind of did away with most of, some of them trying to be able to print them on paper that can just be disposable in a way as opposed to a thicker card that gets reused. I think the wine menu was the big question. So, you know, we, we were fighting the whole iPad wine menu for a long time, but that may be time to get that going. So we're talking about talking about things like that.

Monica Olsen (12m 42s):
Yeah. Is there anything that you're seeing in the marketplace, like any of your other chefs that are doing anything interesting? I know some things, you know, fine dining has turned into pop-ups or take out or burgers, is there anything that's happening in the marketplace that sort of compelling? That's interesting you're seeing?

Ford Fry (12m 57s):
I mean, it is interesting to see, you know, like Noma is doing, is opening up as a burger restaurant and it's like, and I saw, I think something in San Francisco is opening up as a smoke house of some sort, you know what I mean? It's like watching people who are, you know, doing so much fine dining or that are kind of cooking some of their other passions. So chefs are remaining passionate about what they're doing, no matter what they're doing. If they're going to have to put it in a box and put it in a bag, you know, they may as well work on the technique at least, so.

Monica Olsen (13m 33s):
Yeah. It's not going to be as Instagram worthy coming out of the box. I know that we have, at The Hill, one of our restaurants, you know, you can buy bottles of wine, which I thought was sort of mind blowing. Do you think that'll stick around where you can buy alcohol? I mean, bottled, I think that's sort of an interesting, for takeout, right? Or like do you sell margarita mixes or packages? That would be kind of cool.

Ford Fry (13m 59s):
Yeah, we do. We sell margarita mixes.

Steve Nygren (14m 2s):
A lot of cities now are allowing cocktails to to which never happened before.

Ford Fry (14m 5s):
Right. Yeah. I love the wine. I wish that we, you know, this was one thing that I researched trying to do at 246 in Decatur, it's such a small restaurant, we were trying to think like, well, why don't we, you know, it'd be great if we could get like a, a vespa or a moped or something and put a rack on it and deliver pizza and bottles of inexpensive wine, I thought it would be really fun, you know, going around to the neighborhoods, but Georgia law wasn't allowing that, but maybe that'll open up.

Monica Olsen (14m 34s):
Because of the delivery aspect of it.

Ford Fry (14m 35s):
Delivery, yeah.

Monica Olsen (14m 36s):
Right, I can pick it up curbside. Yeah, I know. All those rules. So one of the things that I wanted to hear was sort of, when you, before you moved to Atlanta, which I think was '07, 2007, you were all over the place. How did you, how did you land in Atlanta?

Ford Fry (14m 56s):
Oh gosh. So, so I was in Aspen, Colorado and got recruited by EatZi's to come open the Buckhead store. So this was in 9, the later 90, '97 maybe. So, you know, EatZi's was of those, it was interesting, you know, I kind of worked my way of opening that store and then worked into a corporate chef role, which was more mainly R and D work, which was, which was nice, you know, but I learned a lot about running a business by working there, you know. In my past, I never really learned how to, you know, run a business. It was more about, Hey, if your food cost is bad, just charge more, you know?

Ford Fry (15m 37s):
And hopefully that'll fix it, you know. So I learned a lot, you know, because the margins were really, really light and the volume was heavy and I learned how to manage people. And so opening a restaurant was somewhat simple, I thought, comparatively to a big operation like that. So that's what got, that's what really got me here. And my, my first son was one at the time. So you know how that goes. I mean, kid, we start having kids and they get stuck here and we start having friends and I start knowing anybody and we have contacts we're here, you know? And we love it, you know?

Monica Olsen (16m 14s):
Yeah. How old are your kids now?

Ford Fry (16m 17s):
Oh, one just turned 23. Yeah. So I guess I've been here almost 22 years now. And then one is about to turn 21.

Monica Olsen (16m 28s):
Oh my God that's amazing. And they're home with you now because they can't go anywhere maybe. Or are they back or are they heading back to their college dorm? Not dorms, but their apartments or whatever.

Ford Fry (16m 38s):
They're done, I mean, they, they got cut short, so one of them just graduated Georgia and one of them is playing tennis at Auburn. So he'll be going back in the fall hopefully.

Monica Olsen (16m 48s):
Nice. I like it.

