Word: kellers
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...Keller went to Adam Block, who wondered aloud whether Keller was ready to return to the cutthroat New York market. It was time to try again, Keller decided. After five days and three all-night negotiating sessions with Himmel, they did the deal. Critically, Block inserted a clause into the contract that gave Keller veto rights on other restaurants in the development. Block didn't want to see Keller's brand tarnished by sharing space with a franchise. He had a $10 million to $12 million investment to protect--fancy New York restaurants don't come cheap. Keller helped line...
...Keller knew the point would come when he would no longer be able to cook full time, so his thoughts turned to creating something that would outlive him. "Most people's legacy is their kids. I don't have any kids, so my legacy is the restaurant. And to keep the continuity, the key is picking the right people and training them...
...head chef at Per Se, Keller picked Jonathan Benno, 34, who has worked with him in Yountville for two and a half years. Keller will get the kitchen in New York up and running, and then Benno will take over in May. Benno will be working with 18 other alumni from the French Laundry whom Keller has transplanted to New York. And of course Keller will be in constant video contact from Napa--"I want to create real synergy--because I am trying to create two fine dining restaurants," he says...
...original investors who helped finance the French Laundry, Keller is more a rare creative talent who needs to be nurtured--a Michelangelo in the Medici court--than an opportunity to squeeze ever higher returns out of their investment. "It is not about maximizing profit," says Joe Wender, an advisory director with Goldman Sachs in New York City who recently moved to Napa and sits on Keller's council. "Moving to New York is one of the most high-risk things he could do. It is Thomas saying, 'I want to create something great and unique in the New York market...
...Still, Keller says he cannot afford to lose money either. To set up Per Se, he closed the French Laundry for four months. "At $650,000 a month [in lost revenue], that adds up to a lot of money," he says. He is banking heavily on success his second time round in New York--hence the long hours spent training his staff for the move over the past 18 months. "The only two ways we are going to fail is if the building is a flop, or if we fail as a team." He pauses and smiles faintly...