B.R. Guest … really

Nation's Restaurant News, Oct 18, 2004

Restaurant entrepreneur extraordinaire Steve Hanson first appeared on the Manhattan fine dining scene with the Coconut Grill, which opened in 1987 on the Upper East Side. Since then B.R. Guest has expanded to include 14 distinct high-end concepts representing such cuisine as Mediterranean, classic American, regional Mexican, seafood, Italian and Pan-Asian.

They include Isabella's; Park Avalon; Atlantic Grill; Ocean Grill; Blue Water Grill; Ruby Foo's Dim Sum and Sushi Palace; Ruby Foo's Times Square; Blue Fin; Dos Caminos; Dos Caminos SoHo; Fiamma Osteria; Fiamma Trattoria in Las Vegas; Fiamma Trattoria in Scottsdale, Ariz.; and, the newly opened Vento Trattoria in Manhattan.

Hanson has manned each with a virtual dream team of the best in the business and collectively, those teams have earned B.R. Guest some forty-one stars from the country's top newspapers and publications. At the end of this year, B.R. Guest's restaurants will net estimated systemwide sales of $104 million, Hanson says.

Carefully Laid Plans, With a Few Surprises

Hanson says his mission has always been to open up many restaurants, not just one. But that original vision included adding hotels in between new restaurant openings.

"It's been a long-term plan to get where I am with the hotels, but I thought I would be in the restaurant business along the way and build up a few of them," he says.

Hanson, who started in the business as a maitre d' at the original T.G.I. Friday's while pursuing a business degree at New York University's Stern School of Business, became the unit's manager upon graduation. Then he embarked on a restaurant & nightclub venture with two college friends.

Next, Hanson pursued a career as a commodities broker, sold his interest in the nightclub, and then went on to help run his family's designer sportswear company, Betty Hanson, in an executive capacity. Nine years later, he was back in foodservice.

Almost Like Playing Monopoly

Earlier this year Hanson partnered with Danny Errico (founder of Equinox Fitness) to open such new ventures as James Hotel in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Chicago, and The Gym in New York City, as well as the new Vento Trattoria.

"There are a lot of gifted people in the restaurant business. We are always trying to push the issue," Hanson explains. "I think the hotel business has been a little bit staid. I want to take the rewards of what I've been doing and reapply them when I take them to the hotel side."

B.R. Guest is currently pursuing additional James Hotel sites in Los Angeles and South Beach, and plans to open a second Blue Water Grill in Chicago. Each hotel eventually will include one or more of the company's restaurant brands.

"I get satisfaction when I buy a hotel; I get my restaurant fix with a hotel," says Hanson, the consummate restaurateur. "Right now I'm getting my fix just buying the hotel."

When asked if he's just playing Monopoly with bigger pieces, Hanson laughs. "It's a little bit like the hotels in Monopoly," he jests, adding, "I'm not quite at that stage. Donald [Trump] plays Monopoly."

Who's Innovative ... Moi?

Part of Hanson's allure as an innovator in the restaurant industry is that he does not think of himself as such. "I just do what I do. I don't know if that's innovation," he says.

"I'm always looking to be innovative," Hanson adds. "We're always striving for design quality, new product, new limits on cooking, and on sourcing of product: trying to find the most unique and best tomato you can."

"I think that the concepts of the restaurants are fairly innovative as far as what they deliver to the consumer," Hanson explains. "Back five years ago when I opened up Ruby Foos, nobody was doing large boxed with Asian and sushi; I was just trying to push the envelope."

Charity Begins In Manhattan

Hanson and B.R. Guest regularly support such New York area charitable organizations as Share Our Strength, City Harvest (of which Hanson is a board member), City-Meals-On-Wheels, the American Cancer Society, World Wildlife Federation, PENCIL, Momentum AIDS Project, God's Love We Deliver, the American Heart Association, the James Beard Foundation and Windows of Hope.

"It's about feeding people. There's a need. And especially with City Harvest--being on the board, I get to see how to facilitate that actual charity, not only on a monetary contribution level, but also on the operational part," Hanson says.

Hanson also is on the board of the Exploring Program, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to motivating students by connecting them with successful businesspeople and exposing them to career options at an early age.

Pedal To The Metal

Hanson's future plans are as carefully laid out as the plans that brought him to where he stands today, and he's showing no signs of slowing down.

His latest push will be an additional new concept or two. He plans to add a steakhouse to his roster of restaurants within the next few years, and is considering a coffeehouse concept for the hotel side.

Any further restaurant expansion will include those and his other brands, he says: "I'm going to stay true to those concepts."