DECEMBER 30, 20 19 FORBES.COM88
THE^MOMENTD
eep in the Sunset Park neighborhood of
Brooklyn, Blake Tomnitz overlooks the
15 , 000 - square-foot brewery he spent the past
half-decade building and perfecting. It’s a far cry from
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room kitchen stoves,” recalls the now 30 - year-old
cofounder and CEO of Five Boroughs Brewing Co.
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LÀÕ}ðTHE MOMENT OF INSPIRATION
Tomnitz and O’Donnell were blocked by bureaucracy,
whether about building codes or liquor laws, at every
step of the way. “Starting a business in New York
City is very hard. Starting a manufacturing business is
extremely hard, and starting an alcohol manufacturing
business is impossible.” Nearly. And yet in 2017, Five
Boroughs opened to the public.THE MOMENT OF CHALLENGE
THE MOMENT OF SUCCESS
In August 2017, Five Boroughs launched the brand
with a traditional IPA, a crisp pilsner, a tart gose and
a hoppy lager. “We wanted to develop a wide variety
to show as many different palates across New York
as possible,” says Tomnitz. Anticipating bureaucratic
hold-ups, they waited until the very last minute to
announce their opening. “But 500 people showed
up—it wasn’t just family and friends; there was
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York City and beyond.” A room packed with all kinds
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evolution of someone else’s vision—a stopgap
before he opened a place that was truly his. But
that freed him to take risks. “I’ll treat this like an
incubator,” he thought, and decided to curate a
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childhood. “I might as well do food I believe in.” In
Õi]ÌiVivÀiViÛi`ÃwÀÃÌÃÌ>À°º ÞÕÌ>Ìi
goal was to be in the Michelin system,” he says.
“It’s slowly starting to sink in,” he says. “When I
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guys are the guiding star.’”Post-college, Tomnitz kept brewing but took a job as
an investment banking analyst. Still, some corner of
his brain was preparing for a business in beer. One
day, he and his future cofounder, Kevin O’Donnell,
then his banking colleague, laid their eyes on an
inspiring scene at a Bronx bar. “We had never seen
such a diverse group gathering around beer. It didn’t
matter if you’ve lived here your entire life, if you’ve
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he says. They instantly knew what they wanted to
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the most diverse cities in the world—and a space to
drink it.THE MOMENT OF SUCCESS
Yao opened the restaurant doors with almost no
working capital. But the greatest challenge was
his search for identity. Once the idea behind Kato
had evolved, Yao took the reins, having done so
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wasn’t fully baked—and it didn’t feel personal to
him. In the hopes of bringing in money, he served
pan-Asian dishes “that I thought resonated with
what Angelenos liked to eat,” he says. “There wasn’t
a voice behind the food. It wasn’t driven by my
identity.” It was that sense of resignation that pushed
him to pivot.THE MOMENT OF CHALLENGE
HOW BLAKE
TOMNITZ BUILT THE
QUINTESSENTIAL
NEW YORK BREWERY
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