Steve Nygren (16m 50s):
Ford, how are you dealing with R and D? Do you have a kitchen or who's, who's heading up your?

Ford Fry (16m 57s):
We, you know, my, my main thing is when we first open a restaurant is it's kind of a collaborative, it's me, probably a vice-president chef and the chef of that restaurant. I set the parameters as far as, Hey, this is the model, this is the price range, this is how many in this category, how many in this category. And then I write a menu kind of a sample menu of like

Ford Fry (17m 20s):
This is what I see this restaurant. So I kind of provide the vision and all different angles. So when it comes to the restaurant, you know, so, so, so when it comes to the, the menu, then three of us kind of get together and create that opening menu. Once the chef of that restaurant kind of gets their hands on it and understands, all right, and is playing, you know, within the lanes and, and is inspired by it, then we kinda, we kind of let them go. So they're doing their own. So we let them go. Now that's, that's not Superica. Superica was another one. Superica is one that was, everything is systematized and reciped and for the most part, we're pretty much there.

Ford Fry (18m 2s):
We don't see a lot of changes. It's just, if I get tired of something or whatever, we may change it, but you know, I'll play around with that. But we do have some corporate people there, but that's pretty much it.

Steve Nygren (18m 14s):
Are you planning to do multiples of that or any of the others?

Ford Fry (18m 18s):
Yeah. I mean, right now there's seven, there's seven Supericas. We have another one in Charlotte being built at the time right now. So that's kind of our, that's kind of our growth vehicle. Little Rey could potentially be another growth vehicle. We were trying to get a little bit more scale in Supericas first. I see your, I see your, I see Steve's brain spinning because this is his wheelhouse, you know?

Steve Nygren (18m 48s):
So what's on the books for the future? What, you said you've got some under construction. Are those under development? How's the current situation effecting all that?

Ford Fry (18m 57s):
Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, being, again, the optimist I am, I kind of look at it, it was really interesting that, you know, the restaurant industry was saturated. The cost of development was through the roof. The labor was, you know, it was difficult to have, and it's sad, but I kind of see this as kind of like a hard reset in a way. And I, you know, so, so my gut tells me is that, you know, some people may not be able to kind of make it back. I don't know. There could be some second generation, there could be some opportunities there are out there. We're in a great place to be able to jump on something

Ford Fry (19m 38s):
If we need to. I think things are gonna, you know, who knows if this, I think this whole year is probably shot, but maybe we just slow play it a little bit. And, but, but I get ready to, we, we want to keep, we want to keep going.

Monica Olsen (19m 51s):
And what is in Nashville? Do you have it, what are the concepts? The three in Nashville that are pending?

Ford Fry (19m 59s):
Yeah so super, Superica is open. And then we have The Optimist in Nashville is right about to open. And then above The Optimist, we have something called Le Loup, which is our cocktail bar, kind of a vintage, fancy cocktail bar, which is our first of that. And then we have another kind of a honky tonk meets a taqueria called Star Rover.

Monica Olsen (20m 25s):
Star Rover? That's awesome.

Ford Fry (20m 26s):
So that'll be a live, so that'll be a kind of a little live, like a small live music venue. So, but along with tacos and margaritas and things like that.

Monica Olsen (20m 36s):
That sounds fantastic.

Ford Fry (20m 37s):
So those are the three. And they're all kind of in one building.

Monica Olsen (20m 40s):
Ok and those are, same thing, like you'd created all this interest in Nashville I'm sure, you hired everybody, you're ready to go and then shelter in place. So you put everything on hold and now you're just going to roll them out as half, 50% and takeout?

Ford Fry (20m 55s):
Yeah. Yeah. I think that's probably the last thing. Yeah, yeah. Well, I think we'll do, start with The Optimist. With the live music, that's, you know, it's a small place, it's kind of a pack them in type place. So where are we going to do take out at that one. And then we'll slowly open the cocktail bar as well. That's fairly spread out so that's fine.

Monica Olsen (21m 18s):
Yeah. And I think everybody, I mean, I don't know. I think we're all sort of ready to do something new and we were talking, I was talking to Quinn, Steve's younger daughter this morning saying, you know, the high end, I think, you know, besides the takeout, which is fantastic and a patio or something on the BeltLine. But I think that the specialness of it will be even more important, I wonder. You know, to really have those special experiences that you might be willing to even pay more, because it's such a unique thing. You're not going to Baccanalia five times a year these days, you're, it's a much more, maybe you'll...

