Case Studies Food

Imagine walking down New Orleans’ Magazine Street, the first five blocks of which were created in 1788. A stone’s throw from the Mississippi river, the street is now six miles long and lined with quaint shops occupying buildings constructed in the 1850s. Restaurants are abundant, but one serves up both culinary and musical delights: Juan’s […]

Erik Estrada apparently is cool with the concept of his circa-1970s TV show inspiring a burger at a slowly but steadily growing chain of very basic bars. Recently he chanced upon a Jack Brown’s in rural Tennessee and enjoyed a so-called Ponch burger named after his character in “CHiPs,” Patrolman Francis Poncherello. That’s a toasted […]

While Brian Armstrong acknowledges he’s no athlete, he can empathize with one of the most hardnosed among them. That man: Darryl Sutter, the coach of the National Hockey League team that falls under the ownership of the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp., which employs Armstrong as executive chef. Both spend much of their working lives […]

Whether customers call it fast food or good food quickly—#Seinfeld reference—the mission and goal for Ali Dhanani and the employees of his company is the same: is to ensure that each guest receives prompt, professional and friendly service. “Our employees and our customers are the cornerstones of the business,” says Dhanani, the owner, president and […]

A wave of opportunities can arise anywhere, even aboard a small sailboat traversing through Tahiti and Bora Bora. That’s how, on a 2010 charter boat trip through the South Pacific, Juanita Dickson came to meet the owner of Gusto 54 Restaurant Group and future boss, Janet Zuccarini. Learning of Dickson’s 15-plus years of experience helping […]

It began as a summer job for Benjy Adler. With some help from his brother, Jonny, he cobbled together a cart from old floorboards gleaned from their parents and mounted it on a sailboat trailer. The Skinny Pancake sold its first crepe at the Church Street Marketplace in Burlington, Vermont, on June 4, 2003. A […]

When Jean Swoope became the president and owner of The Coffee Tree Roasters, she had a few ideas for change. Her late husband, who started the business with his father in 1993, had been consistent in how the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, coffee company had operated. Without disrespecting his legacy, Swoope added her own touch. “He did […]

On March 19, 2020, Superior Grocers President Richard Wardwell was driving across town to visit a store in Santa Ana, California when he heard the news that Gov. Gavin Newsom was issuing a stay-at-home order due to rising cases of COVID-19. With the mandate going into effect within 72 hours, there was plenty to do […]

When Gaetano “Tom” Bazzano bought The Hole in One Bakery in Eastham, Massachusetts, in 1989, it allowed him to express his love of food and community on Cape Cod. In 1992, Bazzano and his family bought a shop in Orleans that became a restaurant serving breakfast and lunch. Then, in 2001, they acquired Fairway Restaurant […]

Under other circumstances, Nancy Coupal might still be in Venezuela. Though born in Berkeley, California, the South American country was her home for 30 years, she having moved there during the late 1970s with her husband, Jean Paul Coupal, after they graduated UCLA, she with a bachelor’s in psychology and a master’s in public health. […]