Savvy Business Owners Adapt and Thrive
August 28, 2006
New Orleans natives Aaron Wolfson and Peter Menge did everything right in devising and developing an iron-clad business plan prior to opening their high-end retail/catering/cooking school, Savvy Gourmet, on Magazine Street last August. They had created interest and a strong client base through itinerant cooking classes offered around town and had leased a great space along a diverse and bustling stretch of Magazine Street.
The business model was this: recreational cooking classes would drive traffic into the retail store as well as to the catering business. Daytime classes would target large tour groups while night-time classes would be tailored to locals. That business model worked beautifully for the first 10 days of Savvy Gourmet’s life.
But everthing changed on August 29, 2005, when Katrina blew into town and all the tourists blew out.
Wolfson and Menge wound up in Pittsburgh. By mid-September, they had regrouped and decided to get back to New Orleans to see what they could salvage of their business. They moved into a FEMA hotel in Baton Rouge and, before it was even “legal,” they began sneaking back into town to clean up their business and take stock. For a week in September they woke up at 4 am every morning, packed a lunch, headed into town, cleaned all day, and headed back to Baton Rouge every afternoon.
One thing was clear: their pre-Katrina business model was shot. Says Menge: “What tourists would want a cooking class if there weren’t any tourists? Who would want fancy French pots with no kitchen to cook in? Who would want to throw a party for us to cater?”
But as they looked around ravaged New Orleans, Savvy’s owners realized that the city was in fact populated— with workers, with National Guardsmen, with residents coming back— and the population was hungry. So in early October, they decided to reopen as a restaurant serving lunch.
“We realized that we have this gorgeous space, we have a functioning kitchen, we know these chefs who currently have no place to work. We had to borrow tables, chairs, plates, you name it, and we had to find people to work.”
And they had to notify their customers of their decision to reopen. “On October 11, we began notifying our customers of our re-opening. We had no idea what sort of response we’d get. The next day, we had 37 people show up for lunch. The day after that we had over 40, and the day after that we had over 50.”
Savvy Gourmet quickly became more than just a restaurant; it became a community center where people could re-connect with old friends, talk about the storm— or not— and just feel normal. Soon, the owners also added wireless internet service.
In the absence of the city’s farmers’ markets, Menge and Wolfson also recognized the need to help reconnect local chefs to green market farmers and fishermen. For 3 months, Savvy Gourmet hosted “Devacuation” parties every Saturday night that would feature the talents of different chefs and the produce of vendors from the green market. Until the farmers’ market reopened, Savvy served as a clearinghouse for chefs to order and pick up produce and seafood from farmers and fishermen.
“We call what we do ‘business yoga’— stretching ourselves in whatever direction we have to in order to meet the need and to survive as a business,” Menge jokes.
Menge and Wolfson are pleasantly surprised at how quickly their business model has bounced back. By November, Savvy was once again hosting cooking classes and catering not weddings and parties, but endless lunch meetings as organizations commenced to plan for New Orleans’ revival.
Now that there are more places to eat in town, will the Savvy restaurant go away? Absolutely not. “One of the best ways any company can generate goodwill is by serving a great meal,” says Menge. “Opening the restaurant felt so good. It solidified our relationship with the locals. It felt like we were doing the right thing for our customers as well as for our own survival, that we were all coming through this together. We feel really good about our place in New Orleans.”
Savvy Gourmet is located at 4519 Magazine St. and serves lunch 11:30 am - 2:30 pm Mon-Sat and brunch from 10:30 am - 2:30 pm Sun. Retail store hours are 10 am - 6 pm Mon- Sat. Call 504-895-2665 for cooking class schedule and info.