Ford Fry (22m 1s):
Yeah. That's interesting. Yeah. That's, that's a great point, you know, we'll see.

Monica Olsen (22m 7s):
Yeah, I'm ready for like a good 10 course wine pair and something when this is done. One of the things, you know, I've talked to a few people about, you know, if today you were going to open something and you know, this was the circumstances knowing that, you know, it would be 50% and maybe you have social distancing, you know, besides if somebody said you have to open it, what would it look like? Would you do something totally different? Would it be a food truck? Like what would it be now? What would you open?

Ford Fry (22m 43s):
You know, again, I don't know if it's my age again, but I just, I, I don't know. It's kind of like one of the things where the experience kind of what I do, and I don't know that I would really change much. I would just kind of ride it out, you know, maybe something a little bit more interesting in the to go, but just because I think people are used to it now and they're like, Hey, this isn't so bad. And this is kind of fun. And maybe they've created some, some habits. So I think we've got to get a little bit more creative with that. So that would probably be my, my addition, if anything, but I still love, you know, I still love like tight spaces and tables really close to each other. You know? So

Monica Olsen (23m 28s):
The energy makes the restaurant so much and the experience and that's what you've done is you've not only have the food going for you, but it is, you know, the spaces are incredible. And then obviously the people that come is sort of that third leg, one of the things, and this isn't really a secret, it's not public, it's not even real, but I know that you and Steve and Garnie have sort of dreamt about in the past is why isn't there a Southeastern culinary school? Right?

Ford Fry (24m 1s):
Well, yeah, you know, I was on this committee had to do with accreditation and all that for the culinary school I went to. And when I went there, I mean, it was amazing experience because we ran this inn in Vermont. So it wasn't like you were in a big classroom. It was like six of us per class. And we actually had to run kitchens that actually served dining guests, like day one, if you've even cooked before. So it was very, very hands-on and, you know, I was seeing it and just watching, you know, culinary schools as a whole, probably just dwindled down. A lot of people are like, you know, I just don't see much value in it.

Ford Fry (24m 40s):
I'd rather just go work. I'll learn just as much, which is, you know, very true, quite honestly. But I started thinking like, well, what would, and I guess I was in Vermont when it kinda came to me, I thought, wow. I mean, what I would do. Cause cause we were trying to help the school was just financially, you know, having issues. So I'm like, why wouldn't you just go to a farm and, and, you know, create a culinary school around that? And then I started thinking like, oh my gosh, you know what I mean? Steve has built this whole community based on, you know, sustainability and there's farms and there's, you know, there's, I mean, it's just, it's just who he is, you know? And like this would be a perfect place. If we had like a dorm here, we can have students walk around the town, they could supply the whole town, whether it's restaurants or making cheese or, and they would start with even farming too.

Ford Fry (25m 28s):
So they would even understand. So really totally re-look at how, you know, culinary school works and start from, from the fields and work their way in. And, because I don't know. I mean, what would make it, what, what would the experience be worth to pay whatever $60,000 to go through culinary school? You know? And I'd do that. I'd pay to go do that right now quite honestly. So that's where it all came from. And Steve asked me, he said, well, where's the money coming from? And I'm like, Steve don't bust my bubble, so. Steve's right, but he's right. So, but who knows maybe, maybe one day.

Steve Nygren (26m 7s):
It had been our fantasy bubble too. And you know, I think the day's going to come real, more people are being interested in, in all these kinds of things.

Steve Nygren (26m 15s):
And you know, as you know, there's a real need in the, not in Atlanta, but the Southeast to really had trained people to feed this huge hospitality industry. So hopefully we can pull it all together one of these days. We each have a lot to do so it's been hard to guide it or even really focus on it.

Ford Fry (26m 37s):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but it'd be fun.

Monica Olsen (26m 38s):
Well we'll just set intention right here that

Steve Nygren (26m 42s):
It's gonna happen.

Monica Olsen (26m 43s):
That's right. Exactly.

Steve Nygren (26m 45s):
How many employees, you know, before this all started how many employees did you have company-wide?

