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Speaker 1: What's up?

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Speaker 2: Its way up with Angela Gee. I'm Angela Gee, and

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Speaker 2: I'm here with a special guest, Dara. Now I've never

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Speaker 2: had to say your last name before, Dara. But let's

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Speaker 2: see if I get this right. Merge Hanjurie, merge Honjurie.

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Speaker 3: Pretty good? Pretty good?

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Speaker 1: Is that right?

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Speaker 3: Yeah?

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Speaker 2: Okay, okay, they had to spell it phonetically for me,

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Speaker 2: but it worked out. Now, I've known Daura forever just

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Speaker 2: from being in the food industry, right, And so originally

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Speaker 2: this was like way back in the day Philips, correct, right, Philips,

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Speaker 2: And so you were the person that if we wanted

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Speaker 2: to go to Phillips, it's like, let's let Dara know,

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Speaker 2: we need a table, we need to make sure we

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Speaker 2: go there and eat. And since then, I mean that

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Speaker 2: was a probably like how long.

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Speaker 3: Ago, twelve years ago?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, like twelve years ago.

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Speaker 2: This is really like when I first started here at iHeart,

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Speaker 2: when I finally had some money to spend. And now

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Speaker 2: look at you with your own restaurant, say less, but

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Speaker 2: not just a restaurant, but like a destination location here

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Speaker 2: in New York. And so I just want people to

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Speaker 2: understand journey that you went through to get to where

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Speaker 2: you are today, and the restaurant business has to be

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Speaker 2: one of the toughest businesses to be in. So I

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Speaker 2: want to talk about how you've been able to be successful.

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Speaker 2: A lot of people want to be where you are,

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Speaker 2: and I know you're going to share some gems.

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Speaker 1: With us today.

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Speaker 3: I got plenty of them for you.

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Speaker 2: But the real thing is I wanted some food and

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Speaker 2: you did bring some, So thank you so much for that.

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Speaker 2: From say less, And that's sei less for people who

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Speaker 2: are listening.

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Speaker 1: So why the names? Say less? First of all?

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Speaker 4: So I always wanted to open my own place and

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Speaker 4: was trying to think of like a good name that

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Speaker 4: would be culturally relevant, that was kind of like a

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Speaker 4: gathering spot for everyone, you know, to dine at. The

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Speaker 4: name that popped into my head was say no More.

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Speaker 3: You know. Wanted to kind of make it, you know.

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Speaker 4: A little bit exclusive, not for everyone, you know. I

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Speaker 4: just realized say no More was too wordy, So I

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Speaker 4: was like, how do you say say no more without

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Speaker 4: so many words?

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Speaker 3: It would say less?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, say less sounds way better.

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Speaker 3: I wrote to say less s a Y L e

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Speaker 3: SS on a piece of paper. I looked at it.

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Speaker 4: I was like there's no way I could call a

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Speaker 4: restaurant say less like spelled that way. So I was like,

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Speaker 4: how do you spell say differently? So sense is sai

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Speaker 4: sai l e s s And then that still didn't

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Speaker 4: look right, so changed the a tone and then we

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Speaker 4: had say.

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Speaker 2: Less and easily googleable because there's nothing else that you

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Speaker 2: can google that say less that's spelled like that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's important.

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Speaker 2: Thing.

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Speaker 3: Few copycats after the fact, But now were the original And.

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Speaker 2: Even before you were in the restaurant business, what field

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Speaker 2: were you and you went to Syracuse University? Yep, okay,

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Speaker 2: what did you think you were going to do when

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Speaker 2: you went to Syracuse?

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Speaker 4: So I was a finance and marketing major, that's important.

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Speaker 4: I was looking for a job on Wall Street and

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Speaker 4: of graduating working in the mortgage business for the first

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Speaker 4: three years out of college, and then two thousand and

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Speaker 4: eight there was a financial crisis pretty much the financial

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Speaker 4: markets got turned upside down, and that's kind of when

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Speaker 4: I pivoted to hospitality. I had worked in hospitality as

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Speaker 4: like a college job, but never realized or thought it

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Speaker 4: would be a career.

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Speaker 2: You know, financial crisis, but there was also a restaurant crisis.

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Speaker 2: During COVID, and so how did you adjust during that period?

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Speaker 4: So, to be honest, it was, you know, in the

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Speaker 4: first couple of weeks, it was pretty stressful. You know,

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Speaker 4: it didn't really really know what was going on. There

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Speaker 4: wasn't really any guidance, There was no timeline. You know,

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Speaker 4: at first it was like we thought it was gonna

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Speaker 4: be a couple of weeks, then it was a month.

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Speaker 4: Didn't really know what there was no guidance or.

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Speaker 3: Rules that never happened before.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, so you know, I started thinking that like New

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Speaker 4: York was done. You know, like you'd come to New

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Speaker 4: York and there was no cars on the street, there

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Speaker 4: was no people. Everything was boarded up. Kind of looked

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Speaker 4: like a movie. So it took about three months for

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Speaker 4: the restaurant business to get permission to open up for

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Speaker 4: outdoor dining. So for those three months, I actually ended

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Speaker 4: up going to California and I was exploring some options

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Speaker 4: out in LA with different people, but then the riots

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Speaker 4: broke out in LA so that kind of put a

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Speaker 4: stop to that.

