FH1117

legacy. But I’ve learned so much
about business.
RC: What was the biggest lesson
you learned?
JK: I was naively successful for the
first 30 years of my career. I did
very well, but it was always about
having these ideas and the ideas
being good and people wanting
to support them, but we just kind
of made it through the business
part without paying attention
all that much. And so, when this
happened, all of a sudden I had
to really start paying attention as
the owner and operator of this
company. So now I’m a much
better business person as a result.
RC: Staffing is always one of the
most difficult issues in this industry.
How were you able to be so
successful when so many other
restaurants have a hard time
hiring and retaining people?
JK: A lot of that was creating
upward mobility within
the company as much as possible,
starting with apprentices.
Developing an apprenticeship
program — because that was
my model — and I believed in
the model. I hired apprentices
for a three-year program and
they moved between departments.
I required them to write
their CFQ at the end for their
Red Seal because we need to
establish some importance in
the educational component; the
importance of it, in hiring later in
their career. A chef sees Red Seal,
it means something. And then,
I’d kick them out. I didn’t allow
them to stay after three years.
After they’d written their CFQ,
then out they’d go. They needed
to go and work for other chefs,
become journeymen [and follow]
that path.
It’s also about establishing a
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