Ford Fry (26m 52s):
Yeah, I think we're in the 1500 range. Unbelieving. And then that's prior to, prior to Nashville.

Monica Olsen (27m 0s):
Okay. That's great. Any new concepts that you, I mean, it sounds like the honky-tonk and the Le Loup were sort of a little bit of new ones, but any new other ones or dreams that you have like fantasies?

Ford Fry (27m 13s):
Oh yeah. Always.

Monica Olsen (27m 15s):
I know. That's like Steve, Steve has ten other restaurant ideas.

Ford Fry (27m 19s):
Yeah. I don't know. I mean, I always have something, some other idea of what, and you know, it always starts with what I feel like Atlanta needs or, you know, it starts there. I don't want to come to Atlanta with something that Atlanta doesn't need. And I don't know, my latest dream, and who knows, I'm not sure that it will ever happen and there's nothing in the works about it, but you know, just the old, you know, I noticed, you know, I guess I was a kid, you know, Italian food with the whole, you know, spaghetti and meatball type place. And then it kind of morphed into this Northern Italian, which was lighter and, you know, you know, a lot of grilled items and things like that.

Ford Fry (28m 0s):
And I'm like, when is the mafia Italian going to come back? You know, kind of a mock Italian version of Marcel I think could be really fun in Atlanta. So, you know, really that Southern that Southern Sicilian type thing, you know. So who knows.

Steve Nygren (28m 14s):
Well come down, we're doing it on Monday nights at the Blue Eyed Daisy.

Ford Fry (28m 17s):
Oh really? That's awesome. You're the godfather?

Steve Nygren (28m 23s):
Whatever role.

Monica Olsen (28m 27s):
There was a place in Los Angeles like kind of near Venice or something, I can't remember, that, this is now 25 years ago, that they had, you would sit down and it was like, yeah, like kind of that old school version. And they had the old Chianti bottles just on the table and they put cups down, you know, stemless and you drew how many drinks you had. That's how you paid for the wine. That was it.

Ford Fry (28m 55s):
Yeah.

Steve Nygren (28m 56s):
Ford have you ever been to The Hill in St. Louis?

Ford Fry (28m 58s):
No. No.

Steve Nygren (28m 58s):
Okay. If you get serious about this, go to St. Louis and go to The Hill. Because it's the old Italian village of St. Louis. And you know, it's been years since I was there, but I was talking to somebody recently and they said, no, it hasn't changed. And you see these generational restaurants where, you know, mom is still out there directing the kitchen and it's that old style. And you're sure the mafia boss must be over in the corner. You would just love it.

Ford Fry (29m 28s):
Yeah. Yeah. That old school Italian people in that one is, is a certain area of town. Isn't it?

Steve Nygren (29m 34s):
Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's one area it's called The Hill.

Ford Fry (29m 39s):
Oh, The Hill for the restaurant is not called The Hill, the whole place is called The Hill.

Steve Nygren (29m 43s):
The district is called The Hill. In St. Louis. And there's several restaurants along the streets. It's, it's really great.

Monica Olsen (29m 51s):
That sounds so fun. Speaking of Italian, sort of, I guess, the big thing that's coming up that's usually your annual is attack of the killer tomato festival that you, I think birth, birthed kind of out of JCT. Tell us a little bit about that. It's going virtual this year, but that was always one of the hottest days of the year, but one of the best events.

Ford Fry (30m 17s):
Yeah, you know, that started as something I just noticed, there was one day where our farmer had just cases and cases of tomatoes and he just couldn't give away. So I thought, well, let's do a, let's do a tomato festival. Cause I always wanted to do a fun festival that was really relaxed and casual, have a fun band playing and have cocktails and everything tomato related. And to benefit Georgia Organic. So that's happened, I think we did, I think we've done 11 years and then this year probably would have been 12, but looks like we probably, we had to kind of call it a while ago.

Ford Fry (30m 56s):
That's just not going to happen. So not quite sure what that's going to look like. I know there's a lot of conversations about it, but everyone's been so busy with all this other stuff it's hard to even get there. But we need to figure out some way to, to keep that money that we provide for Georgia Organics alive.

