There are many different components that go into opening a new restaurant. You need to make sure you’re correctly branding the restaurant, as well as ordering the optimal amount of inventory, but most importantly you need to be focused on hiring the right people. Opening a restaurant is a difficult task, and as organized and prepared as you may be many things can go wrong. But that is not to say there aren’t things you can do to decrease your chances of failing, starting with hiring the right manager. 

Writer and restaurateur, Stephen Loffredo, describes how to ensure a smooth restaurant opening. With 35 years in the hospitality industry under his belt, he’s experienced first hand the pressure of opening a restaurant. Stephen claims he has found the pattern of issues at the core of what seems to go wrong, before, during and after an opening, and according to him the most complex problem seems to be hiring the right managers.

Stephen believes there is a certain skill a manager must have in order to successfully handle opening a restaurant.  You may look at a candidate’s resume and see that they were the manager for three years at one of the most successful restaurants in the city. But the real question is, was that restaurant already successful before he/she came on board? What did they do specifically to contribute to the company’s progress throughout the years? That is what you should be looking for when conducting these interviews. In addition to normal talent, Stephen believes the candidate should also possess the following characteristics; “a strong imagination, fluid thinking skills, a pre-opening structure, adaptability during the opening, the capacity to remain calm, and the patience not to rush the opening.” 

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