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Speaker 3: So I ended up coming back to New York, and.

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Speaker 4: You know, we were doing outdoor dining and business was

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Speaker 4: booming during the pandemic because we had a lot of

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Speaker 4: space for outdoor dining.

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Speaker 3: This was before say less.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well, yeah, that was a really fortunate thing. Now,

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Speaker 2: when did you realize you wanted to have your own restaurant.

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Speaker 2: Was that something that was always in your head?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I'd probably say about ten years ago I had

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Speaker 4: a vision of having my own restaurant. But as you said,

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Speaker 4: you know, a restaurant business is not easy. There's a

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Speaker 4: lot of you know, I think seventy percent of restaurants

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Speaker 4: fail in the first three years.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so the success rate is.

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Speaker 4: Low, and I think just a lot of people don't

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Speaker 4: understand the economics that go behind the business. You know,

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Speaker 4: they want to they think about the food and the

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Speaker 4: design and what the thing looks like, but they don't

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Speaker 4: think about, you know, everything behind the scenes to make

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Speaker 4: a business successful.

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Speaker 2: Let's talk about some of those things behind the scenes,

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Speaker 2: because you're right, people don't understand. I have a coffee

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Speaker 2: shop and a juice bar and it's nowhere near like

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Speaker 2: where you have to go through and even that's like tough,

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Speaker 2: but the restaurant business is a whole nother level. So

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Speaker 2: for people who are listening that are like, oh, I

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Speaker 2: want to open my restaurant one day.

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Speaker 1: What are some things that you would tell.

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Speaker 2: Them that you have to take into consideration when it

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Speaker 2: comes to like day one of knowing that you want

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Speaker 2: to open up a restaurant, before you even open, what

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Speaker 2: are the steps that a person has to take.

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Speaker 4: So I think you really have to define your concept,

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Speaker 4: you know, determine what your advantages are, what makes you

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Speaker 4: different than the competition. Location is really important, and then

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Speaker 4: you know part of location is you know, finding a

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Speaker 4: space and the rent that kind of works for your

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Speaker 4: business model, right typically you want to keep your rent

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Speaker 4: to be like ten percent of your you know, revenue

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Speaker 4: monthly revenue are less, that's.

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Speaker 3: Kind of your goal. And then you know payroll, you know,

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Speaker 3: food costs, if you if you have liquor, liquor costs.

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Speaker 4: And then there's a lot of you know, expenses that

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Speaker 4: people don't think about, like insurance and like you know,

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Speaker 4: the cleaning expense, the garbage expense. You know, there's a

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Speaker 4: lot of things with the fire department, the building department

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Speaker 4: that our expenses that pop up that you know you

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Speaker 4: don't really account for.

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Speaker 2: But you know, toilet breaks, you got to get somebody

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Speaker 2: to fix it. Every little thing that can pass you.

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Speaker 3: So it's almost like a house, but there's a lot

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Speaker 3: more moving parts.

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Speaker 2: Like the door knobs not working. Who's going to fix

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Speaker 2: the doorknob? But it's great when you have people and say,

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Speaker 2: Let's is a huge restaurant. By the way, if you've

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Speaker 2: never been to New York, it is definitely make a

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Speaker 2: reservation because you can't just a lot of times just

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Speaker 2: walk in either we're.

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Speaker 4: An open table and RESI yeah, you know, so we

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Speaker 4: definitely recommend reservations. You know, for big groups, you have

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Speaker 4: to go through our event team. You could do that

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Speaker 4: through our website through the reservations tab, and then you know, walkins,

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Speaker 4: you know, it's doorman's discussion. And then if we're book

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Speaker 4: the capacity, then we don't take door walkins a.

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Speaker 3: Lot of a lot of nights.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so on the weekends or when there are special events,

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Speaker 2: because a lot of athletes and celebrities and artists end

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Speaker 2: up coming to say less, how did y'all manage to

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Speaker 2: get that following? Because that is something that I feel

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Speaker 2: like any business should want to figure out, and it's

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Speaker 2: not an easy thing to do to build those relationships

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Speaker 2: where they trust you, but they also feel like all.

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Speaker 1: Right, let's all.

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Speaker 2: I know, I can bring like the whole Brooklyn Nets

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Speaker 2: basketball team here and we're going to have a good time,

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Speaker 2: or the Knicks. It's not that far from the Garden.

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Speaker 4: So we're at one fifty six what's thirty eight Street,

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Speaker 4: which is pretty much right between Times Square and Madison

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Speaker 4: Square Garden. So we get a lot of traffic from

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Speaker 4: the Knicks games, from sporting events, from concerts at the Garden.