Monica Olsen (31m 13s):
Yeah. And I think that you guys have been working on Food Fight. Do you want to tell us a little bit about that? That's helping restaurant employees.

Ford Fry (31m 21s):
Yeah. They've been doing that. I don't, I don't know a ton about it, but I know it's been really cool and it's something that, you know, cause I asked them the question I'm like, Hey, cause I was thinking the farmers were, were struggling here and they're like, no, you know, the farmers are actually doing pretty well, you know, with all the CSAs and they're probably doing better. So they kind of diverted towards helping restaurant industry people, which is pretty cool. So I know I've seen baskets and things that, you know, of really amazing products, you know, it's not like canned goods or anything like that. It's like, you know, shiitake mushrooms and you know, just great ingredients. So I could use some of that.

Ford Fry (32m 0s):
You know?

Steve Nygren (32m 4s):
Organic farms sales were up 30%.

Monica Olsen (32m 6s):
Yeah. It is really interesting. It's brought an incredible spotlight on not only organic, but local. We converted our farm to a drive through. So you can drive through on Friday and Saturdays and then we're gonna bring back our market just with food vendors, June 6th. Cautiously figuring out the social distancing and such, but there's a huge demand so it's exciting. If that's an tiny silver lining, people are more conscious of where things are coming from and more obviously very concerned about health and immunity and what they're putting in their bodies.

Ford Fry (32m 53s):
For sure. For sure. Yeah. I think that'll keep going and people will be interested.

Monica Olsen (32m 57s):
Yeah, no, definitely do. One of the things I was saying before we started recording is that we both just read that a big chef is coming back, or sort of like maybe an old school chef from Atlanta, Gunter Seeger, who was the chef at the Ritz Carlton. And my understanding, and this is before I moved here, but had Seeger's and really kind of helped usher in that local farm to table movement. Did you know him at all Steve or Ford?

Steve Nygren (33m 24s):
Oh I knew him, yeah. Was he gone by the time you got here Ford? Or was he still here?

Ford Fry (33m 29s):
He had, he had Seeger's over off of West Paces when I was here. I didn't really know him well. I mean, I think I met him one time and did a dinner with him one time, you know, and it's sad that I never got to go eat at Seeger's and then he opened the restaurant and he moved to New York and then he opened that one and never got to eat that one, but some friends of ours did and said it was fantastic. So, so I'm kinda excited to see him come back. Well, it would be pretty interesting to see, see what he does, you know. So I know he's got a fancy in his blood.

Ford Fry (34m 3s):
I don't know if he, if he can bring himself to making a chicken sandwich. We'll see.

Monica Olsen (34m 10s):
Right. He's gonna have to use the tweezers still?

Ford Fry (34m 13s):
But it would probably be, I don't know. That's what I always heard. You know, I, I, you know, his food I heard was just amazingly perfect. So I think whatever he does, it'll be fantastic. So I'm excited.

Monica Olsen (34m 25s):
Steve, do you have memories?

Steve Nygren (34m 26s):
Oh, yeah no, it was incredible. And, and what really, you know, talking about figures or, or Atlanta in general Ford, what you've done, it, I remember back, you know, 40 years ago, we would really look forward to going to New York and San Francisco and all these places, just for the latest restaurants. And now I'm sort of not impressed when I do that. And I think Atlanta is just up to that level that you don't have to go other places. And, and I think a lot of these celebrity chefs that have come in from other cities thinking they're going to open that celebrity restaurant here, they they've all struggled and, and, and haven't made it because Atlanta has really risen to pretty good levels from my opinion. What's, what's your observations of that traveling around?

Ford Fry (35m 15s):
Yeah, I think so. I mean, when I first got here, it was, it was kind of the, the big restaurant group thing was dominating. Buckhead was dominating, you know, any like major, you know, dense area like that. I mean, really, it was just all up and down Peachtree I guess is where you'd find everything. And then over time, you know, then, you know, chefs started opening restaurants in neighborhoods and people, and, you know, I kinda remember I think Bob Amick, I mean really was the one that I saw that started doing big restaurants off the beaten path with ONE.mitown kitchen was just like that one to me was a pivotal turn in the city,

