PHILLIP CASTLETON
Gloria Jeans, came and bought 20%,” says
Young. “He led the development, the leas-
es, the franchising and I focused on what
I liked, which was making recipes, oper-
ations, culture.” Blanco sold out recently,
eager to pursue other ventures. Young has
since raised capital from a new 50% part-
ner, the Asian fried chicken operator 4Fin-
gers, and is using its experience to expand
into Singapore and Malaysia and to gain
added economies of scale.
The chain operates mainly in NSW,
Victoria and WA, and has a few stores in
Queensland. It pulled back from SouthAustralia and the Northern Territory
because the transport logistics were too
difficult and costly. In part, that prob-
lem also comes down to its desire to sell
authentic food. “We import four or five
containers each year of chipotle chillies
and tomatillos from Mexico. There’s a
whole lot of authenticity that comes with
the real product.” Its logistics chain at one
end reaches into Central and Southern
America, and it became more complex as
it opened in new cities in Australia.
For Young, it’s a long way from being
a busboy – a dishwasher and waiter – inhigh school to starting a restaurant chain.
Both his parents were literary. His father,
Geoffrey, is a poet who also runs a small-
press publishing company and gallery
while his mother, Laura, is a novelist and
poet. “They taught me that finding some-
thing meaningful to do with my life was
considerably more fulfilling than finding
something that pays well. I am here doing
this, not because the money is great, but
because it’s closer to a calling.”
After graduating from high school,
Young took a job as an equity trader on
Wall Street. “I thought it was fun. It’s like