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Speaker 4: But those relationships are relationships that you know, I've built

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Speaker 4: through probably the last twelve years. As you mentioned, when

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Speaker 4: I was afleep, that was before there was Instagram, before

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Speaker 4: there was Uber, So it was a different time in

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Speaker 4: night life I think, you know, in hospitality where you know,

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Speaker 4: things were a little bit more organic, and I used

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Speaker 4: to go out a lot more those before before I

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Speaker 4: had a family, So you know, I would meet people

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Speaker 4: at the restaurant that I would go to the club

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Speaker 4: with them, and then I would get introduced to new

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Speaker 4: people at the club.

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Speaker 1: And that's work. People don't look at that.

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Speaker 2: They think you're just having fun, Yeah, but that is work.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, listen, I definitely had a lot of fun, but

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Speaker 4: it was work, you know, building the relationships, getting the

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Speaker 4: contact information, following up with people, and then I would

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Speaker 4: also get out on the road.

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Speaker 3: I'd go to Vegas for big.

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Speaker 4: Events, Miami, La. You know, it could be you know,

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Speaker 4: NBA All Star Weekend, it could be you know, the Grammys,

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Speaker 4: the Oscars, the you know, Super Bowl. I was always

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Speaker 4: at those events, networking with different people.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, because for people to understand there's a lot of

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Speaker 2: restaurants in that area, but the fact that that's the

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Speaker 2: one that people always choose to go to when there's

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Speaker 2: a birthday party, when there's a special event, when they

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Speaker 2: want to rent out the whole restaurant for New Years.

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Speaker 2: I mean that is you know, say less is definitely

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Speaker 2: I think the blueprint for if somebody's trying to do something,

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Speaker 2: you know, like that, you got to I mean, I'm

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Speaker 2: not telling people to come in and study and still

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Speaker 2: what you have going on, but if you do want

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Speaker 2: to have a successful business, to understand what goes into that,

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Speaker 2: because it's not easy and like you said, it was

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Speaker 2: a twelve years and then making type of thing. As

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Speaker 2: far as even building those relationships, it's not like you

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Speaker 2: can just open the spot and invite people to come.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, and you know, I'm you know, it's flattering when

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Speaker 4: people want to copy what you do and you know,

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Speaker 4: try to emulate in different markets because a lot of

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Speaker 4: it it's the work that you put in and the relationship.

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Speaker 4: So as long as you worry about yourself and you know,

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Speaker 4: you put in the work and you build a brand,

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Speaker 4: then you're not really worried about what other people are doing.

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Speaker 2: Okay, well, say, let's it's also Asian food. Now what

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Speaker 2: makes Asian food so special? And why did you decide?

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Speaker 2: Why did you and your partners decide this is how

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Speaker 2: we want to run our restaurant.

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Speaker 1: This is the type of cuisine that we're going to have.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, So I've always worked in the Asian cuisine space.

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Speaker 4: You know, I've built up a following with that. I've

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Speaker 4: actually tried to, you know, branch off and do some

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Speaker 4: other concepts in different cuisine. And I quickly realized that,

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Speaker 4: you know, I'm known for being the guy that you know,

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Speaker 4: you want good Chinese food in New York, you call Dar.

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Speaker 4: So you know, we have private dining rooms, we have

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Speaker 4: you know, we accommodate big groups and we could do

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Speaker 4: it on the fly. So you know, I get calls

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Speaker 4: all the time like I'm coming with thirty people.

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Speaker 1: And I feel like I've made something.

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Speaker 4: In twenty minutes. So that happens a lot where family

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Speaker 4: styles everything.

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Speaker 3: It's for sharing. So it's not your typical, you know,

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Speaker 3: sit down stuff you meal.

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Speaker 4: It's more about you know, obviously the food is a

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Speaker 4: backbone in the restaurant, but the vibe, the private dining,

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Speaker 4: the music and just the you know, good energy.

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Speaker 2: You know, some people don't like to have a hip

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Speaker 2: hop crowd or they don't want to have the athlete

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Speaker 2: type of crowd inside of their restaurants. But you guys

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Speaker 2: embrace that, right and that's the music that's playing and

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Speaker 2: people feel comfortable being able to go there. And you know,

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Speaker 2: sometimes there's places to go and they're like, we don't

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Speaker 2: want that type of people here. How were you able

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Speaker 2: to see that vision and make people feel like welcomed

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Speaker 2: because some places people don't feel welcome when they try

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Speaker 2: to go. It's like you're playing our music, you're you know,

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Speaker 2: but you don't want us to come in.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, so there's definitely a fine line there. You know,

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Speaker 4: I'm going to immigrant myself, so you know, I understand,

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Speaker 4: you know how sometimes people are wanted, sometimes people aren't wanted.

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Speaker 4: You know, you can't get the celebrity following without getting

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Speaker 4: the following that.

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Speaker 3: Comes with the celebrity following. So you just have to

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Speaker 3: understand how to deal with the people. You know, we

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Speaker 3: worry about having good people.

