Mr. Brown

I happen to believe that a chef/owner is the absolute key to this business. Show me a restaurant owned and operated by the chef and invariably, it's a very good restaurant. Having said that, show me a restaurant with an owner present (chef or otherwise) and chances are that it's going to be a positive experience.

The Food Network people get tons of press, which is just one of the perks of being involved at this level. I caught something that Alton Brown had to say in a recent
interview, and in my mind, it's worth repeating. Herein is what Mr. Brown had to say...

"The rules of hospitality have not changed. In the end, you go into a restaurant or any place where the owner is there, and that is going to be a different kind of experience. You are going to be fed differently—better—by people who own the place, who have invested of themselves in a place. I have found that to be true absolutely across the board."

"I can walk into just about any restaurant now in America and know 'the owner is here' or 'the owner is not here.' There is no way to replace that in a corporate restaurant in any way, fashion or form. And I don't care if it's a hot dog stand or a three-Michelin-star restaurant. If the owner is there, it's going to be a very different experience, and I would say it's going to be a better experience, and that's what hospitality really is."