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

By 1:45 p.m., about the time he usually would be leaving work to pick up his children from school, he is careening down the highway toward Chinatown, rattling off a 15-item list of wines to a purveyor on his cell phone. After all, there's no point in wasting time in the business day, he says.

Though his friend can't make it to lunch, Bubala enjoys a quick meal of dim sum and heads back to Thyme to catch up with the employees, who filter in over the next few hours. Typically, Bubala spends the afternoon with his children, returning to the restaurant at 5 p.m., in time to eat staff dinner--his favorite time of the workday--and start cooking.

As he enters the restaurant, set to trade his purchasing-manager's cap for his chef's toque, Bubala readies himself. "We've prepared ourselves as best we can," he says. "Now is when the X factor comes in--the customer."

At A Glance

NAME: John Bubala

AGE: 41

EMPLOYER: self-employed; own two restaurants--Thyme and Thyme Cafe--with childhood friend and partner Ben Jennings

TITLE: owner, chef, purchasing manager

LENGTH OF TENURE: seven years at Thyme

CAREER MILESTONES: being invited to a lunch event by chef Charlie Trotter; meeting chef Freddy Girardet at one of Trotter's lunches

PROFESSIONAL ASPIRATIONS: to have a good, honest legacy through my work and someday own an oyster shack on the dock in Nantucket, Mass.

HOMETOWN: Glenview, Ill.

PERSONAL: married; three kids

FAVORITE PASTIME: playing with my children and perusing my cookbook library