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Speaker 4: It doesn't matter if you're famous, if you're if you're

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Speaker 4: not a good person but you're famous, you know, we

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Speaker 4: don't really show you love either, Like right, you know,

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Speaker 4: you got to be respectful to the staff. You got

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Speaker 4: to be respectful to the venue. Everyone that comes to

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Speaker 4: the restaurant they pay. We don't comp celebrities just to

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Speaker 4: get them to come to the restaurant. People genuinely come

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Speaker 4: there because they want to be there, right, and we

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Speaker 4: respect their privacy and you know, just try to try

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Speaker 4: to try to treat people the way you want to

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Speaker 4: be treated.

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Speaker 3: It's pretty simple formula.

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Speaker 1: Mm hmm. No, that's right.

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Speaker 2: And when it comes to partners, I want to talk

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Speaker 2: about that because that's another thing in business, is finding

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Speaker 2: the right partners. So for anybody out there, it's like, okay,

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Speaker 2: you know, me and my friends want to do this,

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Speaker 2: or what goes into finding a good partner because it's

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Speaker 2: not necessarily your friend. It might be people who have

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Speaker 2: different skills that you guys have to come together and

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Speaker 2: form the right team. It could be somebody you don't

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Speaker 2: even necessarily get along with outside of work, but you

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Speaker 2: know that you guys can work well together because sometimes

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Speaker 2: the people closest to you aren't the people that you

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Speaker 2: can work with. So what's been the balance for you

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Speaker 2: you as far as finding the right partners for say

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Speaker 2: less and knowing who you can work with and what's

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Speaker 2: some advice you could give people?

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Speaker 4: So I think you know, as you said, you know,

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Speaker 4: finding people with different skill sets than you that complement yours.

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Speaker 4: If you partner with people that are the same as

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Speaker 4: you and have the same likes and the same network,

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Speaker 4: then you're not really you know, branching out and building

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Speaker 4: your network. So find people that you know you could trust,

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Speaker 4: people that work hard, have good work ethic, people that

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Speaker 4: don't really have, you know, addictive personalities to bad habits,

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Speaker 4: and people that are.

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Speaker 3: Willing to put the work in.

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Speaker 4: You know, you know, as long as you put the

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Speaker 4: work in and you have a plan and you really

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Speaker 4: stick to it. You know, things don't always go as planned,

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Speaker 4: you know ever, ever, but you know that being able

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Speaker 4: to pivot and you know kind of moving in a

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Speaker 4: different direction and you know, learn from your mistakes and

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Speaker 4: not really panic when things aren't going great. I think

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Speaker 4: those those are the things that are important. But at

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Speaker 4: the end of the day, just you know, having the

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Speaker 4: work ethic and being able to trust someone, those are

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Speaker 4: probably the most important things.

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Speaker 2: Now. I know you were definitely a seven day a

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Speaker 2: week person working at the restaurant seven days a week,

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Speaker 2: and like you said, now you have a family, things

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Speaker 2: are different. How are you able to find that balance

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Speaker 2: because something like this does require a lot of hands

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Speaker 2: on responsibility and actually physically being there. So when were

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Speaker 2: you able to say, Okay, now I can you know,

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Speaker 2: spend a couple of days with my family and not

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Speaker 2: have to be here all the time.

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Speaker 1: Because that is a goal to be able to get

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Speaker 1: to that point too.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, so it's definitely something that I struggled with. You know,

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Speaker 4: I started a family and opened up say Less right

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Speaker 4: around the same time, and I definitely was there for

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Speaker 4: seven days a week for you know, probably the first

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Speaker 4: six months. But as you know, you grow and you know,

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Speaker 4: your team grows, you find good staff. You're only as

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Speaker 4: good as your staff and your team, So being able

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Speaker 4: to put people in positions to succeed and you know,

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Speaker 4: to really implement the values and the culture that you've started.

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Speaker 4: And then your partners, you know, being able to you know,

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Speaker 4: know that if you're not there, that they could run

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Speaker 4: the business and handle you know, the things that you

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Speaker 4: do when you're.

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Speaker 3: Not there is a big part of it.

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Speaker 4: So it definitely took probably about six months to you know,

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Speaker 4: start to really you know, step away a little bit.

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Speaker 4: But even when I'm not there, I'm always on my phone,

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Speaker 4: you know, the cameras it doesn't have. I'll be putting

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Speaker 4: my kids to sleep, and then you know, I'll be

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Speaker 4: on my phone, you know, making reservations for people or

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Speaker 4: looking at the cameras. Like you said, so it never stops.

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Speaker 4: But you know that's that's a blessing. You know. You know,

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Speaker 4: you could be home five days a week and have

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Speaker 4: an empty restaurant. So if if you're on seven days

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Speaker 4: a week, that means you know, there's a reason that

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Speaker 4: you're there, and you're and you're engaged, and you know,

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Speaker 4: you never never complained about the work.

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Speaker 1: When would you say so?

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Speaker 2: You said it maybe it took about six months to

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Speaker 2: find your stride a little bit because I'm also wondering

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Speaker 2: once you guys did have yeah, grand opening, and then

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Speaker 2: people have to know it's there. You have to keep

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Speaker 2: on making sure that you're promoting, doing pr you know,

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Speaker 2: inviting people to come out.

