Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/39104
BUSINESS TO BUSINESS How to Build a Restaurant IF YOU ASK JERRY PRENDERGAST, HE’LL LEAD YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION J erry Prendergast loves to take on new projects. He can conceptualize a restaurant, plan its design with an architect, find the accountant, the attorney and even prepare a set of rules for the chef and owner to live by in order to operate a successful business. Prendergast is a restaurant producer, one of the leading in the country, and is currently working on ten projects in the Los Angeles area and in Hawaii. One of the first questions he will ask a client is, “Why will people want to come to your restaurant?” Defining the food, the concept and the chef’s personal style (versus his or her past work and reputa- tion) will help define who they are before Prendergast scouts out the right location. Prendergast & Associates is a solid bid- der and working with brokers becomes progressively easier because of it. “I’m not a lookie-loo,” Prendergast points out. And, 90 percent of the time, the check for the build-out is written and the contract signed ahead of time. “I need to know that the client has the initial $50,000 to commit for the research portion.” Prendergast’s experience in real estate is key, and like a movie producer who unites a crew for the director, he has the know-how to form the front- and back-of-the-house team for the owner/operator. His career began at his grandfather’s hotel and restaurant/banquet facility in upstate New York where he absorbed everything about the business, discover- Peter Garland, owner of Porto Via in Beverly Hills, discusses the restaurant business with Jerry Prendergast. ing his passion for cooking in the pro- cess. By auditing classes at the Culinary Institute of America, he continued working in New York’s on-premise. But it was in Los Angeles, in affiliation with Disney Imagineering, that Prendergast would see the opening of Encounter at Los Angeles International airport. He also consulted on the development of nightclubs and restaurants for the billion-dollar Tokyo waterfront project and has been involved with more than 150 projects internationally and domesti- cally, ranging in scale from half a million to eight million dollars. “I bring dining concepts to life,” he tells THE TASTING PANEL. “I’ve done this 200 times, and I hope to be doing it 200 more.” august 201 1 / the tasting panel / 75 PHOTO: GEORGE PHAEDON POLYCHRONOPOULOS