69Yiming Wang, who owns Michelin-starred Café China in
Manhattan with her husband Xian Zhang. Both are ex-bankers
who worked at Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley, respectively.
“In banking, I went through all-nighters, mission-critical stuff—
you have to have the temperament,” Zhang says. Similarly, in a
restaurant, “when it’s getting very busy, everything falls apart,
and you have to handle the stress.”
Juan Correa, the Peruvian-born co-owner of the James
Beard-nominated Llama Inn in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg
neighborhood, calls himself a “recovering banker” for his for-
mer role as partner at Lazard
Group LLC, where he special-
ized in utilities mergers and
acquisitions. Another similarity
he sees between banking and
restaurants is hubris. “Bankers
have big egos. They like to be
told how important they are,
to read about themselves and
the biggest deal they made,” he
says. “Restaurants are another
form of validation.”
But he notes that the
money is very different. At
Lazard, he focused on large-
cap M&A, where tens of mil-
lions of dollars were required
to change the economics of a
deal. “It was hard to be moti-
vated for anything less than
$50,000,” says Correa. “Now,
as the owner of midsize restau-
rants, I’m more focused on
counting pennies—$50,000 is
a ton of money in this world
for me.” Correa is in the mid-
dle of building an empire:
He also co-owns the fast-
casual Peruvian Llamita and
the just-opened, more ambi-
tious Llama San, both in
Manhattan’s West Village.
The two industries are
both extremely competitive
and focused on client service,
adds Ahmass Fakahany, chief
executive officer and owner of Altamarea Group, whose
portfolio includes high-end seafood spot Marea, just south
of New York’s Central Park.
“In the restaurant world, consistency of product is so
essential, because the client experience can hurt you enor-
mously, and it is more personal,” says Fakahany. He left
Merrill Lynch & Co. in 2007 after serving as co-president and
chief operating officer, responsible for businesses involving
JANELLE JONES (LILIA). EVAN SUNG (MISI). MATT TAYLOR GROSS (LLAMA SAN)63,000 people globally.
RESTAURANTS September 23, 2019The financial toughness bankers contribute to restaurants
complement chefs who are often not adept at operations. A
focus on P&L and controlling costs can offer a crucial compet-
itive edge in the volatile, high-risk hospitality industry, where
failure is more common than success. Each year, an average
of 60,000 restaurants open in the U.S., and each year, about
50,000 close, according to the National Restaurant Association.
Those aren’t numbers most financial pros are looking for.
That’s why not all finance people who enter the restau-
rant industry leave their day jobs. In November 2017, when
Joe Conti opened Shuraku,
a Japanese grill in the West
Village, he continued to lead
the data analytics team in
Bank of New York Mellon
Corp.’s internal audit depart-
ment. Unlike most finan-
ciers, Conti decided to take
a hands-on approach before
investing: He persuaded a
Japanese restaurant to let
him work in the kitchen for
two years to learn the ropes.
He then used his own money
to open Shuraku while work-
ing full time at the bank.
“It’s a huge risk, but a risk
I was willing to take to follow
my passion,” says Conti. Many
of his professional peers are
married with children and
locked into jobs for financial
reasons; Conti had more free
time and fewer commitments.
Like Feeney, Conti con-
stantly analyzes every facet of
the restaurant’s performance.
He also uses spreadsheets to
scrutinize reservation patterns
and dish popularity while
keeping a close eye on social
media traffic to see what din-
ers are posting about.
“I’ve convinced myself that
I don’t need to drive around
in a Ferrari if I’m happy on a
daily basis because of the restaurant,” Conti says.
Beyond the profitability of Lilia and Misi, Feeney cites a
list of benefits that he’s brought to his company because of
his financial experience. Grovehouse offers its 185 employees
health care, yoga workouts, and English- and Spanish-language
classes. An inaugural financial coaching session took place in
August, and it wasn’t run by Feeney. “People on staff ask me
questions, like, ‘What’s the difference between a stock and a
bond?’ I tell them that’s not my role anymore.” <BW>From top: an array of pasta and vegetable dishes from Misi;
scallop ceviche with avocado from Llama SanTHE FOOD ISSUE