Ford Fry (36m 6s):
I thought, because it was like, you had to know where you're going and then you'd go there and you're like, wow, this is pretty cool. And then all of a sudden it's just TWO.urban licks and then everyone else starts going into neighborhoods and things like that. And, and Buckhead has the, you know, that the traffic flow in Buckhead, as far as the restaurants are probably gone down and everything all up and down Peachtree has probably gone down and people want to go to these communities. And so there's been this whole push of these chef owned operated, or sole owner operated restaurants. And they're all, they're all pretty good, you know? So I think as far as like, you know, chefs, I think that celebrity chefs saying when you get it in your brain and you start doing a bunch of restaurants, you kind of fly in and taste the menu and then fly out and anyone who's run a restaurant before knows that that's not gonna work.

Ford Fry (36m 56s):
You know, I mean, it, it takes, I mean, it takes us two, three months to even get somewhat, you know, decent at operating a restaurant and we've opened, you know, close to 20 now. So it's still difficult. So just to come in and open it and fly away, it's kinda, it's kind of been difficult for them. So, but I think Gunther Seeger's been here long enough. So I don't, I definitely don't see him as someone who, this is kind of one of his homes, so.

Steve Nygren (37m 26s):
Yeah, no I wasn't suggesting that he was going to be that, but other people and, and interesting that he's coming back here, which is the point I was going to make that Atlanta is enough of a base that, that with, with his status and his attitude towards food that, that he would see, okay, the next chapter could be in Atlanta for a lot of reasons.

Ford Fry (37m 49s):
Yeah. That's really cool. I mean, New York is just, but New York is blown out. I mean, I, it's amazing. I mean, this is pretty historical to see a town like that. I feel for them. I mean, it's already super expensive to do business there. And I don't know, I don't know what that's going to look like in the next six months. Who knows.

Steve Nygren (38m 10s):
Someone suggested that 40% of the restaurants may not reopen. Just if you look at the size, they can't continue on 50% occupancy, you know.

Ford Fry (38m 18s):
No way. Yeah. They need to be 110 everyday, you know.

Steve Nygren (38m 23s):
You know, and, and, and there was a long-term New Yorker that said, Hey, I was willing to put up with New York because just the energy and there is no energy here and I'm getting out. Because the energy's gone.

Ford Fry (38m 35s):
Wow. Wow. Yeah. I'm sure it'll be back. We'll see when.

Steve Nygren (38m 41s):
Remember the seventies, when Atlanta, or, when New York was really drying up, you could buy incredible properties and there's, everybody was thinking it was the end of New York and look at it.

Monica Olsen (38m 54s):
Yeah, no, I think it'll come back. It'll just be sort of a, a sort of a sad road for a year or two. But I do think that the Atlanta's, and I think, you know, the Nashville's, these sort of second cities, if you will, that have been gaining prominence, you know, even that article in Atlanta Magazine of Gunter Seeger saying that, you know, they came back and it was so livable, you know? And they just were like there's space and everybody, I think maybe his, somebody in his family lives here. And I think that, that, that is part of it, right? Is just, you can have a little more space in Atlanta, and it's just a really friendly, it's a very welcoming, friendly town.

Monica Olsen (39m 34s):
I mean, both of you guys are, I mean, all three of us are transplants, you know, obviously Steve, but there's something really phenomenal about the city that welcomes you. Anything else you want to add? This has been such a fun conversation. Any, any thoughts, anything you want to promote or share, or besides go eat takeout and all your restaurants and sit on the patio. What, anything? Go to Nashville and check out the new ones, but anything new?

Ford Fry (40m 4s):
No, I want to hear from Steve though. I want to see, I want to hear what he, how he thinks this is gonna play out. Give me some, get in that crystal ball years. And what's it going to look like the next, when, when, when are we going to be back to normal? Cause I'm hating this "new normal" phrase. So.

Steve Nygren (40m 23s):
Well, I think, you know, if you look at all the trends that were already happening, I mean, we were moving away from big department stores. We were moving away from malls. We were working more from home or the WeWorks or, you know, there was a trend that was happening.

Steve Nygren (40m 46s):
The organic food movement was a trend connecting to nature and places. These are all trends that were happening. The environmental movement. And I think that this is just accelerating all those things for better or worse. Those people that were in trouble, are they're going to go under. Some of the new concepts that, that I hope. And, you know, you know, the, you know, I think it's clear, we, we've seen more real estate sales than we've ever than we've seen in a two week period. And, and if you read the stories out, what's happening to, you know, the Hudson valley and these various places and even, you know, Atlanta.