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Speaker 1: So you would say, like maybe about six months in there, So.

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Speaker 4: That's when I when I finally was able to like,

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Speaker 4: you know, maybe take a day or two off. But

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Speaker 4: in terms of say less, we actually were busy before.

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Speaker 3: We even opened.

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Speaker 4: I had a lot of clients that you know, obviously

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Speaker 4: would reach out to me on a nightly basis about

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Speaker 4: where to dine, and we were still putting the finishing

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Speaker 4: touches on getting the place open. So we opened January fifteenth,

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Speaker 4: twenty and twenty two, and probably right after New Year's

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Speaker 4: For those two weeks in January, like I would get

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Speaker 4: a calls and I'm like, listen, we're not really open,

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Speaker 4: but if you want to come by, I'd be happy

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Speaker 4: to serve you.

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Speaker 3: And you know, we kind of got momentum.

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Speaker 4: The Giants did a private event there, James Harden did

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Speaker 4: a private event there. So a lot of my regular

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Speaker 4: clients started coming to the restaurant before we opened, and

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Speaker 4: then Kanye came like February right after we opened, and

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Speaker 4: you know, got a lot of press for that. So

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Speaker 4: I just always having you know, we're in New York City,

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Speaker 4: there's always something going on.

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Speaker 3: Like yesterday was the WNBA Draft.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, in a couple of weeks it's the

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Speaker 4: NFL Draft, even though it's not in New York. There's

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Speaker 4: a lot you know, between sports and music, you know, fashion,

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Speaker 4: the culture. We have a lot of people that come

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Speaker 4: to New York from out of outside of New York,

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Speaker 4: and then there's a lot of powerful people that live

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Speaker 4: in New York.

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Speaker 3: So we're kind of the I guess we were really

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Speaker 3: catered toward that ecosystem.

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Speaker 1: And it comes to doing pop ups.

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Speaker 2: I know you guys did some things too, and you've

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Speaker 2: been doing a lot of pop ups lately. So how

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Speaker 2: instrumental has that been as far as in promoting the

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Speaker 2: restaurant and what made you guys decide, Okay, we got

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Speaker 2: to start doing these pop ups.

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Speaker 4: So pop ups is something I did, like I started

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Speaker 4: doing right before the pandemic, and then the pandemic kind

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Speaker 4: of really put put that to rest for a little

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Speaker 4: while because there was no pop ups or traveling or

399
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Speaker 4: doing you know, new concepts. But the pop up concept

400
00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:26,000
Speaker 4: is very important to what we do because it allows

401
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Speaker 4: us to take our brand on the road to a

402
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Speaker 4: different market kind of you know, introduce it to the market,

403
00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:34,600
Speaker 4: and then it lets us understand, like, you know, will

404
00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:37,400
Speaker 4: our brand work well there. We try to do it

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Speaker 4: around events that there's a high concentration of our clients

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Speaker 4: already in the market. So that's you know, athletes and

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00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:44,440
Speaker 4: music artists that are there. So like we just did

408
00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:47,760
Speaker 4: one in February for NBA All Star Weekend. That's where

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Speaker 4: we have you know a lot of our clients in town.

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Speaker 4: And I think we just have the ability to do

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Speaker 4: things that a lot of other brands don't that you know,

412
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Speaker 4: high volume, fast paced, you know, concentration of people in

413
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Speaker 4: a market at once that's not in your home market.

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Speaker 4: You know, a lot of our staff we operated restaurants

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Speaker 4: in the Hampton's you know, for the last ten years,

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00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:09,800
Speaker 4: so I think being able to deal with that, you know,

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00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:12,440
Speaker 4: where you have to take your staff on the road,

418
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Speaker 4: you got to get housing for them, you got to

419
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Speaker 4: make sure that everyone's taken care of, and also everyone

420
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Speaker 4: wants to come at the same time, so there's that rush.

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Speaker 4: And I think also the cuisine kind of caters towards

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00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,280
Speaker 4: that is where you know, Chinese food, you could cook

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00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:28,000
Speaker 4: it a lot faster than a lot of other cuisines,

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00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:29,680
Speaker 4: and you know, you can get a lot of food

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Speaker 4: out at once to keep everyone happy. But again, you know,

426
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Speaker 4: the customers are the ones that really dictate where we go.

427
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Speaker 4: And we will be doing a lot more pop ups,

428
00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:41,160
Speaker 4: you know, over the next year, and then obviously the

429
00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:42,480
Speaker 4: long term goal is to open.

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Speaker 3: Up new locations.

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Speaker 1: Do you know where yet?

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Speaker 4: There's a lot of markets that we have a lot

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Speaker 4: of interest from, but we're not jumping intended thing. I

434
00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:51,680
Speaker 4: think the pop up model allows us to do something.

435
00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:53,400
Speaker 4: You know, we have a lot of brand sponsors that

436
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Speaker 4: come on.

437
00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:55,480
Speaker 3: Board help us with those pop ups.

