Interview at Langosta
Lounge, Asbury Park, NJ
with Marilyn
Schlossbach, owner
By
Kathryn Gordon, Food Startup Help
Editor’s
Note: Marilyn Schlossbach is a successful restaurateur whose multiple
restaurants were damaged by Hurricane Sandy.
Kathryn: Hi Marilyn, I wanted to come talk to
you about the process of reopening numerous restaurants at once after Hurricane
Sandy.
Marilyn: You have to make decisions on the fly,
and based on the money situation each week. It was a process.
You know what you need to get done, but with everyone in the area
needing help as well, the people who were available to do the work – things
don’t always line up together like a perfect storm.
It
takes time to get up and running, and the timeframe for reopening was never set
in stone. Our finances weren’t
completely in line before the storm because we had started a construction
project at Langosta. It was very
difficult to know when to say we would be opening, and when to be able to hire
and start training staff again.
We got an SBA interest-bearing loan in the end, and now I’m applying for
a state grant for additional funding.
Editor’s
Note: a commercial establishment
is not covered under FEMA
Kathryn: How did you go about finding
replacement staff? I imagine you
didn’t keep many on board during the 7 month rebuilding hiatus.
Marilyn: We basically opened the weekend
before Memorial Day with all new staff.
I bought into different website restaurant career sites, like “Good
Food” jobs (www.goodfoodjobs.com),
and did some recruiting at career schools and through Craig’s List.
Not
all people can handle our volume.
It can be a monster, depending on the shows open at The Stone Pony
(right outside our door), festivals, etc. and the weather. It’s a tough dichotomy.
Finding
back of house staff (the chefs) was very difficult. Everyone in Asbury Park along the beach reopened at the same
time. Unfortunately, New Jersey
labor laws are not conducive for hiring “seasonal” employees versus year round
staff. Paying overtime when we are
at our peak season becomes a financial drain on the employer. But there’s a 12-16 week window in a
seasonal situation in which everyone has to be open in order to make their
money to allow them to remain open for the year.
Kathryn: What exactly was the damage here at
Langosta Lounge from the storm?
It’s located right on the boardwalk (1000 Ocean Avenue, Asbury Park,
NJ).
Marilyn: There was 8 foot of water in the
basement. All the windows got
blown out. I had to replace the
kitchen equipment, chairs and moldy walls. We had a $100,000 electric bill for rewiring – and even now,
something new happens that was an effect of the storm, like a computer dying
(and the inside turns out to be filled with sand).
Kathryn: How has business been since you
reopened in May?
Marilyn: The weekends are great. Jersey Shore business is all driven by
visitors. We need people to come,
visit and eat!
Kathryn: I see that you now have a new sushi area?
Marilyn: That’s the construction project I’d
started before the hurricane. We’d
decided to have a new format, bringing it up to over 300 seats. The sushi bar area can either serve
sushi or we can transition it to a private dining room – with a view of the
ocean.
Kathryn: I love how all your places and menus
have different themes!
Marilyn: I try to create a fun place. I want a vacation atmosphere – and
allow people to “go away from life” while they are here.
Kathryn: To me, you’ve always been very good at
self promotion. I know you always
have posters up of events at your various restaurants up and down the Jersey
Shore, and postcards to mail to your customer list… In fact, we did a macaron class and hot chocolate tasting
here in February to help raise money for beach restoration and Kula Café, and
you made up some fabulous postcards for that event!
Editor’s
Note: only one of Marilyn’s
restaurants and stores stayed open after Hurricane Sandy, the Dauphin Grille in
the Berkeley Hotel.
Marilyn: Early on I started collecting customer
email addresses. Word of
mouth is the best PR! So I built a
grass roots database, to allow me to reach my customers.
Kathryn: What do you think of social media, or
sites like Yelp?
Marilyn: I prefer to display the postcards in
the restaurants, and send them directly in mailings, because the people who
post on review sites – the majority had a negative experience and there’s no
“balance” in the reviews, and they’re superficial. If you have a fabulous dining experience, you’re just
happy. You’re not driven to go
home, open up the computer and post something on Yelp.
Kathryn: Can you talk about your community
outreach efforts? I know you’re
very active in the local community, philanthropy, and helped found Kula Café (a community
café with a youth job training program in an economically deprived area): www.kulacafe.org
Marilyn: To me, you have to love what you do and
not pursue it for the financial end.
Community based businesses support a lot of people, not just residents
who need to eat. They are the core
of a community in providing a “sense of normalcy.”
I’m
financially responsible to over 100 employees. I also believe in supporting local farmers. We have a farm-to-table special at
Langosta on Thursdays tied with cocktails. Every Thursday evening, I started a 4:30 to sunset farm
market in the old carousal in Asbury Park and encourage residents, and other
restaurants, to buy local produce.
Kathryn: You’re certainly busy! How often do you visit each of your
restaurants, since they’re scattered north and south on a 25 mile or so
corridor?
Marilyn: I try to visit each restaurant at least
once a week. The biggest storm hit
was at Labrador Lounge (located in Normandy Beach, about the narrowest part of
NJ with the ocean on one side and the bay on the other), so I spend most of my
week at Labrador at the moment. My
staff there had on average been with me over 10 years. Luckily, since it was a seasonal
business – a lot of those employees came back, and have other jobs the rest of
the year…
My
husband and brother are also involved, as primary investors and managers. And we need great, talented people to
run these places and be the best they can be.
Kathryn: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve
learned, running multiple establishments?
Marilyn: For any business venture, understand
your demographics and have a firm business plan. Do not “fall in love” with any particular space. You need a reality check. If there’s no foot traffic – a location
is not perfect. And be receptive
to change – you always have to look ahead and see what you need to do to make
things better.
Kathryn: What’s next for you? You seem to have no shortage of ideas!
Marilyn: Our biggest hurdle for ourselves is we
are full of ideas. My
husband looks at me and I get a certain look on my face, and he says “oh
no…” But you have to be as good an
operator as an idea person to succeed.
We
are reopening our retail outlets, and the Asbury Park Yacht Club (APYC) surf
bar. Pop’s Garage (in Asbury) will
be open year round. Opportunities
always come my way – if they’re perfect, then I’ll decide.
We
need support from everyone. When
people’s routines disappear, it adds to the general sadness and frustration regarding
what happened with the hurricane, losing mementos that will never be
replaced. Come help everyone and
come visit!
Wood cat that
drifted into Langosta Lounge in the storm, on display -- hoping its owner comes
to eat at the restaurant one day and claims the cat to take it home
