John Bubala: developing relationships with vendors is 'key to survival' for this family man and independent restaurateur

Nation's Restaurant News, June 20, 2005 by Abigail Bains

Sleep is overrated," says John Bubala, co-owner, chef, purchasing manager and head dishwasher of Thyme, a FrenchAmerican restaurant in downtown Chicago.

After a late night hosting a wine-tasting dinner, the exuberant multitasker is back in the office bright and early. With so many responsibilities at the restaurant, Bubala usually finds himself catching a few winks between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m., when he rises to take his children to school.

By 8 a.m. Bubala sits in Thyme's basement office, which is tucked behind the extra stores of dried goods and wine, where he surfs the Internet and gnaws on an unlit cigar.

For the first hour of his day, he responds to customer inquiries--the restaurant is a popular location for business meetings and wedding rehearsal dinners--and scans his favorite websites, such as SuperChefBlog.com, ChowHound.com and SauteWednesday.com.

Thursdays are important days in terms of preparing for the weekend, and this one is no exception: Bubala eagerly is awaiting the arrival of Slow Food organic products for that organization's dinner, which will be held at Thyme the following Monday. He plans on testing some menu items over the weekend, but thus far only a few organic turkeys have been delivered.

An hour later the first delivery of the day arrives. Removing the packaging, Bubala sniffs the fish.

"Just like the ocean," says the deliveryman from the Fortune Fish Co. "Just like the ocean," Bubala agrees. The two laugh at some private joke as Bubala sets the fish out to prepare gravlax later that afternoon. A moment later he gingerly climbs the steps to meet another purveyor. "Thursday's check day!" he yells behind him.

"If you don't manage your sales reps, they will ruin your life," he adds.

Bubala, who has purchased from the same vendors for the past seven to 12 years, emphasizes a weekly schedule for payments and deliveries. Over the years he has developed friendly working relationships with his suppliers, so when his produce purveyor is out shopping, the vendor will think of Bubala and occasionally bring samples of new produce for him to try.

"That's the key to survival--the trust and relationships you have with your purveyors," Bubala says. "You want someone who's looking out for you." Without that trust, he says, operators will end up spending all of their time at the office, making sure purveyors are not taking advantage of them. "How much can you do by yourself and still live a normal life?" he asks.

"You have to help your purveyors keep their costs down by ordering smart," he adds. "You have to have their best interest in mind."

That not only fosters goodwill but also may keep prices down, since purveyors often have a range of prices they offer to customers. "If you can save 2 percent on everything, that really ads up," he notes.

But symbiotic relationships are more than just a financial consideration for Bubala. "Some guys won't pay the extra pennies for the face," he says. "In some instances paying a little more is worth it."

With his wine list in hand, Bubala moves into the room that doubles as storage for liquor and restaurant odds and ends, such as CDs, chairs and lamps. Stooping a little to avoid the low ceiling, he sets aside a few bottles of wine, which the bartender will bring up that evening when the bar is restocked. As Bubala scans the room, he scribbles notes to himself, muttering along the way.

"You talk to yourself a lot in this business because that's your double-check," he says.

He says he imagines all of the chefs he has worked with standing behind him as he goes about his day, making selections, taking tasting notes from them and interpreting those notes in his own way. Bubala attributes his development as a chef to the many great cooks he worked with throughout the years--those who were willing to instruct a man who was more than willing to learn.

Bubala got his start in the restaurant business as a busboy at Willow on Wagner, a neighborhood tavern that was known as the Pink Flamingo during Chicago's Al Capone era. At Michigan State University he studied hotel and restaurant management and helpedopenBennigan'srestau rants in the area.

After graduating, Bubala moved to Boston, where he worked with Bennigan's, Morton's of Chicago, the Boston Harbor Hotel and, finally, the Four Seasons Hotel, where he met chef Michael Kornick. The two returned to Chicago and opened March6 in 1993. Bubala was chef de cuisine at the restaurant but always knew that he wanted to have his own place.

"It was a great opportunity to learn how to fix things yourself," he says, speaking of his knowledge of rough plumbing and minor electrical work. "If you don't, you'll forever be paying through the nose," he adds.

Now, as purchasing manager for his own restaurant--which he opened in 1998 with his childhood friend Ben Jennings--that's exactly what Bubala tries to avoid. On a chilly winter morning, Thyme feels only slightly warmer than the street outside.

"You're not just purchasing food; you're purchasing gas, electricity and water," Bubala says. "Purchasing is not only getting the best deal but also managing things you can't control, like the prices of gas and electricity." So rather than heat the entire building for the several hours when he and accountant/translator/"gate keeper" Armie Arguelles are the only people in the building, the two come bundled up and don't turn on unnecessary lights.