Steve Nygren (41m 27s):
And if you saw the article about all the people who were actually exiting New York, and I think Atlanta was like in the top 10 or 12, and that was compared to places within New York state. So I think there's going to be a rethinking because all those companies that resisted for various reasons, letting people work from home, either they weren't set up for it, or they thought they were going to lose productivity and people were going to goof off and they found that they're actually getting more productivity. And I know several companies from big to small that aren't expanding their offices, closing their offices. They're starting to evaluate, you know, what, what the cost of real estate is.

Steve Nygren (42m 7s):
So I think one of the serious adjustments we're going to see is, is commercial real estate for office space that's probably maybe not going to return. And how do we all adjust to that?

Ford Fry (42m 24s):
Yeah. That'll be a big, yeah. That's gonna be a big switch.

Steve Nygren (42m 26s):
And, and what I'm hoping that people become addicted to, you know, blue skies and clean air. I think there's a lot of people that thought, well, you know, it's going to be so long. Have we passed the place? What I do, does it really change? And we've seen how quickly we can reset a lot of these environmental issues and what a difference it makes in people's lives.

Steve Nygren (42m 47s):
And so I'm hoping there's, there's, there's political will and, and determination that, that, that we're going to change some of that. You know, if, if what is it, if, if, if 40% of our cars that we are driving were converted to electric, that, that we would see some of those same results from emissions and, and clear sky. So I hope this has been, you know, I call it a window into hope. So that's what, you know, I, I think there's trends that are going to happen. And I think we're going to see changes in a positive way in some ways.

Ford Fry (43m 21s):
Yeah, I agree. Should be really interesting. I'm kind of excited to be a part of it in some way. I mean, it's sad, but I'm excited to at least see it and see what happens.

Steve Nygren (43m 29s):
And I hope there's more personal responsibility. I've been on two conference calls in the last two days on boards. And, you know, it's opened with how how's everyone's personal experience, and everyone's reported that they're eating better, they're in better shape, and several people have lost anywhere from 10 to 20 pounds in the last 60 days. Now, you know, and it isn't that they're eating less it's that they're more active and they're eating better. And so I think for the food industry, that's a real indicator that it's going to be, you know, more of that healthy food. That's already been trending, but I think we'll see more of that. Ford, look forward to seeing what you're going to have doing next.

Steve Nygren (44m 12s):
And I'll keep the fantasy alive that, that we're going to do some great culinary school for the future.

Monica Olsen (44m 19s):
Maybe you can open a cocktail bar down here. That would be cute.

Ford Fry (44m 24s):
That would be nice.

Monica Olsen (44m 25s):
That'd be fun. We need that.

Steve Nygren (44m 27s):
If you do one of the food trucks plan on making us one of your stops. We'll set up a dining room in the street with social distancing.

Ford Fry (44m 35s):
Alright, yeah. Sounds good.

Monica Olsen (44m 38s):
Well Ford, thank you so much.

Ford Fry (44m 40s):
Yeah. Thanks for having me.

Monica Olsen (44m 41s):
And good luck with opening the restaurants all the way back up.

Ford Fry (44m 44s):
Thank you. Thank you.

Monica Olsen (44m 45s):
Thanks guys.

Steve Nygren (44m 46s):
Take care. Bye now.

Monica Olsen (44m 50s):
There are two rubrics in building a city. You can follow the sprawl mentality, or you can preserve land while boosting economic development. Serenbe builds and designs to be both beautiful and environmentally sustainable. If you're a city planner, developer, land owner, or a policymaker, there are common sense solutions you can take to build a biophilic centered community. Attend the Nygren place-making conference this fall to learn more. Details at nygrenplacemaking.com. That's nygrenplacemaking.com.

Monica Olsen (45m 32s):
Thank you for listening to Serenbe Stories. New episodes are available on Mondays. Please rate and review the podcast and make sure to email your questions for Steve Nygren to stories@serenbe.com. You may even get to hear them on the podcast. More details about episodes and guests are available on our website, serenbestories.com.