Ep 29: WHAT'S ON THE MENU: The Future of Restaurants with Chris Arreola and Trudy Cooper
Chris Arreola and Trudy Cooper, seasoned restaurateurs and owners of popular Tampa eateries On Swann and Oak & Ola, join Sarina Fazan on the podcast to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the restaurant industry and what they are doing to make sure that Tampa is eating well.
At the start of the crisis, Chris and Trudy focused their efforts on supporting and feeding the community however they could, including creating a public market out of the restaurant and providing free boxed meals to restaurant staff.
Chris explains, “What we wanted to do was to do right for other people. We come from our past life at Outback – Trudy was one of the co-founders of Outback – and one of the philosophies there was you always take care of your people. People come first, right? And so, realizing the circumstances, our first thought was, we’ve got to take care of our people.”
After the first two weeks of the shutdown, On Swann also converted to a “To Go” business.
“I don’t think it was the purpose of making money. I think it was that we wanted to be a presence in the local community, realizing that the local community, at that particular time, was lost. They too didn’t know where things were headed. And we’re a neighborhood restaurant. Our position has always been connecting with guests…and we realized that our people need us,” Chris says.
Trudy adds, “We created a communion. And, as this goes on and on, we understand just how important that is. Community is everything to us. And that communion, it’s such a word, but we really kind of fall back on that and say, I get it now. I understand why it’s so important.”
When the city of Tampa allowed restaurants to reopen, capacity was initially limited to 25 percent. Worried that their restaurants would not be able to succeed, Chris and other local restauranteurs worked with Mayor Jane Castor to close downtown streets and expand outdoor dining options. This allowed On Swann to expand capacity to 60 percent and to resume operations, along with the assistance of emergency loans and federal grants.
The restaurant also has implemented state-of-the-art safety and sanitation policies to keep both employees and guests safe.
But the hospitality industry continues to face significant challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The landscape is changing non-stop, and they say 70 percent of independent restaurants will close,” Chris states.
Trudy adds, “And we didn’t really believe that at first, but we believe it now. It’s just a really desperate situation.”
“Restaurants are going to have to think about what they are, who they are, and what they might need to now be. Because what they may have been going into this, isn’t necessarily going to work in this period of time for them to get through it. So, if they think that hope is going to be their strategy, hope’s not going to work. They’re going to have to go back to the drawing board,” Chris advises.
For Chris and Trudy, that means pulling from their global restaurant experiences and relying on the relationships they’ve built over the years.
Trudy has been a pioneer in the restaurant industry for more than 40 years. After a successful career with Bennigan’s where she led training during a period of rapid expansion, Trudy joined forces with Bob Basham and Chris Sullivan to develop, open, and operate eighteen Chili’s units. The team, along with Tim Gannon, went on to found the first Outback Steakhouse in Tampa in 1988.
As co-founder and Sr. VP for Outback, Trudy was implemental in the growth of the brand from one to over 1400 units. She impacted every aspect of the business from marketing to design to training and development. Trudy was also instrumental in establishing a culture that keeps its people, the customer, and the community a priority while providing high-level service and high-quality products.
Trudy met Chris at Outback Steakhouse. He started his career 20 years ago as a “Bloomin’” onion cook in order to get restaurant experience prior to going to culinary school. While never making it to culinary school, Chris quickly advanced through the kitchen, eventually becoming an area Food Tech for the North Florida region as well as a back of the house new store opening coordinator, where he was responsible for opening over 75 restaurants.
After spending two years on the domestic side of the business, Chris decided to join Outback International, where he was responsible for the development of Outback Steakhouse in 22 different countries. Chris went on to become a Managing Partner in Lisbon, Portugal, and he then had an opportunity to join Bonefish Grill. Chris spent the last fourteen years as a VP of Training and Development at Bonefish, helping to expand the concept to over 208 restaurants.
In 2016, Chris, Trudy, and their partners conceptualized and opened On Swann restaurant in Tampa’s Hyde Park.
And now they are looking to a new future for hospitality and new ways to serve the community.
“Restaurateurs love challenges. They’re risk-takers. They’re movers and shakers. As much as this sounds like doom and gloom, you have to take that energy and make it positive. You have to look at ways to say, okay, you know what? This is our opportunity. It’s a clean canvas and be creative. Let’s have fun,” Chris declares.
Trudy invites the community to participate in their creative process. “If you are a creative person right now, and there are a lot of them out there. This is your time. This is your time to really think about it. And, we’re willing to play. So, you have an idea about how to use our restaurant? You know, you want to have a birthday party in the back, we can probably arrange that. So, it’s great to look through our own business through different lenses, it’s really interesting,” Trudy says.
For more information:
On Swann: www.OnSwann.com
Oak & Ola (Armature Works): www.OakAndOla.com
For more discussions like this one, make sure to subscribe to the podcast On The Record With Sarina Fazan.