One night in early 2010, as dinner service was winding down at Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine in Fort Worth, Texas, chef and owner Jon Bonnell received the phone call of his dreams.
“The person on the other end was from Zagat, and they were calling to tell me we had scored a 29,” he recalls.
Talk about big news. Zagat, an annual restaurant guide, serves as a barometer for the food industry and compiles customer ratings on eateries around the country, based on a 30-point scale. A 29 is rarely awarded.
“We’d gotten a 27 before and I couldn’t have been more excited, but when they said we got a 29 (specifically for food), I was floored; it’s the highest rating of any restaurant in the state,” says Bonnell.
The accolade wasn’t a huge surprise to those who’ve followed Bonnell’s career over the past several years. Shortly after opening Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine in 2001, he was invited to cook at the James Beard House, and since then has appeared on the Today Show, The Early Show, and Food Network’s BBQ with Bobby Flay. He is now is a bona fide celebrity in the world of food—which is surprising considering his nontraditional beginnings. (Is it the right time to open a restaurant? Check out this infographic on restaurant industry growth.)
Bonnell was born and raised in Fort Worth and after graduating from Vanderbilt University, became a middle school math and science teacher. During one summer off, he found himself watching chefs on Food Network and salivating for a similar life.
“All I did in my spare time was cook, so I thought, ‘I can do that!” he says.
Determined to be the next Mario Batali or Rocco DiSpirito, he got on the phone to culinary schools and asked for brochures…but soon got a wake up call. “I’d never worked in the restaurant industry, so someone from one of the schools told me to try it out and to call them back only if I really loved it,” he says.
Bonnell took the advice seriously and joined the ranks at a fine dining restaurant in Dallas, plating salads and surveying the scene. He fell in love with the industry and quit teaching in 1996 to attend the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vermont. After graduating, he was back in Fort Worth to work as a chef.
“I worked at several restaurants; in every one I learned something—but the whole time I had my restaurant building in the back of my mind,” he says. Today, Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine is rated as a top restaurant in the south.
I sat down with Bonnell to glean his top five secrets for running a successful restaurant.
1. Get experience
Prior work in the restaurant business is essential to success, according to Bonnell. He warns against going out and hiring a manager or chef and then assuming everything will turn out okay. Instead, make sure you know the inner workings of a restaurant and how things should run.
Don’t have any restaurant experience?
“Go out and buy a franchise; it’s a safer way to go and you will already have instructions on exactly what to do,” he says.
2. Form a clear vision
Opening a restaurant can be an emotional decision. If you (and all your friends) think you make the best meatloaf, for example, you may feel compelled to open a comfort food eatery the moment you find a good location.
Think before you act, Bonnell warns.
“So many people have their hearts set on just doing it, but that is where you have the 60-to-70 percent failure rate in the first year,” he says.
Bonnell recommends planning out every detail—from equipment to inventory to payroll—before signing a lease. Write out a business plan and a cash flow analysis; think about what you can sell, your projected volume, how much your average ticket will cost and your projected revenue percentage after food and labor.
3. Invest the time
“Almost everyone underestimates just how much time it will take to get a restaurant off the ground,” says Bonnell.
On average, it takes one to two years of constant work to get an establishment up and running properly, he says. Trust can also be an issue. According to Bonnell, people notoriously skim off the top in the restaurant industry— for example, a bartender and cook may trade beers for steaks.
"You (the business owner) are paying for that steak and beer, so you need to watch it all the time—it is hard to get to a point where you can trust someone enough to handle operations and cash,” he says.
4. Balance creative freedom with customer desires
You may wish to serve your mouthwatering meatloaf in nine different ways, but your customers may want fish and chips instead. What do you do?
Bonnell says it is important to strike a balance between what you want to serve and what your customers ask for. Otherwise, you may end up with an empty restaurant or a loss of control from customers who request too much.
5. Play the PR game
Bonnell didn’t get on the Today Show just by opening a restaurant. A few years in, he started promoting his establishment through local newspapers and television outlets.
“Most small TV stations will allow you to do a cooking demonstration spot, and when you land one of those and do a good job, you can put it on a DVD and send it to a larger channel—the momentum builds over time,” he says.
From TV appearances to positive reviews to guidebook awards, Bonnell is slowly building an empire. In 2009, he released his first cookbook: Jon Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine. He plans to release two more books next spring.