438
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Speaker 4: So I think those are things that we're really looking

439
00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:04,120
Speaker 4: into doing. But I think you know, Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, Vegas, La,

440
00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:06,439
Speaker 4: those are big markets where a lot of our clients

441
00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:07,159
Speaker 4: are from already.

442
00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:09,840
Speaker 2: Now, I know you've said previously that it's not a

443
00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:12,240
Speaker 2: good idea to stay stagnant when it comes to even

444
00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:15,280
Speaker 2: your menu and the restaurant business. So what are some

445
00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:16,920
Speaker 2: things that you're doing to make sure that you're always

446
00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:19,399
Speaker 2: catering to like people is changing taste, What are some

447
00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:21,720
Speaker 2: things that you feel like have to be staples on

448
00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:24,000
Speaker 2: the menu, And then you know, what do you think

449
00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:25,320
Speaker 2: ends up?

450
00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:27,560
Speaker 1: Like is it seasonal? How do you guys figure that out?

451
00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:30,359
Speaker 4: Yeah, so we we don't really we do seasonal cocktails.

452
00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:32,480
Speaker 4: In terms of the food, we don't do anything that's

453
00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:35,159
Speaker 4: too seasonal, but we do. You know, there's a lot

454
00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,560
Speaker 4: of trends in you know, there's gluten free, there's vegan,

455
00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,480
Speaker 4: there's vegetarian. So you definitely have to make sure that

456
00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:41,560
Speaker 4: you touch on all those.

457
00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:43,119
Speaker 3: You know, Asians is.

458
00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:44,879
Speaker 2: Good for that too, Chinese food because you can be like,

459
00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:46,720
Speaker 2: you know me, first of all, you guys have a

460
00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:49,240
Speaker 2: great Low Main. I'm not even like big on Low

461
00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:50,959
Speaker 2: Main like that, but every time I come there, for

462
00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:53,400
Speaker 2: some reason, I'm like, I got to get the Low Main.

463
00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:55,399
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's I was saying that to someone the other day.

464
00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:56,560
Speaker 4: I was like, our low Maine is really good.

465
00:17:56,640 --> 00:17:57,359
Speaker 1: It is really good.

466
00:17:57,560 --> 00:17:59,280
Speaker 2: And that's not even like one of my favorite things

467
00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:01,600
Speaker 2: that I normally, but when I come there for some reason,

468
00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:02,479
Speaker 2: I really enjoy it.

469
00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:04,040
Speaker 3: You're not the only one.

470
00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:06,919
Speaker 4: Yeah, But some of the signature dishes, the chicken saute

471
00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:07,720
Speaker 4: with the peanut sauce.

472
00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:09,000
Speaker 3: That's definitely a staple.

473
00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:11,520
Speaker 4: And then we have some new dishes that we've introduced,

474
00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:13,880
Speaker 4: Like we have these dish called the Lobster spoons that's

475
00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:14,600
Speaker 4: been very popular.

476
00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:15,760
Speaker 3: We have a Krispy Tuna rice.

477
00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:18,400
Speaker 1: Mano was talking about the Krispy Tuna rice.

478
00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:19,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's that's a big one.

479
00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:23,840
Speaker 4: We just introduced a five wagu Krispy rice, so that's

480
00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:26,440
Speaker 4: that's a new dish. And then we have Pastromi spring rolls,

481
00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:28,919
Speaker 4: lobster spring rolls. But there's something for everyone on the

482
00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:31,360
Speaker 4: menu and it's great for sharing. So if you come,

483
00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:33,560
Speaker 4: even if you're on date night or if you're with

484
00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,720
Speaker 4: a big group, you know, you could order different dishes

485
00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:39,720
Speaker 4: and you know taste. You know, whoever you're with, you

486
00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:41,520
Speaker 4: could you could you could share the dishes. So it

487
00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:43,800
Speaker 4: allows you to order a bunch of different things and

488
00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:44,199
Speaker 4: share it.

489
00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:46,800
Speaker 2: What do you eat when you're outside of there, like

490
00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:49,680
Speaker 2: besides you know, because I could imagine you being there

491
00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:52,399
Speaker 2: as frequently as you are, there's certain things you're always there.

492
00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:55,680
Speaker 1: You know you eat obviously the food is say let's leap,

493
00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:57,920
Speaker 1: but outside of say less like what type of cuisine?

494
00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:03,120
Speaker 3: I like? Everything? So you know, so she Italian, you know, steakhouse.

495
00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:04,560
Speaker 1: But you don't never really have to eat anywhere else.

496
00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:06,040
Speaker 1: They could just make stuff for you in the kitchen.

