Upstarts: Skewed Perspective

Asqew Grill takes a stab at markets outside San Francisco with its signature skewers.

By Maya Norris, Managing Editor -- Chain Leader, 3/1/2006

David Gogolak, Mark Nicandri and Robert Price always talked about going into business together when they attended Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration in the mid-’90s. But when they graduated, they went their separate ways. Gogolak ended up working as a dining-room manager at Scala’s Bistro, an Italian restaurant in San Francisco. Nicandri eventually became head kitchen manager for a unit of the

Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen chain in Atlanta. And Price settled in Washington, D.C., as the assistant manager for the Willard Inter-Continental Hotel.

But in 1998, the friends reunited when Gogolak came up with an idea for a fast-casual skewer concept. It came to him when he and then-Executive Sous Chef Eric Reese cooked dinner for the employees at Scala’s. “They put a bunch of stuff on skewers and paired it with different vegetables and different meats and grilled it off and served it over some salads. Some of them were on pastas. Some of them were on rice. And the staff loved it and was really impressed with it,” Nicandri recalls. “When [Gogolak] was driving home, he thought, ‘You know, that might not be a bad idea for a restaurant.’”

Mix and Match
The partners opened Asqew Grill in San Francisco in 1999, offering chicken, meat and seafood on skewers prepared on a grill. The skewers include the best-selling Texas BBQ Chicken, $5.95 half, $8.95 regular, with red onions and corn on the cob; Thai Beef, $6.50 half, $9.50 regular, with crimini mushrooms, zucchini and red peppers; and Peppercorn Encrusted Ahi, $6.50 half, $9.50 regular, with broccoli, red peppers and red onions. The skewers rest on top of the customers’ choice of starch or salad. Starches include mascarpone polenta and cilantro jasmine rice. The eight salads range from the traditional Caesar to the Basil and Baby Arugula, with mixed greens, toasted almonds and fennel tossed in Orange Champagne Vinaigrette.

Asqew was an instant hit. In its first 12 months of operation, the company posted $775,000 in sales, exceeding its projection of $600,000. “I vividly remember having to close the doors a couple of times the first two weeks we were open because we ran out of food,” Nicandri says.

Asqew has since opened three more units in San Francisco and posted $4.75 million in sales in 2005.

Full Tilt
Asqew is now preparing to grow beyond the Bay Area. It is finalizing its franchising program, catering more off-premise events like street fairs to build brand awareness, upgrading its POS system and working with consultant David Weiss, an original partner and current shareholder in Pasta Pomodoro, to help expand the chain.

Over the next two years, Asqew plans to open one company unit in San Francisco and three in the suburbs. It expects to enter markets including Southern California, Washington, D.C., Seattle and Chicago via franchising over the next few years, but it is approaching franchise expansion cautiously.

“We don’t have a target like we have to have 100 [restaurants] open by ’09. It’s really all about partnering with the right people,” Nicandri says. “If the right person or right group comes along that seems to fit with what we’re looking for, we’ll move ahead with them.”