Road Trip: Behind the Scenes
Cameron Mitchell shares some interesting tidbits behind some of the concepts he’s involved with.
By Lisa Bertagnoli, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 5/1/2007
You can’t spend five hours with an entrepreneur like Cameron Mitchell without hearing a few good stories. During our Road Trip, or culinary tour of Columbus, Ohio , Mitchell told the stories behind three restaurant concepts we visited. The stories speak to Columbus ’ growing restaurant scene and also offer insights into a concept creator’s mind.
Marcella’s: The 150-seat, small-plates Italian restaurant, set to open in late May, was supposed to be a Mexican restaurant and nightclub. “We were going to call it Rockin’ Taco, and it would have music at night,” Mitchell says. But as the staff began to draw up plans and menus, Mitchell made a discovery: “Fifty percent were jazzed about it, and 50 percent weren’t.” So he pulled the plug on Rockin’ Taco. “I learned that mental capital is the same as physical capital,” he says.
Visits to Quartino in Chicago and Pastis in New York inspired Marcella’s, which is named after the cook at the Tuscan villa where Mitchell and his family vacation. The company found the location at Short North, an up-and-coming arts district, and “then the staff got juiced,” Mitchell says.
Although he seems enthusiastic about Marcella’s, he cautions that--at least for now--it’s a one-off. “You can’t build a restaurant to build a chain,” he says. “It affects too many decisions you’re making.”
The Rusty Bucket Corner Tavern: Gary Callicoat, a former manager for Mitchell, asked Mitchell to help him launch a sports-bar concept, which Mitchell did. However, “I could not morally, ethically or financially start another chain,” Mitchell says. He made a deal with Callicoat: In exchange for a management fee, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants would handle back-office operations for Rusty Bucket. That way, Callicoat would have some support, and Mitchell’s partners would make money from the concept.
“They opened the first one, and it was wildly successful, and then they opened a second,” Mitchell says. There are currently five locations open, with a total of 12 planned by year’s end.
Mitchell’s Ocean Club: Mitchell had a second-floor location at Easton Town Center, a 90-acre retail and restaurant development on Columbus ’ northeast side. The concept, Mitchell’s Fish Market, was posting $4 million a year in sales, due mostly to its lack of a ground-floor presence. Then the landlord signed a lease with a competing full-service seafood restaurant.
“That pissed me off,” Mitchell says, partly because he heard about the lease from a third party, not the landlord.
Mitchell decided to vacate the lease on the seven-year-old restaurant, sign a new lease, and re-concept it. He sank $200,000 into the restaurant, and the landlord did the rest, including adding a ground-floor presence. That concept became Mitchell’s Ocean Club, which now posts $7 million a year in dinner business. Mitchell plans to open additional Ocean Clubs in Scottsdale , Ariz. ; Charlotte , N.C. ; and Washington , D.C.
Check out Chain Leader’s Road Trip around Columbus , Ohio , with Cameron Mitchell. See Road Trip: Hello, Columbus.
Hot Links
www.cameronmitchell.com: Concept creator Cameron Mitchell’s Web site, with concepts, menus and history.
www.bestitalianusa.com: Bravo Development Inc. owns Brio Tuscan Grille, Lindey’s and Bravo Italian Cucina. Founders and brothers Chris and Rick Doody went to high school with Mitchell, and the three remain friends.
www.rustybuckettavern.com: The Rusty Bucket Corner Tavern is a casual Columbus bar-and-grill chain.
www.jenisicecreams.com: Jeni’s Ice Creams features unusually flavored premium ice creams made by Columbus entrepreneur Jeni Britton.
www.citybarbecue.com. A barbecue shack founded by four Columbus execs known as “the barbecue guys.” Five units are currently open.
www.pistachio.com: Pastry chef Spencer Budros owns Pistachio, an upscale Columbus bakery. Budros’ father, Jim, is one of “the barbecue guys.”
www.northmarket.com: Columbus ’ sole remaining public market includes a collection of restaurants, food shops and cookware stores.
www.shortnorth.org: Short North is Columbus ’s up-and-coming arts district.
www.eastontowncenter.com: The Easton Town Center is a 90-acre shopping and dining development in northeast Columbus . Limited Brands founder Leslie Wexner was one of Easton ’s developers.
www.polarisfashioncenter.com: Polaris is a 3-million-square-foot shopping and dining complex in Upper Arlington , an upscale Columbus suburb.
www.columbus.org: City of Columbus ’ Chamber of Commerce.
www.cityofcolumbus.org: Columbus , Ohio ’s official Web site.
www.osu.edu: The Ohio State University and its Buckeye sports teams.
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