497
00:19:06,119 --> 00:19:09,000
Speaker 4: Yeah, but listen, you know you definitely want to get

498
00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:10,600
Speaker 4: out there, and you know, part of it is, you know,

499
00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:14,199
Speaker 4: doing brand research to try new things. But also you know,

500
00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:16,600
Speaker 4: like you said, I was at the restaurant so much

501
00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:18,639
Speaker 4: for the last ten years, you know, six nights a

502
00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:20,600
Speaker 4: week at least, that I really didn't get the opportunity

503
00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:22,719
Speaker 4: to go out to a lot of other restaurants. So

504
00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:24,160
Speaker 4: now that I have a little bit more free time,

505
00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:26,480
Speaker 4: I'm making a point of getting out to different restaurants

506
00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:28,560
Speaker 4: and seeing, you know, trends in the market and what

507
00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:32,200
Speaker 4: works and what doesn't, and just you know, understanding, you know,

508
00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:34,880
Speaker 4: what kind of dishes that we might want to add

509
00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:35,359
Speaker 4: to our menu.

510
00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,000
Speaker 2: Do you guys think about things like getting a Michelin Star.

511
00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:41,120
Speaker 2: I know that's something that people are always like Missionlin Star.

512
00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:43,640
Speaker 2: I don't even necessarily even really know the Yeah.

513
00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,080
Speaker 4: Listen, I mean, in the restaurant business, getting a Michelin

514
00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:48,639
Speaker 4: Stars obviously the ultimate goal. But I think at the

515
00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:50,080
Speaker 4: end of the day, there's a lot of Michelin Star

516
00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:52,959
Speaker 4: restaurants that don't make it long term for various reasons.

517
00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:54,879
Speaker 4: So for me, it's more about the balance sheet and

518
00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:56,879
Speaker 4: making sure that you know, you stay on brand and

519
00:19:56,880 --> 00:19:57,359
Speaker 4: you run.

520
00:19:57,240 --> 00:19:59,280
Speaker 3: A profitable business. But I would love to open up

521
00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:00,920
Speaker 3: a Michelin Star version of what.

522
00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:02,560
Speaker 2: We do one day, all right, And I need you

523
00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:04,760
Speaker 2: to be honest about this, Dora. When you're in the

524
00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,320
Speaker 2: restaurant every day all week and everybody wants to come

525
00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:09,879
Speaker 2: in and do a shot with you, are you drinking

526
00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:12,120
Speaker 2: water and pretending to do a shot or like, what's

527
00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:12,840
Speaker 2: really going on?

528
00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:16,240
Speaker 4: Because so I won't take water shots. But I tell

529
00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:18,560
Speaker 4: people all the time that I'm not taking a shot.

530
00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:23,560
Speaker 2: You know, Okay, I can imagine like Darra Tarredar, come on,

531
00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:24,200
Speaker 2: get us a shot.

532
00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:25,320
Speaker 1: Everybody, get Dira's shot.

533
00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:25,600
Speaker 3: Yeah.

534
00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:27,119
Speaker 4: So when when I was younger, I would take all

535
00:20:27,119 --> 00:20:29,919
Speaker 4: those shots, and I learned the hard way that you know,

536
00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:33,320
Speaker 4: you just can't take shots with everyone. So I've I've

537
00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:34,920
Speaker 4: moved away from the shots. If I take a shot

538
00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:36,720
Speaker 4: with someone, it won't be water. It's the real thing.

539
00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:38,840
Speaker 4: But I say no more than yes a lot of

540
00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:40,280
Speaker 4: times regarding taking shots.

541
00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:43,120
Speaker 2: And how hard is it to accommodate people that are

542
00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:45,880
Speaker 2: you know, people are always asking for you and looking

543
00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:48,480
Speaker 2: for you Darra. Like every time I go there, when

544
00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:49,840
Speaker 2: I come in, I'm walking.

545
00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:51,200
Speaker 1: Past the door. I hear it, Darra. Where's Dara? Is

546
00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:52,800
Speaker 1: Dodar here? I'm looking for Darra, you know.

547
00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:54,919
Speaker 2: And sometimes it's people who don't even know you, and

548
00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:57,040
Speaker 2: they're just trying to make sure they can, you know,

549
00:20:57,119 --> 00:20:59,399
Speaker 2: feel I mean, of course, everybody should feel important when

550
00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:01,280
Speaker 2: they come into the rest to unt because there's still

551
00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:04,760
Speaker 2: customers and clients. But then you also have a lot

552
00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:06,400
Speaker 2: that you're juggling and dealing.

553
00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:06,760
Speaker 3: With, right, Yeah.

554
00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:08,439
Speaker 4: I always tell people if they know me, tell them

555
00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:11,040
Speaker 4: they call me. You know, my number is not too

556
00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:13,240
Speaker 4: hard to get, so if they really know me, they

557
00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:14,360
Speaker 4: have my number, Okay.

558
00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:16,720
Speaker 2: And I know you deal with things like and this

559
00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:18,959
Speaker 2: is important too, and I've seen you say this before.

560
00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,679
Speaker 2: To make sure that you know, the customer service that

561
00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:25,320
Speaker 2: you can provide for people is one of the most

562
00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,600
Speaker 2: important things that has made you successful as a business person,

563
00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,840
Speaker 2: and therefore your business is successful. So even doing things

564
00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:34,560
Speaker 2: like opening late for people or you know, at times

565
00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:37,320
Speaker 2: when you guys aren't even necessarily serving, just making sure

566
00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:41,000
Speaker 2: that you can accommodate you know, your client tele is

567
00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:41,720
Speaker 2: an important thing.

568
00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:44,159
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think definitely after the pandemic, there was like

569
00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,439
Speaker 4: a shift where a lot of restaurants closed earlier. And

570
00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:48,320
Speaker 4: I think one of our sweet spots is that we

571
00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:52,160
Speaker 4: keep our kitchen open later if need be. And there's

572
00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:53,760
Speaker 4: always a lot of things going on and they always

573
00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:54,840
Speaker 4: end around midnight and they.

574
00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:55,520
Speaker 3: Want to go eat something.

575
00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:58,119
Speaker 4: So if it's the right situation, and it's all all

576
00:21:58,160 --> 00:21:59,960
Speaker 4: through relationships again, you know, if we know the people

577
00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:02,720
Speaker 4: and their clients of ours, why wouldn't we stay open

578
00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:04,680
Speaker 4: just to make sure that we continue the relationship and

579
00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:05,320
Speaker 4: make them happy.

580
00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:07,119
Speaker 3: And people do really appreciate that.

581
00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:09,159
Speaker 2: And I saw whiz Kid did a party there and

582
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:14,400
Speaker 2: then afterward he'd posted on Instagram say less album you know.

583
00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:16,240
Speaker 3: Coming, So we're still waiting on the album.

584
00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:16,879
Speaker 1: I know that was.

585
00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,400
Speaker 2: Supposed to being like twenty twenty three or something like that,

586
00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:21,919
Speaker 2: but you know, he was so inspired by coming there

587
00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:23,840
Speaker 2: and having a good time that he wanted to even

588
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:25,479
Speaker 2: name his album after the restaurant.

589
00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:26,119
Speaker 1: That's amazing.

590
00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:28,680
Speaker 4: We've gotten a lot of clients from Europe, from Africa,

591
00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:31,040
Speaker 4: a lot of the biggest you know, celebrities in the

592
00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:33,720
Speaker 4: world that have really gravitated towards the say Let's brand.

593
00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:36,919
Speaker 4: So we're definitely proud of that, and we constantly, you know,

594
00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:39,719
Speaker 4: try to keep the brand fresh.

595
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,399
Speaker 2: All right, Well, listen, I'm just excited that, you know,

596
00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:44,320
Speaker 2: like I said, I've known Darr for such a long

597
00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:47,920
Speaker 2: time and always been like amazing to me, and you

598
00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:49,840
Speaker 2: don't even know me. Like that was just from being

599
00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,160
Speaker 2: in the restaurant, and then every time I come Doars,

600
00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:53,439
Speaker 2: I was like, oh my god, I haven't seen you

601
00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:55,560
Speaker 2: in so long. You make everybody feel so special in

602
00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:57,240
Speaker 2: that way, and so I just want to.

603
00:22:57,160 --> 00:22:58,640
Speaker 1: Commend you on the work that you've been doing.

604
00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:02,000
Speaker 2: Sometimes people don't even appreciate it or notice it, and

605
00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:03,879
Speaker 2: I know that's not what you do it for, but

606
00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:05,720
Speaker 2: you know, I do appreciate you. The food smells so

607
00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:08,080
Speaker 2: good and I haven't eaten anything yet today, so I'm

608
00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:09,960
Speaker 2: about to chat out. And we also have our tea

609
00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:11,560
Speaker 2: coffee uplifts people people.

610
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,080
Speaker 4: Our tea is we've been moving through the tea so yeah,

611
00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:14,720
Speaker 4: people love it.

612
00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:16,720
Speaker 2: So I'm excited for that, just because I wanted to

613
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:19,399
Speaker 2: provide that tea experience. Y'all know, I'm half Chinese and

614
00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:23,159
Speaker 2: Chinese tea is very big in the Chinese culture and

615
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:25,520
Speaker 2: the Asian culture. So to be able to provide that,

616
00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:27,399
Speaker 2: I feel like sometimes people don't think about like the

617
00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:30,000
Speaker 2: tea that they serve and make that an experience too.

618
00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:32,320
Speaker 2: And that was like a prime place for us to

619
00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,119
Speaker 2: be able to partner in, to be in, like, you know,

620
00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:36,840
Speaker 2: a top notch restaurant like say Let's.

621
00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:38,719
Speaker 1: So I appreciate that our pleasure.

622
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:39,880
Speaker 3: We're happy to have it on the menu.

623
00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:42,159
Speaker 2: All right, Well, Dara, y'all make sure you go to

624
00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:44,000
Speaker 2: say Let's when you come to New York. When you

625
00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:45,960
Speaker 2: go to the door, say you know Dara. And if

626
00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:47,520
Speaker 2: you don't have his number, then I can't help you

627
00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:50,240
Speaker 2: with that any further, but make a reservation if need be.

628
00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:52,560
Speaker 2: And definitely one of my favorite places to eat. So

629
00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:54,480
Speaker 2: thank you so much Daa for coming through.

630
00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,959
Speaker 3: Thank you Angela Wa